Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, on his first official visit to Mali on Thursday, said he raised the question of remaining in regional bloc ECOWAS with his Malian counterpart, who was "not totally inflexible" on the matter.
Mali and its neighbours Niger and Burkina Faso, all run by military juntas, announced in January they would leave ECOWAS, West Africa's main political and economic bloc, reversing decades of regional integration.
The three countries have formed a defence and cooperation pact known as the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) and plan to establish a confederation.
Senegal's Faye, elected in March, has said he would try to persuade the Malian junta, led by Colonel Assimi Goita, to remain in ECOWAS.
"I spent a lot of time discussing it with the colonel," Faye said on Malian state radio on Thursday.
"I understand the Malian position, which, although rigid, is not totally inflexible."
He said all parties must work together to find positive means of strengthening integration, including through bilateral cooperation, but also "by trying to correct the blunders that we have noted in multilateral cooperation."
"But we cannot resign ourselves to watching a tool for integration that was formidable in its conception, in the results it has brought us and which has been held up as an example, disintegrate without doing anything," Faye said.
The three Sahel states formally notified the ECOWAS Commission of their decisions to leave the bloc in written notices dated Jan. 29, which according to the treaty means that they would still be bound by membership until one year from that date.
Faye also visited Burkina Faso's junta leader Captain Ibrahim Traore in the capital Ouagadougou on Thursday.
"We also discussed the subject of ECOWAS; I understand today that the positions are somewhat fixed, but I perceive in each of these positions a window of opening that allows us to establish a thread of dialogue," Faye said, according to the Burkinabe presidency's communications department.
Latest Stories
-
Message from the Morning Man: No Choice
3 mins -
Jospong Group and ISSER forge partnership to strengthen social and economic research in Ghana
3 mins -
Food service establishments to apply for advertisement approval from FDA
3 mins -
Tracey Grey releases new song ‘Dangerous’
8 mins -
McDan Group CEO unveils vision for African Logistics Transformation at CILT conference
13 mins -
CAF Awards 2024: No Kudus and Victor Boniface as full list of nominees revealed
21 mins -
AfESC partners with UESD for environmental research collaboration
28 mins -
James Gardener and I are good friends – Benedicta Gafah denies dating rumours
38 mins -
UN@79: Ghana calls for peaceful settlement to ongoing conflicts around the world
41 mins -
Volta Regional Health Director calls for enhanced sub-district healthcare at GPAA’s 21st Annual Conference
46 mins -
Deputy Tano North Chief Imam urges stakeholders to cooperate with EC for successful Election 2024
51 mins -
Independent presidential candidate proposes new economic development model for Ghana
53 mins -
Greater Accra House of Chiefs elects Nungua Mantse as new President
58 mins -
Bank of Ghana hosts high-level Fintech networking event in Washington DC
1 hour -
Cholera outbreak claims two lives in Ada
1 hour