Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko has paid an official visit to Burkina Faso, signaling a move to deepen diplomatic and security cooperation between the two West African nations.
He was received in Ouagadougou by Burkina Faso’s transitional President, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, amid efforts to solidify regional alliances in the face of persistent security threats.
Sonko, accompanied by Senegal’s Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense, first met with his Burkinabè counterpart Jean-Emmanuel Ouédraogo before holding talks with President Traoré at the presidential palace. According to Senegal’s official news agency (APS), the visit was aimed at providing “political and moral support” to Burkina Faso’s military-led government.
President Traoré has led the country since a 2022 military coup and is steering a transitional administration in the midst of escalating jihadist violence. Armed groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda, especially Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), continue to launch deadly attacks across the Sahel region.
The meeting also served to address shared concerns about “external destabilisation,” with Burkina Faso’s government accusing neighboring Côte d’Ivoire of interference. Both governments pledged closer collaboration in tackling the common threat of extremism and insecurity in the region.
This trip marks Prime Minister Sonko’s second engagement with a member state of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES)—a regional bloc made up of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger—following his visit to Mali in August 2024. Although Senegal remains a member of ECOWAS, which has had tense relations with the AES countries, Sonko’s outreach suggests a pragmatic approach to regional diplomacy.
By engaging directly with AES leaders, Dakar is signaling its intention to maintain dialogue and cooperation with all actors in the Sahel, despite political differences within West Africa’s shifting alliances.
