Despite its split from ECOWAS, an AES member state secures $105 million through a different regional bloc

Niger has secured more than 60.6 billion CFA francs (about $105 million) in fresh financing from a regional development bank, highlighting how members of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) continue to access key regional institutions despite their split from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The financing package, approved by the West African Development Bank (BOAD), comprises 30 billion CFA francs for the National Office for Hydro-Agricultural Development (ONAHA) and 30.6 billion CFA francs for the state-owned electricity utility, NIGELEC, to boost irrigation infrastructure and expand power generation.

The agreements were signed in Niamey on Tuesday in the presence of Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Zeine following a working session between senior Nigerien officials and a BOAD delegation led by the bank's president, Serge Ekue.

The funding highlights an often-overlooked distinction in West Africa's regional architecture. Although Niger left ECOWAS alongside Mali and Burkina Faso to form the AES, it remains a member of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) - the eight-country monetary bloc whose development bank, BOAD, continues to finance projects across its member states.