West Africa: Senegal's Diomaye Faye On a Visit to Mali, His First As Ecowas' President

What the report says

AllAfrica, carrying a Radio France Internationale report dated 28 July 2026, reported that Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye travelled to Bamako for a one-day working visit with Mali’s leader, Assimi Goïta. Faye was making the trip both as Senegal’s head of state and as the current chair of ECOWAS, the West African regional bloc. The Senegalese presidency described the visit as one of friendship and work, undertaken at Goïta’s invitation.

According to the report, Faye arrived in Bamako at about 10:00 GMT and was received by Goïta before a private meeting and wider discussions involving both national delegations. Diplomatic sources cited by AFP said the visit was mainly bilateral and that Faye was not accompanied by ECOWAS officials. The agenda was expected to include security, military cooperation and freight transport.

The visit is politically significant because Mali, along with Niger and Burkina Faso, has moved away from ECOWAS and formed the Alliance of Sahel States. Faye previously visited Mali in May 2024, soon after taking office, when he urged Sahel states to return to ECOWAS. His latest trip follows his election as chair of the ECOWAS Authority at the bloc’s 69th Ordinary Session in Freetown on 19 July 2026.

The RFI report also noted Mali’s worsening security and economic pressures, including attacks affecting the route between Kayes and Bamako, a key corridor for goods imported through Senegal’s port of Dakar. It cited geopolitical analyst Pape Ibrahima Kane as saying renewed contact could help rebuild trust between ECOWAS and the Sahel alliance, especially on trade, movement of people and regional security.