Benin's President Romuald Wadagni visits Mali as part of West African tour
via SeneNews1 min read
Benin's new President, Romuald Wadagni, continued his West African tour with a visit to Mali on Tuesday, following earlier trips to Burkina Faso and Niger. These visits signal a warming of relations with these members of the Alliance of Sahel States AES. President Wadagni, who took office on May 24, conducted his initial regional tour last week, meeting with leaders in Niger and Burkina Faso, which suggests an easing of the strained relations between the three military regimes of the AES and Cotonou. President Wadagni also visited Senegal on Tuesday and is scheduled to go to Guinea-Bissau. According to a statement from the Beninese presidency, these trips are part of the head of state's tour of member states of the West African Economic and Monetary Union, which share a common currency and central bank with Benin. The head of the Malian junta, General Assimi Goïta, welcomed President Wadagni upon his arrival in Bamako, followed by a meeting at the presidential palace, as reported by the Malian presidency on Facebook. A joint statement issued after their meeting indicated that both presidents agreed to "give new impetus to the relations between the two countries" through "economic, commercial, and cultural cooperation." President Wadagni also extended an invitation to his Malian counterpart to visit Benin. The West African region has experienced significant divisions in recent years, with Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, all governed by military juntas, forming the AES and withd
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