Economic Affairs Minister Participates in Sahel Alliance, G-5 Sahel Conference

His Excellency the Minister of Economic Affairs and the Promotion of Productive Sectors, chairman of the G-5 Sahel council of ministers, Mr. Ousmane Mamoudou Kane, participated, Tuesday via videoconference, in the conference of the Sahel Alliance and the G-5 Sahel. This conference is an opportunity to highlight the gains and achievements of the Alliance, as well as focus on raising challenges of building a better future for all the Sahel population. In a speech on the occasion, the minister affirmed that the G-5 Sahel is satisfied with the great progress it has achieved within the framework of the partnership of member countries, and will remain confident of the promising prospects for this partnership thanks to the directives and goals set by the Presidency of the General Assembly of the Sahel Alliance, which adopts an integrated approach to development to encourage the population’s access to basic social services, economic development, and gender promotion. Mr. Ousmane Mamoudou Kane added that the G-5 Sahel Presidency has organized many international meetings at the level of heads of state and more than ten ministerial meetings, all of which enabled an intense advocacy campaign to cancel the debts of the member countries to be able to fight the effects of the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and support their economies. He pointed out that the cancellation of debt service started by the G20 in April 2020 and tightened last October enabled the beneficiary countries to better face the economic and social impacts of the pandemic, noting, in this regard, that despite the achievements, the measures taken will not suffice without a permanent treatment of this heavy burden, so efforts continue to cancel debt. Within the framework of the partnership relations between the Sahel Alliance and the G-5 Sahel, the minister pointed to the level of mobilization and coordination between the various actors to expand and activate development support assistance, which is one of the most important issues and problems that challenge the region.