Niger Introduces AES Travel Document as Sahel Alliance Moves Beyond ECOWAS
Niger launched mass enrolment for the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) biometric passport in Niamey on Tuesday, marking another step toward adopting the bloc’s common travel document.
Footage showed applicants queuing as officials recorded personal details, took photographs and collected fingerprints.
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“Niger is taking an important step in modernising official documents and strengthening the tools that serve the sovereignty, security and mobility of our citizens,” said Abdoul Kader Garba Moussa, Secretary-General of Niger’s Interior Ministry.
Moussa said the new passport combines biometric and biographical data to strengthen protection against document fraud, identity theft and transnational threats.
“The AES biometric passport that we are launching today, more than simply the issuance of a travel document, represents a new generation of travel documents,” he said.
The common passport was introduced in January 2025, when Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso formally withdrew from ECOWAS. The three military-led countries have since expanded cooperation under the AES, including establishing a unified military force, a confederal investment bank and a confederal parliament.
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