The Sahelian trio of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger are inching closer to the operationalization of the recently conceived initiative known as the Alliance of Sahel States AES.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs representing the states met in Bamako on Thursday after an earlier meeting by experts last weekend to define the institutional architecture of the coalition.

The Malian government says the mini-summit is a crucial step in the strategic implementation of the Alliance.