APAnews reported on 28 September 2026 that AES and ECOWAS have "announced negotiations" toward a new framework agreement, but the underlying record shows this reflects an ongoing process rather than a newly scheduled round of talks. ECOWAS named Lansana Kouyaté as chief negotiator in March 2026, and his mandate was extended to December 2026 at the bloc's 69th Ordinary Summit in Lungi, Sierra Leone, in July (APAnews).
AES experts from Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso met in Ouagadougou in June 2026 to draft a joint strategic framework document ahead of formal talks, and both sides have committed to negotiating as unified blocs. The anticipated agenda includes free movement of people and goods, security cooperation and logistics corridors, but not a shared currency, which remains a separate AES-internal project. No specific new date, venue or mandate distinct from this existing process has been confirmed for 28 September, and observers following the file note that ECOWAS and AES negotiators have repeatedly reaffirmed the same collective-bloc, months-long framework rather than opening a genuinely new track.