Ministers from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger met in the Burkinabe capital on Thursday to discuss creating a confederation.

Foreign ministers of the three nations backed the creation of a confederation as part of a long-term goal of uniting the West African neighbours within a federation, at a meeting in December in the Malian capital Bamako.

Niger’s military leader General Abdourahamane Tiani said on Sunday that the creation of a common currency with Burkina and Mali could be a “way out” of “colonisation”.

The latest meeting comes just weeks after Burkina, Mali and Niger announced their exit from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

All three were founding members of the regional bloc in 1975 but had been suspended following military coups that overthrew elected civilian governments.