The article explores the legal nature and features of the Confederation of Sahel States, the youngest integration alliance in Africa and around the world, established on July 6, 2024 between Burkina Faso, the Republic of Mali and the Republic of Niger. The introductory section outlines the past, present and problems of legal regulation of integration processes in Africa, as well as its modern projects preceding the Confederation. After considering the reasons for the establishment of Confederation and procedural aspects (section «Historical and geographical origins»), the author scrutinizes its constituent documents, the legal status of its Member States, its organizational mechanism and competence (section «Legal status»). Finally, in accordance with the provisions of domestic and foreign legal doctrine, the experience of former confederal entities, the author presets conclusions together with his vision of future of the newborn Confederation. The article is the first in Russian legal science study of the Confederation of Sahel States in light of the global legal experience with respect to establishment and operation of such entities. The author agrees with the prevailing view of confederations as not quite effective form of unification of states due to the lack of a full-fledged system of central authorities. Nevertheless, the author insists that confederal structure might be attractive in several ways. This explains the fact that confederations are still in use in XXI century. With reference to documents, the author demonstrates that law and practice of historical confederations, now federations (USA, etc.), were not limited to foreign policy and defence, but also covered significant domestic policy measures. Therefore, in practical terms, the author advises the Confederation of Sahel States to focus on «development» issues (economic, scientific, technological, etc.), which, according to its constituent documents, form part its competence together with issues of «diplomacy», «defence and security».