Sahel Airlines (Niamey) is the name of the recently announced regional carrier set up by Mauritania, Mali and Niger. The name comes from the Sahel region, a zone in Africa, between the Sahara desert to the north and the Sudanian Savanna to the south, encompassing parts of the Gambia, Senegal, southern Mauritania, central Mali, Burkina Faso, southern Algeria and Niger, northern Nigeria and Cameroon, central Chad, southern Sudan, northern South Sudan and Eritrea. Following a recent meeting in Bamako between each country's respective transport minister, it was decided that the airline would be hubbed out of Nouakchott with Mauritania Airlines International (Nouakchott) Managing Director, Hacenna Ould Ely, to be its first chairman. According to the Mauritanian press, each member country will contribute at least three unspecified aircraft to ensure regular flight operations. The choice of Mauritania as a hub is a given since the country was recently removed from the European Union's Banned Operator's List.