President John Dramani Mahama is in Bamako, Mali, to preside over a signing ceremony of a peace-treaty between President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's government and Tuareg separatist rebels Friday.

A statement from the Office of the President said the peace-signing ceremony followed the agreement reached at the Inter-Malian Dialogue that started in July 2014 in Algiers.

The dialogue sought to bring peace between the government and the various armed groups in Mali.

With the peace accord, expectations of lasting peace in the Sahel region, which had been embroiled in years of armed conflict, are very high.