PREVIEW
Tough negotiations between civilian and military regimes lie ahead to mend fences and resume security cooperation
The political and security schisms in the Sahel have intensified as relations between the three military ruled states – Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger – and the regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), have ruptured further. Political leaders in the civilian governments in Ecowas are trying to persuade the juntas to resume cooperation as the insurgencies in the Sahelian states threaten to spread to the coastal areas. The Global Terrorism Index identified Africa's Sahel region as the global epicenter of extremism – accounting for half of all terror-related fatalities in 2024.
Defence chiefs in Ecowas have agreed to deploy a 5,000-strong anti-terrorism regional force to contain a ten-fold increase in terror related deaths since 2019. Nigerian Defence Minister Mohammed Badaru Abubakar announced the activation of a standby military force on 11 March on the sidelines of an Ecowas security forum.
The force is part of a broader regional strategy to curb terrorism and cross-border crime. It ‘underscores our collective determination to confront the stretch of terrorism and insecurity and to ensure the safety and security of our citizens,’ said Abubakar. The immediate problem for the force is that three of the countries suffering the worst Islamic terror attacks – Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso – are outside Ecowas (AC Vol 65 No 14, The juntas dig in as instability worsens).
Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama has stepped up his efforts to reconcile the three juntas, who quit Ecowas to set up the breakaway Alliance of Sahel States, with the regional bloc (AC Vol 66 No 3, Sahel-exit tests western miners and Russia’s military muscle). Mahama visited Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso on 9 and 10 March, saying at a press conference in Bamako with Mali’s Gen Assimi Goïta that there had been ‘a breakdown in trust’ and promising that ‘we will do everything possible to restore this trust.’
In Burkina Faso, following talks with interim leader Captain Ibrahim Traoré on security cooperation, including intelligence-sharing and joint military initiatives, Mahama told journalists that he had a ‘fresh perspective on Burkina Faso’s concerns regarding its relationship with Ecowas.’
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