Gulf of Guinea coastal states talk military cooperation in face of Sahel jihadi violence

Leaders of Rwanda and Benin have met over the weekend to discuss ways of containing a potential spillover from an Islamist militant insurgency that has been gaining ground in neighboring Burkina Faso.

Along with Benin, three other West Africa coastal nations — Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Togo — have suffered attacks in border areas blamed on jihadists, while Ghana recently reinforced its military presence along its own northern frontier.

Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame promised at his talks with his Beninese counterpart, Patrice Talon, in Cotonou,  military support to help the country contain spillover from jihadi conflict across its northern border that Burkina Faso’s military junta has struggled to contain.

Last year, Benin announced it was in talks over military and logistical cooperation with Rwanda, whose troops have already been dispatched to help Mozambique and Central African Republic (CAR) combat unrest.

“We are ready to work with Benin to prevent anything that may happen around its borders,” Kagame said in Cotonou. “There will be no limit” in what “will be accomplished together for security challenges.” Details about the cooperation were not immediately clear, though Talon said it could include “supervision, coaching, training, joint deployment.”

Gulf of Guinea coastal nations have struggled to stop the southward spread of the Sahel’s Islamist militant conflict ever since a French troop withdrawal from Mali in the face of mounting disputes with the junta there and Burkina Faso’s increasing instability.