Germany’s top diplomat visits West Africa to mend ties amidst Sahel instability

Germany’s top diplomat has talked up the prospect of closer political ties with Senegal and the Ivory Coast, two of the last democracies in a region otherwise plagued by sectarian conflict, in the latest attempt by a senior EU politician to rebuild the bloc’s political influence in West Africa.
Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is on a two-day visit to Senegal and Ivory Coast this week, as instability in the Sahel threatens to spread to other regions. Baerbock arrived in Senegal on Monday (15 July), aiming to intensify cooperation with West Africa’s democracies in order to keep at bay the instability currently seen in the Sahel countries. “Security here in the region, the future prospects of this region, are also closely linked to our own security and our own development,” she said in Dakar. Both West African states are considered two of the most important partners for the European Union at a time when more and more Sahel nations turn their back on the West and instead seek support from Russia and China.
“If more countries in West Africa descend into instability, that will not only have dramatic consequences for the local population but also a direct impact on our security in Europe,” Baerbock said ahead of the visit. Since 2020, the region has seen a wave of instability following military coups in Mali, Chad, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Gabon, which some observers have termed the ‘Coup Belt’. Meanwhile, sectarian violence, most notably in neighboring Sudan, has led to compounding humanitarian crises and some 15,000 deaths. Germany’s top diplomat met with her Senegalese counterpart Yassine Fall and the newly elected President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, with migration and renewable energy being at the top of the agenda.