The United States and its Western allies must demonstrate they “can deliver results” in Africa’s Sahel region, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said during his visit to Niger, pledging humanitarian assistance for displaced people and support for the country’s efforts to combat violent extremism. Blinken’s trip to the West African country — the […]
Tag: Sahel
Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana host AFRICOM panafrican drills
Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire are hosting US Africa military command AFRICOM drill bringing together 29 countries in view strengthening the capacities of armies of the participating countries to tackle terrorism and extreme violence. The drill began on March 1st and will run through March 15th. Around 1,300 soldiers from 29 countries mostly from West Africa. […]
France loses influence in Sahel
France, the former colonial master in the Sahel, is receiving a series of blows as its foothold shrinks on the back of growing anti-French sentiment and increasing Russian incursions. After their retreat from Mali following a ten-year failure to eradicate Jihadist groups, now Burkina Faso asked France to withdraw its troops from the country within […]
Burkina Faso: dozens of soldiers, civilians killed in jihadist-hit north
At least 28 people, including soldiers and civilians, have been killed in two separate attacks by rebel fighters in northern Burkina Faso, a regional governor and the army said in separate statements. The army said on Monday (30 January) that a combat unit in Falagountou, in the country’s north near its border with Niger, came […]
Laurent Gbagbo urges ECOWAS to set up regional counterterrorism brigade
Laurent Gbagbo, Cote d’Ivoire’s ex-leader, has called on regional grouping ECOWAS to establish counter-terrorism brigade to curtail terrorism that has plagued the region. Gbagbo was speaking at a meeting of his party PPA-CI, at Bayota, a town in south-central Ivory Coast. “The problem in the Sahel today is the jihadists,” he said. For a 77-year […]
Sahel’s development, stability to be achieved through industrialization — AU/UN experts
“The issue of inclusive industrialization in the Sahel is of prime importance” given the challenges the conflict-torn region is currently facing — this is the main message from an event this week that was held as a part of the African Union Summit in Niamey, Niger. As part of the African Union Summit on Industrialization […]
Accra Initiative: seven West African states discuss spillover of terrorism from Sahel
Seven West African coastal states held last week their first major talks — within the so-called Accra Initiative — on boosting cooperation against jihadist violence spilling over from the Sahel. During the meeting in the Ghanian capital, leaders from Gulf of Guinea neighbor countries Benin, Ghana, Côte D’Ivoire and Togo discussed ways of preventing the […]
Desert to Power initiative to light up the Sahel countries “showcased” at COP27
Launched in 2019 by the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and its partners, the Desert to Power initiative to increase solar generation capacity to provide 250 million people with electricity access across Africa’s Sahel region for socio-economic development continues to attract financial support from around the world. The Desert to Power initiative is designed to […]
Morocco’s counterterrorism strategy highlighted by French think-tank
Morocco’s strong commitment to the fight against terrorism and violent extremism was scrutinized in a report by the Institute for Applied Geopolitics Studies, published under the direction of Manon Chemel and Alexandre Negrus. The report, titled “Morocco: what status vis-à-vis France and Europe?” highlighted the North African country’s comprehensive and multidimensional approach to respond to […]
Stabilizing Sahel: Paris to announce official end of anti-jihadist Operation Barkhane
French President Emmanuel Macron will officially announce on Wednesday (9 November) the end of the anti-jihadist Operation Barkhane in the Sahel, but this will have no impact on the French military presence in the region, according to a statement from the Elysee Palace. This announcement comes a little less than three months after the withdrawal […]









