Why the world should care about the Sahel

Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso)“From now on, the Sahel’s resources should benefit Sahelians and partners who understand the paradigm shift in today’s diplomacy,” says Azise Sodore, head of the geography department at Joseph Ki-Zerbo University in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. The Sahel is the semi-desert belt between the Sahara Desert to the north and the Sudanese region to the south, stretching 5,000 kilometers between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea. “The Sahel’s natural resources have made it the target of geopolitical and geostrategic plans,” Sodore says, noting the greed of those who want to exploit them.

The Sahel is usually accompanied by a crisis, whether security, humanitarian, or climate-related. Three of the ten countries most affected by terrorism are located in the Sahel—Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger—due to the presence of the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), an al-Qaeda faction, and the Islamic State Sahel Province, linked to the Islamic State, which has been displaced by the Islamic State since 2015. All Sahel countries are among the bottom 30 on the Human Development Index (HDI) list. Added to this is the climate crisis, which has led to more droughts and floods that severely impact the harvests of economies based on subsistence farming.

"The Sahel has human, historical, and cultural potential, and soil rich in precious materials, gas, and uranium," says the professor. He adds: "We are in a context of awakening consciences and of peoples determined to take their destiny into their own hands." The coup in Niger This has revealed a new dynamic in the central Sahel—Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger—aimed at distancing itself from the former colonial power, France, and forging new alliances. The Sahel has evolved, opened its markets, and begun coordinating with other actors, and France failed to anticipate this. Consequently, the Nigerien military junta, led by General Tchiani, has ended military cooperation with the former colonial power and given France until September to withdraw its 1,500 troops deployed in the country. Mali and Burkina Faso have already implemented similar measures.

A subsoil of treasures

The gold sold in Switzerland represents 85% of Burkina Faso's exports. Between 70% and 80% of Mali's and Niger's exports also depend on gold purchased by the United Arab Emirates. Chad, on the other hand, exports 34% of its oil to Germany. But who needs Niger? France: "Will Tchiani retain the contract he has with France for the exploitation of uranium mines in Niger?" asks Beatriz Mesa, a professor at Gaston Berger University. Ninety percent of the capital of Orano, the company in charge of mining operations, belongs to the French state, which relies on Nigerien uranium for 30% of its nuclear power plants. In a statement, Orano asserted that its production had not stopped following the coup in Niger. However, the French nuclear industry wants to maintain control of this strategic resource.

For example, in April, Burkina Faso authorized the Turkish company Afro Turk to operate a magnesium mine and a gold mine in the Burkinabe Sahel. At the same time, the director of the company that manufactures the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones was awarded the Order of the Étalon, the country's highest distinction, by the head of state, Captain Ibrahim Traoré. The Bayraktar drones are being used by Ukraine to attack Russian positions, but alliances are often played out on two sides. Traoré has also shown his sympathies for Putin"There is an alignment of interests between the populations of the Sahel and Russia: the former want to get rid of Françafrique, and the latter is looking for new allies," explains Dagauh Komenan, a historian and doctoral candidate at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC).

The EU outsources migration control

The overthrown government in Niger maintained good relations with the European Union, which funded it in exchange for controlling the flow of migrants through the city of Agadez, in the north of the country, the gateway to the Sahara Desert. This is a historic trade route between sub-Saharan Africa and the Maghreb, and Europe wanted to control the movement of people. Police checkpoints at this crossing have forced migrants to open new, more dangerous routes, where many die from running out of water while crossing the desert or at the hands of criminal gangs. 75% of migration is within Africa, but the EU, through Development Aid, has invested in security and the promotion of deportations, according to Oxfam Intermón. The double standard

France, the United Kingdom, Germany, the European Union, the United States, and the World Bank have announced the suspension of development aid to Niger following the July 26 coup until the military coup leaders release President Mohamed Bazoum and restore constitutional order. The international reaction was not the same in January 2022, when Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba staged a coup in Burkina Faso and then traveled to the United Nations General Assembly. Nor was it the same when Chad's current transitional president, Mahamat Idriss Déby, who came to power after his father's assassination with a promise to hold elections that have never taken place, was received by French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris this past February. Under what conditions was development aid maintained?

The new Spanish International Cooperation Law, approved in February 2023, has, for the first time, designated the Sahel as a priority region for Spain. "Europe's new southern border is called the Sahel," says Mesa. Russia's increased influence over these countries means it could potentially control organized trafficking of people, drugs, and weapons in remote areas of the Sahel. The NATO summit held in Madrid in June already included the Sahel for the first time in the new Strategic Concept as a "region of interest affecting its allies and partners."