General observations.
On February 24 and 25, the G 5 Sahel Summit and the Alliance for the Sahel will be held in Nouakchott, Mauritania. In that context, a reminder and observations may be needed.
A number of misunderstandings – as well as false information – muddle the Sahel Sahara crisis. That contributes to worsening the crisis and to delaying its resolution. To help understand it, clarification is needed.
© Nicolas Réméné
Formerly considered one of the most stable post-multiparty West African states, Burkina Faso has, in recent years, entered an era of unprecedented security convulsions. The country new security map is undermined by terrorist groups which, by their virulence and the recurrence of their attacks, question its political and security doctrines.
The December 10, 2019 terrorists’ assault on Inatès, an advanced military post on Niger border with Mali, has caused the loss of seventy-one (71) soldiers. The terrible toll provoked anger in this country. Among the reactions, those of important actors of the country political life voicing their doubts on the usefulness of the foreign military bases installed in the Sahel. In particular, they questioned the armed forces of the host countries lack of information on the jihadists’ whereabouts at critical times.
One week after the Ecowas Summit held in Abuja, Nigeria, the African Union should convene its annual Summit in Niamey, Niger, on 5 July. Presently, few other places could be more appropriate for this gathering than that capital located in the Sahel’s core. A Sahel that is often ‘’either a bond, a corridor or a barrier’’.
April, May and June are the Sahel hot and harsh months. The harmattan wind runs during the seasonal transition between the leniency of the first quarter and the heat of the second. These climate cycles, the political developments in Algeria and Sudan as well as insecurity in the Sahel heart, fuel the opinions of the often frustrated but increasingly connected populations.