Rachel Abou Chaibou
Published 14 March 2023
By 1960, all francophone West African territories had gained their political independence from France. During the 1980s and late 1990s there was an international push for the Sahelian states to adopt a multi-party democracy. By the mid-1990s many of these states had embraced multi-party democratic rle, and this was seen as a golden era for the West African states. Since then, the democratic achievements have faltered and are fading. The increase in political instability can be attributed to corruption, terrorism, and violent extremism.
In the early 2000s, the rise of Islamic extremism was first seen in Nigeria with the rapid growth of Boko Haram. Since then, extremist sentiment has spread to several of the Sahelian states. The countries which have seen an increase in violent extremist activity are Mali, Mauritania Chad, Niger, and Burkina Faso, which are also known as the G5 Sahel states. The county of Mali was the first to experience this violence and it is the country that has been affected the most.
One factor that aided the spread of extremism was the Tuareg rebellion. The latest Tuareg rebellion in 2012, gave way to the rise in power of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). In 2013 AQIM, was recognized as a major threat to the international community, as it wreaked havoc in Mali. By 2015, their terrorist activity had spilled over into the neighbouring countries of Burkina Faso and Niger. It was during this time that France -being the former colonizer of all these states- deployed its forces to deal with the Jihadist movements. Operation Barkhane was deployed with French troops and military personnel of the three countries.
France has had military troops and bases in many of the Sahelian states for years. For the past five years there has been a loud outcry to purge the Sahel of the French. The first wave of anti-French resentment commenced in Mali. After Operation Barkhane was put in motion in 2013, not only was the Islamic jihadist movement persistent, but it has expanded, and it is seemingly likely to continue to rise.
This fact has led many Sahelians to believe that the French are entangled with the terrorists. Sahelians have increasingly become convinced that there is a conspiracy between the French and the Islamic extremists to keep these states dependent on French military assistance. Much of France’s infrastructure is based upon the resources that are mined from the Sahel, and to keep these countries at their knees they created these groups to create political instability that they could exploit. In early 2022, many Malians took to the street to protest to the French presence in their country. Soon after the protests in Mali, people in Burkina Faso began to demand the same.
The departure of French forces leaves a power vacuum that may be exploited by Russia. Russia has been welcomed into the Sahel. When the protests occurred in Mali and Burkina Faso, people were parading the streets with the Russian flag and were publicly inviting the Russians to come to their countries. Russia as a state does not have presence in the Sahel, but its influence is felt in the form of a mercenary group that goes by the name of the Wagner group. Currently in Mali, Russian forces have completely taken over from the French, while in Burkina Faso there is growing pro-Russian, and anti-French sentiment. This is slowly spilling over to the rest of the Sahelian states.
The Wagner group has been active in many different parts of the world, and they have been investigated for violations of human rights. In Mali, since the Russians took over the fight against the Islamists there has been a spike in civilian deaths. Over 71 % of the violent engagements have targeted civilians.
By turning much of the country’s resources toward counterterrorism, the government has descended into a fragile state. Facing their inability to handle the issues of the country the governments of Mali and Burkina Faso faced several coups d’état in the span of 18 months. These countries are currently governed by military juntas. The Kremlin has been accused of supporting the military juntas that have staged a coup d’état against their government in order to infiltrate the Sahel, and to receive payment to fund their war in Ukraine.
Neither France nor Russia has any good intentions towards the Sahelian states. For so long France has eaten off the Sahelian plate, that they are willing to do anything to keep their bellies full. While francophone Africa is waking up, and realizing the exploitation, Russia is trying to take France’s seat at the table. In the efforts to get rid of France, these states do not realize that not only is Russia going to exploit them the same way, it will become a greater evil to rid. The sub-Saharan states need to come to the realization to stop depending on Western and European counties. Both France and Russia need to leave the Sahelian table.
These states need to depend on each other and other African counties such as Algeria. Algeria has successfully defeated and reduced Islamic extremism that arose during their civil war in 1992 to 2002. Algeria’s long history of fighting domestic terrorism could prove useful in the Sahel, since most of the actors now mimic the erstwhile Algerian opposition. Moving forward, the G5 Sahel should be reinstated without the influence of France or Russia and modified to include Algeria, and any other state that is worried about the overflow of Islamist extremism over their borders.
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