The Sahel: A Region Still Struggling with the Legacy of Colonialism
By Camilly Moncayo & Eidan Auz
Image: https://accionhumanitaria.wordpress.com/
The Sahel is a region located on the African continent, a strip of territory stretching from the Atlantic in the west to the Red Sea in the east, embracing parts of countries such as Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan and Eritrea. Historically, this region has been an area with a lot of commercial and cultural activity. For this reason, it is an important geopolitical zone, with a wealth of natural resources. However, during the last three years, the Sahel has experienced strong political problems "of the eight military coups recorded in Africa as of 2020, five belong to the Sahel. Mali had two in 2020 and 2021, Burkina Faso suffered another two in 2022 and Niger, the most recent, which took place last year" (Infobae, 2024).
In this context, the countries of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have taken a momentous decision to form the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), under the name "Charter of Liptako Gourma", the first alliance of its kind, without direct influence from France. This alliance formed by the three countries has a pan-africanist lineup, a movement that promotes unity and relations between African countries (RAE, 2023). The military leaders of these countries have demanded the departure of French troops, who have supposedly arrived to combat jihadist terrorism. Due to their negligence in solving the problem, the front, through coercive use of public force, has managed to take control of approximately 99% of its territory again.
This alliance focuses on key objectives:
Combating Jihadism.
Joint operations will be
conducted to combat and eliminate terrorist groups operating in the three
countries. Anti-terrorist intelligence and logistics tasks will be included.
Protection Pact
Alliance also for mutual
defense purposes in case of a hypothetical foreign aggression against any of
the partners. Full reciprocity in terms of sovereign protection.
Equitable decisions
Agreement for an
equitable annual financial contribution from the three parties. Political
and/or military decisions will be consulted and taken under a criterion of
"unanimity".
Openness and
enlargements
The bloc establishes
that the alliance will be open to new members as long as they share geographic,
cultural and geopolitical criteria with the three founding members.
The triad, with the departure of the French force (which was not only there to supposedly control jihadism, but also to take indiscriminate control of the region's natural resources), has achieved:
-Niger: Nationalize uranium and water, which was in French hands.
- Mali: Build the largest solar power plant in the Sahel.
- Burkina Faso: Limit the export of gold and accumulate/appropriate its first reserves.
In conclusion, the pan-Africanist feeling of the new wave of leaders in the Sahel region has demonstrated the population's discontent with the overwhelming and unjustified presence of France in its territory, causing nationalism and the desire to control, for the first time in many years. , its resources manage to encourage regional cooperation to break away from the historical dependence of these countries on their colonizer.
References:
González, A. C. (2024, 18 abril). ¿Qué es la Alianza de Estados del Sahel? África Mundi. https://africamundi.substack.com/p/que-es-la-alianza-de-estados-del
Infobae. (2024, 11 mayo). África: Qué es la Alianza de Estados de Sahel y por qué tensa las relaciones entre EE. UU. y Rusia. Infobae. https://www.infobae.com/def/2024/05/11/africa-que-es-la-alianza-de-estados-de-sahel-y-por-que-tensa-las-relaciones-entre-ee-uu-y-rusia/#:~:text=La%20nueva%20alianza%20militar%20del,los%20objetivos%20de%20la%20Alianza%E2%80%9D.
RAE. (2023). panafricanismo. Real Academia de la Lengua Española. https://dle.rae.es/panafricanismo
¿Qué es el Sahel? (2012, 18 junio). Accionhumanitaria. https://accionhumanitaria.wordpress.com/casos-practicos
The Sahel region has been facing many problems for a long time, from violence to economic complications as well as political issues and more. This region has been significantly dominated by France, this way France has benefited from all the countries, leaving them with crumbs. With this alliance becoming a little more powerful, some countries have improved in some areas. For me, it is good that they are working together as a team to reach their goals such as like to protect their citizens, to become more development in areas like technology, to solve problems like economic and political, to stop violence from the jihadist terrorism. This alliance has shown the world that cooperation between nations does work. It is fair that these countries are reclaiming resources that are theirs, but they never got to benefit from them, and it also allows African countries to become more dependent, they are working to not only rely on their former colonies but with their own resources and from their neighbors’ countries.
ResponderEliminarVery interesting topic. We need to create consciousness
ResponderEliminarIt is necessary to talk and analyze this topics to create an inform decision and opinion in the public. We have to work to reach the ODS from UN
ResponderEliminar