Multiple Actors, Gloomy Results!

Africa’s Sahel area is one region with diverse facets of challenges that the many actors called upon to clear off the resistance and make life worth living for the inhabitants seem at crossroads on how well to live up to expectation. The presence of multiple combat bodies on the field notably the national army, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission (MINUSMA), the G5 Sahel and Barkhane notwithstanding, fighting in the region remains unabated with farreaching consequences on the population’s daily lives.

As a matter of fact, despite years of French military support across the region through Paris' Operation Barkhane strategy, the UN with MINUSMA, the national army and the Group of Five Sahel States (G5 Sahel) joint forces all with the objective of combating trans-border terrorism and organised crime, stabilizing the region still remains a pipedream.

Observably, the seemingly failed regional and international efforts to improve local stability in the Sahel has rather given militant groups; including those affiliated with al Qaeda and Islamic State, room to plan and conduct attacks elsewhere in the region.  Concerted Efforts Absolutely Needed As good as the different organs charged with ensuring security in the region might have been conceived and or are being run, working in isolation would not produce the required results in time. This can only divert scarce resources and waste precious energy that would have yielded better fruits were the different bodies to work in synergy. A much-needed comprehensive results can only be attained when those in charge of ensuring security put aside what divides them and federate their resources and efforts to combat the common enemy – insecurity.  For, no one doubts the fact that the cross-border dimension of the terrorist threat in the Sahel, as well as the serious challenges posed by transnational organised crime and its links to terrorism, remain a serious threat to stability, prosperity and growth in the entire region.  Reason why the strong determination of the Group of Five (G5) Sahel States (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger) to tackle the problem head-on, coupled with the creation of the Joint Force to address the terrorist threat demonstrates regional ownership of common challenges. Added to this is the utter need of collective action...