West African Leaders Pledge $1 Billion in Counter-Terrorism Initiative
Burkinabe soldiers participate in small unit tactics training in 2017.
West African leaders signed a comprehensive plan addressing the rise of extremism in the Sahel at the Economic Community Summit of West African States, or ECOWAS, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on September 14. Fourteen African heads of state attended the one-day meeting as well as ambassadors from Germany, the United States, Saudi Arabia, the European Union, and the United Nations. The leaders pledged to contribute a total of $1 billion over the course of 5 years, beginning in 2020.
The summit re-examined the G5 Sahel, a cooperative initiative formed in 2014 to combat terrorism in the region. Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Burkina Faso, all leaders in the Sahel region, make up the alliance.
The G5 Sahel aimed to raise $537 million a year and 5,000 troops. However, the initiative has struggled to raise adequate funds, resulting in a significantly revised budget and increased reliance on outside donors. Furthermore, the participating countries were only able to amass 4,000 troops, falling short of the initial target.
Despite initiatives like the G5 Sahel, terrorism and violence are on the rise in the Sahel, a region ranging between the Sahara in the north and the Savannah in the south. The majority of violence in the region is linked primarily to Islamic extremist groups, including al-Qaeda.
These groups committed some 465 radical attacks in 2018, over one attack per day. According to Jean-Claude Brou, president of the ECOWAS commission, there have been 2,200 attacks in the last four years, leading to 11,500 dead and thousands wounded. He called the situation a “humanitarian crisis.”
The violence has also begun to spread to the far reaches of the Sahel, threatening coastal countries such as Togo, Benin, and Côte d’Ivoire. Furthermore, extremist groups have escalated their attacks, recently targeting embassies and military headquarters.
This spread and escalation has led to a renewed effort in combating extremism in the Sahel, marked by the ECOWAS summit. As UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres advised earlier this year, "I totally believe we are not winning the war against terrorism in the Sahel and that the operation should be strengthened.” The sentiment is shared by West African leaders, who are calling on the international community, especially the UN Security Council, to aid in the crisis.
Though the new ECOWAS initiative signals a promising new direction in counter-terrorism efforts in the Sahel, experts worry that economic and political obstacles may halt progress. Notably, there is uncertainty regarding the source of funding for the initiative. As Andrew Lebovich, doctorate candidate in African History, notes, “I haven’t seen evidence of either firm commitments or mechanisms to collect that money.”
Other academics wonder if the ECOWAS initiative is revolutionary enough to create change. Yvan Guichaoua, professor at the University of Kent, specializing in International Conflict Analysis, remarks that “the solutions proposed are exactly the same as those heard for years, which have failed repeatedly.” If this initiative meets the same fate as previous efforts, it risks exacerbating political tensions.
On the other hand, international human rights organizations fear that the intense focus on counter-terrorism may result in neglect of other humanitarian issues in the Sahel. Omer Kabore, Oxfam Country Director for Burkina Faso, warns that "the fight against terrorism should not worsen the humanitarian and protection situation for the thousands of civilians already affected by lack of security.”