The End of the G5 Sahel alliance

This week the two remaining members of West Africa’s G5 Sahel alliance said they will be dissolving the anti-rebel grouping after the other three founding countries, Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali all left earlier this month.

In a joint statement as reported to news agencies: “The organisation is failing to achieve its objectives,” they said. “Worse, the legitimate ambitions of our countries, of making the G5 Sahel a zone of security and development, are hindered by institutional red tape from a previous era, which convinces us that our process of independence and dignity is not compatible with G5 participation in its current form.”

In announcing their withdrawal on Saturday, the military leaders of Burkina and Niger did not explicitly call for its dissolution.

The G5 was created in 2014 yet has secured only marginal results, despite the insecurity across the Sahel. According to reporting by the BBC ‘the big question is what impact this will have on the Islamist militant groups that have been growing in strength across the Sahel region.’

In 2017, leaders of the five countries agreed to deploy a joint anti-terror task force backed by France. But the military rulers of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali have all accused Paris of having an outsized role after years of French deployments on their territories.

Despite the creation of the joint force, violence by armed groups has continued to spread, leaving thousands of civilians and fighters dead and displacing millions. It has also contributed to political instability in the region, which has seen a succession of military coups.