The Sahel region has over the years served as the source of destabilising militant activities.

 The Sahel region faces particular vulnerabilities, owing to its geography, fragile State structures, demographics and recurrent severe droughts, thus serving as fertile ground for terrorists. The most recent manifestation of the region’s widening terrorist activities are the war in northern Mali, deadly attacks in Niger and the ongoing Nigerian army onslaught against Boko Haram and Ansaru insurgents.

Fragile States, Droughts  

Fragile State structures in most Western Sahel countries - a region that has historically been populated by nomadic people - have resulted in the inability of governments to exercise authority and sovereignty over all parts of their territories. Porous borders, lack of security infrastructure and transnational security cooperation have resulted in massive cross-border movement of migrants and refugees, and the expansion of unchecked illegal activities.

With most of the population in the Sahel dependent on rain-fed agriculture, recurrent droughts have led to poor harvests, plunging millions of people in extreme poverty and leaving them at risk of malnutrition, hunger and disease. Droughts and persistent food insecurity have inevitably contributed to conflicts in the region. The area is also rich in natural resources that attract major States and other non-State actors.

Demographics, Trafficking  

Rapid population growth in the Sahel has been another contributing factor to instability and is expected to increasingly affect human and food security. The Sahel’s population is expected to increase to more than 150 million by 2040. The pressures resulting from this can upset fragile internal balances and inter-State tensions. The Western Sahel area is already home to a large number of Internally Displaced People, IDPs, from conflicts dating back to the 1990s.

Economic insecurity resulting from recurrent chronic crises, lack of infrastructure and access to essential services, has resulted in poverty and unemployment, causing people to resort to widespread illegal activities. This has enabled the proliferation of terrorist networks, money laundering, trafficking in arms, human beings, diamonds and weapons. Latin American drug cartels are known to use the region to move hard drugs into Western Europe.

Libyan War, Terrorism

Western powers and their allies were too anxious to get the late Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, out of the way that they did not foresee the fallout of his overthrow on the region. The subsequent influx of armed fighters, refugees and economic migrants from Libya, only made an already difficult situation more complicated. Large quantities of weapons and ammunition were smuggled out of Libya, ending up in the hands of traffickers, terrorists in the region.

Also, the poor social, economic and political environment in the Sahel makes it a potential safe haven for the penetration and proliferation of terrorist and other armed or criminal groups. There is evidence of ties between the Algerian-run Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, AQIM, and newly formed militant groups like the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, MUJAO and Ansar Dine in northern Mali, and Nigeria’s Boko Haram.

Tuareg Question

The Tuareg have sought autonomy in the Sahel region since the early 1900s. The 2011 Libyan war revived a dormant Tuareg rebellion in northern Mali. It took the intervention of French-led troops in early 2013 for the militants to be driven out from most towns.