Africa’s Sahel Region Troubled but Often Neglected

             Africa’s Sahel region stretches from the Atlantic coast of Senegal in the West to Djibouti’s Red Sea coast in the east.  In addition to these two countries, it includes at least parts of Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Sudan, Eritrea, South Sudan and Ethiopia.  Hundreds of millions of people live in this region of Africa.

The Sahel is not completely desert; it is mostly covered in grassland and savanna, with areas of woodland and shrubland.  Still, this area has suffered the effects of frequent drought, desertification and other symptoms of a changing climate. Earth.org has quoted Mark Lowcock, the United Nations’ undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, as referring to the “alarming deterioration” of the Sahel region in recent years that has led to tens of millions of people being displaced, rising extremist violence, massive violations of human rights and growing political instability, particularly in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.  More than 100,000 Malians had fled the violence in their country as refugees to Burkina Faso, Mauritania, or Niger as of last year. At least 250,000 more residents are displaced within Mali.

            Lowcock says here are as many as 13.4 million people just in those three countries needing humanitarian assistance, having been forced to leave their homes due to unprecedented flooding across west and central Africa. This extreme weather, he explains, also has decimated agropastoral production in the region, which 80 percent of families in this area rely on for their livelihoods. Large-scale displacement further is straining weak services and scarce natural resources, such as land and water, further exacerbating tension and social conflicts. 

As many as 50 million people throughout the Sahel region are nomads and dependent on their cattle flocks. There is less access to grass than ever, and this is triggering violent conflicts between resident farmers and nomads in countries such as Nigeria, Mali, Chad and other states in the region.

            At a recent Atlantic Council videoconference, four Sahelian cabinet ministers gave their take on the various crises facing the region.  His Excellency Ousmane Mamoudou Kane, Mauritania’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Promotion of Productive Sectors, said his government has been forced to focus on the region of the country bordering on Mali due to the many Malian refugees who have fled the fighting in the north of that country since 2012.  This is despite his government’s ongoing struggle to fend off jihadists.  The Minister said there is a lack of hope for youth, who face a dearth of jobs and basic services.

            Meanwhile. His Excellency Alousseni Sanou, Mali’s Minister of Economy and Finances, said his government is undergoing multiple crises – not only their decades-long security issues and cross-border criminality, but also intercommunal strife and terrorism.  During the last two years, these issues have been exacerbated by the COVID pandemic. Tax revenues are down, Minister Sanou said, further worsening the government’s inability to extend governance across the entire country.

            His Excellency Saadou Bakoye, Niger’s Secretary General with the Ministry of Planning, said that before the current worsening of security in his country, the government was spending 10 percent of its budget on security, but now spends 17 percent, leaving increasingly less for social programs.  He said his country has one of the highest birthrates in the world, with the average woman giving birth to seven children.

            His Excellency Issa Doubragne, Chad’s Minister of Economy, Planification of Development and International Cooperation, said international resources are generally insufficient, not timely or are not well-targeted.  They are, he said, one step behind strategic development and don’t allow for addressing the concerns of impatient youth.

            This issue of youth not being plugged into the system was a persistent theme among the ministers.  The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with the YouthConnekt Africa (YCA) Hub, the United Nations Office of the Special Coordinator for Development in the Sahel (OSCDS) and the Generation Unlimited Initiative in the Sahel (#GenUSahel) held a joint conference entitled "Youth Rebranding the Sahel" in late November-early December this year.  The organizers acknowledged that despite the Sahel being the most youthful region globally, with an estimated 65% of its population under 35, investments in this demographic are seriously lacking. The partners cited an increase in instability, untapped natural resources and the lack of youth participation in political and socio-economic processes continue to challenge the region's full potential.

            The many crises are indeed problematic, but when youth are unplugged from society and have no stake in its success, they are vulnerable to recruitment by criminal cartels and terrorist organizations.  About a decade ago, I made my second trip to meet with the Polisario Front leaders in the Sahrawi camps in Algeria’s Tindouf region.  The Polisario has not been actively in conflict with the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco over Western Sahara for quite some time, but they still train youth in their military just in case.  However, since there is little in the way of employment in Tindouf, young people end up being more susceptible to recruitment by criminal groups and terrorist organizations.  These leaders told me that is a major concern for them in this time of peace with remaining tension.

            In addition to this war footing among Sahrawi youth, endemic terrorism in the region is created by artificial divisions of tribes, families, and ethnic groups, especially in northern Mali. Various ethnic groups that had been favored by European colonists created residual jealousies that have resulted in intercommunal violence. Sometimes, previously competing tribes and deadly rivals have been placed within new areas, continuing conflicts.

Malian ethnic Tuareg rebels, who had been fighting with Muammar Gaddafi’s government until his death, formed the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and began fighting with the national army with existing forces upon their return in 2011, including with weapons brought from the Libya struggle.  Other ethnic groups in northern Mali, feeling excluded from the Bambara-dominated government in the capital of Bamako, also came in conflict with the government, and that region has been ungovernable since that time. 

Terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb have competed with and collaborated with other such groups in the region.  Boko Haram, to the southern part of the Sahel, has caused havoc not only in Nigeria, but also Chad, Niger and Cameroon.  Al-Shabaab has plagued the eastern end of the Sahel for years and has expanded operation beyond this region.

Many of the terrorist groups operating in the Sahel have ties to organized crime.  According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, criminal activities have reached a level that poses a threat to governance and social stability in the entire region and beyond.  Criminal networks have intensified their operations in the Sahel and expanded their illicit trade activities across the entire region. The profits generated from drug trafficking, arms trafficking, human trafficking and kidnapping for ransom, which can easily be used for corruption, can only make an already-precarious situation worse and less sustainable.

 

The Sahel has myriad problems that are not all attributable to one issue.  The contributing factors to poor governance renders countries unable to resolve their issues alone.  However, governments in the region and the international community apparently realize that the youth of the Sahel can either be the long-term solution to the problems there or they can contribute to a further deterioration of governance, rule of law and security. 

 

Don’t believe youth are that big a problem in the Sahel?  During one of my visits to Nigeria, I was told by organizations working on the ground in the country’s Middle Belt that some of the cattle rustling that that area was due to collaboration by Fulani youth and youth from smaller ethnic groups looking to share ill-gotten gains.  This is not likely to be an isolated situation so long as young people need a way to make money to survive.

 

When terrorist groups threatened to use surface-to-air missiles to attacks air traffic through the Sahel or block trade through the Gulf of Aden, the international community took notice.  The existential threat of unmoored Sahelian youth is one that cannot we afford to ignore or under-address until it becomes a major crisis.  By then it will be too late.