Our policy brief entitled “The Nexus between Security and Development in the Sahel: West African Perspectives on EU Interventions” examines the complex security-development nexus in the Sahel region, analysing West African perspectives on EU interventions and highlighting critical challenges in fostering effective cooperation between the EU and Sahelian states.
Authored by Darlington Tshuma (IAI), Marta Driessen (Elcano Royal Institute), Rukia Mohammed Bakari (Goree Institute), Latyr Tine (Goree Institute), and Maria Luisa Fantappie (IAI).
Key Takeaways include:
- The research reveals persistent internal and external fragmentation in Sahelian countries, creating environments that foster multiple centers of violence and power contestation, thereby complicating efforts to develop coherent responses to security and development challenges.
- Despite established EU-Sahel cooperation frameworks, the effectiveness of interventions is often limited by implementation challenges and divergent priorities, with Sahelian states perceiving EU approaches as primarily driven by European domestic concerns rather than shared objectives.
- The analysis emphasizes the fundamental role of poverty, social exclusion, and weak state capacities in driving violent extremism and insecurity in the region, underscoring the critical importance of addressing security and development challenges as interconnected issues.
- The brief advocates for maintaining dialogue with the Alliance of Sahel States despite strained relationships, while suggesting diversification of partnerships towards Gulf of Guinea countries as a strategic approach to preventing and countering violent extremism.
- The research calls for a paradigm shift in EU-Sahel cooperation, emphasizing the need for greater transparency in communication and trust-building measures to enhance the effectiveness of security and development interventions.
This Policy Brief was produced with the support of the Open Society Foundation and in collaboration with the Gorée Institute in Dakar.
