It was a sure bet, in terms of commitments at least. In the opinion of all the participants, the high-level international conference on the Sahel – which was hosted in Brussels on Friday 23 February under the aegis of the European Union, the United Nations, the African Union and the group of G5 Sahel countries (Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad) – was a success. But the pledges now need to be fulfilled.
The conference succeeded in mobilising increased political and financial support from the international community for the efforts deployed for the security, stability, peace and sustainable development of a region in Africa that is as spread out as Europe, with 28,000 kilometres of borders to protect, and in the grip multiple challenges – including terrorism and organised crime.
If they are not met jointly, these challenges are a threat to neighbouring Europe and the world too. This was underlined by all the conference participants.
All the heads of state of the G5 Sahel took part in the conference, as did the 27 European leaders (Romania was represented by its foreign minister) and the UK's secretary of state for international development. 15 partner countries also committed to participating in this mobilisation of support: Japan, Canada, Norway, China, Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the USA, Nigeria, Egypt, Switzerland, the Ivory Coast, Morocco and Tunisia. The World Bank, ECOWAS, UEMOA and the African Development Bank were also represented.
At the initiative of Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou, who is also the current chair of the G5 Sahel, a minute's silence was observed in tribute to the two French soldiers from Operation Burkhane who fell victim two days ago to "mines laid by terrorists and traffickers", and "who are added to the many civilian and military victims in the tragedy being played out in the Sahel".
€414 million in support was promised to the G5 Sahel joint force, which is due to be operational in March (the needs were calculated at €423 million for the first year), of which nearly €322 had previously been announced, according to the Commission. Out of this amount, the EU and its member states total €176 million (€90 million had already been announced, including €40 million by the member states), with the EU alone having doubled its initial contribution of €50 million on the African Peace Facility, which is financed through the European Development Fund.
On Friday, the third countries pledged a further €6.5 million which is added to the €181 million already announced.
"This is a huge result and a good basis for the operationalisation of the joint force", High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini told press. She also said that the coordination hub that is based in Brussels and that was launched by the EU to coordinate the contributions of equipment from the international community, in response to the requests of G5 Sahel force, is already operational. "The needs and availability of donors' support are being converged for the joint force", Mogherini stated, adding that 46 requests have so far been received and are in the process of being evaluated.
The European Commission, the United Nations and the G5 Sahel signed a technical arrangement on Friday with a view to providing operational and special logistic support through MINUSMA to the joint force. The joint statement says that the arrangement assuring the respect of human rights and international humanitarian law by the joint force will be set up as part of this convention.
Judging the results to be very encouraging, the head of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, stated that the fight against terrorism and organised crime should, in principle, be up to the UN Security Council and that it was important to assure the sustainability of financing. "We have found a formula to activate the operations. The pledges need to be made concrete as quickly as possible", Mahamat stated.
"The G5 Sahel has come with a message: we are convinced that there is a close relationship between security and development. We should see how to find a long-term solution to financing the joint force to fight against terrorism and organised crime. Niger dedicates 15% of its budgetary resources to its security. The other countries should do the same. The last G5 Sahel in Niamey set up a trust fund that should host the contributions", Issoufou stated. And he observed that beyond the needs for the first year, the G5 Sahel force requires €115 million every year, without knowing how long it will have to fight against terrorism.
Linking joint force to UN?
"The most powerful armies have been up against Daesh for three years. It is important to find how to make the financing long-term. We need our partners to support us, and for the Security Council to be able to place the G5 Sahel under Chapter VII. And why not imagine transforming the G5 Sahel force into a MINUSMA brigade (Ed: the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali)", he said at the end of the conference.
"The joint force needs to be made into an integrated structure within MINUSMA, with an adapted mandate", the head of the African Union Commission stated.
What Issoufou wants is for the United Nations Security Council to give more weight to the joint force, equipping it with "a stronger mandate under Chapter VII", which would enable use of the force. According to the final statement, the co-chairs of the conference took note of this request.
Meanwhile, operations on the ground in the Sahel started last October. "There is good hope that over these six months, new operations can be conducted in connection with MINUSMA and Barkhane by the G5 Sahel forces", France's President Emmanuel Macron stated, while reaffirming his country's support for the G5 Sahel, via Operation Barkhane.
While the United Nations Security Council has already approved two resolutions of support for the force, no consensus has been possible on direct financial support from the UN to the force due to American opposition.
"The United Nations Security Council gives its political blessing to the force but as there is also MINUSMA, it does not have direct support. The support is through a logistical support via MINUSMA", a diplomatic source stated.
The head of the G5 Sahel also spoke about the importance of putting an end to the chaos reigning in Libya. "Until we manage to put out the Libyan instability, we will not manage to secure and stabilise the Sahel", he said. Issoufou added: "Who created the situation in Libya? It is a decision of the Security Council that has been misused. But it is the Libyan chaos that creates the worsening situation in the Sahel. So the international community cannot be indifferent. It must be involved".
Conference in June to promote investment in region
On the development front, the co-chairs of the conference hailed the work around the priority investment programme (PIP) of the G5 Sahel, which will enable investment projects for the Sahel to be promoted around four axes: - defence and security; - governance; - infrastructure; - resilience and human development.
The co-chairs committed to supporting the permanent secretariat of the G5 Sahel to organise an international conference in June 2018 that has become known as the PIP round table of financing. "We want the EU, UN and African Union to mobilise the international community around the priorities of this priority investment programme", the head of the G5 Sahel stated.
The co-chairs hailed the significant support that has already been mobilised by the international community (including €8 billion from the EU and its member states over the 2014-2020 period) in favour of the development of the G5 Sahel countries. They nevertheless called for implementation of national strategies and development action to be accelerated.
Note was also taken of the call of the G5 Sahel heads of state addressed to the international financial institutions to consider the consequences of security crises on their public finances.
The European Union is a member of the Alliance for the Sahel, which was launched in Paris in July 2017 and which aims to coordinate and channel the aid more effectively in the most fragile areas of the Sahel region. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang and Camille Cerise Gessant)