G5 Sahel or G5S () is an institutional framework for coordination of regional cooperation in development policies and security matters in west Africa. It was created on 16 February 2014 in

Nouakchott Nouakchott ( ) is the capital and largest city of Mauritania. Located in the southwestern part of the country, it is one of the largest cities in the Sahara. The city also serves as the administrative and economic center of Mauritania. Once a ...

, Mauritania, at a summit of five

Sahel The Sahel region (; ), or Sahelian acacia savanna, is a Biogeography, biogeographical region in Africa. It is the Ecotone, transition zone between the more humid Sudanian savannas to its south and the drier Sahara to the north. The Sahel has a ...

countries:

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

, and

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

. It adopted a convention of establishment on 19 December 2014, and is permanently seated in Mauritania. The coordination is organised on different levels. The military aspect is coordinated by the respective countries' Chiefs of Staff. The purpose of G5 Sahel was to strengthen the bond between economic development and security, and together battle the threat of jihadist organizations operating in the region ( AQIM, MOJWA,

Al-Mourabitoun The Independent Nasserite Movement – INM () or simply Al-Murabitoun ( lit. ''The Steadfast''), also termed variously Independent Nasserite Organization (INO) or Movement of Independent Nasserists (MIN), is a Nasserist political party in Leban ...

, and

Boko Haram Boko Haram, officially known as Jama'at Ahl al-Sunna li al-Da'wa wa al-Jihad (), is a self-proclaimed jihadist militant group based in northeastern Nigeria and also active in Chad, Niger, northern Cameroon, and Mali. In 2016, the group spli ...

). A series of new military juntas in the region has prompted several countries to withdraw from the G5 Sahel alliance. On 15 May 2022,

announced its withdrawal from the alliance. On 3 December 2023,

and

announced their withdrawals from the alliance. On 6 December 2023, the remaining members

and

announced the imminent dissolution of the alliance.

History

On 1 August 2014, France launched a counterterrorism mission,

Operation Barkhane Operation Barkhane (French language, French: ''Opération Barkhane'') was a counterinsurgency operation that started on 1 August 2014 and formally ended on 9 November 2022. It was led by the French military against Islamist groups in Africa's S ...

, deploying 3,000 soldiers in the member states of G5 Sahel. On 20 December, G5 Sahel, with the backing of the

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The b ...

, called on the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

to set up an international force to "neutralize armed groups, help national reconciliation, and establish stable democratic institutions in Libya." This was met with opposition from Algeria. In June 2017, France requested that the United Nations Security Council approve the deployment of a counterterrorism task force consisting of 10,000 soldiers to G5 Sahel. The German Bundeswehr has agreed to contribute around 900 troops of its own to help the mission. They will mostly be utilized in the Gao region of Northern Mali for surveillance purposes. The

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

agreed to provide 50 million euros towards financing the force. Russia and China expressed support for the operation, while the United States and the United Kingdom did not agree about financing. France and the U.S. reached an agreement on 20 June 2017. The next day, the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved the deployment of a G5 Sahel counterterrorism task force. On 29 June, French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian announced that the French military would cooperate with G5 Sahel.

Withdrawal of Mali

In 2022,

, which held the presidency of the G5 Sahel, was due to give way to

. However, some countries in the alliance were opposed to Mali's presidency, due to the political situation in Mali (which saw two coups d'état in August 2020 and May 2021). In response to this opposition, the Malian authorities announced in a communiqué signed by the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization and broadcast on public television on 15 May 2022 that "the government of Mali has decided to withdraw from all G5 Sahel bodies and authorities, including the Joint Force", and denounced "instrumentalization." In August 2023, Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, who held the presidency of the G5 Sahel, declared that he "regretted Mali's withdrawal" and that he "hoped it would be very temporary ".

Withdrawal of Burkina Faso and Niger

Following coup d'états in September 2022 in

and in July 2023 in

, the leaders of both countries announced on 2 December 2023 that they would withdraw from all instances of the alliance, citing that it was "failing to reach its objectives". They added that the alliance "cannot serve foreign interests to the detriments of our people", referencing France.

Planned dissolution

On 6 December 2023, remaining members

and

announced that they were paving the way to dissolve the alliance due to the withdrawal of three of its founding members.

Member states

References

External links

*
West Africa: The G 5 Sahel - Survival in Time of COVID-19.
{{Authority control International organizations based in Africa Intergovernmental organizations Sahel 2014 establishments in Africa 2023 disestablishments in Africa