The G5 Sahel: Countering Insurgency or Countering Democracy?

On Saturday, 16th September 2023, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger signed a mutual defence pact establishing the Alliance of Sahel States. The Alliance of Sahel States is a collective defence and mutual assistance framework by the three states to help each other against possible threats of armed rebellion or external aggression. This latest pact adds to the G5 Sahel Joint Force (FC-G5S) launched in February 2017 as the military component of the G5 Sahel  – a regional body established in 2014 by Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad. The establishment of the G5 Sahel by the five Sahelian states was borne out of the motivation to bring stability to the Sahel through an ad hoc coalition to address the security and development challenges facing member countries. Over the past two decades, efforts at bringing stability to the Sahel region have focused on the formation of ad hoc military coalitions like the G5 Sahel Joint Force and international military interventions like Operation Serval and Operation Barkhane.

This edition of Nextier SPD Policy Weekly provides insight on how the use of ad hoc military coalition for counter-insurgency is exploited to subvert democracy in countries of the G5 Sahel.

Click here downlaod report.