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Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso recently announced a new alliance in the Sahel region, and signed a joint defense agreement. Under this agreement, called the “Liptago-Gourma Pact,” the contracting parties establish among themselves what is called the “Coalition of Sahel States.”
Liptago Gourma is the border region between Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, from which the declaration takes its name.
The new alliance came in the complex regional circumstances that the Sahel countries in West Africa are going through, with a wave of coups d’état, the departure of French forces, and increasing Russian influence in the region.
With Moscow’s announcement of the formation of the “African Corps” in 2024, interest has emerged again in the aforementioned alliance, which constitutes the nucleus of changes in the balance of international powers active in the Sahel region.
The following report sheds light on this alliance, its goals and its future:
Growing up circumstances
The “Coalition of Sahel States” was established after the signing of the “Liptago Gourma Charter” on September 16, 2023 in Bamako.
Although the idea of an alliance between these countries dates back to previous years, it has emerged again as a result of different contexts and circumstances.
The contexts that contributed to the formation of the alliance are the withdrawal of French forces from the Sahel, the increasing frequency of coups in the region, the growth of rebellious movements, the escalation of armed attacks, the increasing Russian influence, and the threat to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).ECOWAS) by military intervention in Niger.
Standing up to the power of a group ECOWASArticle 6 of the Alliance Charter stipulates that “every targeting of the security and sovereignty of one of the three countries is an attack on all of them.”
The formation of the new alliance coincided with the departure of French forces that had been operating in these countries for years in order to fight armed groups and prevent the outbreak of conflicts between the various ethnic sects in the region.
Stay away from France
The opinions of the new leaders in the Sahel converge on the need to move away from France, continue the struggle for liberation, and establish a new political independence.
Regarding these ideas, the preamble of the charter stated: “In fulfillment of common principles and brotherhood, it is necessary to continue the heroic struggles waged by our peoples for political independence, human dignity, and economic liberation.”
The idea of the alliance of the three countries dates back to the year 2017, when these countries announced the establishment of a joint force to confront the armed movements, but this defense project was disrupted after the G5 Sahel countries decided to form joint forces with European and American support.
In July 2017, France and Germany presented the idea of establishing the “Sahel Alliance” to unify joint international efforts. This alliance included 26 members and approved the implementation of a thousand projects with a budget of more than 20 billion dollars.
This alliance quickly stopped due to the wave of coups that began in Mali in 2021.
However, the “Coalition of the Sahel States” differs in policies and motives from the Sahel Alliance and the Group of Five Sahel States, because those alliances were behind France, which promoted them internationally. As for the new coalition, it is based on local ideas, and its goal is to protect the security of member states and remove French influence as a first point. .
Objectives and principles
According to the Charter of the Declaration, the “Coalition of Sahel States” is based on a number of goals and principles, the most important of which are:
- Establishing a joint defense system between countries, with the ability to fight defensive wars and pre-emptive attacks to prevent harm to the security of member states.
- Full solidarity between member states and military integration between them if any state is subjected to attack.
- Combating terrorism and organized crime in the NATO common area.
- Work to prevent rebellion and armed violence in the three countries and confront it with armed force if necessary.
- Working to expand the alliance, in front of countries that share the group’s goals of economic liberation and political independence.
The future of the alliance
Between the disappearance of the Group of Five Sahel countries and Russia’s announcement of the formation of the “African Corps,” speculation and readings about the future of the “Coalition of Sahel countries” are increasing.
The analyzes and readings about it can be summarized in two directions: The first direction is the success and expansion of the alliance, which is the most likely, especially with Russia’s announcement of the formation of the Africa Corps, which will be deployed in the Sahel region, and will be based in Libya as a permanent headquarters.
It seems that the tour of the Russian Deputy Defense Minister last December was to create conditions for Russian power.
Mali has also previously concluded military and economic contracts with Russia, the most important of which is the signing of an agreement to build a gold extraction station in November 2023.
In a comment to Al Jazeera Net, Hamdi Jawara, a researcher specializing in coastal affairs, said, “All major powers are looking for influence in the region, and Russia is no exception, and may use its African cards to support this alliance.”
He added that Moscow and the coalition countries serve each other in clear harmony without political loyalties that may harm the interests of the coastal countries.
It is likely that the alliance will continue, because the region needs a vision different from what the old organizations in the region were working on, which were unable to achieve the aspirations of the people because they sided with corrupt governments and regimes.
Many observers believe that the new alliance may succeed and continue, but it will not expand in the near term unless the coup movement expands and new governments adopt a new vision for the region, as is the case with the governments of the “Coalition of Sahel States.”
The second trend is the failure of the alliance due to the political developments that may occur, which may come with the return of civilians to power, and geopolitical and regional balances force them to return to old alliances.
