The Sahel: Mali, Burkina Faso & Niger — Rejecting the Chain
The Sahel
Mali. Burkina Faso. Niger. Rejecting the Chain.
Between 2021 and 2023, three countries in the Sahel — Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger — experienced military coups that expelled French forces, withdrew from French-led security frameworks, and pivoted toward Russia and pan-African solidarity. The Western press called it instability. Many Africans called it overdue. The truth, as always, is more layered — and it begins more than a century ago.
The Colonial Root: Françafrique
France colonized the Sahel under French West Africa, a vast administrative bloc covering present-day Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Senegal, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, and Mauritania. Independence came in 1960 — but France never truly left. Through a system known as Françafrique, France maintained military bases, installed and removed heads of state, controlled currencies (the CFA franc, pegged to the French franc and later the euro), and extracted resources under preferential agreements that benefited French corporations.
The CFA franc — used by 14 African countries as of 2026 — requires member states to deposit 50% of their foreign exchange reserves with the French Treasury. France earns interest on those reserves. The African nations do not set their own monetary policy. This is not a historical footnote. It is the current financial architecture of half of West and Central Africa.
Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have all announced intentions to leave the CFA franc zone. As of May 2026, the transition is ongoing and contested.
The Jihadist Insurgency
The current crisis in the Sahel was triggered by the collapse of Libya in 2011 — itself a consequence of NATO intervention — which flooded the region with weapons and fighters. Jihadist groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda (JNIM) and ISIS (ISGS) expanded rapidly across Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, exploiting governance vacuums, ethnic grievances, and the failure of French counterterrorism operations (Operation Barkhane) to deliver security.
France deployed thousands of troops across the Sahel for nearly a decade. The insurgency grew. Civilian casualties from French airstrikes fueled anti-French sentiment. When the coups came, they were met with popular celebrations in the streets of Bamako, Ouagadougou, and Niamey. That is not a sign of people embracing military rule. It is a sign of people who had exhausted every other option for change.
The Coups & the Alliance of Sahel States
Mali experienced coups in 2020 and 2021. Burkina Faso had two coups in 2022. Niger’s elected president was overthrown in July 2023. All three countries expelled French ambassadors and military forces. All three invited the Wagner Group (now Africa Corps, rebranded after Prigozhin’s death) — Russian private military contractors — to assist with security operations. In 2023, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) and announced their withdrawal from ECOWAS.
As of May 2026: The AES is consolidating. Jihadist violence continues and has in some areas intensified. Wagner/Africa Corps forces have been implicated in civilian massacres. The humanitarian situation is severe — 3 million+ displaced across the Sahel. The path forward is uncertain, but the rejection of French dominance is irreversible.
Key Facts
- France colonized the Sahel under French West Africa. Independence came in 1960 — Françafrique continued.
- 14 African countries still use the CFA franc, depositing reserves with the French Treasury.
- NATO’s 2011 Libya intervention destabilized the Sahel by flooding it with weapons.
- France’s Operation Barkhane (2014–2022) failed to contain the insurgency.
- Mali (2021), Burkina Faso (2022), Niger (2023) — all expelled French forces.
- The Alliance of Sahel States (AES) was formed in 2023; ECOWAS withdrawal announced.
- 3 million+ displaced across the Sahel as of May 2026.
- Wagner/Africa Corps forces are present in all three countries.
NZETE: The Beacon
The Sahel is not chaos. It is a continent in the process of renegotiating the terms of its existence. The people of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger are not naive — they know military governments carry their own dangers. But they have looked at 60 years of Françafrique and decided that anything is better than a sovereignty that exists only on paper.
NZETE stands with the aspiration, not the method. We stand with the Sahelian people’s right to govern themselves, to control their own currency, to benefit from their own land. We stand with the idea that Africa’s future must be written by Africans — not in Paris, not in Washington, not in Moscow. Here. On the continent. Together.
The tree does not ask permission to grow. Neither should we.
Sources: UNHCR, ACLED, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, The Africa Center for Strategic Studies, Council on Foreign Relations. Last reviewed: May 2026.