West Africa: Germany’s Baerbock Visits West Africa Amidst Sahel Violence

Germany’s top diplomat is traveling to Senegal and Ivory Coast, two of the last democracies in a region otherwise plagued by sectarian conflict. Senegal has become a major transit point for refugees en route to Europe.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was in West Africa on Monday as instability in the Sahel threatens to spread to other regions.

“If more countries in West Africa descend into instability, that will not only have dramatic consequences for the local population but also a direct impact on our security in Europe,” Baerbock said ahead of her two-day visit, which includes stops in Senegal and Ivory Coast.

The two countries are some of West Africa’s last remaining democracies amid coups and outbreaks of violence that have seen many countries in the area turn their back on the West and instead seek support from Russia and China.

Baerbock said that Germany will be “focusing on offers that benefit people on both sides today and tackle the challenges of the future together.”

Since 2020, Mali, Chad, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Gabon have seen military uprisings. Meanwhile, in neighboring Sudan in particular, sectarian violence has led to compounding humanitarian crises and some 15,000 deaths.

Baerbock to talk migration, sustainability

The people of Senegal and Ivory Coast, as well as “other countries bordering the Sahel, live under the constant threat that terror and violence from neighboring countries will also seep into their societies,” Baerbock said.

Germany’s top diplomat is set to meet with her Senegalese counterpart Yassine Fall, as well as newly elected President Bassirou Diomaye Faye in Dakar. Migration and renewable energy are set to be at the top of the agenda.

Baerbock is also scheduled to see the electric Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in the Senegalese capital, one of the first such fleets in Africa. It went into service in May after receiving funding from the World Bank and the European Investment Bank.

The EU’s Global Gateway initiative plans to invest up to €300 billion (around $326 billion) in the infrastructure of emerging and developing countries over the next few years.

Senegal has also become a major transit point for refugees fleeing the violence in the Sahel seeking their way to Europe. In 2023, arrivals that set off from Senegal exceeded those of much closer Morocco.

es/rmt (AFP, dpa)