This analysis from Matthieu Pellerin at the French research institute IFRI focuses on security issues along the Niger-Libya border. Since 2011, security initiatives have been mostly externally driven, even as they responded to the government of Niger’s demands to secure its borders against jihadist attacks. Never before has the Sahel region been so highly militarised. However, the heavy presence of external security forces may be negatively affecting the interests of local communities. Most efforts are solely focused on border control without any long-term vision about how to help this fragile area develop and become more stable. Read on

The G5 Sahel Security College was inaugurated on 16 September in Bamako during a meeting chaired by Salif Traoré, the Malian minister in charge of internal security and civic protection. The college aims to train security forces and build a network of people involved in security activities, inclduing police agents, judges, religious authorities and civil society leader. Four dedicated training centres focus on military intelligence (Chad), border security (Niger), criminal police (Burkina Faso) and training services (Mauritania). Read on

Cross-border experts, practitioners and international partners gathered on 3-4 July 2018 in Cotonou, Benin, to share experiences and discuss innovative mechanisms for making cross-border co-operations operational. The seminar highlighted the crucial contribution of border areas and populations to the regional integration process, based on the Local Cross-Border Co-operation Programme currently led by UEMOA in collaboration with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Read on

Bio Soulé, a Rural Hub programme officer, explores the obstacles that prevent the promise of cross-border trade from fully catalysing the region’s growth and development in this article for the Bridges Africa series. “If radical reforms are not carried out in these countries, the African market could become easy prey for multinationals and counterfeit traders, who have the capacity to flood it with products of all kinds,” exhorts Soulé. Read on