On Monday, 6 February, the G5 Sahel heads of state met for their sixth extra-ordinary summit on the theme, “The security situation in Mali and its impact on the Sahel.” The meeting took place against a background in which Mali's peace agreement is breaking down; there are persistent terrorist attacks and, in recent months, there have been many operations in neighbouring countries. Among the measures mentioned, the G5 leaders emphasised the implementation of a joint force. Read on

An ambitious flagship project, the long-awaited construction of a trans-African gas pipeline connecting Nigeria via Morocco to Europe, might finally advance. The project was officially announced in December 2016 during a visit of King Mohammed VI to Nigeria. The 4 000 km pipeline will run along the Gulf of Guinea countries and will help create industrial hubs, and thereby will also boost regional economic integration beyond the energy sector. Read on

How do West African traders manage to overcome the uncertainties of doing business across the region? How do informal ties shape relationships between border actors in West Africa? How do these actors operate across borders? In this article published by the Brookings Institution, Olivier Walther, Associate Professor at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU), presents some of the findings of a paper on “Business, Brokers and Borders” that shows how a formal approach to networks can help map the social and spatial organisation of trade and provide insights into its functioning. Read on

On 11 and 12 March in Bamako, member states of the G5 Sahel (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger) jointly organised with UNDP and Japan, and in partnership with the government of Mali, an international conference on border management and border communities in the Sahel. Read on