The Sahel and Jihadism

Today's terrorist threat is global. The centuries-old phenomenon of terrorism knows no borders. In fact, it makes its way across borders. From its Western origins, the terrorist threat has contaminated the Middle East before spreading to Africa. The terrorist threat is not a phenomenon that can be considered remote, outside our borders when it hasn't yet affected us. No country in the world can claim to be immune; indeed, terrorism has claimed more than 3,000 lives in a single day in the United States of America, one of the world's most powerful nations. The fight against terrorism requires the support of our neighbors. The Sahel states must not be abandoned to their fate by their immediate neighbors, the coastal countries of West Africa and Africa as a whole. The Accra initiative launched in 2017, bringing together Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana and Togo, five years on, what has been its impact? Terrorism continues to gain ground in Burkina Faso, and Benin is under increasing threat.