Le Monde: US commercial diplomacy to reconnect with military regimes in the Sahel
The United States has suspended some of its development aid and military cooperation following successive coups between 2020 and 2023, which led to military leaders taking power in three countries: Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
Since the Trump administration took office, Washington has shown a desire to focus its policy in Africa on trade, with a notable focus on mineral resources.
The military regimes in the Sahel region, united within the Sahel Alliance, welcomed this new approach despite their sovereign policies, particularly regarding minerals.
In recent weeks, a number of senior US officials visited Bamako, Ouagadougou, and Niamey in early July.
In this context, White House Counterterrorism Director Rodolphe Atallah presented Mali with the “American solution” against “terrorism”.
A few days later, Assistant Secretary of State for West African Affairs William Stevens, in Bamako after visits to Ouagadougou and Niamey, referred to the “fight against terrorism” and the possibility of “private American investments”.
“We must consider investment and the capabilities of our countries,” Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said last July.
Mali is among the largest producers of gold and lithium—used in electric car batteries—in Africa… This is also the case with Niger regarding uranium and Burkina Faso regarding gold.
For a decade, these countries have suffered attacks by groups linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State, without being able to eliminate them.
According to Ulf Laessing, director of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, in exchange for “killing jihadist leaders,” the United States seeks access for (American) security companies to resources including gold and lithium.
Having turned their backs on France, the former colonial power, the military governments in the Sahel have turned to Russia and its private security company, Wagner, now the Africa Corps, which helps combat jihadist groups.
Moscow recently announced its intention to exploit Nigerian uranium, shortly after the military government nationalized a branch of the French uranium company Orano.
According to former US Ambassador to Niger Bessa Williams, “Trump sees no problem supporting Russia’s efforts in the region… The Russians are less hawkish on democratic values and promoting human rights, and this aligns with the Trump administration”.
She added that in exchange for the minerals, “Washington could agree to fight terrorism in Mali,” by facilitating the deployment of “American mercenaries,” similar to the Russians, so as not to “defend this policy before Congress”.
