The United States is preparing long‑term assistance for the Ivory Coast, Benin and Togo as concerns grow that jihadist violence in the Sahel could spill into coastal West Africa, officials told AFP. Western support is also seen as critical for halting Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, which has made major inroads in the violence‑torn Sahel countries and has allied with Mali’s military junta.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who visited Ghana last month as part of a growing U.S. push in Africa, promised $100 million over ten years to reinforce resilience in coastal West Africa. State Department officials are also exploring additional funding, including from the counter‑terrorism budget. In a new global strategy to prevent conflict and promote stability, President Joe Biden’s administration identified coastal West Africa as a priority for the coming decade. The report released in March noted that the Sahel to the immediate north had experienced more terrorist attacks than any other region and emphasized the need to “prevent violent conflicts from emerging or further spreading across the region.”
While coastal cities connected to the world through seaports have largely remained unscathed, violence has been rising in areas bordering Mali and Burkina Faso. “It’s a significant and burgeoning threat,” said Michael Heath, the deputy assistant secretary of state for West Africa. “The capabilities of the governments in place have never faced a threat like this before. They’re trying to cope with this, and we’re trying to see what kind of tools they need,” he told AFP after a recent trip to the region with other State Department officials to assess needs.
Heath noted that he has not yet seen a Wagner presence in the three coastal countries, although the group—accused of human rights abuses in several nations, including Ukraine—“is looking for opportunities to take advantage of instability wherever they see it.” U.S. officials also accuse Russia of stepping up disinformation in French‑speaking Africa, exploiting post‑colonial resentments.
Concerns about violence and Russian influence in the Sahel have grown since France ended an eight‑year campaign against jihadists, which some critics said relied too heavily on military solutions. U.S. officials argue that coastal West Africa would not experience violence without spillover from the north, but they also attribute instability to local factors and competition for resources exacerbated by climate change. Assistance will therefore focus partly on addressing economic gaps that extremists exploit for recruitment.
“We want to help these governments adopt a holistic approach and good governance to address the problems of the north, where resources are scarcer,” said Gregory LoGerfo, a senior State Department counter‑terrorism official on the trip. A key area of support will be helping West African governments strengthen their legal systems so they can differentiate between legitimate refugees fleeing the Sahel and security threats. “There are many people with family ties across borders in Burkina Faso and elsewhere. You need a management system that doesn’t shut off families or economies, while still addressing the security problem,” LoGerfo explained.
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