Politicians and experts in Germany have called on the European country to continue its involvement in Africa’s Sahel region even after the 2020s did not turn out as expected for Berlin. According to Deutsche Welle, Africa’s Sahel is considered a strategic location for Germany, which has long been a significant player in stabilization and development efforts in the largely francophone region. But after military takeovers in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, it became obvious that “Europe’s initial security strategy in the Sahel has failed,” says Malte Lierl, a research fellow at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) in Hamburg. However, as Lierl also points out, the current situation is not one of total withdrawal but rather a new orientation of Europe’s engagement in the region. But this recalibration of Germany’s policies in the Sahel region also requires Berlin to take a wider perspective on the entire region, Bergmann added.
