- Africa’s Sahel region is rising against Western neocolonialism as it drives out foreign troops, winds up military bases, creates alternative currency, and takes on established multinational corporations.
- The number of pro-Western puppet regimes in Africa is rapidly declining with the Alliance of the Sahel States, consisting of Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and many others leading an African Axis of Resistance.
- The Alliance of the Sahel States has all the makings of a game-changing regional integration platform but relegating Africa to the sphere of influence dominated by Russia, China, and Iran is not a viable alternative either.
- The Alliance of the Sahel States is winning the media war centred around sovereignty first. However, the West will undoubtedly retaliate driving the fear of takeover by Russia and China.
Africa’s Sahel region is rising against Western neocolonialism as it is driving out foreign bases and troops, creating its alternative currency, and taking on established multinational corporations. After all, multipolarity cannot blossom unless resistance is present to block its way.
In Senegal, the shift in power against neocolonialism is directly related to the results of the polls, in contrast to Niger, where it was linked to a military coup. With the overwhelming win of 44-year-old Bassirou Diomaye Faye in the national elections on March 24, Senegal entered a new era. After serving a two-week jail sentence as a French puppet, Faye, a former tax inspector, gained notoriety as an underdog pan-African leader who turned the “most stable democracy in Africa,” led by Macky Sall, upside down.
As part of the new, youthful pan-African generation focused on sovereignty, the next president of Senegal now stands alongside potential superstar Julius Malema, 44, in South Africa, Ibrahim Traore, 36, in Burkina Faso, Aby Ahmed, 46, in Ethiopia, and Andry Rajoelina, 48, in Madagascar. Faye promised to restore Senegal’s sovereignty in his electoral programme no fewer than eighteen times. The key to these changes is geoeconomics. Faye intends to renegotiate mining and energy contracts, notably the biggest ones with British Petroleum (BP) and UK gold mine operator, Endeavour Mining, as Senegal grows into a significant oil and gas producer.
Crucially, he plans to ditch the exploitative CFA franc – the French-controlled currency system used in 14 African states – even setting up a new currency as part of reshaping relations with neocolonial power France, Senegal’s top trading partner.
African Sahel States
Regarding whether he wants to force the French soldiers out of Senegal, Faye has not made it plain yet. If that were to occur, Paris would suffer an unparalleled setback because Senegal is viewed by the French establishment and Petit Roi Emmanuel Macron as the essential role in blockading landlocked countries like Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, who have already left Paris in the dust (Sahel).
Following a string of humiliations, the three latter states have recently united to form the Alliance of the Sahel States (Alliance des Etats du Sahel, or AES in its original French). This alliance represents not only a major nightmare for Paris but also a major headache for the United States, as evidenced by the spectacular breakdown of military cooperation between Washington and Niamey, the capital of Nigerien.
The US Deep State claims that Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, is the guilty party. The Russia-Africa diplomatic activity that has been going on since last year—involving all of the major parties, from the Sahel to the new African BRICS members, Egypt and Ethiopia—has not received the attention it deserves in the US Beltway.
Washington now needs to give a deadline for withdrawing its soldiers from Niger, despite previously viewing the country as a steadfast partner in the Sahel. This is because a military cooperation agreement was revoked. The Pentagon is no longer permitted to conduct military exercises on Nigerien soil. The Pentagon invested more than $150 million to establish two important bases, one in Niamey and the other in Agadez. Only in 2019 was Niamey completed and is under the management of AFRICOM, the African Command of the US military.
As is to be expected, operational goals are unclear. In essence, the Niamey facility serves as an intelligence hub, processing information gathered by MQ-9 Reaper drones. The Dirkou Aerodrome serves as a base for US Air Force operations in the Sahel. This is where things get fascinating since it’s not even admitted that there is a de facto CIA drone base in Dirkou, manned by a few operators. Intelligence gathering is made possible throughout Central Africa—from west to north—by this black base.
There are about a thousand US troops in Niger, and they might be ordered to leave soon. The Americans are making every effort to stop the damage. Molly Phee, the US Undersecretary of State for Africa, has only made two trips to Niger this month. As Niger grows closer to Russia and Iran, abandoning bases there will mean that Washington will lose control of the Sahel, following Paris. These bases are not necessary to monitor the Bab al-Mandeb; instead, the focus is on the Sahel, where drones are operating beyond legal bounds and invading every visible sovereign air space. By the way, in January, a sizable group travelled to Moscow from Niamey. Then, last week, before speaking with President Denis Nguesso of the Republic of the Congo, Putin spoke over the phone about security cooperation with the leaders of the military junta in Niger, Mali, and Assimi Goita, the interim president of Mali.
Ivory Coast
The number of pro-Western puppet regimes in Africa is rapidly declining. The Alliance of the Sahel States, which consists of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, may be leading an African Axis of Resistance, but there are more: South Africa, Ethiopia, and Egypt are full members of the BRICS, and Algeria and Nigeria are strong contenders for inclusion in the BRICS+. Concerning diplomacy and commerce, as well as the entirety of the Russia-China strategic alliance, both China and Russia are firmly committed to the long term and see Africa as a major multipolar player. More proof was offered once more at the multipolar conference held in Moscow last month when one of the stars was the charismatic pan-African leader Kemi Seba from Benin.
The Alliance of the Sahel States has all the makings of a game-changing regional integration platform. Though Guinea already has the geographic capacity to give the alliance reliable marine access, Senegal under Faye may join at some point. That will cause the ECOWAS, which is based in Nigeria and is governed by the West, to gradually disappear. But never underestimate the might of the hegemon’s tentacles. Relegating Africa to a multipolar sphere of influence dominated by Russia, China, and Iran is not a viable alternative and an eventuality that the Pentagon will try to stop with all its might. However, nobody believes the US’s “terror threat” argument anymore across the Axis of Resistance in the Sahel. Before NATO transformed Libya into a wasteland in 2011, put forces on the ground, established military bases across the continent, and there was essentially no terror in Africa.
Thus far, the Alliance of the Sahel States is winning the media war centred around sovereignty first. However, the West will undoubtedly retaliate. Ultimately, the entire game revolves around the West’s extreme fear of Russia annexing Central Africa and the Sahel.
(The author is a post-graduate student in International Relations at Kalinga University, Raipur. The opinions expressed are the author’s own)
Sahana A 
Anjali Singh