During his visit to the Ivorian capital Abidjan, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken pledged $45 million to boost coastal West African security, extending funding of an ongoing program in the region to $300 million. He also praised counterinsurgency measures by the Ivorian military in warding off armed groups despite being wedged between Mali and Burkina Faso, hotspots for violence in the Sahel. Blinken then jetted off to Abuja to meet Bola Tinubu, Nigeria’s president and chair of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). His tour also includes Angola and Cape Verde.
Simultaneously, US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, is on a separate tour, visiting Liberia, Guinea Bissau, and Sierra Leone. The visits are officially billed as a show of support to democracies in the region, but analysts say the trips are attempts by the US to bolster or build new security partnerships in a region witnessing waning Western influence.
West Africa has witnessed a spate of recent military takeovers and violence by multiple armed groups, leaving governance at risk as progress “has flatlined since 2019”. With worsening economic conditions and alarming insecurity, the US is seeking to reassure its remaining allies in the region while their neighbors shop for new partners outside the usual Western sphere of influence.
China’s influence in the region, visible in trade agreements and infrastructural projects, is also a factor. The US’s visit to the region comes months after the US-backed ECOWAS stance against the July 30 coup in Niger, a country that was considered crucial to the US’s fight against armed groups in the Sahel. The US is also considering other locations for its drone base, as its operations in Niger have become severely limited following the coup.
There is increasing pressure on governments in coastal West Africa to consider other options besides Western governments, which are being seen as ineffective in the fight against armed groups. As a result, the US is seeking to counter that pressure in a region that accounts for around 6 percent of the world’s population.
Within the region, there is scepticism about the visits, with many feeling that the US’s engagement with the continent has been flippant. US officials, however, deny this and stress the importance of regular and persistent engagement at all levels. Despite this, there remains a sense of disappointment among African leaders regarding the US’s level of engagement with the continent.