Sahel security: Togo advocates holistic approach beyond military action
The Sahel, the pivotal region of West Africa, continues to concentrate the most acute security challenges of the continent. Faced with this reality, Togo, through its Foreign Minister Robert Dussey, proposes moving beyond a purely military logic to confront terrorism. He stresses that lasting peace cannot be built on armed force alone. It requires a consolidated social fabric, solid institutions, and an inclusive economy. This comprehensive approach places development at the heart of security, recognizing that poverty, marginalization, and state fragility fuel extremism.
The Togolese diplomat’s message, relayed by his Malian counterpart Abdoulaye Diop, is part of a crucial regional dialogue. He calls for combining institutional stability, social inclusion, and shared development to build lasting peace.
This vision goes beyond conventional counter-terrorism discourse and reframes security within a coherent Pan-African strategy, where state resilience and regional solidarity become tools for prevention and reconstruction.
Togo highlights the Confederation of Sahel States as a potential lever. This organization, bringing together Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, illustrates the ambition to structure military responses while integrating socio-economic dimensions.
Robert Dussey reminds that weakening this bloc would have repercussions across West Africa. Security cannot be fragmented: it is indivisible, and its deficit undermines any sustainable development effort.
The stakes for Togo and its partners go beyond simple crisis management. Investment in inclusive governance mechanisms, the creation of economic opportunities, and the protection of local communities are all vectors capable of breaking the cycle of violence.
From this perspective, every development project and every social initiative becomes a bulwark against conflagration.
Peace and prosperity go hand in hand, and regional stability is now measured by the ability of states to integrate their populations’ well-being into security policy.
This stance reflects diplomatic and strategic maturity; a clear awareness that security is the foundation of progress and that development cannot wait for the guns to fall silent.
The vision of Togo looks to a future where a united and determined West Africa transforms the challenge of terrorism into a driver of cohesion and emancipation.
Peace, when rooted in equity and sharing, becomes the very architecture of prosperity.
Chantal TAWELESSI
