As France and its European allies prepare to leave Mali, Paris plans to increase its military cooperation with Niger in the fight against Islamist insurgents in the Sahel. But it’s a marriage of convenience as coups and rising anti-French sentiments in the region have left Paris with little choice.
Last year, at the end of a virtual G5 Sahel meeting in July, French President Emmanuel Macron held a press conference where the optics displayed the new security and diplomatic trend in a grouping that covers Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania and Niger.
