• Togo unveils 2026–2028 strategy to boost Sahel-Gulf cooperation
• Plan targets security, trade corridors, political dialogue, regional integration
• Initiative may deepen AES ties, raising questions for ECOWAS balance

Togo hosted a high-level meeting on Saturday, April 18, to unveil a new Togo-Sahel strategy for 2026–2028. The gathering laid the groundwork for a renewed approach to Lomé's engagement, focused on stability and cooperation between Sahelian countries and Gulf of Guinea states.

The three-year roadmap is built around five pillars. It calls for intensified political dialogue with Sahel states, improved neighborly relations and the promotion of regional economic integration. The economic component focuses on improving transport links for landlocked Sahelian countries, facilitating trade flows and developing major logistics corridors.

The strategy also puts security cooperation at the center, with enhanced mechanisms for prevention, coordination and intelligence-sharing in the fight against terrorism. A separate diplomatic component aims to strengthen multilateralism and promote more balanced partnerships with international partners.

The initiative builds on a strategy adopted in 2021, which had already positioned Togo as a mediation actor in the region. It comes as security threats persist across the Sahel and are spreading toward West Africa’s coastal states.

Against this backdrop, growing ties between Lomé and the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) have sparked debate. Togolese authorities have repeatedly signaled openness in recent months. Early in 2025, Foreign Affairs Minister Robert Dussey publicly raised the possibility of Togo joining the alliance, pointing to opportunities for regional cooperation and access to ports for Sahelian states.

Such a move would reinforce Togo’s role as a logistics and commercial hub at the crossroads of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Sahel. It nonetheless raises questions about the implications for ECOWAS at a time when sub-regional balances remain fragile.

Ingrid Haffiny