West African countries have taken the initiative to strengthen collaboration to tackle the growing insecurity in the Sahel. Under this strategy, more than 400 military troops from Africa, Europe, and America will gather on February 15 in Côte d'Ivoire for a joint military exercise. 

The multi-nation military exercise Flintlock will take place this year in Côte d'Ivoire from February 15 to 28. In a February 7 statement, the U.S. Africa Command (U.S. AFRICOM), reported that the exercise will gather ten countries, including Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Niger, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The Flintlock exercise is designed to build the capacity of key U.S. partner countries in Africa to counter violent extremist organizations, collaborate across borders, and provide security for their populations. It also aims to strengthen partnerships between African, U.S., and international military and police organizations to increase "interoperability during crises and operations. The ultimate goal is to create a secure and stable environment. The exercise will be conducted in partnership with international special operations forces.

According to Mahamat Saleh Annadif, head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), incidents in northern Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, and Togo demonstrate the reality of the displacement of terrorist acts from the Sahel to the coastal countries of the Gulf of Guinea. West Africa has become a hub for drug trafficking in recent years, with the Sahel being considered "a major route for cannabis resin trafficking.”

West African countries have focused in recent years on pooling their efforts through intelligence sharing, the multiplication of joint military exercises, and the creation of the G5 Sahel force. “While regional security is the focus of the exercise, lessons learned and shared at Flintlock will create lasting effects beyond North and West Africa. Malign actors and terrorists who seek to expand their influence here also threaten stability throughout the world. By bringing together the considerable talent of African and international partners, we are collectively stronger and more capable of solving the foundational issues affecting regional and global stability,” Africom said.

Jean-Marc Gogbeu, stagiaire