Chancellor Merkel has promised assistance to West African countries in the fight against terrorism and for more economic recovery. She continues to refuse arms deliveries to the region.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced broad support to Burkina Faso and the countries of the regional organization G5 Sahel in the fight against Islamist terrorism and for more stability.
Burkina Faso is also faced with a population growth of three percent and the deteriorating security situation before major challenges, Merkel said after a conversation with President Roch Marc Kaboré in Ouagadougou. It announced aid to the country amounting to more than 20 million euros.
Cooperation – but no arms deliveries
Germany is on the side of Burkina Faso in the security cooperation. The Federal Republic will help with the capacity expansion of the police and the gendarmerie and provide for their equipment about ten million euros, announced Merkel.
The Federal Government also offers advice from the Bundeswehr in the amount of seven to ten million euros – the first negotiations have been started. This also applies in view of the difficult situation in parts of the country with numerous school closures. However, the Chancellor continued to reject arms deliveries.
Merkel emphasized that unrest and the poorer security situation also had to do with the crisis in Libya and the development in Sudan. Kaboré demanded from Europe a common attitude to the crisis in Libya. The Libyan question must be solved urgently, otherwise the threat will be further aggravated – for example, by the smuggling of weapons into the region.
Consultations on security concepts
In development cooperation, Germany will provide EUR 5.5 million more than previously planned, Merkel said, especially in dealing with climate change, in water management and improving soil quality.
Following the meeting with Kaboré, the Chancellor discussed with all five Presidents of the regional organization G5 Sahel on how the work of the group can be made more effective. Germany also transferred 60 million euros to the organization, Merkel said. In addition to Burkina Faso, the G5 group includes Mali, Niger, Mauritania and Chad.
The deliberations focus above all on the G5 anti-terrorist force, which is to fight up to 5,000 men against the growing Islamist terrorism in the region. Experts consider their action to be less effective. The situation in the core Sahel states has deteriorated significantly in recent years. For example, four attacks by Islamist terrorists were registered in Burkina Faso in 2015, and by 2018 there were already 160.
Increased interest in Africa
Merkel will visit the German soldiers in Mali and fly to Niger next to Burkina Faso until Friday. There she wants to make German commitments of more than 35 million euros. The money is intended for development aid projects and the equipment and training of police forces.
Since the refugee crisis in 2015, Africa has become increasingly a focus of its foreign policy. Already in autumn 2016 she was in the region, visiting Nigeria and Mali as well as Ethiopia. Since then, there have been numerous further trips to Africa as well as visits by African presidents to Merkel in Berlin.
Development aid and investment
Germany supports the Sahel region from 2017 to 2020 with 1.7 billion euros. Of this, one billion euros will be spent on development aid, the remainder for the local military, infrastructure and training, civilian crisis prevention and humanitarian aid.
At the same time Merkel announced intensified activities of the German economy. The Federal Government has significantly improved the security of investments so that more private sector investments are possible. „Africa needs a self-supporting upswing.“
