MILITARY juntas in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have failed to bring stability to their countries amid a fresh surge in jihad violence, said the Financial Times.
Dubbed “the coup belt” these countries suffered record total deaths of 7,620 in the first half of the year, up 190% from the same time in 2012.
This is according to Acled, a non-profit organisation tracking global conflict, which also says the number of deaths across all three countries could well surpass 14,000 for the year.
“The recent large-scale attacks in Mali and Burkina Faso directly challenge the official narrative promoted by the military governments,” Mucahid Durmaz, a senior analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft told the Financial Times.
“Despite the consolidation of absolute power and relative public support they have enjoyed, the militaries have failed to stem the violent expansion of the militant groups — undermining the justification they used to seize power.”
The wave of coups began in Mali in 2020, when soldiers removed president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta from office before army strongman Assimi Goïta staged a second coup nine months later. Burkina Faso experienced two coups in 2022 while mutinous soldiers overthrew western ally Mohamed Bazoum in Niger last year, the newspaper said.
The juntas have led a broader geopolitical realignment, kicking out forces from the former colonial power France and taking an increasingly adversarial stancewith western governments and companies, said the Financial Times.
Some mining companies operating in these countries have been negatively affected as new governments seek a tighter control over revenues. An audit of mining licences and new mining code in Mali has seen mining companies agree to tax concessions while disputes are dealt with in heavy-handed fashion.
Employees at Barrick Gold and Resolute Mining have been arrested by government officials while in Niger GoviEx, a uranium development company, had its mining licence revoked.
