From Mali to Lake Chad: lack of security strategy turns Sahel into global jihadist hub

The Sahel-Saharan belt has officially become the global epicentre of jihadist activity. From western Mali to the edges of the Lake Chad basin, millions of Sahelian civilians now live under the domination of groups linked to Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State. Farming is banned, ultra-violent social rules are enforced, and the constant fear of the next raid hangs over daily life. The situation is a living nightmare. But the most tragic aspect of this descent into hell is not just the strength of the attackers: it is the stark realisation that no genuine security policy exists to contain the fire sweeping across the Sahel.

The reign of reaction and ad-hoc measures

Faced with an interconnected threat that crosses the Sahel’s porous borders with alarming agility, state responses remain desperately fragmented, vague, and improvised. We see a string of knee-jerk reactions after each massacre, rather than the implementation of a well-thought-out and shared military doctrine.

A real security policy goes far beyond buying military hardware or posting grand statements on social media. It requires:

• Genuine, lasting strategic coordination among frontline Sahel states.
• A permanent plan to secure road corridors and farming zones, protecting the rural economy of the Sahel.
• Territorial coverage and shared intelligence capable of anticipating enemy movements, not just counting the dead.

Instead, the current strategic vacuum leaves armed groups free to settle in, levy taxes, and establish themselves as the sole administrators of vast swaths of Sahelian territory.

The trap of all-military with no overall vision

Another symptom of this missing security policy in the Sahel is the illusion that the crisis can be solved by guns alone. By ignoring the human security dimension—restoring public services, schools, clinics, and impartial justice in fragile areas—governments create a vacuum that jihadist recruiters are quick to fill.

Because there is no long-term vision to sustainably re-establish the state where it has failed, military operations, even when they succeed temporarily, become nothing more than stabs in the dark. As soon as the army withdraws or shifts focus, terrorist groups return, stronger and more entrenched within local communities than before.

An urgent awakening or collapse

The picture painted from Mali to Lake Chad is a severe warning for the region’s future. A global, structured insurgency cannot be fought with improvisation and broken strategic alliances. As long as Sahel leaders refuse to design a comprehensive, science-based, and truly coordinated security policy, political speeches will continue—while on the ground, the territory will keep slipping inexorably into the hands of armed groups.