President John Dramani Mahama has stated that stabilising the crisis-hit Sahel region requires a broader diplomatic coalition beyond the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), specifically urging the structural inclusion of Algeria and Mauritania.

Addressing an elite gathering of international diplomats, academics, and security analysts at Chatham House on June 1, 2026, Mahama unpacked the geopolitical roots of West African instability under the event theme, “Navigating a Changing Global Order: Ghana’s Strategic Priorities.”

According to President Mahama, the contemporary security breakdown in the Sahel is a direct, lingering consequence of the external intervention in North Africa over a decade ago.

"The collapse of Gaddafi in Libya contributed to what is happening there because it became a conduit route into the Sahel," Mahama explained.

Ghanaian tomato traders among victims of Burkina Faso terror attack

He noted that the vacuum allowed global terrorist networks displaced from Middle Eastern battlefields in Syria and Iraq to migrate south, smuggle arms, and establish a new safe haven.

The President emphasised how international jihadist networks, including affiliates of Al-Qaeda and ISIS, successfully weaponised domestic political fractures to gain a foothold in the subregion.

"The Tuaregs in Mali had a grievance about marginalisation and they had started asking for an autonomous region that they call Azawad," Mahama noted.

"What has happened is these other groups, Al-Qaeda groups and all of them, ISIS, have come and exploited the legitimate grievances of the Tuaregs, and that has been the point of entry," he stated.

Because these threats routinely cross national lines, Mahama emphasised that an ECOWAS-only strategy is mathematically and logistically insufficient.

"We cannot have peace in the Sahel without involving Algeria. We cannot have peace in the Sahel without involving Mauritania. And so, I think that it must be a larger discussion than just ECOWAS," he added.

On the home front, President Mahama detailed his administration’s active efforts to repair relations with the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger following their highly publicised attempts to break away from the regional bloc.

Departing from the previous era of sanctions and aggressive rhetoric, Mahama revealed he utilised traditional diplomacy to initiate a rapprochement. After leaders from all three military-led states attended his presidential inauguration including Burkina Faso's Captain Ibrahim Traoré in person Mahama embarked on a reciprocal "thank you" tour across the three capitals.

"By African tradition, you go and say thank you for that," Mahama stated.

"I visited all three countries, but it gave me the opportunity to begin to sound out how we can create a rapprochement with them. Happily, the relation has thawed and I think there's more discussion and contact about our common future between ECOWAS and the AES states," he added.

VPO