Macron Visits Mali to Boost Anti-Terrorism Force

On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron readies to meet Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita at a security summit in hopes to shore up support for a regional counter-terror force.

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French Foreign Minister Yves Le Drian told French newspaper Le Monde that "This force is first going to secure the borders, particularly in the areas where terrorist groups have developed."

He explained that accompanying the new G5 military force would be a priority for Operation Barkhane – France’s ongoing Chad-based anti-jihad mission for the region.

“We think that we should call on (the G5 states) in this mission because security for Africans will ultimately only come from Africans themselves,” Le Drian related while in Nouakchott, Mauritania, last month.

The joint initiative would see the deployment of approximately 5,000 regional troops into the Sahel region, which has largely been a hub for human traffickers, and arms and drugs smugglers.

Macron has fervently pushed for the project, which is largely viewed as the setup for the exit of French troops from the region. He is seeking extra support from Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and the United States.

The EU agreed to contribute €50 million.

But Serge Michailof, a researcher at the Paris-based IRIS institute , described the EU contribution as "a joke" given the EU's "very deep pockets" and the poverty of the Sahel countries.

"This force is going to cost $300-400 million (262-350 million euros) at the very least," he told AFP.

France’s military deployment in Mali came at the request of the African nation to help combat jihadist groups who effectively seized control of the northern part of the country. The military is supported by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) coalition forces, who are also deployed in the area.

The summit will be hosted by the G5 Sahel, which comprises Mali, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mauritania.

This trip will mark Macron's second visit to Mali since taking office.

Jean-Marie Guéhenno, president, and CEO of the International Crisis Group, raised questions in an open letter about the co-existence of multiple security missions under multiple commands.

“Already, the juxtaposition of (the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali) MINUSMA, the French Barkhane counter-terrorism operation, Malian security forces, the various armed groups – the peace agreement’s signatories and others – makes for a busy security picture,” Guéhenno wrote in his open letter.

“The benefits of introducing yet another force, which is envisioned to be formed by the G-5 (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger) and/or the smaller G-3 comprising Burkinabe, Nigerien and Malian forces, are unclear. So too is the role either force would play; as a result, their deployment risks aggravating what amounts to a security traffic jam.”

There are reportedly multiple armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and Boko Haram wreaking havoc in Mali. Irrespective of the 10,000 UN peacekeepers and the 4,000 French troops on the ground, security in Mali remains precarious.

In the past four years, 118 peacekeepers have been killed in the area.

“Armed groups are more numerous, they clash more frequently with Malian and international forces, and violence has spread to central Mali,” wrote Guéhenno in his open letter to the UN Security Council.

On Sunday, Chad President Idriss Deby declared, “We have reached our limit. Even if we had financing, Chad would be either in the G-5 or MINUSMA. Choices will have to be made.”

The United States had also expressed concern, when it rejected France's first draft of the G-5 force, citing its hefty price tag as a problem.

The total bill for the force is estimated at €400 million.