Togo has launched a new 2026-2028 Sahel strategy aimed at positioning the country as a diplomatic bridge between the Economic Community of West African States and the Alliance of Sahel States, as regional divisions deepen over security, governance and foreign alliances in West Africa. The initiative was unveiled at a high-level summit in Lomé attended by representatives of ECOWAS, the AES, and international partners including France and the European Union.
The meeting was designed to reopen dialogue with the military-led governments of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, which have drifted away from ECOWAS and Western allies in recent years while drawing closer to Russia. Togo’s Foreign Minister, Robert Dussey, said his country was ready to use its mediation experience and regional influence to promote stability and act as “a bridge between the Sahel and the wider international community.”
According to officials, Togo’s new Sahel plan rests on five pillars: political dialogue with the AES, stronger regional and international cooperation, the fight against terrorism, support for economic integration, and a broader adaptation of Togo’s engagement to shifting realities in the Sahel and Gulf of Guinea. State media and regional reporting said the strategy replaces Togo’s earlier 2021 framework and is intended to respond to the worsening security and diplomatic fragmentation across the region.
Representatives of the Alliance of Sahel States welcomed the initiative and signaled interest in deeper cooperation. Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said security cooperation would require ending the presence of “hostile foreign forces” allegedly involved in destabilising neighbouring states, underlining the continued suspicion with which AES governments view some outside actors in the region.
The summit comes at a time of profound realignment in West Africa. Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger formally broke with ECOWAS after a series of coups and later consolidated their own confederation under the AES, rejecting pressure to return quickly to civilian rule. Reuters has previously reported that the three junta-led states have deepened military and diplomatic cooperation and increasingly turned away from France and other Western partners.
The urgency of Togo’s initiative is sharpened by the spread of jihadist violence. Armed groups linked to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State continue to kill thousands across the Sahel and are increasingly extending their reach toward coastal states such as Togo and Benin. In that context, Lomé is trying to present itself as both a frontline state and a diplomatic intermediary, betting that dialogue and regional coordination can help contain a crisis that no country in the region can manage alone.
