Sunday, May 22, 2022

The Suffering Sahel

 “We live in one of the poorest places on earth,” explained former Malian President, the late Amadou Toumani Touré.

 About 80 percent of the people of the Sahel live on less than $1.90 a day, and the population growth in this region is expected to rise from 90 million in 2017 to 240 million by 2050. 

The Sahel belt owes a vast debt to the wealthy bondholders in the North Atlantic states, who are not prepared for debt forgiveness. 

The arms trade is crippling the region. 

The G5 Sahel countries spend between 17 percent and 30 percent of their budgets on their militaries. 

Three of the five Sahel countries have increased their military spending astronomically over the past decade, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute: Burkina Faso by 238 percent, Mali by 339 percent, and Niger by 288 percent. 

Is This the End of the French Project in Africa’s Sahel? - CounterPunch.org


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