The political, economic and social crises that stretch across Africa’s Sahel region are connected via trade routes that were established centuries ago. The Sahel is now the main area of conflict and desperate poverty on the continent, but with implications for countries thousands of miles away. For example, the conflict in Mali is undermining stability in oil- and gas-rich Nigeria and Algeria, respectively.
The lack of jobs, education and health services is drawing more young people into a criminal-political economy. The links between drug lords and kidnappers, on the one hand, and opportunistic politicians and jihadists, on the other, mean that the proceeds of crime have become an important political resource.
This report demonstrates how in three Malian centres – Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu – politicians of all ideologies have collaborated with criminal gangs and further undermined the shallow foundations of the state. Our on-the-ground reporting shows the complexity and pervasiveness of these criminal-political networks.
Civic leaders and independent activists in Mali say political dialogue and widely agreed reforms are necessary if this worsening social breakdown is to be stopped. They warn that attempts by the political class in Bamako, encouraged by Western governments, to organise a quick-fix election could reverse some of the tentative progress in recent months and prolong the conflict.
