UAE Expands Strategic Footprint in the Sahel as Algeria Warns of Regional Encirclement
From Mali to Niger, Abu Dhabi Leverages Security Partnerships, Authoritarian Regimes, and Moroccan Coordination to Reconfigure Power Dynamics in Africa.
Watan-In a volatile regional moment, and as global rivalries intensify over the African Sahel, the UAE has ramped up its field and diplomatic activity in the region—advancing a strategy far beyond the economic cooperation it publicly promotes.
In early May, a high-level Emirati delegation led by Sheikh Shakhbut bin Nahyan, Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, visited Bamako (Mali) and Niamey (Niger). Though the trip was framed as diplomatic outreach, it carried with it a broader project to reshape power balances in the region.
The UAE’s Project: Beyond Bilateral Cooperation
According to informed sources, this Emirati push is part of an effort to fill the political and security vacuum left by Algeria’s waning role in supporting liberation movements and opposition forces across the Sahel.
Abu Dhabi appears to see this vacuum as an opportunity to consolidate its influence through a new regional architecture centered around three core objectives:
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Forging security partnerships with the transitional military regimes now in power after coups in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.
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Providing political and logistical cover for those regimes against Western and African pressure, especially concerning their repression of civil society and democratic opposition.
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Quietly burying the Tuareg-led Azawad cause in northern Mali by sponsoring a new Emirati-backed “security roadmap” that ignores long-standing demands for autonomy or independence.
Abu Dhabi’s Playbook: Power Over Democracy
What alarms observers is not just the sidestepping of civil forces but the repetition of a familiar Emirati model seen from Sudan to Libya to the Horn of Africa.
That model hinges on:
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Backing authoritarian or transitional regimes,
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Offering political legitimacy and military support,
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Delivering economic aid tied to arms deals or strategic concessions.
In Mali, the UAE has strengthened ties with a military council accused of escalating human rights abuses. In Niger, it offers “development alternatives” to gloss over public dissatisfaction with the recent coup.
These alternatives are less about genuine progress and more about reconfiguring the political landscape to favor Abu Dhabi’s long-term interests—even if it means undermining stability and democratic processes.
Coordination with Morocco: A Regional Axis Against Algeria
Even more concerning is the reported coordination between the UAE and Morocco in this Sahelian strategy. Morocco has promised Sahelian regimes Atlantic access—a major geopolitical incentive for countries seeking alternatives to Algeria’s traditional influence.
This UAE-Morocco tandem aims to isolate Algeria geopolitically, offering military and economic alliances to Sahel countries while marginalizing civil society and pushing these regimes toward autocratic, externally managed partnerships.
Influence Over Development
At its core, the UAE is not engaging with the Sahel as a developmental partner. Instead, it sees the region as a vacuum to be filled with top-down alliances in exchange for regime survival and strategic access.
This aligns with Abu Dhabi’s broader foreign policy: growing influence through security cooperation, not sustainable development or democratic transformation.
With its deepening roles in Libya, Sudan, and now the Sahel, the UAE is not just reshaping politics, but also redefining how governance and security are structured—anchored in a centralized, authoritarian vision of statehood.
A Power Map That Ignores the People
Ultimately, the UAE’s approach is clear: enter contested spaces to redesign them in its image, regardless of local balance or historical rights.
As international powers remain largely silent, a form of organized chaos spreads in regions once envisioned as frontiers for freedom and progress.
For Algeria, now the target of this dual-pronged geopolitical offensive, the challenge is steep. It must reclaim initiative in its natural sphere of influence or risk being sidelined in a new regional architecture taking shape just beyond its borders.
