Will Togo Join the Alliance of Sahel States?
The Alliance of Sahel States or Alliance des États du Sahel (AES) in French has generated a lot of excitement in West Africa because this alliance represents the potential for a new direction for the region. It represents a future where African states determine their own destiny rather than being controlled by France and other colonial powers.
This new reality threatens the old guard in Africa, which is why Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso were met with sanctions by ECOWAS. This resulted in the three nations deciding to leave ECOWAS. The sanctions were justified as being measures meant to restore democratic rule to nations which currently have military regimes in place. The hypocrisy behind this is that Togo has the oldest military regime in Africa, yet ECOWAS has consistently ignored the human rights situation in Togo because Togo maintains the facade of democracy.
What is interesting is to see the manner in which Togo has responded to the emergence of the AES. Earlier this month, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Robert Dussey, released a statement which affirmed that Togo will not rule out joining the AES. This sparked discussions around whether or not ECOWAS will lose another member. This especially curious considering that Togo was appointed by ECOWAS to join Senegal in the effort to get the AES to return to ECOWAS.
This is purely an act of opportunism and desperation on the part of a Togolese regime which is desperate for international allies and legitimacy. Since the 2017 protests in Togo, the Togolese regime’s international image has been tainted. This is demonstrated by Faure Gnassingbe’s need to defend himself against accusations of being a dictator. This is a significant change from the past when Faure was able to successfully convince international allies such as the United States that Togo was making “democratic gains”. This lie clearly is not working anymore, as demonstrated by the MCC’s decision to defer its grant to Togo until democratic rights in the country are strengthened.
Togo’s dictatorship is in need of new allies. France, which has historically been one of the closest supporters of the Gnassingbe dynasty in Togo, is becoming very unpopular in West Africa as demonstrated by the efforts made by the AES to move away from the French colonial influence. Israel was another historically close ally to the Togolese regime which has become unpopular in Africa recently as well.
It is not that the regime in Togo has suddenly seen the light of Pan-Africanism and anti-colonialism. The regime is desperately trying to cling to power and it needs international support to do so. The regime sees Pan-Africanism as being an opportunity to do just that. It’s also somewhat ironic that after years of advocacy work by Pan-Africanists to expose the regime in Togo, the regime is now turning to Pan-Africanism to improve its image. Whether or not Togo will join the AES remains to be seen, but what is known for sure is that the dictatorship in Togo is desperate for legitimacy and it sees the AES as an opportunity to achieve this.
