Introduction: The Sahel region of Africa, sandwiched between the Sahara and the Savannah, is a vast, semi-arid region that forms a transitional zone stretching approximately 5,000 kilometres from Senegal on the Atlantic coast to Eritrea on the Red Sea coast. This expansive area encompasses diverse geographic and agroecological systems, spanning 14 countries and providing a home for roughly 400 million people. This region is settled by desert-dwelling peoples from the Sahara in the north who migrated to the bordering areas of the south in search of more favourable living conditions. Even though the Sahel is characterised by diverse cultures, historical significance, and varying levels of accessibility and stability, the region is among the world's least developed areas. The Sahel Human Development Report, 2023, published under the auspices of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), highlights that the region's economic affairs are intricately tied to energy access, climate challenges, and regional disparities (UNDP, 2024). This chapter examines the complex economic landscape of the Sahel region, exploring the environmental challenges, political instability, and external influences that shape the economic realities of each country within the region. Ten major mainland countries are taken into account, as defined by the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel (UNISS): Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, and Nigeria. Analysing the current economic status of these countries and broader regional dynamics is imperative in identifying critical factors impacting the economic conditions and suggesting strategic interventions to enhance economic resilience and create prosperity across the Sahel. The chapter also examines the geopolitical tensions involving major powers such as the USA, France, and China to understand how these relationships affect the region's economic stability and development prospects.

Keywords: Sahel, Africa, China, Economy, geopolitics, USA, France, Climate Change.

Full Text of the Chapter is available in the Book: Animesh Roul,  "Economy of the Sahel: Challenges, Opportunities, and Geopolitical Tensions" in János BESENYŐ (Editor), NATO’S REGIONAL CHALLENGES: TERRORISM AND COUNTER-TERRORISM IN SAHEL (NATO COE-DAT Research Project Centre of Excellence - Defence Against Terrorism Ankara, Türkiye, 2025) 

Author's Bio: 

Animesh Roul is the Executive Director of the Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict, a New Delhi–based policy research Think-Tank. His work focuses on counterterrorism, religious radicalism, terror financing, and armed conflict in South Asia, with wider research interests in conflict dynamics and security developments in Africa and Southeast Asia. Roul is currently engaged in research and writing projects that explore the intersection of religiously motivated terrorism, sectarian violence, and the persecution of Christian communities in Africa. His work also examines how religiously motivated organizations exploit climate vulnerabilities in the Sahel, particularly how they leverage droughts, crop failures, and other climate-induced hardships to recruit and radicalize vulnerable groups. He has published widely in leading journals and policy outlets, including CTC Sentinel, Jamestown Foundation’s Terrorism Monitor and Militant Leadership Monitor, Global Network on Extremism & Technology (GNET), Geopolitical Monitor, Firstpost, and CBW Magazine. Roul has co-authored and co-edited several volumes, notably Handbook of Terrorist and Insurgent Groups : A Global Survey of Threats, Tactics,  and Characteristics (Routledge/CRC Press, 2024), Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing through Hawala Money Transfer Operators (Palgrave, forthcoming, 2026), and Indian Mujahideen: Computational Analysis and Public Policy (Springer, 2013). Some of his notable book chapters include “Bioterrorism and the Biological Weapons Convention : A Review of Five Decades of Evolving Treaty Framework” (PentagonPress, 2025), “Exacerbating the Pandemic? Assessing the Critical Role of Religious Congregations in the Indian Subcontinent” (Routledge, 2022) and “Coronavirus as God’s Soldier: Assessing the Divine Retribution Narrative of Religiously Motivated Organisations” (Pentagon Press, 2020). 

ORCID : 0000-0001-8584-3397 / 

Emails : animeshroul@gmail.com / animeshroul@sspconline.org

• Tags:
• Sahel, Africa, Economic, NATO