The Burkinabè Minister in charge of Security, Emile Zerbo, indicated Thursday that the Sahelian states are at a crossroads for having lacked anticipation on the security challenges and other strategic ruptures which touch them.
“It is for having lacked a forward-looking vision that the Sahelian states find themselves today at a crossroads,” declared Burkinabè Minister of Territorial Administration, Decentralization and Security, Emile Zerbo.
Mr. Zerbo alluded to the many challenges affecting the Sahelian region, including insecurity, geopolitical conflicts, socio-economic inequalities and climate change.
The Minister in charge of Security spoke Thursday in Ouagadougou, at the opening of the 1st edition of the forum on strategic research, under the theme "Strategic breaks and anticipations: challenges, issues and postures for States".
Mr. Zerbo said he was convinced that the meeting was a unique opportunity to question certain certainties, explore new perspectives and develop solid partnerships.
While the Sahel is affected by terrorism, the Minister recommended that reflections in the field of security should no longer be reserved solely for the Security and Defense Forces.
According to him, the desired change is already underway with the holding of this forum which brings together diverse skills, with the effective participation of the Defense and Security Forces (FDS) and civilians.
"Also, I would like to ask you to go beyond theoretical debates to propose concrete actions in the form of responses to the problems that hinder our collective progress, in particular in the various areas of governance of our States", he said. - he added.
The Director General of the National Center for Strategic Studies of Burkina Faso (CNES-BF), Brigadier General Aimé Barthélemy Simporé mentioned the lack of proactive reactions to the productions of the planners.
Nevertheless, he welcomed the creation of his center in 2020 and that of the National Intelligence Agency in 2016, very important strategic tools for the national security architecture.
This forum organized by CNES-BF aims, according to Barthélemy Simporé, to contribute to strengthening the capacity of African States in general, Sahelian States in particular, to better understand and anticipate strategic ruptures and surprises, with a view to meeting challenges and bringing appropriate responses.
The inaugural conference was given by the renowned Burkinabè constitutionalist, Professor Augustin Loada, replacing the Senegalese Cheick Tidiane Gadio, who was unable to attend due to bereavement.
Professor Loada returned to the case of Burkina, "a strategic surprise", insofar as the island of peace, the mediating country of the crises of the sub-region, is now in turmoil, for lack of adequate responses to alerts .
He cited colonization, decolonization, the irruption of the military on the political scene, the Sankarist Revolution (1983-1987), the return to democratization after a decade of hiatus in 1991, the popular uprising of 2014, the return soldiers on the political scene since 2022 and the eruption of armed terrorist groups since 2015, as the main strategic ruptures in Burkina Faso.
Source: Burkina Information Agency