The NEW African Country Nobody Likes (Sahel Confederation)

▶ A special thank you to my Patrons: Richard Hartze, Yasin Chaykh, Stuart Tunstead, The Wanton Dogfish, Cesar Lopez II, Steve the Goat, Yeti , KR, Edward Pucci, Jan Krause, Jeffrey F., Juan Rodriguez, Kalvin Saccal, Kris Rizakis, Lastmatix, Robinhio84, Rogaine Ablar, Ryan Keith, Ryan McMurry, Sandro, Sebastian Karlo, Señor Valasco

▶ This week, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso formed the Confederation of Sahel States, transitioning from a military alliance established after recent coups. This new union aims to counter regional instability and external threats, especially from France and ECOWAS. The confederation's goals include defense cooperation, reducing European influence, and creating a unified economic system with a new currency called the Sahel. This move has been met with disapproval from neighboring countries and global powers, posing significant geopolitical challenges.

Timestamps:
00:00 The Old Songhay Empire
00:57 What is the Sahel Confederation?
01:48 Why does nobody like it?
02:22 How the Nigerian Crisis brought us here
03:15 The Sahel Region & The 'Coup Belt'
04:10 How regional instability led to Coups
04:42 Patreon
05:39 How the Military Juntas rose to power
06:21 Reaction from neighbouring West African Nations
07:10 The role of France in all of this
08:55 The creation of the Confederation of Sahel States
10:29 What happens next?
11:23 Summary & Patron Credits

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[General.Knowledge]

*Would you like to see the Sahel Confederacy succeed, or no?*

[fernandosacchetto]

I hope it not only succeeds but the name "Alliance of Sahel States" catches on, because the acronym for that one is pretty good

[paulinalevina]

Wake up, babe, new country just dropped!

[ShemPayne]

Last time I was this early Mansa Musa was wrecking local economies with his generosity.

[OmerE.C]

I'm an Ethiopian, and only governments don't like it for political reasons, otherwise we, the common people, feel good about it

[adolfojuangarcia]

It is weird to see Ferb in a militant uniform.

[welcometonebalia]

When you stated that nobody liked this "because it was anti-French", I laughed and expected a very different opinion in the comments: this is probably a reason to like it for a lot of people, and I'm saying that as a French. France's neo-colonialist policies suck, as do all colonialist and neo-colonialist policies, and I won't cry for the loss of French influence in Africa, which is long overdue. Still not a fan of military juntas backed by Russia, though... Hopefully these countries will achieve full and real independance and democracy, by themselves.

[Tamimuslim]

The anti French part is very understandable cause their past

[stevejohnson]

Africa has been in a place where they could use some sort of re-organization for a long time but it remains to be seen if this is more anti-colonial or anti-democratic.

[NEWBkiller]

One thing that wasn't mentioned was the extent to which France was exploiting the Sahel Region for its resources. France was often paying less than 10% than what the resources were actually worth, particularly for Uranium.

[paulinalevina]

Duolingo: French or get hit by a wrench
Sahel: No French or get hit by a wrench

[w]

They are no longer colonies. They should decide their own fates.

[tombo]

As a Nigerian our government may dislike this due to them leaving ECOWAS (which is basically just Nigeria Ghana and Ivory Coast and friends) but I support their movement 😅

[dirckthedork-knight]

You keep talking throughout the video about how the military takeover in those countries is "un-democratic" even though the previous governments where not considered democratic either

[Iyi..]

As a Nigerian i feel like most West Africans that are actually educated on this topic are rooting for the sahel states, meanwhile the governments are against

[gustavekuhlman]

I definitely think this is a good thing - France always seems so innocent until you actually look into their actions. Kinda glad that their dominions are finally breaking away

[beingbrin]

I am am normally a big fan of your videos but it feels incredibly pro neoliberal colonialism. You completely gloss over the anti-colonial sentiments and the BACKGROUND of france's exploitation of natural resources, corruption scandals etc and just sweep it under the category of Russias influence (not saying it doesn't exist, it's just not a mutually exclusive).

[FRESHPRINCEYAKASI]

Proud South African and we love the Sahel confederation

[joieman]

From where I am (born and raised in England but also having Nigerian citizenship), this is an interesting development in sub- Saharan Africa, and one which hopefully will lead to real improvements in the countries involved. I am quite aware that the Nigerian government has denounced the juntas, but I'm not sure they'll actually take military action, so perhaps in the next few years the animosity might die out.

[thor.halsli]

Buhu, poor France is crying over losing its slaves. As a Norwegian i wish the people of Sahel well and good luck