Military Coups and Power Grabs: Why a UAE Minister Is Visiting Three African Nations

The United Arab Emirates is stepping up its strategic presence in West Africa, with its latest moves focusing on the Alliance of the Sahel States, which includes Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.

As part of this effort, UAE Minister of State at the Foreign Ministry, Sheikh Shakhbout bin Nahyan, embarked on a tour of the three countries, where he met with their leaders and several top officials.

The first stop of the tour was Mali, where the transitional president, General Assimi Goita, received the Emirati official on May 20, 2025.

According to the Malian presidency, Goita reaffirmed Mali’s commitment to the three core principles guiding its international cooperation: respect for state sovereignty, respect for Mali’s strategic choices and partnerships, and consideration of the vital interests of the Malian people.

The President of Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traore, also received the Emirati official in what was described as a “friendly and working visit to Ouagadougou.”

According to local media, the envoy of President Mohamed bin Zayed discussed with Captain Traore ways to strengthen economic cooperation between Burkina Faso and the UAE.

In Niger, President Abdourahmane Tchiani received the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. However, local news reported that no statements were released after the meeting, highlighting its private nature and the sensitivity of the topics discussed.

Destructive Motives

The visit comes at a time when West Africa is experiencing one of its most turbulent periods in decades, marked by rising political and security divisions among its countries and the formation of new alliances.

This division reached its peak when Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso officially withdrew from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and moved toward creating a new regional alliance.

This threatens to redraw the map of alliances on the continent and pushes the region toward more isolation and conflict. Observers believe the UAE is exploiting this situation for questionable goals.

On January 28, 2024, the governments of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger jointly announced their withdrawal from ECOWAS, an organization they helped found.

Relations between ECOWAS and the three countries deteriorated after the bloc demanded a return to civilian rule following military coups in Mali (2020), Burkina Faso (2022), and Niger (2023).

In September 2023, the three countries signed the Liptako-Gourma Charter, which established the Alliance of the Sahel States. It aims to create a structure for joint defense and mutual (economic) assistance.

The Algerian newspaper el-Khabar said the UAE’s actions in the region are driven by “destructive motives.”

The paper noted that this tour of the three countries shows the Gulf state is looking to exploit the gaps left by the cooling of relations between Algeria and the Sahel countries.

It pointed out that “security cooperation” includes supporting the transitional military authorities’ efforts to suppress the political class and their declared war against the Azawad.

The Azawad are a multicultural ethnic group, mostly Tuareg, living in a region of the same name along the border between Algeria and Mali, covering about 822,000 square kilometers.

The newspaper argued that the visit comes at a sensitive time marked by deep shifts in the balance of power and the involvement of new international forces in the ongoing conflicts in the region, such as the violence and armed confrontations in northern Mali and Libya.

These exceptional circumstances make the visit a source of many political messages, showing how the UAE exploits the hostile stance of Mali’s transitional authorities toward Algeria, if it is not involved in it from the start.

It also highlighted the role played by the Moroccan regime—the main neighbor and rival of Algeria—through initiatives or promises to give the Sahel countries access to the Atlantic Ocean.

The paper noted that the Gulf state, which normalized relations with the Israeli Occupation, is now involved in many conflicts and tensions in Arab countries like Sudan, Libya, and Yemen, not through mediation or reconciliation efforts, but by stirring division in fragile states and supporting one side against another.

Background of the Tour

An analysis by the African news agency APAnews noted that the UAE’s tour comes at a time when the Sahel region is facing increasing security challenges and a geopolitical reshuffle, with traditional alliances being redefined.

Among the key changes are the break in ties between the three countries following military coups, the closure of French military bases there, the halt of bilateral diplomatic cooperation with Paris, and finally, their withdrawal from ECOWAS to form the Sahel alliance.

The UAE aims to strengthen its influence in this strategic region by combining diplomacy, infrastructure investments, and security partnerships amid these shifts.

This diplomatic effort aligns with the UAE’s global role as a major gold trade hub, focusing on developing this sector in Africa.

The agency pointed out that this effort comes as the World Gold Council warned in December 2024 about secret gold flows that fuel conflicts and crime in the region.

Meanwhile, the Senegalese site Seneweb said the background of the tour shows the UAE’s ambition to create a new model of African engagement based on active diplomacy, targeted investments, and a deep understanding of local dynamics.

The site echoed APAnews in noting that Abu Dhabi is using its position as a global economic player, especially in the gold sector, to offer an alternative partnership to Western and Asian powers.

It highlighted that the gold trade, a sensitive issue in Mali and across the Sahel, receives special attention.

The report stressed that this closeness with Mali and its allies in East Africa represents a UAE bet on the future, emphasizing that this ambition could reshuffle the rapidly changing chessboard in the Sahel region.

The Crisis with Algeria

On May 21, 2025, the Algerian outlet Maghreb Emergent took a closer look at the context surrounding the UAE’s tour, noting that it comes at a time of rising tensions with Algeria.

The tension resurfaced after the imprisonment of university professor Mohamed Lamine Belghit, following statements he made on a UAE television channel regarding the Amazigh people.

The tension peaked after Algeria’s official television launched a harsh attack on the UAE, describing it as a “state of manufactured dwarfs,” a phrase that sparked widespread controversy.

The site explained that relations between Algeria and Mali are currently strained, especially following the shooting down of a Malian drone that violated Algerian airspace in April 2025, an incident that triggered dissatisfaction in Bamako.

Within this context, there is a noted lukewarm attitude from the Sahel countries towards Algeria, amid the increasing rapprochement of those countries with other regional actors, particularly Morocco.

Meanwhile, Algeria Gate reported on May 21, 2025, that Abu Dhabi is trying to break the isolation of the coup-led regimes in the Sahel region in order to influence the drawing of the regional map or to reshape it.

It also aims to pressure Mauritania, Senegal, Tunisia, and Libya to transform North Africa and the Sahel into hotspots of multi-party armed conflicts, serving as a proxy for other fronts seeking to drag these countries toward normalization with “Israel.”

The report noted that this infiltration is also being carried out through “promises to inject multi-billion-dollar investments into various sectors and providing military and political support to these coup regimes.”

This is happening while UAE companies continue to plunder the resources of the Sahel, with security and protection provided by Russian Wagner mercenaries.

The same source warned that the UAE has a dark record in the region, having been observed engaging in suspicious moves aimed at creating hotspots of tension along all of Algeria’s borders, with the long-term goal of exhausting the Algerian military.

It further added that Abu Dhabi has, for years, been pumping substantial amounts of money into the Sahel to buy the loyalty of the coup leaders, especially in Bamako, with the goal of destabilizing the region and particularly Algeria, where the UAE plays the role of Israeli Occupation’s proxy.

The site reported that the Canadian company Allied Gold signed a $500 million agreement with Ambrosia Investment Holding, an investment fund based in the UAE, to support expansion plans at the Sadiola gold mine in Mali.

Ambrosia is a multi-sector investment company headquartered in the UAE, with a portfolio of businesses and projects in the Gulf region and several African countries.

The UAE is seeking to operate under the umbrella of the Russians, Americans, and Israelis to become the heir to French influence in the region and the main broker of Israeli presence in North Africa, the Sahel, and the Sahara Desert, as per Algeria Gate.

Mutual Partnership

In response to the visit, the Ivorian site Afrik confirmed on May 21, 2025, that the UAE, a small Gulf power, is working to consolidate its position as a distinguished partner for military regimes in the Sahel by combining humanitarian aid, substantial investments, and security cooperation.

By providing support “without political conditions,” Abu Dhabi skillfully fills the vacuum left by Western powers and redraws the influence map in this strategically important region.

The UAE minister’s visit to Bamako confirms the importance of relations between the Gulf country and the Sahel region; the meeting with Mali’s president served as an occasion to reaffirm the official strategic partnership between the two sides, which rests on three fundamental principles: national sovereignty, freedom of strategic choice, and the prioritization of the vital interests of the Malian people, according to Afrik.

What distinguishes the UAE’s approach from that of its former Western partners is its role as both an investor and an ally.

This stance resonates strongly with Mali’s military council, which has been seeking new support since the French withdrawal.

On the security front, the site highlighted that the UAE no longer limits itself to playing the role of donor in counterterrorism efforts but has become a supplier of military equipment.

In April 2025, Chad received two Chinese FK-2000 missile systems, along with rockets and shells, financed by Abu Dhabi.

The UAE’s strategy in the Sahel also relies on an ambitious humanitarian diplomacy; the UAE Food Bank program aims to reach nearly 29 million beneficiaries by 2024, representing a 55% increase in one year, and plans to establish branches in Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso.

Economically, the UAE pledged investments totaling $97 billion in Africa during 2022–2023, a figure three times higher than China’s commitments during the same period.

However, Afrik cautioned that the UAE’s diplomacy is not without grey areas; strategic ambiguity persists between the humanitarian aid offered and suspicions regarding the arming of certain armed groups.

It also noted that the lack of transparency mechanisms related to arms loans and transfers raises concerns about the long-term governance of these partnerships.

Relations with Morocco

The Institut Geopolitique Horizons (Geopolitical Horizons Institute) views Shekhbout’s tour of the three Sahel capitals as embodying a convergence of strategic interests.

On May 23, 2025, the institute stated that the UAE offers the military councils of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso something no other power can guarantee: unconditional support without democratic conditions, combined with massive investments and tangible security backing.

The institute emphasized that the substantial UAE financial support for the African Atlantic gas pipeline, linking Nigeria and Morocco, sounds the death knell for the competing Algerian trans-Saharan gas pipeline project.

The latter project is supposed to connect Algeria to Nigeria through Niger, positioning the Moroccan pipeline as a strong competitor.

It warned that by financing the African Atlantic gas pipeline, the UAE decisively sidelines Algeria’s ambitions to become the gas hub of West Africa, while strengthening the Rabat–Abuja axis at Algeria’s expense.

The institute further viewed the UAE’s Sahel visit within a broader triangular logic, with the UAE acting as a financial catalyst for Morocco’s geopolitical ambitions.

The Gulf state’s support for the Alliance of the Sahel States economies creates conditions for a South-South economic integration that systematically bypasses Algeria.

The Sahel holds significant reserves of uranium, gold, and rare minerals—resources crucial to the UAE’s technological ambitions, according to the institute.

The UAE’s strategy aims to secure exclusive or preferential access to coastal resources, bypassing traditional trade circles dominated by Algeria.