Action is NOT imminent. Unlike the United States, the largest member of ECOWAS, Nigeria, requires a vote of both houses of the legislature before troops can be committed. (see for example: U.S. in Syria—no Congressional authorization)
So in the meantime here is a brief overview of what's been happening in that broad swath of land just south of the Sahara. From the Sierra Leone Telegraph, August 6:
Military coups in West Africa – The Niger conundrum for the West and ECOWAS
There seems to be a new political wind blowing across the Sahel, and the congealed ideologies within this wind of change is generally felt across the African continent. If the recent spate of coups and counter coups popping up along the region is anything to go by, indications are that the African continent is seemingly yearning for a reset.
A reset from the colonial cum imperialistic relationship that was supposed to be symbiotic with the West but turned out to be one of exploitation and blood sucking exercise.
While many would see this wind of change as sudden or dramatic, it is worth noting that this has been in gestation for some time. Interestingly, it is not surprising that what many might attribute to Africa’s equivalence of the Arab Spring is gaining traction in particularly the French speaking colonial vassal states.
We have seen military coups in Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and most recently Niger becoming the political fashion statement. But why? What are the common denominators for these countries?
Mali
According to sources, Mali’s mining potential lies in gold, diamond, manganese, and iron ore. It is estimated that Mali has approximately 20 million tonnes of proven resources associated with gold, a proven existence of diamond in about 20 kimberlite pipes in the mining area of Kenieba, an estimated 1 billion, 360 tons of iron in the Kita and Narena sectors. The Ministry of Mines in Mali estimates that the country has 800 tons of gold deposits, 2 million tons of iron ore, 5 thousand tons of uranium and 10 million tons of limestone. But what comes to your mind when Mali is mentioned? POVERTY.
Niger
According to Azzomining.com, Niger has the 5th largest uranium reserves in the world, in addition to coal, gold, iron ore, tin, phosphates, petroleum, salt, molybdenum and gypsum....
....MUCH MORE
Hmmm....as the equity analyst once said to me, commenting on a stock chart whose price line moved, almost without interruption, from lower let to upper right:
"A trend appears to be emerging"Speaking of trends, here's a December 2019 post that is probably related:
Remember When We Asked Why The U.S. Was Imposing Sanctions On Mali? Here's Part of the Answer
