How the Sahel is Rewriting the Postcolonial Script

A silent revolution is unfolding in the Sahel.

In a region long cast as the periphery of geopolitical theatre, dogged by instability, insecurity, and dependency, three nations are boldly reauthoring their futures. Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, once viewed as strategic satellites in France’s postcolonial orbit, are now carving out an unapologetically sovereign path. Their message is clear: sovereignty is not a slogan; it is a governing doctrine, and it is non-negotiable.

Over the past three years, these military-led governments have expelled foreign troops, renegotiated mining concessions, questioned the legitimacy of inherited financial structures, and withdrawn from regional and linguistic alliances seen as vestiges of colonial influence. The result is not simply a reaction to insecurity or economic fragility; it is an ideological rebellion, a recalibration of postcolonial governance that seeks to put national dignity above external validation. This emergent doctrine of sovereignty, rooted in historical memory but tailored for a multipolar world, marks a turning point not just for the Sahel, but potentially for Africa’s broader postcolonial trajectory.

Sovereignty as Strategic Reorientation

At the heart of this political recalibration lies a radical repositioning of what sovereignty means in practice. For Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, sovereignty is no longer tethered to compliance with Western norms of democracy or market liberalisation. Instead, it is about asserting control over borders, resources, alliances, and national narratives.

Each country has followed a remarkably similar path: expelling French troops and advisors, suspending ties with regional blocs such as ECOWAS and the Francophonie, nationalising extractive industries, and consolidating power under military leadership. Together, they have formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), a regional pact designed not around neoliberal integration, but mutual self-defence and political alignment.

This approach resembles a 21st-century version of the Bandung Conference’s spirit: non-alignment, pan-African solidarity, and resistance to dependency. But where Bandung was a collective diplomatic posture, the Sahel’s turn is more structural and grounded. It reimagines sovereignty not merely as independence from colonial rule, but as a daily exercise of economic and territorial autonomy.

Burkina Faso Sovereignty on Revolutionary Terms

If the Sahelian shift has a frontline, it is Burkina Faso under Captain Ibrahim Traoré. A figure often compared to the late revolutionary Thomas Sankara, Traoré has infused nationalist rhetoric with state-led policy reform. French forces have been expelled, mining contracts have been renegotiated or revoked, and foreign media outlets have been curtailed in favour of a state-centric information ecosystem. Under Traoré, the doctrine of sovereignty takes material form. The government has ramped up local food production initiatives, created new rural cooperatives, and intensified internal security operations led by local volunteers. In a region defined by foreign aid and donor dependency, these shifts signal a turn toward self-reliance and anti-imperial pride.

But this revival of Sankarist ideals comes with friction. Critics note that beneath the rhetoric lies a tightening of political space, with elections postponed indefinitely and dissent frequently cast as foreign sabotage. Still, in the minds of many Burkinabè, sovereignty now translates into more than state power; it signifies a dignified future anchored in cultural and economic control.

A Break with the Past Francophonie, ECOWAS, and CFA Franc

What is unfolding in the Sahel is not merely anti-French sentiment. It is a systemic break with what many perceive as the architecture of neocolonial control. The CFA franc, long seen as a symbol of France’s enduring economic grip on West and Central Africa, has come under renewed scrutiny. The Sahelian trio has questioned its logic, stability, and sovereignty-eroding mechanisms—the decision to withdraw from ECOWAS, once a symbol of regional cooperation, marks another rupture. ECOWAS’s sanctions against coup governments have been interpreted less as principled stances and more as Western-enforced economic discipline. For the AES bloc, continued membership in such organisations risks entrenching dependency, not solidarity. Similarly, exiting the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, a largely cultural alliance with overt French influence, signals an intent to reclaim identity and language as sites of political struggle. In each withdrawal, the message echoes: integration without equality is hollow.

Echoes of Nasser, Bandung, and Third Worldism

The ideological tenor of this moment is not without precedent. The Bandung Conference of 1955, which birthed the Non-Aligned Movement, envisioned a world where newly independent states could assert sovereignty outside Cold War binaries. Similarly, Gamal Abdel Nasser’s Egypt, Kwame Nkrumah’s Ghana, and Sékou Touré’s Guinea all championed sovereignty as political, economic, and cultural self-assertion.

Today’s Sahel leaders draw from that lineage. They see Western liberal democracy as ill-suited to local complexities, a model that promises participation but delivers precarity. In its place, they propose a sovereignty framework rooted in domestic priorities: land, security, and resource control. In so doing, they revive the foundational post-independence vision that governance must be not just postcolonial in form, but anti-colonial in substance.

Tensions Within the Doctrine

Yet the sovereignty project is not without internal contradictions. While military leaders justify their rule as necessary for security and national reconstruction, elections have been suspended, civil liberties curtailed, and opposition parties sidelined. In some cases, media restrictions and clampdowns on civil society resemble the very authoritarianism these regimes claim to oppose.

Security gains, meanwhile, remain hotly debated. Jihadist insurgencies continue to threaten civilians and undermine state authority. The Wagner Group’s involvement in Mali, while framed as a sovereignty-enabling move, has brought new forms of dependency and secrecy. Additionally, nationalisations, while symbolically potent, risk deterring critical foreign investment if not paired with coherent economic planning.

The sovereignty-first model, then, must navigate a treacherous path: asserting autonomy without isolating itself, and consolidating power without tipping into repression.

Popular Sentiment Sovereignty as Reclamation

Despite these contradictions, the popular mood in many urban and rural centres supports the sovereignty turn. In Ouagadougou, Bamako, and Niamey, large rallies have greeted coup leaders as liberators, not usurpers. Young people, in particular, express exhaustion with decades of corruption, elite capture, and donor-scripted policy. Cultural expression has surged alongside political change. Anti-French concerts, nationalist art, and grassroots media platforms have emerged to amplify messages of self-determination. In this context, sovereignty becomes not just state policy; it is a form of cultural and emotional reparation, a reclaiming of voice, pride, and narrative. This is not just governance; it is identity work. The assertion of sovereignty is as much about restoring dignity as it is about shifting alliances.

The Sahel and the New World Order

As these states pivot away from France and the West, Russia, China, Turkey, and Iran are stepping into the breach. Moscow, through Wagner-affiliated operations, offers security support with few governance strings attached. China continues to expand its economic footprint, investing in infrastructure and mining, albeit with caution given the regional instability. These realignments expose the changing nature of power projection in Africa. Where once the West dominated through a mix of aid, military presence, and institutional leverage, today’s global landscape offers alternatives, albeit ones with their opaque calculations. This multipolar turn reconfigures African agency. It allows states to bargain, not beg, to play powers off each other and determine their development paths based on perceived interest rather than inherited loyalty.

Implications for Africa and the Postcolonial World

The Sahelian sovereignty doctrine poses a challenge to African integration. Withdrawal from ECOWAS raises legitimate questions about continental cohesion versus national self-determination. Can Africa build continental institutions when states are turning inward, or is this moment a necessary recalibration before a new, more equitable integration?

Moreover, the model being championed, military-led, state-directed, and sovereignty-centred, clashes with the liberal democratic template promoted by the AU, the EU, and Western donors. If the Sahel proves stable, others may follow. If it fails, it risks deepening cycles of instability.

There is also a message here for international actors: sovereignty is not just about diplomacy; it is about delivery. African citizens want security, employment, and dignity. If liberal democratic frameworks cannot provide those, alternative models will.

Sovereignty as Material and Ideological Power

What is emerging in the Sahel is not empty posturing; it is a full-throated redefinition of sovereignty as territorial control, economic autonomy, institutional independence, and cultural pride. The old post-Cold War script, where democracy was universalised, markets liberalised, and sovereignty diluted in the name of global order, is being rewritten. In its place is a model still forming, still fraught, but undeniably bold.

The test will be whether these states can translate symbolic ruptures into material transformation. Sovereignty, after all, is not just about flags and borders; it is about whether a government can provide security, justice, and opportunity on its terms. In this regard, the Sahel may be less a cautionary tale and more a harbinger. Its doctrine of sovereignty challenges African nations and their partners to rethink governance not as mimicry, but as invention. Whether revolution or mirage, the Sahel has reopened the postcolonial script, and the world would do well to read it closely.