Insecurity in Sahel impacts investment, trade, agric production –
Chambas
The African Union (AU) Chief Mediator on Sudan, Dr Mohamed Chambas, says insecurity in the Sahel region has negatively impacted investments, trade and agricultural production.
Chambas said this while delivering a lecture at the 1st Annual International Lecture of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday.
The Lecture, with the theme: “Insecurity in the Sahel (2008-2024): Dissecting Nigeria’s Challenges – Genesis, Impacts and Options”, was conceived by the management of NAN as part of efforts to tackle the menace of insecurity in the Sahel and in Nigeria.
The AU chief said the development had also impacted infrastructure development, education and healthcare in the region.
He said it had been estimated that more than 1.2 million people were facing food insecurity in Mali, another 1.2 million people facing same in
Niger, with an estimated 900,000 people in Chad also facing food insecurity.
He added that “one of the negative impacts of this is the displacement it has caused.
”The impact on the economy is reducing investment, trade and agricultural production.”
He said infrastructure development had also not been left out of the negative impact.
On education, he said, the insecurity had resulted to school closures, contributing to the increasing number of out-of-school children, especially for the girl-child in the region.
This, he said, also contributed to the rise in teenage pregnancies, stressing that “we are then facing a threat of a lost generation.”
He, therefore, called for a robust regional cooperation to address the challenges.
