Sahel Governance Forum | Opening Remarks by Ahunna Eziakonwa

Banjul, The Gambia | 30 July 2025

July 30, 2025

Woman speaking at a podium with microphones, a blue backdrop, and seated colleagues. — UNDP WACA

Your Excellency, Adama Barrow, President of the Republic of The Gambia
Your Excellency, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, Former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
Your Excellency, Traore Diocoundra, Former President of Mali
Your Excellency, Kadre Desire Ouadraogo, Former President of Burkina Faso
H.E. Adeoye Bankole, Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, African Union
H.E. Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
Your Excellency, SRSG Leonardo Simao, UNOWAS,
SRSG, Abarry of UNOCA
USG Abdoulaye Mar Dieye
Dr. Roba Sharamo, Regional Director for Africa and West Asia for International IDEA
Honourable Governors, former Ministers, Ministers, and Government Delegates from Sahelian Countries,
Representatives of the Diplomatic community, African Union, ECOWAS, and our valued partners,
Distinguished delegates, friends, sisters and brothers of the Sahel.

Let me start by thanking His Excellency, President Barrow, and the people of The Gambia for graciously hosting this inaugural Sahel Governance Forum here in Banjul. Your willingness to open your country and your capital city to this important dialogue reflects more than hospitality; it reflects a belief that governance matters.

Your Excellency, from my last visit to The Gambia in 2022, three years ago, to my arrival yesterday, I have observed the transformation of this beautiful country. It’s not just about roads and bridges, but about connectivity that links people to opportunities. Banjul is lighting up. Your leadership in advancing transitional justice, which UNDP has had the pleasure of accompanying, has not only helped The Gambia confront its past, but it has also opened the door to the potential of a future that is built on truth, accountability, and dignity.

Today, we gather at a defining moment, not only for Africa but for our world, not only for the Sahel, but for the entire West Africa region. This forum could not be more timely. The Sahel is at a crossroads. And the central question before us is not just “what is happening?” it is, “why is it happening?”

For years, the Sahel has been framed as fragile, dangerous, and unstable. But what if the real problem is not fragility but the failure to invest in governance as a force for justice, for dignity, and development?

We continue to deploy more soldiers, but fewer teachers. We speak of security, yet people are still waiting for state presence. We design strategies while the social contract continues to crack.

In some Sahelian countries, we know that over 60% of the national budgets go to peace and security, while economic sectors that could generate jobs and growth receive far less.
At the same time, corruption and illicit financial flows drain an estimated $148 billion from African economies every year, money that could go into building schools, clinics, and infrastructure that power our human capital, but instead, we see a deepening of inequality and the erosion of trust.

The truth is this: the Sahel is not a security problem; it is a governance challenge. And more importantly, it is a political opportunity to rethink how we lead, how we listen, and how we rebuild trust between and amongst people and their leaders and institutions.

Ahunna Eziakonwa, UN Assistant Secretary-General, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Regional Director for Africa

According to Afrobarometer, less than 30% of citizens in many Sahelian countries say they trust their national governments, and over half believe their countries are going in the wrong direction, an erosion of trust that undermines social cohesion and fuels disillusionment.

Rebuilding trust is, therefore, central to the question of state-citizen relationships in the Sahel. Trust is not a symbolic gesture. It is the bedrock of peace, prosperity, and legitimacy. It is forged by genuine, true leadership.

Speaking of leadership, one that builds trust, and institutions that protect it

Allow me to pay tribute to one such example of leadership, H.E. Goodluck Jonathan. In 2015, after a tightly contested election, he chose to concede, and in doing so, he safeguarded the peace of a nation. In that single, courageous act, he spared Nigeria the spectre of post-election violence and reminded both the continent and the world that true statesmanship is measured not by how long one holds on to power, but by the dignity with which one lets it go.

His ongoing work with the West African Elders Forum and his Foundation is a beacon for those who believe that power is not an entitlement, but a responsibility. The partnership between the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation and UNDP reflects this shared belief: that governance is the cornerstone of peace, resilience, and legitimacy.

Your Excellencies,

Today, we are launching a pivotal report: “The Future of Governance in the Sahel: (Re)Building Social Cohesion and Public Trust.” Based on over a year of consultation with citizens and governments across the region, this report offers clear messages:

People are not giving up on the state; they are waiting for the state to show up.
They are not asking for miracles, just for institutions they can trust.
They want services that deliver, justice that protects, and leaders who are present not just during elections, but during everyday struggles.

Governance, as we are reminded, is not abstract; it’s personal. It is the mother in Mopti, Mali, who wants her daughter to go to school without fear. It is the youth in Tillabéri, Niger, who dreams of launching a startup, not joining an armed group. It is the artist in Bamenda, Cameroon, who wants to express herself without fear of repression.

If we seek peace, we must invest in political systems that reflect the aspirations and realities of our people.

If we seek resilience, we must empower local governance not as a footnote, but as a foundation.

Excellencies, we need a shift: From managing instability to building legitimacy. From managing poverty to promoting prosperity.

From viewing people as risks to be managed, to seeing them as assets to be empowered.

So, let this forum not be just another event. Let it be a turning point.

Let us stop treating governance as a project and start seeing it as a promise. A promise to current and future generations. A promise that in the Sahel, trust can be rebuilt, peace can take root, and governance can lead us home.

Thank you.