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Ulf Laessing

Leiter Regionalprogramm Sahel

Ulf Laessing ist Leiter der Regionalprogrammes Sahel in Mali. Zuvor hat er 13 Jahre als Auslandskorrespondent und Büroleiter bei der Nachrichtenagentur Reuters im Nahen Osten, Nordafrika und Afrika südlich der Sahara gearbeitet mit den Themenschwerpunkten „Arabischer Frühling“, Konflikte und Militärmissionen, politische Transformationen, Terrorismus und Dschihadisten, Migration, Wirtschaft und Klimawandel. Laessing ist Autor eines Buches über den Libyen-Konflikt und hat Geschichte, Islamwissenschaft und Volkswirtschaft in Hamburg, Leipzig und Kuwait studiert.

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ulf.laessing@kas.de 00223-20 23 00 36
Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e. V., Regionalprogramm Sahel, Quartier Badalabougou-Est, Rue non-codifiée - derrière L'Ambassade du Nigéria, Bamako, Mali

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Michael Runkel, Imago.

Why Lake Chad Offers Ideal Conditions for Islamist Terrorists

A Safe Haven for Jihadists

Lake Chad’s water levels receded over decades, thereby turning what was once a vast body of water into a landscape of islands and narrow streams – a perfect hideout for jihadists currently expanding their reach in Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon as they thrive on growing poverty and the effects of climate change in this four-country region.

Ulf Laessing
April 14, 2025
International Reports
IMAGO / Pacific Press Agency

Mali conflict

Mauritania becomes a refuge and main transit country to the European Union

The European Union is seeing a decline in migration from North Africa via the central Mediterranean, as smugglers are increasingly using the Atlantic route from Mauritania to the Canary Islands. At the same time, the Sahel region is increasingly becoming a refuge for Malians fleeing offensives by Russian mercenaries against jihadists. There is now the threat of a lot of social explosives, as the United Nations is having to significantly reduce aid for Malian refugees due to the Trump administration's cutbacks.

Leitung Regionalprogramm Sahel
April 1, 2025
Country reports
IMAGO / Le Pictorium

Sudan crisis hits Sahel country Chad

An opportunity for Russia?

Chad is increasingly impacted by civil war raging in Sudan. Almost one million Sudanese have fled to eastern Chad, fuelling competition over land with locals who also complain about food prices. More refugees are expected to arrive as the warring parties in Sudan show no signs of willing to lay down arms – Europe is concerned that some will make their way to Libya to catch a boat to Italy. Chad’s President Mahamat Déby meanwhile is diversifying his partnerships by keeping his distance from France, the country’s traditional main partner, while also talking to Russia and working with the United Arab Emirates – the latter stands accused of channelling weapons via Chad to Sudan (Abu Dhabi denies the charges.

Ulf Laessing
November 12, 2024
Country reports
IMAGO / Pacific Press Agency

Mauritania becomes the new main route for migration to Europe

Spain and EU concerned about rapid increase in boat departures to the Canary Islands

Mauritania is turning into a main migration route to Europe. Arrivals by boat to Spain’s Canary Islands are expected to double this year, driven by more poverty-driven migration. Human traffickers exploit Mauritania’s proximity to the islands, fuelled by demand from Malians fleeing conflict and Senegalese poverty at home. The EU has unveiled an aid package worth 210 million euros for Mauritania to improve living conditions and help stop boat departures. But if more migrants get stuck there, social tensions are set to rise in the poor Sahel country as migrants compete with locals for jobs.

Ulf Laessing
October 21, 2024
Country reports
KAS/Ulf Laessing

The business of poverty migration in Niger

A challenge for Europe too?

The European Union is expanding cooperations with Mediterranean countries from Tunisia to Egypt and Lebanon in a bid to stop boat departures from migrants. But pressure is building up in the Sahel since Niger’s military government re-opened the land route for Migrants to Liba and Algeria. Niger had banned in 2015 under pressure from the EU any help to migrants north of the smuggler hub of Agadez, effectively closing the route. Now with strained relations with the EU since a military coup in July 2023, Niamey has decided to legalize cross-border traffic again. More than 160,000 migrants have left Agadez for Libya and Algeria in the January-April period, UN estimates show. Most migrants are workers from Niger seeking only seasonal employment in Libya but others such as Nigerians will be trying to reach Italy via Libya.

Ulf Laessing
May 22, 2024
Country reports
KAS

Chad votes

The president's son reaches for power

Chadians will go to the polls on Mai 6 as military ruler Mahamat Deby wants to get elected as president of the unruly central African country. Opposition parties call for a boycott saying the elections won’t be fair as Deby controls the constitutional court, state media and the election body. The European Union nevertheless helping fund the vote as Western power worry Chad will slide into instability like other Sahel countries such as Mali. Chad is surrounded by neighbours from Niger to the Central African Republic where Russian mercenaries are active and is impacted by civil war in Sudan from where some 750.000 people had fled to eastern Chad, one of world’s poorest regions. Western powers hope the vote will pass uneventfully and will be followed by parliamentary elections, which would be the first since 2011.

Ulf Laessing
May 2, 2024
Country reports
KAS / Ulf Laessing

Niger dumps the West

Turning to Russia and Iran

Niger has reopened a key migrant transit route to North Africa, abandoning a deal with the European Union sealed in 2015 which had curbed migration to Libya and Europa. Niger’s new military ruler also ended military cooperation with the United States, bolstering ties instead with new partners from Russia to Iran and Turkey. Niger was until a putsch in July the Weste’s most important Sahel ally but has since then largely abandoned Europe, which has refused to recognise the new rulers. Especially France has struggled to adjust to the new realities, rejecting the putschists and pressuring the European Union not to engage with Niamey after the ouster of elected President Mohamed Bazoum. The German government has been pretty much paralysed over how to deal with Niger, with the foreign ministry following France’s hardline lead, while the defence and economic cooperation ministries have opted for a more pragmatic approach fearing Russia will exploit the West’s retreat. Now Europe pays the price of its boycott and will have to cope with more migration.

Ulf Laessing
March 22, 2024
Country reports
IMAGO / Pond5 Images

New geopolitical alliances in the Sahel region

The geopolitical balances are shifting in the Sahel region.

Europe and France are losing massive support from Niger to Mali via Chad, while Russia, Iran, Turkey and Arab countries are filling the vacuum left involuntarily by the West. Now Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso are also withdrawing from the West African community of states ECOWAS.

Ulf Laessing
February 7, 2024
Country reports
Adobe Stock / Pamela Ranya

Chad - The next candidate for upheaval in the Sahel?

An important partner in the Sudan crisis

Is Chad the next candidate for upheaval in the Sahel? The Central African country looks more stable than Mali, Niger or Burkina Faso. Chad is an important Western ally in a volatile region where Russia has been expanding in its neighbours Libya, Sudan and the Central African Republic and also a key humanitarian hub as some half a million refugees have fled civil war in Sudan. But military president Mahamat Deby has been cracking down on the opposition and delaying elections. He has come also under criticism for working closely with France. So how stable is Chad?

Ulf Laessing
November 16, 2023
Country reports
IMAGO / Afrikimages

Niger after the coup

Should Europe cooperate with the military?

Three months after the coup in Niger, the putschists rest unchallenged in power. The new leaders managed to win over many Nigeriens by rejecting military intervention by ECOWAS and kicking out French troops. There are currently no talks with RCOWAS as both sided dig in their heels. European countries have frozen military and development cooperation with Niger, Together with tough ECOEWAS sanctions this has led to a rise in poverty levels. Jihadists are trying to exploit the situation by staging more attacks on the army. Russia meanwhile is seeking to exploit Western hesitancy to talk to the putschists by offering itself as new partner. Should Western countries open a dialogue with the new governmernt in Niamey?

Ulf Laessing
October 18, 2023
Country reports

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