The Savanes region, in northern Togo, has within a few years become one of the country’s main security concerns. Long perceived as on the margins of the major Sahelian conflicts, it now finds itself at the heart of an area of growing pressure, at once military, economic, social and political.
A border region in direct contact with the Sahelian crises
The Savanes region lies in the far north of Togo, on the border with Burkina Faso and, more broadly, close to the conflict dynamics affecting the central Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger). This geographical position makes it a contact zone between:
- the areas where armed groups are established or fall back to in Burkina Faso, notably in the Cascades and Est regions;
- cross-border movement corridors (roads, tracks, formal and informal trade networks);
- rural areas poorly controlled by states, where borders are barely marked and easy to cross.
Since 2019–2020, several jihadist groups active in Burkina Faso – affiliated mainly with al-Qaeda (through Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, JNIM) or with the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS, now part of the Islamic State in the Sahel) – have sought to extend their presence southwards, towards the coastal countries, including Togo. The Savanes region is then a natural gateway, because of:
- the continuity of communities on either side of the border (family, linguistic and commercial ties);
- porous borders, difficult to control over long distances;
- the presence of rural tracks and paths allowing discreet movements by small armed units.
A gradual rise in the jihadist threat
The security pressure on the Savanes region has translated into a series of incidents, attacks and infiltration attempts, documented by organisations specialising in monitoring armed conflict. Among the trends observed:
- armed incursions from Burkina Faso, targeting Togolese security force positions or villages close to the border;
- attacks on forward posts, patrols or military detachments, sometimes using improvised explosive devices;
- violence against civilians accused of collaborating with the state or of refusing to cooperate with the armed groups.
The jihadist groups are not only seeking to carry out one-off actions. They are also testing the depth of the Togolese security response, the state’s ability to control rural areas over time, and the possibility of:
- establishing logistical footholds ( arms caches, hideouts, local relays );
- building networks of informants or supporters, including within informal economic activities (trade, transport, smuggling);
- exploiting local conflicts or social frustrations to gain influence.
The pressure is therefore as much military as politico-social: the aim is not necessarily to “conquer” the region, but to incorporate it into a strategic depth linking the Sahel to the coastal countries.
Local fragilities that amplify vulnerability
The Savanes region is among the poorest in Togo, with human development indicators below the national average. Several structural factors create fertile ground for tensions:
Poverty, marginalisation and limited public services
Rural populations face:
- limited access to basic services (health, education, water, road infrastructure);
- heavy dependence on rain-fed agriculture and livestock, and therefore vulnerability to climate shocks (droughts, irregular rainfall);
- a recurring sense of marginalisation in relation to the country’s political and economic centre, concentrated in the south.
These elements do not mechanically lead to violence, but they can fuel frustrations and reduce trust in the state, especially if the authorities are perceived as distant, rarely present or biased in managing resources and local conflicts.
Land-use conflicts and demographic pressure
As in other Sahelian and Sudano-Sahelian regions, tensions between farmers and herders are a significant issue. The following can be observed:
- increased competition for access to arable land and pasture;
- disputes over transhumance corridors, sometimes poorly marked or encroached upon by crops;
- rising demographic pressure on natural resources, aggravated by climate variability.
Jihadist armed groups frequently exploit these tensions in other countries: by presenting themselves as arbiters, protectors or defenders of one group against another, they can win support or at least a form of tolerance. The Savanes region is exposed to this type of strategy, even if local configurations vary between prefectures and communities.
Informal economy, trafficking and cross-border networks
The border between Togo and Burkina Faso is crossed by intense commercial activity, both legal and illegal. It includes:
- cross-border trade in agricultural produce, livestock, fuel, etc.;
- smuggling circuits (cigarettes, fuel, sometimes weapons or more sensitive contraband goods);
- transport and logistics networks with detailed knowledge of the tracks and unofficial crossing points.
In other Sahelian contexts, armed groups have managed to insert themselves into these circuits, whether to tax flows, provide a form of “protection” or control certain segments of trafficking. The Savanes region is therefore under pressure not only in security terms but also economically, as the presence or threat of armed groups can reshape trade circuits and local balances of power.
A strengthened security response with ambivalent effects
In the face of these rising threats, the Togolese state has considerably strengthened its security set-up in the north of the country. This includes:
- an increased deployment of the armed and security forces in the Savanes region, with units specialising in counter-terrorism;
- the creation or consolidation of military operation zones, with patrols, forward posts and sweep operations;
- cooperation with other states in the region, within regional initiatives to combat violent extremism in the Sahel and the Gulf of Guinea.
In security terms, these measures aim to:
- prevent armed groups from settling durably on Togolese territory;
- make incursions from Burkina Faso more costly and more risky;
- reassert the presence of the state in rural and border areas.
However, as in other similar contexts, this increased militarisation has ambivalent effects:
- people may feel caught between the armed groups and the security forces, especially when collaboration is suspected or strict control measures are applied;
- abuses, violations or errors of judgement (arbitrary arrests, stigmatisation of certain communities, excessive use of force) can undermine trust between the population and the authorities;
- the movement of people and goods can be hampered by checks, with economic impacts for local traders, farmers and transporters.
In parallel, the Togolese authorities have put forward development and community support programmes, with a view to preventing violent extremism. The challenge is not to reduce the response to a strictly military dimension, but to combine:
- the physical security of the population;
- improvement of public services and infrastructure;
- dialogue with local leaders (traditional, religious, civil society);
- consideration of local conflicts (land, pastoralism, access to resources).
Political stakes and local governance
The pressure on the Savanes region is also political. Several issues overlap:
- the need for the state to demonstrate its ability to protect territorial integrity and its citizens;
- managing communication around security incidents, between transparency, control of information and the risk of rumours;
- the place of local elected officials, traditional chiefs and village committees in preventing tensions and passing on information.
In conflict contexts, local governance becomes a key factor. Where local authorities are perceived as legitimate, accessible and relatively fair, armed groups find it harder to establish themselves durably. Conversely, where institutions are seen as corrupt, discriminatory or absent, the anti-establishment discourse of armed actors finds a greater echo.
The Savanes region thus concentrates several lines of tension:
- between the centralisation of power and expectations of local participation;
- between the security imperative and respect for rights;
- between the urgency of the military response and the longer timeframe of development policies.
Regional pressure that goes beyond Togo’s borders
The situation in Savanes cannot be isolated from regional dynamics. Political and security developments in Burkina Faso, Niger and the Sahel more broadly directly influence the level of risk in northern Togo. Among the decisive regional factors:
- the trajectory of military operations against jihadist groups in Burkina Faso, which can push fighters towards neighbouring countries;
- the reorganisation of jihadist alliances, their internal rivalries and their strategies of expansion southwards;
- the repositioning of international partners (withdrawal, redeployment or transformation of security missions in the Sahel).
In this context, the Savanes region is under pressure for reasons that go well beyond Togo’s internal dynamics alone. It lies at the interface between:
- a Sahelian space marked by persistent armed conflicts, the weakening of certain states and the proliferation of non-state armed groups;
- a coastal space (Togo, Benin, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire) intent on containing the advance of these threats while preserving political and economic stability.
Why the Savanes region is under pressure: a summary
The pressure on the Savanes region results from a combination of several layers of factors:
- direct geographical exposure to the conflict dynamics in Burkina Faso and, more broadly, the central Sahel;
- an expansion strategy by jihadist groups towards the coastal countries, to widen their strategic depth and diversify their areas of influence;
- local socio-economic fragilities (poverty, limited public services, land-use conflicts, climate vulnerability) that increase sensitivity to security shocks;
- an informal cross-border economy that armed actors may seek to infiltrate or tax;
- a strengthened security response, necessary to contain the threat but carrying risks for relations between the state and the population;
- issues of governance and local legitimacy, decisive for the resilience of communities in the face of attempts at manipulation;
- an unstable regional environment, where security realignments in the Sahel have direct repercussions on Togo’s border areas.
The Savanes region thus finds itself at the crossroads of local, national and regional dynamics. The pressure it faces is neither solely military nor solely social: it results from the interweaving of security, economic, political and community factors, in a context where state borders struggle to contain constantly adapting threats.