Olaf Scholz, the chancellor of Germany, stated on Tuesday that his nation and the EU were dedicated to enhancing security in West Africa and that they could offer weapons and training to aid in operations against a jihadist insurgency that was proliferating throughout the area.

Speaking in Ghana on the final stop of his third journey to sub-Saharan Africa, Scholz claimed that a recent wave of coups in West African countries has halted international collaboration and could give terrorists leverage.

West Africa is grappling with an insurgency that took root in Mali in 2012 and has since spread across the Sahel region south of the Sahara, killing thousands and displacing over six million.

Militants with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State have also encroached south towards the Gulf of Guinea, staging attacks in the north of coastal countries such as Benin, Ghana and Togo.

Military takeovers in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Niger and Gabon since 2020 have only added instability.

Scholz stressed the importance of restoring “democratic order” and said Ghana was a “beacon of hope” for the region and a close partner for Germany.