Global frustration grows with West Africa

But efforts by military rulers to hand power back to civilians in both Guinea and Niger offer the best chance at progress in the vast zone, which is rich in mineral resources but notorious for coups and rebellions, Said Djinnit told reporters.

“There are governments trying, struggling to improve governance and the well-being of the people. And this has been a source of hope for me,” said Djinnit, the UN’s special representative to West Africa since 2008.

“On the other hand, we see that the poverty is still with the region, the gap between rich and poor is getting bigger, and the sense of frustration that governments are not up to the challenges of their responsibilities is growing,” he said.

Coups, corruption, insurgencies, piracy and kidnappings in West Africa are a worry for investors and Western nations that depend on the region for a growing share of their oil, minerals and agricultural commodities.

The US estimates a quarter of its oil will come from West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea by 2015, and has bumped up training operations for West African militaries to help them combat piracy, drugs smuggling and terrorist operations.

But the tumult will not stop until responsible governments are in place in West Africa to address endemic poverty that has lingered since the end of colonial rule and that has tempted many to engage in crime and rebellion.

“We cannot delink the issue of extremism from the issue of harmony in society and especially poverty. There is a sense of neglect and marginalization that can facilitate people to go to extremes,” he said.

“The core of the responsibility is with the governments.”

Djinnit said he was hopeful elections in Guinea, the world’s top producer of aluminium ore bauxite, and later in Niger, could mark some progress towards stability and potentially cement fragile gains made in countries like Sierra Leone and Liberia, which are recovering from brutal civil wars from the 1990s.

“The biggest achievement we could have in the region at this point would be stabilising Guinea,” he said.