Ivory Coast has lost American aid after US President Donald Trump cut off all foreign aid in January, while al-Qaeda and other extremist groups are gaining strength, the AP reported.
The Trump administration's cuts to foreign aid mean that support has disappeared, even as violence in Mali and other countries in the Sahel region south of the Sahara has reached record levels and sent tens of thousands of refugees into northern Ivory Coast.
Residents feel abandoned. Diplomats and officials said the aid cutoff jeopardizes counterterrorism efforts and weakens U.S. influence in a part of the world where some countries have turned to Russian mercenaries for help.
In northern Ivory Coast, US funding has helped train young people for jobs, built grazing fields to protect livestock from attacks by jihadists in Mali, and helped set up an information-sharing system so residents can help each other and government services.
Over the past decade, West Africa has been rocked by extremist uprisings and military coups. Groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State have seized large areas and killed thousands of people in the Sahel, and are expanding into wealthier coastal West African states such as Ivory Coast, Benin and Togo.
Experts say local issues help fuel the popularity of extremist groups: competition for land and resources, exclusion, marginalization and lack of economic opportunities. Across the region, Islamic extremists have recruited from groups marginalized and neglected by governments.
"Côte d'Ivoire is one of the few countries that continues to resist the terrorist threat in the Sahel," the UN official said. "If we do not continue to support border communities, a minor problem could send them into the arms of extremists."
Different ethnic groups lived side by side, but were divided by conflicts over scarce natural resources and suspicions of the state. And young people had no opportunities to find employment.
Other things that USAID has funded include a community radio network in local languages to provide information to the population. It also uses mobile government trucks to help tens of thousands of people across the region obtain their identity documents. Assistance has also been provided to microcredit cooperatives and a special committee of ranchers and farmers to help resolve land tensions.
Ivory Coast became known as a target for extremists in 2016, when tourists were killed in an attack on the seaside resort of Grand Bassam.
In 2021, a series of attacks occurred near the country's northern border, but the violence was largely contained after the country's authorities, Western governments, and aid groups rushed into this impoverished and isolated part of the country with military construction and development projects.
Ivory Coast has the second-highest GDP per capita in West Africa, but remains one of the most underdeveloped countries in the world, according to the UN. Many in remote villages lack access to running water.
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