Conference Paper

Between Security Discourses and Sustainable Development: The Challenges of Socioeconomic Transformation in Francophone Sahelian States

The contemporary Francophone Sahel, particularly Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, has witnessed an unprecedented rise in security challenges, including terrorism, armed insurgencies, political instability, and forced displacement. These challenges have significantly shaped governance structures, development priorities, and socioeconomic realities across the region. This study examines the intersection between security discourses and socioeconomic transformation in Francophone Sahelian states, with particular attention to how governments, international organisations, and the media construct and disseminate narratives of security in response to persistent crises. Drawing on Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and insights from postcolonial and security studies, the paper investigates the ways in which security narratives influence policy formulation, resource allocation, and development agendas. It argues that while security-centred policies are often justified as necessary responses to threats, they frequently reshape national priorities in ways that affect education, employment, social cohesion, and economic development. The study further explores how dominant security discourses can legitimise exceptional political measures while simultaneously obscuring structural socioeconomic inequalities that contribute to instability. The paper contends that security and development are mutually reinforcing rather than mutually exclusive. Sustainable socioeconomic transformation in the Sahel requires a holistic approach that addresses not only military and political threats but also poverty, unemployment, social exclusion, and governance deficits. By critically interrogating prevailing security narratives, this study contributes to broader scholarly debates on security, development, and discourse in contemporary Africa. It offers a nuanced understanding of how language, power, and policy interact to shape the prospects for sustainable development in Francophone Sahelian societies. Keywords: Security Discourses, Socioeconomic Transformation, Sustainable Development, Francophone Africa, Sahel Region