On July 7, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty spoke with Nigerian Foreign Minister Dugar about Egypt's willingness to support counter-terrorism operations in the Sahel region, while also discussing economic cooperation and the situation in Gaza, hoping to foster deeper regional collaboration.

According to the Egyptian media outlet Al Ahram, Abdelatty indicated that Egypt plans to facilitate assistance to West Africa through the Al-Azhar Mosque, aiming to enhance efforts in combatting jihadist organizations in the Sahel region. He also urged African Union member states to expand their cooperation and achieve goals for maintaining regional peace and stability through concrete measures such as joint investments.

The Sahel region, situated south of the Sahara Desert and north of the African grasslands, encompasses countries like Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, and Niger. It faces issues such as ineffective government, ethnic conflicts, economic stagnation, and climate change, leading to the rapid expansion of extremist groups like Al-Qaeda in recent years. According to the U.S. non-profit organization Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), jihadist attacks in the Sahel increased by over 300% from 2020 to 2023, with Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger being the most severely affected. Thus, Egypt seeks to play a more significant role as a regional power to mitigate potential security risks arising from the unrest.