Overly ambitious goals and a failure to fully realize the potential of an integrated approach have hindered EU action in the Sahel. This is in spite of the fact that the EU integrated strategy for 2021 brought about positive developments and that coordination grew over time. Only national political processes will be able to provide answers to important state-building problems. In order to be ready for this long-term project, the EU should concentrate on diplomacy, reduce the scope of its intervention, use community-based approaches, improve planning coordination, and perhaps even expand its scope beyond the Sahel.
https://www.iss.europa.eu/content/sahel-reset-time-reshape-eus-engagement