Ten years from its outbreak, the Sahel crisis has assumed a new dimension in terms of degeneration of legitimate governance and regional security structures (ECOWAS and African Union), compounded by an increasing regional competition as emerging powers are also seeking to expand their influence in the region. A spate of successful military coups in Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea and Mali proved that the region continues to be highly politically instable, plagued by violence and fragmented in areas of limited statehood.