On July 7, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty spoke with Nigerian Foreign Minister Dugal, the chair of the African Union, expressing Egypt's willingness to support counter-terrorism efforts in the Sahel region. The two also exchanged views on economic cooperation and the situation in Gaza, hoping to facilitate further regional collaboration.

According to the Egyptian media outlet Al Ahram, Abdelatty stated that Egypt plans to assist West Africa through the Al-Azhar Mosque, enhancing efforts to combat jihadist organizations in the Sahel. He urged African Union member states to expand cooperation and achieve the goal of maintaining regional peace and stability through concrete measures such as joint investment and development.

The Sahel region, located south of the Sahara Desert and north of the African savannah, encompasses countries like Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, and Niger. Due to long-standing issues such as ineffective governance, ethnic conflicts, economic stagnation, and climate change, extremist groups like Al-Qaeda have rapidly expanded in recent years, turning the area into one of the world's most notorious regions for terrorism, exacerbating a humanitarian crisis. According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), jihadist attacks in the Sahel increased by over 300% from 2020 to 2023, with Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger experiencing the most severe incidents. Consequently, Egypt seeks to play a more significant role as a regional power to mitigate potential security risks arising from regional turmoil.