The signing on 18 June in Ouagadougou, of the Preliminary Agreement between Malian parties, was a success. Now, it remains to see how its implementation and the stabilization process will be carried out.

It is hard to believe that the Agreement would be sustainable without the political and financial support of one or more countries with influence on the populations. After the stick carried out by France through Serval, its military operation, a carrot is needed to ensure the backing of the Agreement by various parties especially those in northern Mali. Today, which country can bring that carrot?

Burkina Faso has already done a lot and continues to do so. Despite its experience in these matters, Algeria remains silent and, for obvious reasons, Libya is absent while Morocco plays discretion. What the Gulf States and Turkey could provide to the Sahel?

At the Centre4s, the nagging question is: who will provide the carrot? The ECOWAS and the Maghreb governments, as well as France and the United States, cannot ignore that a lasting peace needs and calls for powerful sponsors.

In reconciliation and stabilization processes, the" losers" rarely accept an early retirement. Worse, they always find supporters to back them for the resumption of the fighting.

Relapses, inherent to post negotiations discontent, are frequent. Preventing these regressions to conflict should be a priority. Therefore, those countries concerned by and interested in the situation of the Sahel, should establish contacts with those states that are able morally and financially, to help Mali to strengthen the Ouagadougou Agreement.

The centre4s will be back on this issue.

Based in Nouakchott, the Centre's area of intervention is the band of land stretching from Mauritania down to Guinea along the Atlantic coast and, across the savannah, to Chad and Sudan. The main issues it addresses are: defense and security of the Sahel Sahara; armed violence and terrorism; competition for oil, gas and uranium; irregular migrations within and outside the region; trafficking in human, cigarettes, drugs, etc.; environmental and renewable energies. The main priority is to help the region and its international partners - public and private, as well as those from Civil Society organizations, Universities, Forums, and others Groups, to collaborate further in order to ensure security and prosperity of the Sahel.