W.Africa, European partners bolster ties against Sahel jihadist threat

West African nations met with European leaders for talks on "homegrown" ways to prevent jihadist conflict in the Sahel threatening to "engulf" countries on the Gulf of Guinea.

Coastal states Ghana, Benin, Togo and Ivory Coast face increasing threats and attacks from Islamist militants across their northern borders with Burkina Faso and Niger.

The summit in Ghana's capital Accra also comes as more Western nations have withdrawn peacekeepers from Mali after its military junta strengthened cooperation with Russia.

Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo said worsening Sahel security was "threatening to engulf the entire West African region".

"Terrorist groups, emboldened by their apparent success in the region are looking (for) new operational grounds, a development that has triggered a southward drift of the menace," he said.

Under the so-called Accra Initiative, heads of state from the Gulf of Guinea and leaders from Niger and Burkina Faso met in Ghana with representatives from the West African bloc ECOWAS, the EU, Britain and France.

Akufo-Addo called for a "home-grown initiative" to answer the threat as well as a comprehensive approach involving economic and social development to tackle the roots of jihadism.

The Sahel conflict began in northern Mali in 2012, spread to Burkina Faso and Niger in 2015 and now states on the Gulf of Guinea are suffering sporadic attacks.

Ghana has beefed up security along its northern frontier and has so far escaped any cross-border attacks.