paris president emmanuel macron say saturday france stand ready need strengthen military force fight alongside african troop islamist insurgents sahel france seek eventually withdraw poorly police scrublands sahel region abut sahara north become recruit train grind islamist militants help new regional african force g5 sahel begin official operations november make troop mali niger chad burkina faso mauritania patrol region collaboration 4,000 french troop deploy since intervene 2013 quell insurgency northern mali macron say visit niger capital niamey sahel would remain focus french army require future france ready maintain necessary strengthen engagement region fight terrorism sahel essential opinion say joint news conference nigerien counterpart mahamoudou issoufou fight today ... essential maintain improve agility grind innovate focus priorities regions identify vulnerable add speak visit niger macron also announce additional 10 million euros help educate girls one priorities promote president issoufou curb migration sum top 15 million euros already invest france help education niger paris pledge mid-december spend 400 million euros 2017-2021 support niamey macron france ready strengthen force sahel fight islamists