A two-day African security forum opened in Dakar on Monday amid concerns about funding for a much-trumpeted initiative to bind five Sahel countries into an anti-terror force.

Less than a quarter of the roughly 400 million euros ($455 million) pledged for the G5 Sahel force has been forthcoming, French Defence Minister Florence Parly said on Sunday.

“At the moment, (pledges) are materialising very slowly,” Parly told reporters in the plane taking her to Dakar. Only “10 to 25 percent of the funds” have been disbursed, she said.