Sahel Edition

Sahel: Three children die in school fire in Niger’s Zinder regionF

Posted On 6 February 2023

Number of times this article was read : 923
The North Africa Journal's WhatsApp Group

The North Africa Journal’s WhatsApp Group

Three children died and 11 were injured, two of them seriously, when a school made of straw and wood caught fire in central Niger on Monday, local officials said. The fire broke out in a classroom in a school in Zinder and spread swiftly, fanned by the harmattan seasonal winds, Harou Mamane, secretary general of the regional government, told AFP. “The children panicked and rushed to try to get out” but some were trapped, he said.

The landlocked Sahel country is one of the poorest countries in the world, ranked 189th out of 191 nations in the UN’s 2022 Human Development Index (HDI). Lacking funds, the  authorities have built thousands of classrooms made from straw and wood, where children often sit on the floor as they have no desks. The government last November launched a  plan to replace all these classrooms with durable and safer substitutes by 2026.

AFP

More on the Sahel

Mali: Bamako Under Siege$

Bamako is facing mounting pressure as jihadist group JNIM expands its campaign beyond military operations and increasingly targets the economic lifelines connecting Mali’s capital to the rest of West Africa. Attacks on highways, freight traffic, and commercial transport corridors have disrupted trade, affected regional commerce, and raised concerns about the government’s ability to maintain security and economic stability.

German Think Tank Accuses the UAE of Destabilizing Africa$

A report published by Germany’s Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik accuses the United Arab Emirates of playing a destabilizing role in several African conflicts through support for armed groups, logistical networks, and regional interventions. The report focuses particularly on Sudan, Libya, the Horn of Africa, and Yemen, while also criticizing Western governments for avoiding direct public criticism of Abu Dhabi.

Mali: After Kidal, The War Comes to Bamako$

Mali’s military government lost Kidal to a joint FLA-JNIM offensive on April 26, 2026, after Russian Africa Corps personnel and Malian troops withdrew under rebel escort. The fall of the city, retaken by Bamako with Russian support in November 2023, exposes the limits of the junta’s sovereignty narrative and raises serious questions about the durability of Mali’s security model.