Nigerians vote again for governors
Nigeria’s ruling party has won a rerun governorship election in northern Kebbi state, the electoral commission said on Sunday, while procedural chaos led to the suspension of the vote count in another state. Voters went to the polls on Saturday to elect new...Tunisia: Football star Nizar Issaoui sets himself alight to protest police brutality
A professional footballer in Tunisia has died after setting himself alight earlier this week in what he called a protest against the “police state” ruling the country, his brother said Friday. Nizar Issaoui, 35, suffered third-degree burns from his action...Rwanda promises help to Benin in fighting terrorism
Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame met Saturday with his Benin counterpart Patrice Talon, promising military support to help the country contain spillover from jihadist conflict across its northern border with Burkina Faso. West Africa coastal nations Benin, Togo,...Sahel: Crisis in Sudan forces Chad to close border
Chad’s government announced Saturday it was closing its border with Sudan after battles erupted between rival military factions in the neighbouring country. Sudan’s army carried out airstrikes against the bases of a paramilitary force, as weeks of tensions...Burkina Faso accuses French state media of “acting as communications agency” for Al-Qaeda
The military junta in Burkina Faso on Monday suspended all broadcasts by the France 24 news channel in the west African country after it interviewed the head of Al-Qaeda North Africa. Burkina Faso, which witnessed two coups last year, is battling a jihadist insurgency...Tunisia wants more help from Europe, despite worrying policies of President Saied
Tunisia on Monday called for “constructive discourse” from the European Union after a string of leaders warned the country is facing a crisis that could impact the 27-member bloc. In a statement after meeting EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni in...Egypt: Generosity brings people together in Egypt amid Ramadan’s soaring food prices
By Bahira Amin: In a time of dire economic trouble, Egyptians are holding fast to the Ramadan tradition of charity, with both donors and those in need pinning hopes on holiday generosity. Families have buckled under the weight of inflation, which hit 32.9 percent in...Morocco’s conundrum: deepening alliance with Israel’s ultra-nationalist government vs. supporting the Palestinian cause,
By Philippe Agret: Morocco is struggling to balance its alliance with Israel with support for the domestically popular Palestinian cause, an increasingly complex challenge with Israel ruled by its most right-wing government ever. The North African country normalised...Sahel: Clashes between Niger army and Boko Haram continue along border with Nigeria
Niger’s army said its troops had killed around 20 jihadists and arrested 83 others in an operation against militants on its southeastern border with Nigeria. Troops supported by air power attacked jihadists who have been using Matari forest in Nigeria as a rear...Algeria to send back ambassador to France after diplomatic row over Algerian dissident
Algeria will send its ambassador back to France soon, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said weeks after he withdrew the envoy following a diplomatic spat over a French-Algerian activist. Algiers withdrew its envoy in early February after accusing its former colonial...Tunisia: Growing concern in Washington over Tunisia’s political and economic struggles
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Wednesday that Tunisia urgently needs to reach a deal with the IMF, adding to dire EU warnings about the country’s future. “The most critical thing they can do on the economic side is actually get an IMF...
Sahel: Death toll in Mali due to insecurity was up 54% in 2022 to nearly 1,300
The number of people killed in Mali continued to increase in 2022, a UN report said Wednesday, also linking more than a third of human rights violations to security forces. The UN mission in Mali, MINUSMA, was created in 2013 to help stabilise the country as it...
Migrations: Five migrants die off the coast of Tunisia, Algeria disbands smuggling gang
Five migrants from sub-Saharan Africa drowned and another 28 were missing Wednesday after their boat capsized off Tunisia, a rights group said. “Five migrants’ bodies were recovered and five other migrants were rescued, but 28 are still missing,”...
Egypt: After condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Egypt-Russia want to “strengthen relations”
Erratum: A previous title for this article wrongly suggested that an Egyptian delegation traveled to Russia. It should have been the other way around. We apologize to our readers for the mistake, which has been corrected. /The Editor A senior Russian delegation met on...
More releases of kidnapped persons in Sahel may signal easing of conflict between West and insurgents to focus on Russian threat
Photo: AQIM’s Abu Ubaidah Youssef al-Annabi: Arezki’s opinion: It may be too early to conclude that there is an easing of tension between Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and France, in particular. But there are some tidbits of evidence that suggest...Profile: Abu Ubaidah Youssef al-Annabi
Algerian al-Qaeda member (born 7 February 1969) Yazid Mubarak (: مبارك يزيد; born 7 February 1969), better known by his Abu Ubaidah Youssef al-Annabi (: أبو عبيدة يوسف العنابي), is an Algerian militant who is the current leader of the Algerian group (AQIM), formerly...
Niger secures release of kidnapped French journalist Olivier Dubois and American aid worker Jeffery Woodke
By Camille Laffont: A French journalist and a US aid worker who had been kidnapped by jihadists in the Sahel have been released, an AFP journalist saw Monday. French freelancer Olivier Dubois and American aid worker Jeffery Woodke emerged from a plane that landed at...
Egypt: Khaled Elbalshy of banned Darb news site, elected chief of Egypt’s journalist union
Egypt’s journalist union said Saturday it had elected government critic Khaled Elbalshy as its head, amid a crackdown on the press with several reporters languishing in jail. “It’s a breath of hope,” said Lina Atalah, editor-in-chief of Mada...
Tunisia’s interior minister Taoufik Charfeddine resigns
Tunisian interior minister Taoufik Charfeddine, a close aide of President Kais Saied, announced Friday he had resigned to spend more time with his three children following the death of his wife last year. Charfeddine, 54, who had held his post since October 2021, told...
Sahel’s children are facing extreme dangers, desperately need humanitarian help
By Robin Millard: Ten million children in west Africa’s central Sahel region are now in “extreme jeopardy” and desperately need humanitarian help due to worsening violence, the United Nations warned Friday. The number of children in dire need of aid...Egypt and Turkey look for ways to mend fences
Turkey’s top diplomat will visit Egypt on Saturday as relations ease after a decade of strained ties, Cairo’s foreign ministry said. It follows a visit last month by Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry to Turkey in a show of solidarity after the...
Libya recovers previously missing 2 tons of uranium
More than two tonnes of natural uranium reported missing by the UN’s nuclear watchdog in war-scarred Libya have been found, a general in the country’s east said Thursday. General Khaled al-Mahjoub, commander of eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar’s...
Africa: Competition between France and Russia over Africa is getting more violent
By Barbara Debou: On a night in early March, arsonists attacked a brewery owned by the French drinks giant Castel in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic. Hurling petrol bombs, they set fire to beer crates stacked inside the MOCAF brewery’s...
Sahel: Secretary Blinken visits Niger as US worries about Russia’s expanding influence in the Sahel
By Shaun Tandon: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Niger on Thursday for a rare visit to a country seen as a bastion of support for Western military operations in a region where Russia is making inroads. Blinken is the first US official at this level to...
Tunisia: European Parliament lashes out at Tunisian president over his “authoritarian drift”
The European Parliament on Thursday decried Tunisian President Kais Saied’s “authoritarian drift” and called for the immediate release of a detained prominent journalist. Saied sacked the government and froze parliament in a 2021 power grab before...
Algeria: MSF criticizes Algeria for mistreatment of migrants
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) denounced Thursday the “abandon” of thousands of migrants expelled by Algeria into northern Niger and called on the West African bloc ECOWAS to intervene. Many of those expelled were struggling to find shelter in a region...
Moroccan police announce arrest of three suspected militants
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Sahel: Niger reports major offensive against Boko Haram near border with Nigeria
Jihadist-hit Niger last week killed about 30 members of the Boko Haram group and detained 960 followers, most of them women and children, who had fled neighbouring Nigeria, official sources said. State TV channel Tele Sahel said late Tuesday that on March 7 aerial...
Mali junta cracks down on social media influencers, arrests Rokia Doumbia
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Tunisia arrests spokesman of moderate Islamist party Ennahdha
🔓 READ THIS ARTICLE FOR FREE This article is currently available to all registered users. Create a free account (or log in) to continue reading immediately. Create Free Account Already have an account? Log...European Union’s foreign policy chief emphasizes energy in relation with Algeria
🔓 READ THIS ARTICLE FOR FREE This article is currently available to all registered users. Create a free account (or log in) to continue reading immediately. Create Free Account Already have an account? Log...European Union to enact new lobbying measures in the aftermath of Qatargate
🔓 READ THIS ARTICLE FOR FREE This article is currently available to all registered users. Create a free account (or log in) to continue reading immediately. Create Free Account Already have an account? Log...European elites are learning that they are not beyond the law: Head of ITUC fired in Qatargate case
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Tunisia now has a rubber-stamping parliament
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Morocco’s stance on Israel-Palestinian conflict creates rift between monarchy and opposition party
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Sahel and North Africa Week-in-Review: Mali and Tunisia remain center stage
Welcome to this week-in-review episode, for the period ending 10 March 2023, where we look at some of the key events affecting the geopolitics of North Africa and the Sahel. Your host is Arezki Daoud, principal analyst at MEA Risk LLC and editor of The North Africa...
Mali regime to miss deadline to return to civilian rule, postpones constitutional referendum
Mali’s ruling junta will postpone a constitutional referendum but maintain a previously agreed timeline to return to civilian rule, a government spokesperson said in a statement read to the press Friday. “The transitional government informs national and...
Sahel: Mali ratchets up communications on military offensive against insurgents
The Malian Armed Forces known as FAMA, have been increasing their communications to the media to showcase their alleged wins. Ever since the junta of Assimi Goita took over, there has been a greater emphasis on PR. Earlier this week, FAMA said that 153...