Egypt military regime ratchets up repressive measures against population
Cairo, May 8, 2020 – President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has ratified a host of amendments to Egypt’s emergency law which an international rights groups says expands “repressive powers” as the country’s battles the coronavirus. Egypt has been...
Morocco: RSF said TV crew attacked by police near Rabat
Rabat, Marocco, May 8, 2020 – Moroccan authorities said Friday they would investigate a case of an attack on television journalists filming a report, as police denied any involvement in the incident. Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said Thursday...
Egypt: Sisi regime extends pre-trial detentions
Beirut, May 7, 2020 – Amnesty International lambasted Egypt on Thursday for extending the pre-trial detention of over 1,600 detainees this week, calling for their unconditional release. The UK-based rights group said in a statement that the defendants were not...
Sahel: Mauritania lifts ban on mosque prayer
Nouakchott, May 8, 2020 – Worshippers packed Mauritania’s largest mosque on Friday, mostly ignoring social distancing rules, after the West African state lifted restrictions on public prayers meant to curb coronavirus infections. The government said this...
Libya: Haftar intensifies rocket attacks on Tripoli
Tripoli, May 8, 2020 – Rocket and shell fire on Tripoli has killed at least 13 civilians and two policemen in the last two days, Libya’s UN-recognised government said on Friday. The Government of National Accord accused forces loyal to strongman Khalifa...
Sahel: Africom says it lost drone in Niger due to technical failure
Niamey, May 7, 2020 – The US military in Niger said Thursday they had lost a second drone in two months, both through technical failure rather than from hostile action in the conflict-torn country. “A… remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) was lost near...
Sahel/Covid-19: Mauritania reopens for business
Nouakchott, May 7, 2020 – The West African desert state of Mauritania has scaled back two-month-old restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of coronavirus, notably allowing markets and prayer gatherings to resume. The government will “progressively ease...
Libya: EU begins Operation IRINI to enforce Libya arms embargo
Rome, May 7, 2020 – The European Union has launched a delayed naval mission to enforce an arms embargo on Libya, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Thursday. Operation IRINI, currently headquartered in Rome, aims to halt the flow of arms...
Sahel: More election violence in Mali
Bamako, May 7, 2020 – Two people suffered gunshot wounds Thursday after a protest in southern Mali against the outcome of legislative elections in March and April, local sources said. They said the incident took place in Sikasso, in the south of country, which...
Maghreb: A Ramadan unlike no other
Algiers, May 7, 2020 (By Abdelhafid Daamache) – North Africans say they are missing the taste of Ramadan, as coronavirus restrictions deprive them of traditional mealtime gatherings, evening outings and beloved sweets during the Muslim holy month....
Algeria: Government braces for intensification of Hirak after pandemic ($)
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Sahel: Chad locks down its capital to confront Covid-19
N’Djamena, May 6, 2020 – Chad’s capital N’Djamena will be isolated from the rest of the country for two weeks from Friday to stem the spread of coronavirus, the government announced. The central African nation, one of the world’s...
International: Turkey announces new measures to ease lockdown restrictions
Istanbul, May 4, 2020 – Turkey will relax confinement rules on people aged 65 and over, and those under 20, as the country moves to a “new normal”, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday. Since March 21, around 7.5 million senior citizens have...
Economy: Nigeria’s collapsing revenues
Abuja, May 5, 2020 – Oil-rich Nigeria is losing more than 80 percent of its revenue due to plummeting oil prices and the coronavirus epidemic, officials said on Tuesday. Nigeria depends on crude oil sales for 70 percent of government revenue and 90 percent of...
Morocco: After launching spy app, Morocco deploys surveillance drones
Rabat, May 6, 2020 – Morocco has rapidly expanded its fleet of drones as it battles the coronavirus pandemic, deploying them for aerial surveillance, public service announcements and sanitisation. “This is a real craze. In just weeks, demand has tripled in...
Nigeria: Covid-19 patients protest over treatment in Gombe
Kano, Nigeria, May 6, 2020 – A group of coronavirus patients staged a protest outside an isolation centre in northern Nigeria to demand increased medical attention and food, officials and residents said Wednesday. Twenty patients on Tuesday walked out of the...
Late in the game, Nigeria starts repatriating citizens stranded abroad
Abuja, May 6, 2020 – Nigeria on Wednesday was to start repatriating nationals stranded overseas by coronavirus travel restrictions, the foreign ministry said. A first batch of 265 Nigerians is due to fly back to Lagos from Dubai aboard an Emirates flight,...
Algeria announces deeper spending cuts but says minimum wage up a bit
The Algerian government decided Sunday to reduce the state budget by half due to a financial crisis caused by the global collapse in oil prices and worldwide coronavirus lockdowns. The government has decided to reduce the budget by “50 percent” for this...
Sahel: Niger labor minister succumbs from Covid-19
Niamey, May 4, 2020 – The novel coronavirus caused the death of Niger’s minister of employment and labour, Mohamed Ben Omar, public television announced Monday. The minister’s Social Democratic Party (PSD) reported Ben Omar, 55, had died on Sunday at...
Nigeria: Lagos ends lockdown despite expanding virus
Lagos, May 4, 2020 – Africa’s biggest city, Lagos, got back to work on Monday at the end of a five-week coronavirus lockdown. In the metropolis of 20 million, where exuberance and poverty live side by side, relief at being able to earn money once again was...
Nigeria: First man to be hanged in ‘virtual’ trial
Lagos, May 5, 2020 – A Nigerian court sentenced a man to death in the country’s first ever virtual ruling during a five-week coronavirus lockdown. Lagos judge Mojisola Dada on Monday ordered death by hanging for Olalekan Hameed, a driver, over the 2018...
Sahel: Boko Haram attacks Diffa in Niger
Niamey, May 5, 2020 – Boko Haram fighters clashed with government forces on Sunday in Diffa, the largest city in southwestern Niger, in what the jihadists said was a successful attack on a military camp. Conflicting versions of the outcome emerged on Tuesday,...
Egyptian workers in Kuwait protest over repatriation
Kuwaiti authorities dispersed a “riot” by Egyptian workers who demonstrated on Monday to demand repatriation amid the coronavirus crisis, state media said. Such protests are rare in the tightly controlled Gulf countries, where there is a large population...
Nigeria: Mass deaths in Kano possibly tied to Covid-19
Kano, Nigeria, May 4, 2020 – Mass deaths in a northern Nigerian state were caused by coronavirus, the authorities said after a preliminary investigation into the phenomenon. Gravediggers in the state of Kano have reported burying dozens of corpses per day, in...
Egypt intensifies attacks on insurgents after killing of soldiers
Cairo, May 3, 2020 – Egypt’s interior ministry said Sunday 18 suspected militants were killed in North Sinai in a firefight with security forces, two days after a deadly blast claimed by the Islamic State group. “National security received...
Tunisia: Partial easing of lockdown measures revealed
Tunis, April 29, 2020 – Tunisian officials on Wednesday announced a partial easing of lockdown measures in place to curb the spread of novel coronavirus, although schools will largely remain closed until September. Education Minister Mohamed Hamdi, Health...
Sahel: Mali and Niger troops accused of extra-judicial killings
Bamako, April 30, 2020 – The UN mission in Mali on Thursday blamed Malian and Niger troops for scores of extra-judicial killings between January and March. According to a quarterly MINUSMA report, Malian forces carried out 101 executions and Niger forces 34 more...
Libya: After his forces suffered major losses, warlord Haftar wants a truce ($)
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Algerian authorities under international pressure to stop harassing journalists ($)
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Egypt: Insurgents strike in north Sinai, kill 10 Egyptian troops
Cairo, April 30, 2020 – Egypt’s army said on Thursday that 10 soldiers were either killed or wounded in a blast targeting an armoured vehicle in the restive northern Sinai. The attack occurred south the city of Bir al-Abed in the troubled North Sinai...
Sahel: Fire at Faladié refugee camp in Bamako, Mali
Bamako, April 28, 2020 – A fire on Tuesday destroyed much of the main camp for displaced people in Bamako, where more than 1,000 people who fled the violence in central Mali have found refuge, an AFP journalist said. No report on casualties was immediately...
WHO advises MENA region against loosening confinement measures
Cairo, April 28, 2020 – The World Health Organization warned Tuesday of the impact coronavirus could have in Middle Eastern conflict zones and urged other countries in the region against loosening confinement measures. “This fight has become even more...
Egypt: Al-Sisi orders three-month renewal of state of emergency
Cairo, April 28, 2020 – Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Tuesday ordered the renewal for three months of a long-running state of emergency, citing health as well as security concerns. Egypt has been under a state of emergency since April 2017 when...
Libya: Warlord Haftar claims to have popular mandate to rule
Tripoli, April 28, 2020 – Libya’s UN-recognised government Tuesday accused rival military strongman Khalifa Haftar of seeking to stage a new coup after he claimed to have a “mandate” from the people to govern the country. “It’s a...
Egypt: 3D-printed face shields made in Egypt
Cairo, April 28, 2020 (By Farid Farid) – Many healthcare workers in Egypt’s threadbare hospital system must provide their own protective gear, so when a digital design company started 3-D printing face shields, they gratefully accepted. Since the novel...
Sahel: Chad abolishes death penalty for terrorism
Chad on Tuesday abolished the death penalty for terrorist activities, Justice Minister Djimet Arabi told AFP. Chad had adopted legal amendments in 2016 and abolished the death sentence, except for terrorism. “The MPs unanimously voted to abolish the death...
Week-in-review podcast: Lockdowns, curfews and government abuse
This is a retrospect on North Africa and the Sahel region, for the week ending 24 April. The review, which focuses on the latest on Covid-19 in the Maghreb, Egypt and the Sahel, is presented by MEA Risk analyst Arezki Daoud. The transcripted text is below. You can...
Tunisia taps into its tech resources to fight Covid-19
Tunis, April 25, 2020 (By Caroline Nelly Perrot) – The feared impact of coronavirus on Tunisia’s fragile public health system has provoked a flurry of innovation from robotics to digitalisation efforts to bolster the North African country’s pandemic...