Rising tensions, legacy rivalries, and fears of renewed violence loom over a fragile democracy. With just months to go...
Politics Bound
Sahel: Russia Replaces Wagner in Mali Under Pressure from Algeria, Touaregs Brace
As Wagner withdraws from Mali, Russia is not stepping away, but it’s reshaping its presence there. Under quiet...
Mauritania: Ex-President Verdict Puts Mauritania’s Legal System Under Spotlight
Mauritania’s high-profile corruption trial of former President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz has sparked a bigger...
Mali: Anger in Bamako over arrest of anti-corruption activist Clement Dembele
Bamako, May 19, 2020 - About one hundred people took to the streets in Mali's capital Bamako on Tuesday to protest the...
Egypt: Regime of General Sisi arrests Mada Masr Editor
Egyptian security services on Sunday detained the editor-in-chief of prominent independent news outlet Mada Masr, its...
Egypt: Ethiopia Nile dam crisis intensifies
Addis Ababa, May 18, 2020 - Ethiopia sees no reason to delay filling its controversial mega-dam despite warnings from...
Libya: Haftar’s troops abandon airbase south of Aljmail
Warlord Khalifa Haftar and his patrons of the United Arab Emirates, France, Russia and many others don't seem to be...
Algeria: Despite repression, Algeria braces for resumption of anti-regime protests ($)
Algiers, May 18, 2020 - A day after his release from prison, a leading figure in Algeria's anti-government protests...
Algerian regime makes minor gesture toward Hirak, releases two rights activists
Algiers, May 18, 2020 - A leading figure in Algeria's "Hirak" anti-government protest movement has been released from...
Sahel: Niger sinking into chaos
By Boureima Hama - Amid clucking chickens and bleating sheep, the women of Gadbo, a small village in western Niger,...
Libya: Warlord Haftar’s favorite target: unprotected civilians ($)
Tripoli, May 15, 2020 - Seventeen attacks have been recorded since January against health facilities in Tripoli and...
Algeria and Morocco bickering again
Algiers, May 14, 2020 - Algeria said Thursday it had summoned Morocco's ambassador after a video circulating on social...
Algeria: Regime launches frontal assault on pro-democracy movement
By Philippe Agret - The Algerian regime is exploiting coronavirus to defeat a protest movement that has shaken it to...
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...
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...
Algeria: Government braces for intensification of Hirak after pandemic ($)
Three separate security reports commissioned by the presidency and reviewed by President Tebboune have all warned of...
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...
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...
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 Algerian regime’s weapon against pro-democracy activists: pre-trial detentions
Algiers, April 23, 2020 -By Amal Belalloufi: Dozens of Algerians linked to the country's anti-government protest...
Sahel: Niger faces escalating riots in coming days
Niamey, April 22, 2020 (By Boureima Hama) - With the holy Muslim month of Ramadan set to start this weekend,...
Moroccan government spying on its people with mobile app tracking
Rabat, April 22, 2020 - Moroccan police have started using a mobile application in recent days to track violators of...
Egypt accuses former lawmaker Zyad al-Elaimy of terrorism
Egypt added on Saturday 13 people, including former lawmaker Zyad al-Elaimy, on the country's "terrorism list" for...
Sahel: Tense election runoff in Mali
Acts of intimidation and allegations of vote buying marred the final round of legislative elections in Mali on Sunday...
Africa reassesses its relations with China as Covid-19 exposes racial tensions
Abuja, April 14, 2020 (By Celia Lebur) - African countries are seething over accounts that Africans are battling...
Algerian diplomat Lamamra withdraw from UN Libya envoy consideration
Algerian former foreign minister Ramtane Lamamra on Thursday ruled himself out of becoming the next UN envoy to Libya,...
Algeria’s political police continue to arrest civilians for their opinions
The fall of the notorious General Wassini Bouazza, former head of an equally notorious secret police, has done nothing...
Algeria: Clan warfare inside military command rages, turmoil in intel agencies (s)
One of the most hated Generals in the Algerian military high command, General Bouazza Wassini, has been dismissed and...
Algeria: Oil prices, virus, instability put Algeria on edge
Algiers, April 12, 2020 (By Amal Belalloufi with Philippe Agret in Tunis) - Algeria faces economic and social turmoil...
Diplomacy: No new UN envoys yet for Libya and Western Sahara crises
United Nations, United States, April 8, 2020 - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has begun searching for a new...
Nigeria downgraded by Fitch Ratings
Abuja, April 6, 2020 - Nigeria has asked for $6.9 billion from multilateral lenders including the International...
Algeria: Regime jails human rights activist Abdelouahab Fersaoui
Algiers, April 6, 2020 - An Algerian court on Monday sentenced another leading figure in the country's anti-regime...
Algeria’s political police unleash terror on journalists and others
Journalist Meriem Chorfi, Editor-in-chief Mouhoub Rafik, and Mohamed Laamari, the Publisher of Algerian newspaper Sawt...
Tunisia: Untested Prime Minister gets super powers thanks to Covid-19
Tunisia's parliament on Saturday gave the prime minister special powers for two months to allow for the accelerated...
Algeria’s political police punishes another journalist
Algiers, April 5, 2020 - An Algerian court on Sunday sentenced to eight months in jail a journalist who had provided...
Sahel: Mali held elections despite the pandemic
Bamako, April 2, 2020 - Turnout for Mali's parliamentary elections this week was 36 percent, officials said on...
Algeria is committing “acts of physical endangerment” with revenge arrests
April 3, 2020 - Reporters Without Borders has accused Algeria's government of taking advantage of the coronavirus...
Tunisia wants global approach to pandemic, but Security Council in disarray
April 1, 2020 - Tunisia has proposed a UN Security Council resolution calling for "urgent international action" to...
Algeria: Inner-clan warfare continues inside the regime, ex-head of police gets stiff prison sentence
Algiers, April 1, 2020 - An Algerian court issued heavy prison sentences Wednesday to a powerful former police chief...
Algeria: A dictator’s cozy retirement and the whereabouts of Bouteflika
Algiers, March 31, 2020 - A year after the unexpected downfall of Algeria's longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika,...
MENA (MidEast/North Africa) regimes increase their repression
Cairo, March 29, 2020 - Armoured vehicles in the streets, hundreds arrested, smartphone surveillance -- sweeping...
Libya does the right thing: it releases prisoners in pretrial detention amid Covid-19
Tripoli, March 29, 2020 - Libya's justice ministry announced Sunday over 450 prisoners were being freed in a bid to...
North Africa faces unprecedented economic crisis
Listen to the podcast above or read the transcript below. Download MP3 file here. 26 March 2020: By Arezki Daoud:...