By Leslie Varenne, Mondafrique: When the war in Sudan erupted in April 2023, Chadian President Mahamat Déby decided, against the wishes of much of his army and family clan, to support one side in the conflict: General Hemedti’s faction. This profitable yet unwise...
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Sahel: Foreign Mining Firms Face Growing Risks as Juntas Assert Control Over Resources
Mining companies that have been operating in the Sahel for a long time are now experiencing a tectonic shift in their industry’s landscape in the region. The Sahel has always attracted entrepreneurial companies from far away Canada, Australia, Russia, South Africa and...
The US Africa Policy: Don’t Expect Anything New
Africa has been a low priority for virtually all US administrations, be they republicans or democrats. It is true that Donald Trump has been more belligerent and vocal about his positions on Africa, but even Democrats have shown no interest in playing a more effective...
Sahel: A Primer on the Northern Mali Crisis
Northern Mali has always been a region of turmoil, and the responsibility for the misery there starts with the central government in Bamako. Violence, social, economic and environmental turmoil has hit the people of the Azawad region hard, deeply affecting the Tuareg,...
Mali: Wagner and Junta leaders in tough spot with series of embarrassing defeats and decisions to make
(Photo from unconfirmed video showing an insurgent burning the presidential plane in Bamako. The person filming the attack speaks in Peul or Fulani language) By Arezki Daoud: This week’s attacks on the Malian capital of Bamako highlight the junta's difficulty in...
Mali: JNIM raids Bamako in direct threat to military junta
On Tuesday, 17 September 2024, Bamako, the capital of Mali, was the target of coordinated attacks claimed by the JNIM. At least two military sites, including a gendarmerie training facility, were raided as early as 5 a.m. The targeted sites were the Faladié...
Sahel: The demise of the ancient city of Timbuktu
When jihadists in Mali announced they would blockade the ancient city of Timbuktu, residents thought it was just...
Morocco: Earthquake kills hundreds of people in Marrakesh
A powerful earthquake that shook Morocco late Friday killed more than 600 people, interior ministry figures showed,...
Sahel: As political tensions persist, Niger population faces hardship
Floods this week have caused the death of 31 people in politically battered Niger, including eight following the...
Niger: Sahara salt diggers struggle to maintain centuries-old trade
By Camille Laffont: At the edge of an oasis almost engulfed by the dunes, where the rare caravan still passes, is a...
Sahel: Over 16 million people need aid in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger
More than 16 million people affected by conflict and climate change in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger need humanitarian...
Sahel: Herders and farmers in south Chad continue to clash, more deaths reported
Clashes between herders and farmers have killed at least 10 people in southern Chad, a region regularly troubled by...
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...
Environment: Sahel region crippled by torrential rains and deadly floods
Flooding caused by torrential rain in Niger has left 195 people dead and affected more than 322,000, an official toll...
Sahel: Record death toll from floods in Niger
Flooding caused by heavy rains in the West African state of Niger has claimed nearly 200 lives and affected more than...
Environment: Severe floods wreck havoc on West African agriculture
By Aminu Abubakar Nigeria rice farmer Adamu Garba squelched barefoot through his paddy fields, surveying damage from...
The Sahel is in permanent state of climate shock, the world’s most vulnerable to extreme droughts, floods and heatwaves
The World Bank on Monday urged five West African countries to diversify their economies to adapt to climate change,...
Sahel: More than 150 dead in Niger rainy season floods
Severe floods in Niger after months of heavy downpours have killed 159 people, authorities said Monday, marking one of...
Sahel: Floods wrecking havoc on the country of Niger
Powerful rains that have swept the arid state of Niger since June have left 75 dead and affected 108,000 people, the...
Niger tries artificial rainmaking to ease drought
Niger has deployed rainmaking planes in a bid to alleviate a drought that has sparked fears of a food crisis in the...
Sahel: Heavy rains destroy farmland, kill dozens of people in Chad
Torrential rains have caused the death of 22 people in Chad since June, with more than 110,000 affected, a UN report...
Sahel: Dozens dead in Niger’s floods and landslides
Flooding and landslides during Niger's rainy season have killed 32 people and affected more than 66,000 since June,...
Sahel: Despair in Chad as food crisis intensifies
Chad on Thursday declared a "food emergency" in the impoverished landlocked country, urging the international...
Sahel: Millions of people face food shortages
The United Nations warned Friday that up to 18 million people in the Sahel face severe food insecurity, with rations...
From spikes in food prices to canceled flights, Russia’s war on Ukraine is hitting Africa hard
By Patrick Markey and Joel Olatunde Agoi From airlines in Nigeria to shoppers in Malawi, Africans are feeling the...
Sahel: How to destroy a nation: ordinary Malians speak of their horrific life
By Amaury Hauchard Some are men of arms, who have taken up a gun out of need or for a cause. Others are just ordinary...
Mali: The demise of the historic Timbuktu and the man who helped destroy it
The fabled shrine city of Timbuktu was reduced to a "shadow of its former self" by Islamist jihadists, and residents...
Sahel: Disasters hit Niger hard
By Boureima Hama Few countries in the world struggle with as many burdens as Niger. The arid Sahel state is the...
Sahel: Mali’s environmental crisis
Extreme weather events in central Mali are complicating even further the lives of residents of the conflict-ridden...
A destabilized region: Awful week in the Sahel
Introduction by Arezki Daoud: For years, several analysts made dire predictions about where the Sahel was headed....
Niger: Torrentials rains and raging floods kills dozens in Maradi and Agadez
Heavy rains that have lashed Niger since June have claimed 64 lives, authorities said on Saturday, as floods and...
Niger: Several regions experiencing severe flooding, dozens killed
Heavy rains lashing arid Niger since June have killed 35 people and made more than 26,500 homeless, the civil...
NGO highlights harmful exports of fish from west Africa / Sahel
Rising exports of fish meal and fish oil from West Africa to Europe and Asia are depriving millions of Africans of...
Sahel: Complaint against Glencore over Chad spill clears UK hurdle
A complaint by rights groups over a toxic spill at an oil site in Chad linked to the British subsidiary of mining...
The Sahara’s 2 billion trees
At first glance the apparently barren expanses of the Sahel and Sahara deserts feature little greenery, but detailed...
Niger: Death toll in Niamey’s floods reaches 45
Niamey, Aug 27, 2020 - Several areas of the Niger capital Niamey remained under water on Thursday as the death toll in...
Niger: Floods kill dozens, 80,000 people affected
Abidjan, Aug 13, 2020 - Thirty-three people in Niger have died and more than 80,000 have been affected by floods...
Niger confronted with multiple natural disasters
Heavy rains that have struck Niger since June have claimed 19 lives and inflicted economic harm on tens of thousands...
Environment: The sad ending of a giraffe, killed by Niger’s heavy rains
Niamey, Aug 6, 2020 - An aged giraffe drowned after heavy rains in southwestern Niger while more than 30 others...
Sahel: Restoring the world heritage site of Bandiagara in Mali
The UN's culture organisation will restore the world heritage site of Bandiagara, in central Mali, which has been hit...
Sahel: Niger hit by devastating floods, nine killed
Niamey, July 21, 2020 - Heavy floods in Niger have claimed nine lives and destroyed more than 2,000 homes , affecting...
Sahel braces for more warming and a wetter climate
The annual mean global temperature is likely to be at least one degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels in each of...