Photo of Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo Burkina Faso has a new Prime Minister, after the December 6, 2024, ousting by junta chief Captain Ibrahim Traoré, of Prime Minister Apollinaire Joachim Kyelem de Tambela. The following day, Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo was appointed Prime...
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Sahel: Inside Chad’s Risky Alliance in Sudan’s Conflict
Chadian President Mahamat Déby’s support for Sudan’s Hemedti amid the Sudanese conflict has sparked tension at home, risking political instability and opposition within Chad’s military and ruling elite. [am4show have='p1;p2;p4;' guest_error='subsribe now'...
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...
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...
Sahel: Wagner Lost Men in Tinzouatin, but Russia Sees Real ROI in the Sahel. It May Now Make a Move on Nigeria
Russia is seeing a good "return on its investment" in the Sahel. Both Mali and Niger have cut their ties with Ukraine...
Sahel: Ukraine invites itself in the Sahel crisis
Ukraine has a good reason to sabotage Russia’s operations around the world. They are at war. And so it is no surprise...
Niger-France relations sour as pressure groups in Niger demand withdrawal of French troops
Thousands of demonstrators in Niger on Sunday held a third day of rallies calling for former colonial ruler France to...
Niger: Anti-France sentiment spikes in Niger, tense weekend of protests ahead
Niger braced Friday for a weekend of planned anti-French rallies as tensions mount between the country's new military...
Gabon: People waiting for junta to announce plan in coup aftermath
People in the central African state of Gabon awaited a steer on their future on Thursday after rebel army officers...
Sahel: Niger wants French ambassador out
Niger's new military rulers have stripped France's ambassador of diplomatic immunity and ordered police to expel him,...
Mali, a leading producer of gold, manganese and lithium, shakes up mining sector
Mali has adopted a new mining code allowing the state to take up to 30 percent stakes in new mineral projects and...
Algeria looking to ease tension in Sahel after Niger coup
Algeria's top diplomat began a tour of West African countries Wednesday in a bid to find a solution following the coup...
Sahel: Political situation in Niger worsens with African Union suspending membership
By Aymeric Vincenot: The African Union said Tuesday that it had suspended Niger's membership in the wake of a military...
Sahel: Mali government troops and their Wagner allies are now attacking the ethnic Touaregs
By Arezki Daoud: As I have been saying for a while, the Malian junta is leveraging its honeymoon period with Russia's...
Niger crisis: Burkina Faso sides with Niger junta, suspends media for anti-Niger stance
Burkina Faso's junta-led government has suspended one of the country's most popular radio stations after it broadcast...
Niger: Toppled president said to be “fine, given the situation”
Niger's detained president was seen by his doctor on Saturday, his entourage said, amid mounting concern for his...
Niger: ECOWAS walks away from early threat of using force to restore deposed president
West African leaders will make negotiations with the military leaders who have seized control in Niger the "bedrock"...
Niger crisis: Algeria opposes military intervention in Niger
Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the prsident of Niger's northern neighbor Algeria, told reporters on Saturday August 5, 2023,...
Nigerian president Tinubu under pressure to avoid war with northern neighbor Niger
By Camille Malpat with Aminu Abubakar in Kano, Nigeria: Political leaders in Nigeria are urging President Bola Tinubu...
Brief: Nigeria cuts electricity to Niger after coup
Nigeria has cut its electricity supply to Niger after West African neighbours imposed sanctions on the junta that...
Sahel: West African states getting stressed over coup in Niger, do not rule out military action
Senegal said Thursday that it will participate if the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) decides to...
Niger in the footsteps of Mali and Burkina, coup in the offing
The Militarization of the Sahel By Boureima Hama: An attempted coup was underway Wednesday in the Sahel state of Niger...
Sahel: Germany and Mali agree ‘smooth’ pullout of UN-backed troops
Germany and Mali agreed Thursday to pursue a "smooth withdrawal" of German troops from the troubled African nation...
Sahel: Russia pledges continued support to Mali as UN ends MINUSMA mandate
Russia has renewed its "unstinting support" for Mali after the end of the UN peacekeeping mission in the desert state,...
Sahel: UN Mission to leave Mali, but no timetable set yet
By Amélie Bottlier-Depois: With the imminent end of the UN's Mali peacekeeping mission seemingly no longer in doubt,...
UN peacekeeping missions in Africa at a crossroads
By Amélie Bottollier-Depois: When Mali recently called for a UN peacekeeping force to depart the country "without...
Sahel: Burkina Faso endorses Mali’s call for the withdrawal of UN mission
Burkina Faso on Sunday hailed the "courageous decision" by Mali's military regime to call on the UN to withdraw its...
Mali rulers pushing for a breakup with UN, accusing it of spying
Mali's ruling junta has asked prosecutors to probe the UN's peacekeeping mission for "espionage" following a report...
Mali accuses UN mission of fueling communal tensions, calls for its immediate withdrawal
Mali's foreign minister called Friday for the UN Security Council to withdraw the peacekeeping mission in his country...
Mali leader speaks to Russia’s Putin on deepening ties
Russian President Vladimir Putin and the head of Mali's junta, Colonel Assimi Goita, discussed security and economic...
Sudan truce extension brings renewed fighting, little aid
Fighting flared again in Sudan on Tuesday despite the latest ceasefire pledges of the two warring generals, meant to...
Sahel: Mali-UN relations worsening by the day as Malian forces are accused of committing mass murder
Mali's military junta on Saturday denounced as "fictitious" and "biased" a UN report that said the army and foreign...
Sahel: Germany announces end of its participation in the UN mission in Mali a full year ahead
The German government said on Wednesday it had decided to end its participation in the UN mission in Mali by next May...
Sahel: Despite closing its borders, Chad sees hundreds of Sudanese soldiers flee into its territory
Around 320 Sudanese soldiers have fled the fighting raging in their country to neighbouring Chad, the country's...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
France to scale back military presence in Africa
By Valerie Leroux: President Emmanuel Macron on Monday announced a "noticeable reduction" of French troop presence in...
Sahel: Low-key flag-lowering ceremony marks end of French military operation in Burkina Faso
By Armel Baily: Burkina Faso announced on Sunday that operations by the French army in the jihadist-hit West African...
Sahel: Russia seeks greater influence over Mauritania, offers support
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday offered support for Mauritania in the fight against jihadism in...
Sahel and West Africa junta regimes seek reentry to regional blocs
Foreign ministers from three West African countries that have undergone military coups called for their reinstatement...
Sahel: Ministers of three countries controlled by juntas meet after visit of Russia’s Lavrov
Foreign ministers from three West African countries that have undergone military coups met in Burkina Faso on Thursday...
Sahel: Russia looks to deepen influence in the Sahel with foreign minister’s visit to Mali
Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov arrives in Mali late Monday for talks with its junta leaders seeking Moscow's...