Gas shortages in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, have become a recurring issue at the end of each year. The problem now appears regularly between December and January, when demand for butane rises with year-end festivities and cooler harmattan, a dry, dusty...
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Sahel: Jihadist Attack Kills Local Prefect in Southwestern Niger
A jihadist attack in Niger targeted the residence of the prefect (governor) of Torodi during the night of Sunday, January 4, into Monday, January 5. Torodi, the last major town before the border with Burkina Faso, lies roughly 30 miles south of Niamey. At least seven...
Flashpoints: How Emirati and Qatari Competition Is Redrawing the Red Sea Map
Charlotte Touati - Mondafrique: Two competing poles are now clearly taking shape in the contest for control over access to the Red Sea. The first, structured around the United Arab Emirates, Israel, and the Abraham Accords, includes Ethiopia and Somaliland, which has...
Flashpoints: Benin-Niger Tensions Deepen as Diplomatic Relations Deteriorate
Relations between Benin and Niger have entered a new period of strain following reciprocal diplomatic expulsions. In recent days, authorities in Cotonou (Benin) asked two Nigerien embassy officials to leave the country. Niamey responded by declaring Benin’s chargé...
Europe’s New Migration Rules Shift Pressure South to North Africa
The European Union’s revised migration framework, set to take effect in mid-2026, is already reshaping how migration is managed across the Mediterranean. Recent coordination meetings between North African states and Italy are part of the ongoing shift taking place in...
Irregular Migration to Spain Falls Sharply in 2025 With Decline in Atlantic Crossings
After reaching a historic high in 2024, irregular migration to Spain fell sharply in 2025. Official data show a decline of more than 40% compared with the previous year, driven largely by a collapse in arrivals via the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands. Spanish...
Guinea’s Mining Purge Echoes Mali’s Playbook, With Different Goals
Guinea’s junta has launched a sweeping crackdown on mining permits, abruptly revoking over 100 licenses for bauxite,...
West Africa: ECOWAS in turmoil
West Africa's economic grouping, ECOWAS, faces a new crisis as former chairman and Guinea-Bissau President Umaro...
Sahel: Terror Groups Gain Ground as Armies Struggle to Contain Them
Al-Qaeda’s Sahel branch, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM or GNIM in French) is now emerging as the region’s...
Mali: Son of former president faces demand for his arrest
By Serge Daniel A year ago, times were good for Karim Keita. The son of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita had become a...
Mauritania arrests former president Ould Abdel Aziz for alleged corruption
Mauritania's former president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, was on Tuesday jailed after a judge in charge of a corruption...
Sahel: Burkina Faso holds talks on security crisis
Burkina Faso on Thursday launched a two-day huddle gathering governing and opposition parties to discuss the country's...
Mali strongman Assimi Goita takes over power, pledges elusive stability
By Kassim Traore Malian strongman Colonel Assimi Goita stood by the goal of staging elections next February as he was...
Sahel: Mali sinks into a deeper political crisis
By Marion Douet The African Union announced it was suspending Mali with immediate effect and threatened the...
Mali president, PM resign after arrest by military junta
By Serge Daniel and Malick Konate Mali's interim president and prime minister resigned on Wednesday, a top junta aide...
Sahel: Mali descends into chaos with second coup in the offing
The Real Problem in the Sahel: Editor’s Opinion The chaos in Mali has provided further evidence that the former...
Sahel: Handover of power to civilians is not happening in Mali
Mali's largest union launches fresh strike Mali's largest trade union launched a fresh strike on Monday, an AFP...
Sahel: Ridicule over Mali’s military regime and threat of sanctions prompt junta to announce upcoming “broad-based” government
Mali's interim government is set to form a new "broad-based" cabinet, the presidency said on Friday, amid growing...
Mauritania: Former President Ould Abdelaziz in trouble, current regime wants him locked up
Mauritania's former president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, was on Tuesday put under "house surveillance" by a judge after...
Sahel: Chad braces for more political turmoil
Opposition parties and civil society groups in Chad said fresh protests would be held on Saturday against the junta...
Chad: More smokes and mirrors in N’Djamena as military junta announces transition government
Editor Opinion: Smokes & Mirrors A “civilian prime minister,” a “transitional government.” “restoring democracy,”...
Sahel: Killed in Chad for demanding the rule of law
By Amaury Hauchard - A printed sheet of paper bearing a photo of Adoussouma hung on the crumbling wall at the...
Sahel: The extraordinary end of a reign: Day after he was proclaimed president of Chad, Deby allegedly dies in battle
Deby replaces Deby: what a surprise! A four-star general who is a son of Chad's slain president Idriss Deby Itno will...
Sahel: After 31 years in power, Chad’s president Deby reelected again
Idriss Deby Itno, who has won re-election according to provisional results Monday, has carved out a reputation as the...
Mali: Presidential and legislative elections in Mali set for February 2022
Presidential and legislative elections in Mali will take place next February, the country's post-coup government...
Sahel: Violence in Niger as country prepares to inaugurate a new president
By Boureima Hama - Elite troops in Niger thwarted an "attempted coup" early Wednesday, a security source said, just...
Sahel: Chad Strongman Deby prepares to rule for another term
Chad's Idriss Deby Itno, combining hardline tactics with political savvy, has sidelined his most viable challengers,...
Sahel: Chad ups violence against opposition, less than a month to presidential election
Police broke up demonstrations by opposition movements and civil society groups in Chad's capital N'Djamena Saturday,...
Chad: Opposition leader Saleh Kebzabo withdraws from presidential elections as dictator Deby ups intimidation against opposition
[Photo: Saleh Kebzabo] - Chad's main opposition figure, Saleh Kebzabo, on Monday announced he was withdrawing from the...
Sahel: Profile of Niger’s new president, Mohamed Bazoum
By Boureima Hama - Mohamed Bazoum, named the winner of Niger's presidential election, worked for years as the...
Niger: Former interior minister wins presidential elections, violence ensues
By Amaury Hauchard - Former interior minister Mohamed Bazoum won Niger's presidential elections, according to...
Sahel: People of Niger vote for a new president
By Boureima Hama and Amaury Hauchard - Niger voted Sunday in a presidential run-off between two political heavyweights...
Sahel: Political life in Chad heats up ahead of October presidential election
Fifteen parties in Chad's fragmented opposition said on Tuesday that they had named a single candidate to contest...
Burkina Faso Prime Minister proposing to negotiate with insurgents
Burkina Faso Prime Minister Christophe Dabire on Thursday floated the idea of negotiations with jihadist groups, an...
Sahel: Chad opposition parties coalesce against autocratic ruler Deby in upcoming election
Twelve opposition parties in Chad say they will field a joint candidate against Idriss Deby Itno, who has been in...
Chad regime bans protest before announcing candidacy of autocrat Idriss Deby
Chad's government has barred the opposition from staging protests ahead of an expected announcement by President...
Sahel: Feuding herders and farmers in central Mali endorse peace
Representatives from herder and farmer communities that have become ensnarled in violence sparked by jihadist attacks...
Sahel: Mali claims it ended military junta rule
Mali has officially disbanded its military junta, according to a government decree seen by AFP on Tuesday, more than...
Sahel: Mali police and army repress anti-French army protest
Malian security forces fired tear gas at dozens of demonstrators in the capital Bamako on Wednesday during an...
Sahel: Regime in Bamako bans the people of Mali from protesting foreign military presence
Mali's capital Bamako has banned a demonstration against France's military role in the West African country, the...
Mali military junta ratchets up repression against political figures
The Malian authorities on Thursday charged six figures, including a former prime minister, with seeking to mount a...
Sahel: Can Niger manage its first peaceful handover of presidential power?
Voters went to the polls in Niger on Sunday for an election that could seal a first peaceful handover between elected...
Mali’s military junta targets prominent figures in alleged ‘state security violation’
The Malian authorities said Monday they had opened an inquiry into violation of state security, a move that came after...
Sahel: France signals willingness to allow talks with Jihadists in the Sahel
France could back talks with some jihadist elements in Africa's restive Sahel region, a source in President Emmanuel...
Sahel: Mali is now a military dictatorship
Hopes that soldiers behind Mali's coup would swiftly restore civilian rule and tackle jihadism and ethnic violence are...
Burkina Faso: Christian Kabore “wins” presidential election
Burkina Faso's top court on Friday certified that President Roch Marc Christian Kabore had been elected for a second...
Sahel: An army Colonel heads Mali’s legislative body
Mali's interim legislature on Saturday elected Colonel Malick Diaw, a member of the military junta that toppled...
Mali’s in big trouble: A legislative body appointed by a junta-backed government
Mali's interim government on Thursday announced the composition of a new legislative body for the West African...
Security crisis dominates campaigning for Burkina Faso’s presidential election
Burkina Faso will vote in a general election Sunday in the shadow of a growing jihadist insurgency, with President...