The Cotonou ruling that reignited a national conversation When Benin’s appeal chamber announced it would keep Candide Azannaï, president of the Restaurer l’Espoir party and a well-known political figure, in pretrial detention, the decision landed like a stone in still water. The ripple effects have been felt far beyond theContinue Reading

Cotonou — Benin’s highest court has closed the procedural chapter of one of the country’s most closely watched cases. On Thursday, September 24, 2026, the Supreme Court definitively dismissed the cassation appeal filed by lawyers for former National Police Director General Louis Philippe Houndégnon. While the court declared the appealContinue Reading

New York witnessed a pivotal discussion on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, as Benin assumed the chair of the African Union’s Peace and Security Council (CPS) at the United Nations headquarters. The high-level ministerial meeting, led by Foreign Minister Corinne Amori Brunet, brought together AU officials, regional representatives, and international partnersContinue Reading

What comes next in Senegal’s political showdown with Sonko? Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has not ruled out using his constitutional power to dissolve the National Assembly, now led by former ally Ousmane Sonko. Speaking in New York on September 24, he framed the decision as contingent on unfolding institutionalContinue Reading

The debate has reached a boiling point: social media in Cameroon is no longer just a tool—it’s an arena where the next generation’s dreams and pitfalls collide. As young voices take center stage in nationwide discussions, the fallout from digital transformation demands urgent attention, reflection, and action. The #PSE initiativeContinue Reading

The Kemi Seba protection decision and its political aftermath Niamey’s decision to keep extending political protection to Kemi Seba, a Benin national wanted by his country’s courts, is now generating a wave of reactions and raising hard questions about what comes next for Niger-Benin reconciliation. The choice sits uneasily besideContinue Reading

Gabon’s chicken import ban sparks global reaction: can Libreville win the sovereignty debate? Libreville, September 24, 2026 — The diplomatic storm brewing between Gabon and Washington over poultry imports has far-reaching implications that extend far beyond the frozen food aisle. At its core, this dispute forces a fundamental question: HowContinue Reading

The rollout was a carefully staged affair, complete with high-definition cameras, close-ups of gleaming armored vehicles, and martial rhetoric about the “rising power” of the national armed forces. Yet behind the parade imagery and the narrative of an invincible army, the unveiling of Captain Ibrahim Traoré’s latest military acquisition—the Chinese-madeContinue Reading

An increasingly blurred line between counterterrorism and religious repression In Burkina Faso, the boundary separating the fight against armed extremism from the suppression of religious freedoms has seldom appeared so thin. Framing its actions as a necessary campaign to root out the terrorist threat destabilising the country, the transitional governmentContinue Reading