KIGALI — Benin’s President Romuald Wadagni began a two-day official visit to Rwanda on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, in a diplomatic trip that carries far-reaching implications for citizens and businesses back home. The visit, his first official journey abroad since taking office in May, brought him to the Rwandan capital,Continue Reading
In Burkina Faso, the transitional government’s announcement of an 85.38 percent administrative performance score for 2025 lands hard on a population already squeezed by rising poverty and shrinking access to basic services. For ordinary citizens and small businesses, the number does not translate into shorter queues, faster paperwork or honestContinue Reading
The decree signed on 15 September 2026 by General Abdourahamane Tiani was dressed up as a neutral “technical reorganisation”, yet its consequences stretch far beyond the walls of the cabinet room. This first large-scale government reshuffle is, in practice, a political rescue mission — and the bill will be settledContinue Reading
When a government wraps a crackdown in the vocabulary of sovereignty, the words can sound reassuring — until the practical consequences begin to land. Niger has now reached that point. At the close of its Council of Ministers, the Conseil national pour la sauvegarde de la patrie (CNSP) presented aContinue Reading
A violent mutiny at Niamey’s Air Base 101 in late August ended with devastating consequences—claiming the lives of at least 13 members of the Presidential Guard and leaving numerous others wounded in heavy-weapon clashes. Though fewer than 20 rebels were apprehended during subsequent security sweeps, the incident laid bare deepContinue Reading
In Burkina Faso, the figure of Thomas Sankara has long since outgrown the sphere of historical commemoration. It now occupies a central place in the political vocabulary of Ibrahim Traoré’s government. Yet beneath the official tributes, the military ceremonies and the rising mausoleum, a question lingers: is the present leadershipContinue Reading
A clearer picture of Gabon’s public debt Gabon now has a more accurate view of what it owes. After an audit commissioned by the state and closed on 31 December 2025, the consolidated public debt stock was set at 9,524.643 billion FCFA, down from nearly 11,700 billion when the exerciseContinue Reading
A patriotic showcase the barracks no longer believe in Eighteen months after the 26 July 2023 coup, the patriotic image cultivated by Niger’s military leadership is visibly splintering. Behind the sovereignist rhetoric and the ceremonial parades staged by the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, the picture comingContinue Reading
The arithmetic behind a sovereignty narrative On 31 July 2026, the three states of the Alliance of Sahel States – Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger – together carried 7,727.38 billion FCFA in outstanding public securities on the regional market. That number sits awkwardly beside a political message built on autonomy,Continue Reading
Official speeches keep celebrating a clean break and economic self-rule, yet the figures tell a far less flattering story. At the close of 2024, Niger’s net international investment position sat deep in negative territory, exposing how heavily the national economy still leans on money, assets and claims held beyond itsContinue Reading
Benin’s school feeding drive has crossed a fresh threshold. With the 2026-2027 academic year under way, close to 1.9 million pupils now receive a hot meal on every day of class, compared with 1.4 million twelve months earlier. Roughly 500,000 extra children have joined the scheme in that single yearContinue Reading
A dawn assault that shattered a Malian army camp On the morning of Thursday 10 September 2026, fighters of the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) stormed the military base at Dioura, a locality in the Tenenkou circle of central Mali. For hours on end the positionContinue Reading