On August 21, 2026, Niger witnessed a security failure so profound it shattered public trust in the military regime. Moments after Friday prayers ended, heavily armed militants surrounded multiple mosques, sealed all exits, and forcibly marched nearly 500 worshippers—men, elders, and boys—into dense forest cover. Days later, their fate remainsContinue Reading
The Nigerian military’s relentless counter-insurgency operations in the Northeast have reshaped the conflict with Boko Haram and ISWAP in the Lake Chad basin. In a landmark briefing from Maiduguri, outgoing Joint Task Force HADIN KAI commander Major General Abdulsalam Abubakar unveiled devastating losses for the jihadist factions: over 1,100 fightersContinue Reading
For twenty-six days, from 22 September to 17 October 2026, the Fnac Paris Saint-Lazare will turn its third-floor forum into a showcase for Benin. Exhibitions, talks, debates, film and music make up a programme designed to connect history, memory, spirituality and contemporary creation. The stakes go well beyond a culturalContinue Reading
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
The official inauguration of the Thomas Sankara mausoleum in Ouagadougou on 17 May 2025 marked a defining moment in Burkina Faso’s public memory. Yet beyond the ceremonial grandeur, the event raised pressing questions about the real-world impact on those who lived the history firsthand. The families of the deceased, theContinue 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
At least 48 civilians were killed when a military helicopter belonging to the Algerian air force bombed an artisanal gold-mining site in the desert strip that separates Niger from Algeria. The strike, carried out in full daylight, has plunged the region into grief — and exposed a political truth thatContinue 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
One morning on the edge of Gao, in northern Mali, ended with 167 civilians dead and more than 127 motorbikes reduced to charred metal. The killings, carried out along the Niger river, are being attributed to the Russian mercenaries of Africa Corps — the force that took over from WagnerContinue Reading
Long paraded as the definitive proof that Niger had reclaimed command of its own mineral wealth, the running of the Société des mines de l’Aïr (SOMAÏR) by an entirely local workforce has instead ended in an industrial shipwreck. The finance ministry’s latest economic outlook note records a brutal 83.3 percentContinue 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