Niger’s vanishing worshippers: how 500 kidnapped citizens expose the human cost of state collapse
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
Nigeria’s jihadist surge ends in devastation: over 1,100 fighters wiped out since April 2025
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
What Benin’s month at Fnac Saint-Lazare really changes for Paris, its diaspora and the economy
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
Senegal’s special funds: what the oversight deadlock means for taxpayers and public services
The cost of an unfinished law For weeks, lawmakers in Senegal have been trying to bring special funds under some form of legal framework. That effort remains unfinished, and the absence of a final mechanism is exactly why a significant share of discretionary state spending still escapes effective scrutiny byContinue Reading
How Wadagni’s Kigali visit and Gisozi tribute could reshape Benin’s economy and regional standing
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
How Burkina Faso’s Sankara mausoleum reshapes a family’s legacy and a nation’s memory
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
Burkina Faso’s 85% administrative efficiency claim: how citizens and businesses end up paying the price
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
Who pays for Niger’s new cabinet? The lasting consequences of the 15 September 2026 reshuffle
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
Niger’s media squeeze: the real-world fallout for citizens, traders and an economy already under strain
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
Mutiny in Niamey exposes rifts in Niger’s military leadership
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
Airstrike on Niger’s gold fields: 48 miners killed and a sovereignty sold short
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
Burkina Faso: the Sankara family and a memory claimed by the state
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