Inside Nigeria’s relentless crackdown: how military strategy crippled jihadist networks in the Lake Chad basin

How Nigeria’s armed forces dismantled insurgent supply lines and decimated jihadist ranks The Nigerian military has achieved a significant turning point in its fight against Boko Haram and ISWAP in…

Inside Benin’s Paris residency: the currents driving 26 days at Fnac Saint-Lazare

For nearly a month, Paris will live to the rhythm of Benin. From September 22 to October 17, 2026, Fnac Saint-Lazare is devoting an exceptional program to this West African…

Senegal’s special funds: why the oversight bill keeps hitting the same wall

Senegal’s special funds: why the oversight bill keeps hitting the same wall The real reason Senegal’s discretionary spending still slips past parliament has little to do with political will. It…

Behind Wadagni’s Kigali agenda: why memory sits at the core of Benin-Rwanda diplomacy

KIGALI — When Romuald Wadagni touched down in Kigali on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, the choreography of the two-day state visit told its own story. For Benin’s president, sworn in…

Sankara’s mausoleum and the marginalised widow: a study in memory politics

The ceremonial inauguration and its silences On 17 May 2025, the Burkina Faso authorities unveiled the Thomas Sankara mausoleum at the former Conseil de l’Entente site in Ouagadougou. The event,…

Burkina Faso’s 85% administrative efficiency score: the structural blind spots behind a self-assessed number

As households across Burkina Faso confront deepening hardship and struggle to reach basic public services, the transitional government has opted for a striking display of self-congratulation. By publishing a theoretical…

Niger’s cabinet shake-up: a loyalty machine masking a regime in panic

The decree signed on 15 September 2026 by General Abdourahamane Tiani fools no one. Dressed up half-heartedly as a routine “technical reorganisation”, this first major government reshuffle is above all…

Behind Niger’s new media law: the regime’s deeper struggle for narrative control

The real motive behind Niger’s media crackdown When a government begins to brand its critics as threats to national security, the true target is rarely security itself. In Niger, the…

Niamey mutiny exposes deep rifts in Niger’s military leadership

A failed mutiny at Niamey’s Air Base 101 in late August left at least 13 members of the Presidential Guard dead and numerous others wounded in intense clashes involving heavy…

Algerian helicopter strike kills 48 gold miners at Niger border, exposing Niamey’s fragile sovereignty

A deadly dawn in the Sahara At least 48 civilians lost their lives when an Algerian military helicopter opened fire on an artisanal gold mining site straddling the Niger-Algeria frontier.…

Burkina Faso: the Sankara family and the weight of Ibrahim Traoré’s commemorative agenda

A contested legacy at the heart of Burkina Faso’s political narrative In Burkina Faso, the remembrance of Thomas Sankara has transcended its status as a purely historical inheritance. It now…

Gao massacre: 167 civilians killed and over 127 motorbikes burned by Africa Corps near the Niger river

At first light on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, the banks of the Niger river on the outskirts of Gao became the scene of a blood-soaked assault blamed on Russian mercenaries…