Niger’s CFPD dispute: growing fallout, fierce public debate and a 1.8 billion FCFA question still without answers

Why a 2024 decree still shapes today’s argument A signed decree. Billions that could theoretically be mobilised. A brand-new defense architecture. A reshuffling of responsibilities. Then the arrival of yet…

Baudelaire Ndong Ella in Washington: what Gabon’s new ambassador means for jobs, trade and security at home

The arrival of Baudelaire Ndong Ella as Gabon’s ambassador to the United States is more than a ceremonial handshake. It is a move that could reshape everyday realities for Gabonese…

Mali’s opening to Washington: the fallout, the debate and what comes next

Few developments in the Sahel have stirred as much argument this year as Mali’s discreet reopening of the American channel. Word that Bamako and Washington are edging back toward security…

Mali’s drone war: the fallout, the unanswered questions and the road ahead

In Mali, the argument over drone warfare has moved into a harder, more uncomfortable phase. An independent investigation has concluded that 199 airstrikes carried out over three years killed 731…

Nigeria’s police neutrality promise draws public scrutiny as presidential vote approaches

The Nigerian police force’s pledge to deliver a secure and neutral presidential election has sparked a broad public debate, with citizens, civil society organisations and opposition leaders all weighing in…

After the crackdown: Mali’s prison overcrowding fuels a heated debate over what comes next

Mali’s overcrowded prisons have shifted from a slow-burning administrative headache into one of the most fiercely argued questions in the country today. The wave of mass arrests that swept in…

After the harvests in Tougan: fallout, debate and the questions Burkina Faso’s food sovereignty must now answer

The harvest has come and gone in Tougan, and with it a now-familiar sense of disillusionment. Behind the official discourse on sovereignty, industrialisation and domestic output, agricultural producers maintain that…

In Niger, the FPL’s youth appeal ignites a national debate and hard questions about the road ahead

The video was brief, direct and released in several languages — and it has achieved something the security crisis alone had not: it has forced a national conversation into the…

After the Kidal well strikes: 43 dead, a hardening debate and the long road back for northern Mali

Two days of strikes on water points around Kidal have left at least 43 people dead, an unknown number wounded and a region arguing openly about how it is supposed…

Benin’s AA- sovereign upgrade: regional fallout, public debate and the road to 2026 financing

Financial circles across West Africa have spent the days since 15 September picking apart a single line of a rating report: the decision by Bloomfield Investment Corporation to lift Benin’s…

Two medals in Cairo, one big question: where does Brigitte Tchede take Benin athletics next?

Two medals, one athlete and a wave of reaction back home. Brigitte Tchede’s double podium at the 12th African University Games in Cairo has pushed Benin’s sporting conversation well beyond…

What happens after Mahlou and Winten? Burkina Faso’s armored ambitions enter an uncomfortable new phase

A claim that reopens the argument On the morning of Wednesday, September 16, 2026, the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) said it had seized two positions held…