Benin’s new disability cards: how 1,422 families gain real access to healthcare, school and transport

Benin’s social protection drive has taken a tangible step forward with the handover of 1,422 new Chance Equality cards to citizens living with disabilities. Social Affairs and Microfinance Minister Véronique…

KwaMakhutha massacre: the deadly toll on a community and a province pushed to breaking point

The massacre that unfolded in KwaMakhutha has left deep scars on a community and sharpened fears about the widening reach of organised crime across South Africa’s urban peripheries. In the…

Russian wheat shipment exposes the real cost of Burkina Faso’s food self-sufficiency narrative

The gap between official rhetoric and the situation on the ground has grown so wide it now borders on the absurd. While Captain Ibrahim Traoré repeatedly declares in his speeches…

Boussouma’s collapse 77 km from Ouagadougou: the mounting human and economic toll of a state in retreat

Barely 77 kilometres north-east of Ouagadougou, the village of Boussouma has become a byword for the devastating consequences of state retreat. What was once a thriving crossroads of trade and…

Madaouela uranium deal with Atomic Eagle: what Niger’s citizens and economy stand to lose

Niger’s transitional authorities have hailed the uranium agreement signed on 23 September 2026 for the Madaouela deposit as a major victory for mining sovereignty. Yet the real-world consequences for citizens,…

Chad: N’Djamena’s minors-in-uniforms case could reshape daily life for families and youth groups

Chad Chad: N’Djamena’s minors-in-uniforms case could reshape daily life for families and youth groups A viral clip of five minors in military attire voicing criticism of the head of state…

Togo’s asylum-for-repression deal: how ordinary citizens and businesses pay the price for Faure Gnassingbé’s alliance with Chadian rebels

The real-world fallout of Lomé’s covert pact with Chadian insurgents When Luc Beyam, a senior figure in the Chadian rebel group known as the Movement for Justice and Recovery (MJRT),…

Moussa Kaka’s disappearance in Niamey: how one missing journalist is reshaping Niger’s media economy and civic life

The sudden disappearance in Niamey of veteran Nigerien journalist Moussa Kaka, director-general of Radio Télévision Saraounia (RTS) and a historic figure in Sahelian news, is no longer just a press-freedom…

Mali: 358 Russian deaths in three years and the growing toll on civilians and the economy

The mounting death toll among Russian paramilitary forces in Mali is no longer just a battlefield statistic—it is a reality that is reshaping daily life for millions of Malians and…

Olympe Bhêly-Quenum at 100: the real-world impact of a century of writing on Benin’s readers, schools and cultural economy

When Olympe Bhêly-Quenum was born in Ouidah on 20 September 1926, nobody could have guessed that his pen would go on to shape how generations of Beninese readers, students and…

M23 mining abuses in eastern DRC: the human and economic toll on Rubaya’s communities

M23’s grip on Rubaya’s coltan mines leaves a trail of suffering and economic disruption Since its resurgence in 2021, the M23 armed group has seized large swaths of territory in…

Niger’s power crisis: how general Tiani’s fear is reshaping daily life and the economy

The presidential palace in Niamey has become a place where silence weighs heavier than any speech. More than three years after the July 2023 coup, General Abdourahamane Tiani is confronting…