By Fidel Amakye Owusu In mid-2022, West African heads of state made a pragmatic, if uncomfortable, concession. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) lifted...
By Sheena Raikundalia US President Trump’s decision to extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act through December 2026 has sparked jubilation in Nairobi. But beneath the...
By Gregory Simpkins Africa has long been a target of outside interests looking to capitalize on what the continent has to offer. The 19th-century European exploration...
By Gregory September Regional cooperation just got real. Landlocked Mali can now reach the Atlantic. For landlocked nations, geography is often destiny. Mali, nestled deep in...
By Farhia Noor The Sahel is teaching the world a lesson it had forgotten: Africa is neither weak nor helpless. And it is certainly not for...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu The collapse of the G5 Sahel should serve as a wake-up call: African states cannot defeat violent extremism through fragmented, go-it-alone strategies....
By Danilo Desiderio The Alliance of Sahel States (AES) – comprising Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger – has signaled its intent to take a decisive step...
By Godfred Zina In recent years, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has found itself at the center of a fierce geopolitical and moral debate across Africa....
By Godfred Zina As Russia expands its influence across the Sahel region, its strategic partnership with Mali has grown significantly stronger. This week, Malian leader Colonel...
By Godfred Zina Mali is once again at a crossroads. In a recent decree citing concerns over public order, General Assimi Goïta – de facto leader...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu Since rejoining the African Union in 2017, Morocco has steadily expanded its influence across the continent, with a particular focus on West...
By Godfred Zina As the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) marks its 50th anniversary, the regional bloc finds itself at a pivotal moment. Despite...
By Godfred Zina The political upheavals in West Africa’s Sahel region have sparked a dramatic realignment of international alliances. In the wake of successive coups, the...
By Dishant Shah Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have officially withdrawn from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a decision that reshapes the region’s...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu The decision by three landlocked nations—Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger – to leave the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has...
On Saturday, Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama began a crucial three-day diplomatic mission, kicking off his tour in Bamako, Mali. The visit was marked by a...
AP | Malian filmmaker Souleymane Cissé, a pioneer of African cinema with a career spanning 50 years, has died at age 84, Malian television announced Wednesday....
By Fidel Amakye Owusu A closer examination of the ongoing insecurity in the Sahel region reveals that the strength of extremist groups is closely tied to...
By Godfred Zina Despite ongoing diplomatic tensions in Africa, 17 heads of state, including Nigerian President and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Chair Bola...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu In 2011, amid the Arab Spring uprisings and the fall of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, one of the issues he reportedly raised...
By Mary Alorh The shifting dynamics of global power over recent decades have profoundly impacted policies and diplomatic relations, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. African nations are...
By Mary Alorh The governments of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) have implemented progressive policies to strengthen governance and enhance the quality of life for...
By Mary Alorh The confederation of Sahel States faces significant challenges in development, as evidenced by troubling statistics. In 2021, Burkina Faso had a poverty rate...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu In 2022, Mali unilaterally withdrew from the G5 Sahel after the military alliance raised concerns about the country’s internal affairs. This decision...
By Mary Alorh The rising concerns over terrorism in Ghana have led me to reflect on my journey through West Africa, a region where I witnessed...
By Godfred Zina Amid growing insecurity and instability in West Africa, Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo unveiled key security strategies at the Second International Defense Exhibition and...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu The Global Terrorism Index, a comprehensive study evaluating the impact of terrorism in 163 countries, covers about 99.7 percent of the world’s...
Burkina Faso has finalized an agreement to nationalize two gold mines for approximately US$80 million, a deal originally set for over US$300 million with Lilium Mining...
By Mary Alorh The history of the newly formed Confederation of Sahel States cannot be discussed without acknowledging the impact of colonial rule on these nations....
By Mary Alorh The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional organization in West Africa, has recently faced challenges due to the formation of...
By Gregory Simpkins For nearly half a century, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), established with the Treaty of Lagos in 1975, has endeavored...
By Godfred Zina On July 6, 2024, the heads of the military juntas from Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso gathered in Niamey for the first meeting...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu During the Cold War, the West held significant influence in West Africa, particularly through France, which had considerable control over many countries...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu The military junta in Niger has declared an end to its military collaboration with the United States, denouncing the agreement that facilitated...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu During the 1960s, a series of successful coups swept through sub-Saharan Africa, often accompanied by military justifications. These explanations were seen as...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu The military government of Sudan continues to insist that the African Union (AU) removes sanctions it had imposed on it, and fully...
AP | The sanctions will be lifted with immediate effect, the president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, Omar Alieu Touray said...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu After the military coup in Niger on July 26, 2023, I was sought by various media platforms where I granted several interviews....
By Fidel Amakye Owusu Not long after independence, three West African countries decided to form a closer bond. The Ghana-Guinea-Mali Union resulted. After a few years,...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu When violent extremists swept across northern Mali in 2011 and 2012, the governments in Bamako and Niamey were particularly concerned. Something needed...
By Gregory Simpkins The African ‘coup train’ keeps on rolling with the latest coup attempt in Sierra Leone. This time, however, the coup was thwarted before...
By Gregory Simpkins Since African nations began the road to independence in the 1950s, there have been about 100 coups in which militaries overthrew elected governments....
AFP | West African leaders agreed on Sunday to create a regional force to intervene against jihadism and in the event of coups, a senior official...
By Gregory Simpkins The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) June Global Trends reported that by the end of 2021, the number of people displaced...
AP | The Pritzker Architecture Prize has been awarded to Diébédo Francis Kéré, a Berlin-based architect, educator and social activist, for a craft that is “sustainable...
The recent wave of coups in West Africa reflects both a generational divide and a history of military involvement in African politics.
AFP | West African leaders hold a key summit on Thursday as a wave of coups buffet a region struggling with poverty and a long history...
AP | Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, the former president of Mali who took office in a landmark election held after a destabilizing coup only to be ousted...
West African community imposes additional sanctions on Mali
Reuters |West Africa’s main political and economic bloc imposed sanctions on Sunday against Mali’s transitional leaders after they informed the organization they would not be able...
West and Central Africa has seen 4 coups since last year
Police in Mali have arrested 2 people suspected of links to an attack on a luxury hotel in the country’s capital that killed 22 people, the...
State television in Mali has reported that no more hostages are being held at a luxury hotel after a day-long siege by Islamist militants. National broadcaster...
Malian commandos stormed a luxury hotel in Bamako on Friday after Islamist gunmen took 170 people in the capital Bamako. Islamist extremists armed with guns and...
Mali’s army has arrested Alaye Bocari, a leading financial backer of an Islamist militant group responsible for an expansion of deadly attacks in the West African...
Two rival Tuareg groups in northern Mali have ended a decades-old feud that has frustrated efforts to halt a conflict between the government and the Tuareg...
Mali’s Tuareg separatists signed a preliminary agreement with the government on Thursday as a gesture of “good faith” to end decades of fighting, but wanted more...
Mali’s government and an alliance of Tuareg-led northern separatists have agreed to cease hostilities on Thursday to ease tensions during negotiations aimed at ending decades of...
Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has approved a new government, before the launch of new peace talks this month with separatists in the north of the...
Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita named a former head of government, Modibo Keita, as the new prime minister on Thursday after the previous government resigned, state...
Mali’s government hopes to clinch a preliminary peace deal with northern Tuareg separatists within 8 weeks, the foreign minister said, ahead of talks due to start...
An Air Algerie flight crashed on Thursday en route from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso to Algiers with 110 passengers on board, an Algerian aviation official said....
Officials from the Keita administration in Mali government will meet with representatives of Tuareg separatist movement in Algiers on July 16, indicating progress in their stalled...
Mali’s new Prime Minister Moussa Mara formed a government Friday, with the outgoing foreign minister becoming reconciliation minister as the deeply-divided nation recovers from months of...
Malians are optimistic about the direction of their country after last year’s election of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, according to an Afrobarometer survey released this week....
Situated on the westernmost tip of Africa, Senegal is a country that has long been associated with European and transatlantic trade due to its geography. Colonized...
Kenyan book publisher Longhorn reported a 78 percent increase in its pretax profit for the six months ended in December. The growth was driven by the...
The party of Mali’s new president and its political allies have won a comfortable majority in a parliamentary election intended to seal to a return to...
Officials in Mali have revealed that many of Mali’s 147 parliamentary seats will be decided in a runoff next month following a first-round vote on Sunday...
Voters in Mali trickled to the polls amid high security for parliamentary elections on Sunday, in the second set of elections since an international force intervened...
Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (Reuters) – Mali’s new president asked a national congress on Monday to draw up plans for increased regional autonomy, a year...
New Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita In a bid to return normalcy and peace to northern Mali, the new President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has invited representatives...
(Reuters) – The newly elected government in Mali will carry out a complete inventory of existing mining contracts and stands ready to renegotiate any which are...
Newly elected Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. PHOTO/File Mali’s first post-war prime minister has appointed a cabinet featuring a number of old hands and a new...
Mali President-elect Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. PHOTO/File Official results from Mali’s runoff election show President-elect Ibrahim Boubacar Keita won in a landslide. Keita’s opponent Soumaila Cisse conceded...
Mali President-elect Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. PHOTO/File Former Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita won Mali’s presidency after his opponent conceded defeat late Monday in an election aimed...
Mali Presidential candidates Soumaila Cisse (l) and Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (r). PHOTO/File (Reuters) – Poll workers in Mali are counting votes in Sunday’s high stakes presidential...
Mali Presidential candidates Soumaila Cisse (l) and Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (r). PHOTO/File (Reuters) – Former prime minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita came first in Mali’s presidential election...
The first official results from Mali’s elections were expected Tuesday after a strong turnout Sunday for a vote that was the first since a military coup...
Preliminary results collated by journalists in polling stations gave a clear early lead to former premier Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (IBK) in Mali’s presidential elections, sparking celebrations...
A Malian lady casts her vote during Mali’s presidential election, July 28, 2013. PHOTO/Joe Penney/Reuters Voters in Mali turned out in large numbers to vote on...
(Reuters) – Mali holds a presidential election on Sunday after more than a year of turmoil including a coup and military intervention to free the north...
Mali’s interim President Dioncounda Traore has met for the first time with members of two northern Tuareg separatist groups, ahead of the presidential and general elections...
African Union mediators failed Wednesday to convince Mali’s interim president to sign a deal with northern Tuareg rebels that would pave the way for nationwide elections...
Mali’s government announced on Monday that much-anticipated presidential elections will be held July 28, in a communique that set the dates for the campaign period and...
At least five suicide bombers died in northern Mali on Friday in attacks aimed at Malian and Nigerien troops which failed to inflict serious casualties on...
(Reuters) – A Nigerian fighter jet taking part in military operations against al Qaeda-linked Islamic militants in Mali crashed in western Niger, killing its two crew,...
(Reuters) – West African leaders on Thursday called for a regional military operation against al-Qaeda-linked rebels in north Mali to be transformed into a U.N. peacekeeping...
Islamists in Northern Mali. Courtesy of the New York Times. 2013 Broken Social Contracts On top of the colorful bands of rebels and warlords that inadvertently...
The African Union has raised over US$450 million to support the African Union military intervention in Mali (AFISMA) and towards the resolution of the potential humanitarian...
Mali is hoping to organize elections on July 31 this year. Mali’s interim President made this revelation while attending the recent African Union summit in Ethiopia....
The war against al-Qaeda linked militants in northern Mali including the deployment of African troops is expected to dominate talks at the African Union summit in...
(Reuters) – Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has indicated that his country’s troops would stay in Mali to back military operations against al Qaeda-linked militants until the...
There are now about 1,000 African Union troops in Mali to take part in the military intervention to dislodge al-Qaeda linked militants from the north of...
(AFP) – The emergency summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional bloc has called on member states and Chad, which has pledged...
The African Union is next week expected to hold a conference with potential donors to raise funds to support the planned African military intervention in northern...
Nigerian troops involved in the Mali intervention are expected Thursday. Nigeria says it will send nearly 200 troops to Mali within the next few hours. Nigerian...
(Reuters) – West African troops could begin deploying in Mali within the next 48 hours, Malian army chief Ibrahim Dembele said on Wednesday, on the sidelines...
(Reuters) – The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has called an extraordinary summit in Ivory Coast to discuss the military campaign against al-Qaeda linked...
(Reuters) – West African states are preparing to send troops to Mali as an international campaign to eject al-Qaeda-linked elements who have seized the north of...
Islamist extremists who seized Mali’s north have moved even closer toward areas under government control Monday, a military official and witness said, reigniting long-held fears that...
The U.N. Security Council on Thursday authorized military action to wrest northern Mali from the control of al-Qaeda-linked extremists but demanded progress first on political reconciliation,...
The interim president of Mali has named a replacement prime minister following the abrupt forced resignation of Cheikh Modibo Diarra. The political crisis has deepened concerns...
Immediate Past Mali Prime Minister Cheikh Modibo Diarra The prime minister of Mali Cheikh Modibo Diarra has resigned. Diarra, went on TV at 4 a.m. to...
Ivory Coast’s president says mandated African Union forces could intervene in lawless northern Mali early next year, calling such an operation “urgent” to prevent the area...
Niger’s president says his country is ready to help Mali regain its northern region which is occupied by al-Qaeda linked insurgents. Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou spoke...
A West African summit on Sunday agreed on a military force of 3,300 troops with a one-year mandate to wrest control of northern Mali from Islamist...
West African nations on Friday plotted military force against “terrorist groups” in Islamist-occupied northern Mali as regional foreign and defence ministers met on a strategy to...
Military experts from Africa and the United Nations have drawn up a preliminary plan to recapture northern Mali from al-Qaeda-linked Islamists, African officials said on Tuesday....
A planned African-led military offensive to reclaim northern Mali from al-Qaeda-linked insurgents is unlikely to begin before next year — despite growing concern about the terrorist...
Hundreds of jihadist fighters, mainly from Pakistan, Sudan and Western Sahara, arrived in northern Mali over the weekend to support the Islamist groups ahead of a...
High-level delegations from the West African bloc – the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the the United Nations met with Malian leaders Friday...
The U.N. Security Council on Friday unanimously approved a plan to back an African-led military force to help the Mali army oust Islamic militants who seized...
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which has been trying to broker an end to the political crisis in Mali will secretly deploy regional...
The president of the West African bloc of nations said Monday it “can no longer hesitate” to combat terrorism and criminality in northern Mali, which was...
The current chair of the African Union, Benin President Boni Yayi, said Friday West African nations would soon meet on strategies to intervene in Mali, where...
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said that regional troops would definitely intervene in Islamist-occupied northern Mali if negotiations with the extremists failed to yield a solution. “Diplomacy...
Mali President.,Dioncounda Traoré. PHOTO/File Mali’s interim president Dioncounda Traore has “renewed his confidence” in transition prime minister Cheick Modibo Diarra and invitedhim to form a government....
Interim Mali President.,Dioncounda Traoré. PHOTO/File In his first address to the nation since returning home from hospital, the interim president of Mali, said that he “fully...
The Ivory Coast president says military intervention in Mali is “inevitable” within weeks, if there’s no quick change in the West African country where Islamist extremists...
Mali was “preparing all options” to retake the Islamist-occupied north of the country and national consultations were being prepared to form a government of national unity,...
West Africa leaders meet in Burkina Faso on Saturday with civil leaders from Mali amid moves to create a government of national unity to tackle a...
Hardline Islamists occupying northern Mali went on the rampage in Timbuktu on Saturday, destroying ancient tombs of Muslim saints and threatening to wipe out every religious...
The Economic Community of West African states (ECOWAS) is urging the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution that would authorize any military action it takes...
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) says it will investigate who is responsible for allowing Monday’s attack on Mali’s president to happen. ECOWAS, expressed...
West African mediators wrapped up their mission to Mali on Monday, after securing their choice for transition president by offering the leader of a March coup...
The chief negotiator for the economic community of West African States (ECOWAS) says the junta in Mali has accepted that the current interim president will stay...
West Africa’s regional bloc – the economic community of West African states (ECOWAS) threatened Monday to re-impose sanctions on Mali, saying that the junta’s actions “appear...
Gunfire echoed across Bamako on Tuesday as Mali government troops battled each other, with one side trying to oust soldiers who seized power in a coup...
A suicide bomber and a man armed with explosives attacked two Nigerian newspaper offices on Thursday, killing seven people and wounding at least 26. The radical...
Mali Interim President.,Dioncounda Traore. PHOTO/File Mali’s new interim president took office Thursday, returning the country to civilian rule three weeks after mutinous soldiers overthrew the nation’s...
The body representing West African nations has imposed severe financial sanctions on Mali, after a 72-hour deadline elapsed and the soldiers that recently seized power failed...
The junior officer who overthrew Mali’s democratically elected leader earlier this month and dissolved the nation’s constitution made a public U-turn Sunday, declaring amid enormous international...
The junior officer who grabbed power in a coup last week said Friday he plans to hold free elections and rapidly return Mali to its established...
The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) as met with its African member states, as part of its continental fundraising efforts. The consultations on the fringes of...
Negotiations between Mali’s military junta and four West African presidents seeking to restore the country’s elected government will take place in Ivory Coast, after the plane...
Several thousand people took to the streets of Mali’s capital, Bamako, Wednesday in support of last week’s military takeover and a new constitution hastily written by...
Soldiers stormed the presidential palace and announced Thursday that they had seized control of the country, ousting the president of Mali just one month before he...
Seydou Keita of Mali (l) challenging Anthony Annan of Ghana. PHOTO/File Mali beat 10-man Ghana 2-0 Saturday in the third-place match at the African Cup of...
Ghana and Mali were the last teams to qualify for the African Cup of Nations quarterfinals, but the tournament was overshadowed by violence at a club...
Antigua and Barbuda has demanded reparations for injustices suffered by African slaves and their descendants. Mr Baldwin Spencer (pictured), the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of...
