First Independent Mena Newspaper
The Economic Commission for West African States (ECOWAS) leaders have agreed to establish a regional peacekeeping force to intervene in member states to help restore security and constitutional order in a region that has witnessed several coups in the past two years. West and Central Africa have made strides in the past decade to shed […]
Gabon and Guinea Bissau signed Wednesday two cooperation agreements spanning consultation on political and diplomatic matters, as both countries move to strengthen ties, the central African country announced. The signing came during a visit of Umaro Sissoco Embaló, the Guinea Bissau leader to his Gabonese counterpart Ali Bongo Ondimba. “The legal framework for cooperation between […]
King Mohammed VI of Morocco delivered, on Sunday, a speech to the Nation on the occasion of the 47th anniversary of the glorious Green March. Here follows the full text of the Royal speech: “Praise be to God, May peace and blessings be upon the Prophet, His Kith and Kin Dear Citizens, The commemoration of […]
Guinea’s ruling junta has agreed to restore civilian rule in two years, after facing sanctions by the West African bloc ECOWAS over its original plan for a three-year transfer of power. “In a dynamic compromise, experts from ECOWAS and Guinea have jointly developed a consolidated chronogram (timetable) for a transition spread over 24 months,” Economic […]
Captain Ibrahim Traoré was appointed president of Burkina Faso on Wednesday (5 October), less than a week after the latest coup that deposed Damiba amid growing violence in the Sahel. The Sahel country plunged into political turmoil on 30 September after the second coup in less than nine months that saw a group of officers […]
The ECOWAS mediator for Burkina Faso has ended his visit to the country in the wake of last week’s coup, the second in eight months, whose main objectives were to establish relations with the new junta leader and to reinforce a two-year transition period for the country to return to democracy set up under the […]
African Union chief joins regional leaders from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in condemning the removal of military leader Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba in a coup – the second in less than a year — as the United Nations has voiced concern about the situation in the country and the European Union denounced […]
UN Chief, Antonio Guterres, Sunday told French media RFI the 46 Ivorian soldiers who have been in custody in Mali since July for allegedly plotting a coup, are not mercenaries as Malian authorities claim. Guterres in an interview with the media also indicated that he will address the issue with Malian authorities on the sidelines […]
ECOWAS has brought its support for the Morocco-gas pipeline with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to speed up the achievement of this structural project that will help meet West Africa’s energy needs and offer an infrastructure for exporting West African gas. The memorandum of understanding was signed in Rabat this Thursday by head […]
Ivory Coast on Wednesday (14 September) slammed Mali for “blackmailing” over 46 Ivorian troops who have been detained by Bamako and urged leaders of the regional bloc ECOWAS to discuss the crisis “as soon as possible”. Mali’s ruling junta last week tied the troops’ release to the extradition of Malians living in Ivory Coast — […]