First Independent Mena Newspaper
France has said it will keep its 1,000 troops in junta-run Chad amid waning French influence after it was ousted from several African countries over the past few years, just as apparent calm has returned to Chad’s capital N’Djamena following the assassination of an opposition leader. “Of course we will stay” in Chad, said Jean-Marie […]
Junta-led Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have agreed to create a joint force to battle security threats, most notably long-running jihadist rebellions, across their territories. Violence in the wider Sahel region fueled by the decade-long fight with Islamist groups has worsened since the three countries’ militaries seized power in a series of coups from 2020 […]
Religious leaders and especially Salafists in the three coup-hit West African countries have reportedly emerged as the unexpected allies of the new military authorities. The largely popular regimes in Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali — West African countries, which have also undergone military coups since 2020 — enjoy the support of the religious leaders that […]
Junta leaders in the coup-hit West African countries have recently made headlines when they pushed for the ditching of the West African franc (CFA), a colonial-era legacy, though the desire to change the currency seems to not be uniform yet among the three juntas. Since the coup in Niger in July last year, fissures within […]
The heads of state of the member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have decided to lift some of the sanctions imposed on Niger following last year’s military coup, announced the president of the regional organization’s Commission, Omar Alieu Touray, from Abuja on Saturday. ECOWAS “has decided to lift with immediate […]
African nations should unite against any form of uprising from jihadists in the Sahel region and other parts of West Africa following the withdrawal of the coup-hit Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso from ECOWAS, Nigeria’s military chief, General Christopher Musa has said. The withdrawal of the three member states from the regional bloc, coupled with […]
Niger failed to make a debt payment of 13.4 billion CFA francs ($22 million) last week, the West African debt management agency said on Monday (19 February), bringing the total default to $519 million since a coup in July 2023 and its subsequent suspension from regional financial markets. The West African Economic Monetary Union (WAEMU) […]
Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have confirmed their commitment to form a confederation following their ‘exit’ from the regional bloc ECOWAS and called to “urgently” draft provisions ensuring the free movement of people and goods between the three West African countries. A trilateral meeting of ministerial delegations on 15 February also recommended expanding the Alliance […]
The Algerian regime has lost its leverage and credibility in the Sahel region, becoming untrustworthy for its southern neighboring countries due to its interference, support for separatism, and dirty-games serving agenda of former French colonial power. On Wednesday, Niger’s Prime Minister Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine was received in Rabat by Moroccan peer Aziz Akhannouch. During […]
General Abdourrahman Tiani, President of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, Head of State of Niger has sent a message to King Mohammed VI. The message was handed over by Niger’s PM Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine to Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch at a meeting in Rabat on Wednesday. The contents of […]