First Independent Mena Newspaper
At a recent summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), regional leaders decided to keep sanctions imposed on Niger after a July military coup and said they would need to see progress towards a transition to civilian rule before easing the measures. The West African leaders met Sunday (10 December) for a […]
The United Nations mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA, officially ended a 10-year deployment in the West African country on Monday (11 December), its spokesperson said, in a pull out ordered by Mali’s military leaders. The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) was established in April 2013 to support political processes in […]
The 64th extraordinary Summit of Heads of States of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), held Sunday December 10 in Abuja, Nigeria, maintained sanctions slapped on Niger in the wake of July 26 military coup and demanded the release of detained leader Mohamed Bazoum. Both sides have been embroiled in a tug of […]
The two remaining members of West Africa’s G5 Sahel alliance — Chad and Mauritania — have indicated they were paving the way to dissolving the anti-jihadist grouping after the other three founding countries left, citing the failure “to achieve its objectives.” In a joint statement released on Wednesday (6 December), Chad and Mauritania said they […]
Mali and Niger have announced they have nullified two historic tax treaties with France, noting that Paris’s hostility towards both West African nations is the reason for the move. According to a joint statement published on Tuesday (5 December), the cancellation of the two treaties, which was meant to avoid double taxation and help in […]
Despite fighting two jihadist insurgencies, Niger’s military leaders have announced they were scrapping two key security and defense agreements that the West African nations signed with the European Union to help fight the escalating violence in Africa’s Sahel region. Niger’s junta revoked the important military accords inked with the EU on Monday (4 December), which […]
The military leaders of Burkina Faso and Niger have announced their countries would follow Mali in quitting the G5 international anti-jihadist force in Africa’s Sahel region, the latest blow to the fight against insurgents in one of the world’s most troubled, conflict-torn areas. Leaders of the five countries involved in G5 Sahel agreed to deploy […]
Niger and Russia Monday signed a deal to bolster military cooperation between the two countries, a move that translates Russia’s growing presence in the region. The agreement came as Russia’s deputy Defense minister Colonel-General Yunus-Bek Evkurov met with Abdourahamane Tiani, the new strongman of the West African country who arose to power on July 26 […]
The European Union is “very concerned about the consequences” of the latest decision by Niger’s military leaders to revoke an EU-backed law criminalizing transportation of migrants north from Agadez to Libya and Algeria for onward transition to Europe. Over the weekend, Niger’s junta government signed an order abrogating the controversial legislation, known as Law 2015-36, […]
France has completed the full withdrawal of its forces from Niger as requested by the current leaders of the West African country who seized the power on July 26, after removing west-backed Mohamed Bazoum. Over 1,300 soldiers stationed in the country have left the country and headed to neighboring Chad and to France, ‘Mali Jet’ […]