First Independent Mena Newspaper
The eight countries of the West African CFA franc zone plan to issue 2.723 trillion CFA francs ($4.82 billion) in debt in 2019, Reuters reported. Member countries using the West African CFA franc – a currency pegged to the euro – include Ivory Coast, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Togo and Benin. They share […]
Algeria has been slammed for summary expulsions of more than 37,000 migrants in the desert border with Niger between 2014 and 2018. Algeria’s interior ministry confirmed the figure but claimed that the abandoned migrants were displaced to the border by virtue of an agreement with Niger’s authorities. Human rights groups however hold Algeria responsible for […]
French President Emmanuel Macron called for more support to the counterterrorism Sahel force known as G5. “Money now needs to be disbursed” to allow the five-nation regional force fulfil its tasks, said Macron at a press conference with visiting Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou. He also called on other donors like Saudi Arabia to meet their […]
Dozens of Sub-Saharan migrants have died in abhorrent conditions on the Algerian-Niger borders as Algiers continues summary expulsions, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said. IOM said it set up facilities in norther Niger sheltering up to 3500 migrants kicked out of Algeria. On a single day last month, 1,500 arrived at the remote border […]
International NGOs and rights watchdogs continue to deplore Algeria’s meagre record in respecting migrants’ rights as the North African country continues its black manhunt, summarily deporting thousands of Sub-Saharan migrants and asylum seekers in harsh conditions. “People who have been deported from Algeria earlier this month, stated they were detained in makeshift camps for a […]
The International Organization for Migration (IMO) confirmed that it has saved 1000 Sub-Saharan migrants abandoned by Algerian authorities in the desert in harsh conditions. Radio France Internationale reported that IMO continues to save migrants in Algeria’s desert border while Algerian authorities are conducting a manhunt for migrants with the arrest of hundreds of Sub-Saharans who […]
Civil society associations in Guinea, Gabon and Niger have urged the African Union to put the issue of the human rights violations by Algerian authorities against Sub-Saharan migrants on the agenda as Algiers continues arbitrary expulsions of would-be migrants who are often abandoned in the desert on the borders with Niger. At a time the […]
Niger, a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has reaffirmed support for Morocco’s bid to join the West African trade bloc. In a joint statement issued following the 4th Morocco-Niger Joint Committee (Dec 25-26 in Rabat), the two parties highlighted the beneficial impact Morocco would have on the ECOWAS. The Joint […]
Morocco and Niger have strengthened their partnership with the signing on Tuesday in Rabat of 16 cooperation agreements destined to lift their strategic partnership to higher levels. The deals, sealed during the 4th session of the Morocco-Niger Joint High Committee, include projects in the sectors of trade, tourism, culture, health, training, justice, customs and transport. […]
Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni is to ask the Parliament’s permission to redeploy troops currently stationed in Iraq to Niger where terrorist groups are increasingly engaging in human trafficking, contributing to the surge of illegal immigration in the Mediterranean region. Gentiloni said Italy’s 1,400-strong military force, present in Iraq, could now be reduced after victories […]