The postponement of Senegal’s local elections has shifted from administrative delay to a pressing civic crisis. With Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s administration still withholding the official date—despite the constitutionally mandated January 2027 deadline—the…
Month: September 2026
Dioura fallout: the real price Mali’s soldiers, families and citizens now pay
When Mali’s military command brushed aside the fighting at Dioura with a single throwaway line — that there was ‘nothing’ to report there — it gambled that silence would bury the story….
What West Africa loses by leaving its savings idle — and what changes if Cotonou’s call is heard
Money that sits still has a price, and in West Africa that price is paid by households, small businesses and the wider economy every single day. Fewer local companies manage to raise…
Niger: what Tiani’s citizenship decrees cost citizens, businesses and the economy
When a political opinion costs you your bank account In Niger, a dissenting opinion can now cost far more than your freedom — it can cost you your papers, your savings and…
Gabon’s justice system gets a green justice advocate as Libreville prosecutor general
Legal Updates Gabon’s justice system gets a green justice advocate as Libreville prosecutor general 108 Libreville, September 18, 2026 — Gabon’s judicial landscape is set for a significant shift as the Superior…
Benin–Spain culture deal: the real economic gains for artists, guides and small businesses
Cotonou and Madrid have moved well beyond the symbolic handshake. The cultural cooperation now taking shape between Benin and the Kingdom of Spain is being designed around results that households, studios and…
Niger: what Tiani’s crackdown after the failed coup is costing citizens and businesses
The decree signed on 17 September reads like a dry legal document. Its effects are anything but abstract. Five Nigerien citizens – among them a former prime minister – now find themselves…
Niger’s 1.8 billion FCFA monthly security fund: what the power struggle really costs citizens and businesses
In Niger, the quarrel over the Commandement des Forces de Protection et de Développement (CFPD) has stopped being an internal matter between senior officers. Its effects are already landing on the national…
How Mali’s press reform will land on journalists, publishers and the wider media economy
The united front on display around Mali’s recent employers’ consultations — and around the draft body intended to pave the way for media self-regulation — does little to hide what is really…
How Tiani’s Libya strategy could hit Niger’s citizens, traders and the Sahel economy
Niger’s role in southern Libya is no longer a distant diplomatic question. It is starting to look like a domestic bill that ordinary Nigeriens will be asked to pay — through fuel…
How a renewed Benin–Cuba trade pact could reshape jobs, prices and supply chains in West Africa
The Republic of Benin and the Republic of Cuba have opened a fresh chapter in a partnership that stretches back decades. During a diplomatic audience held in Cotonou between Cuba’s ambassador, Denisse…
Togo: one year after Marguerite Gnakadé’s arrest, the bill citizens and businesses keep paying
One year to the day. On 17 September 2025, Marguerite Essossimna Gnakadé, a former minister of the armed forces, was taken into custody — and twelve months later, the fallout from that…