West Africa

Suspected jihadists have killed 30 people during an attack in the north of Burkina Faso, near the Niger border. Eleven civilians are among the dead, officials say. Armed men targeted villages near the border with Niger on Wednesday, before opening fire on security forces who responded to the raids. “Ten …

Due to attacks by militant group Boko Haram that forced farmers to leave their land, an estimated 4.4 million people in northeast Nigeria could face acute hunger, the UN said. Farmers have been targeted in the insurgency and the army has been carrying out operations against militants. The area has …

After clashes on Monday between protesting students and police, authorities ruled that undergraduate classes at the University of Liberia be suspended indefinitely. The students were protesting against the university’s decision to cancel in-person classes for online classes, a move they said would curb the spread of coronavirus. But the students …

Several thousand anti-government protesters have marched through the streets of the Ghanaian capital, Accra, to call for action to address the country’s economic and social challenges. A social media campaign under the slogan “Fix The Country” has gained momentum in recent months. President Nana Akufo-Addo’s government has introduced new taxes …

Nigeria has recorded 505 new cases of Covid-19 infections and three deaths. This comes as the government places at least six states on the red list over a possible surge and fears of a third wave. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says fresh infections were reported in 14 …

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara is in self-isolation after being in contact with someone who had tested positive for Covid-19, the presidency has said. The name of the person was not revealed. President Ouattara has encouraged the Ivorian population to get vaccinated while respecting the protection measures in place in …

A Senegalese university student is in trouble for disguising himself as a woman to sit his girlfriend’s school-leaving English paper. Images of the Khadim Mboup dressed in women’s clothes, including a red veil, have been shared widely on social media and news outlets in Senegal. The 22-year-old student, who was …

Authorities in Nigeria have received from the US government, a donation of four million doses of Covid-19 vaccine. The US embassy in Nigeria says the donated vaccines are part of the “US pledge to initially provide at least 25 million of the 80 million doses globally to Africa”. Nigeria receives …

After the government failed to respond to their grievances, doctors in Nigeria’s public hospitals are set to begin an indefinite strike over poor pay. The National Association of Resident Doctors (Nard) said its members would begin the strike on Monday at 08:00 local time. The union accused the government of …

Fifteen soldiers have been killed in what Niger’s defence ministry described as a “terrorist attack” in the south-west of the country, near the border with Burkina Faso. According to the defence ministry, soldiers in the Torodi area of the Tillaberi region were ambushed and then hit by an improvised explosive …