West Africa

Malian authorities have announced that they have severed diplomatic relations with Ukraine after a military official suggested that Kyiv played a role in deadly fighting near the Algerian border last month. Dozens of Malian soldiers and mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner group were killed in days of clashes with Tuareg separatist …

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Sunday called for a suspension of protests over the country’s high cost of living, saying the suspension would create an opportunity for dialogue, local media reported. This is his first public comments since the citizens took on the streets to protest bad governance and the …

A man has been spotted walking naked through the streets of Nigeria’s capital Lagos as part of a protest against the high cost of living in the country. Protests against bad governance and high cost of living have taken place in several cities across Nigeria and at least three protesters …

Former Guinean military leader Moussa Dadis Camara has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after being accused of crimes against humanity. The charges stemmed from one of the worst massacres in the nation’s history – the killing of more than 156 people after troops opened fire at a rally …

Nigerian singer and actress Onyeka Onwenu, considered a cultural icon, died on Tuesday at the age of 72, local media reported. Onwenu’s career spanned music, film, journalism and politics. Dubbed “the elegant stallion” in a media profile – a label that stuck, Onwenu came to prominence in the early 1980s …

Rebels linked to the Islamist group al-Qaeda have announced that they have killed dozens of soldiers, including at least 50 Russian mercenaries and 10 Malian soldiers, local media reported. It comes after they were attacked in an ambush in Mali’s northern Kidal region near the border with Algeria on Saturday, …

Russia’s Wagner mercenary group said on Monday that its fighters and Malian soldiers took losses in heavy fighting against Tuareg rebels near Mali’s border with Algeria, Reuters agency reported. In a rare statement, the group said its forces had fought alongside Mali soldiers from July 22-27 and that Wagner fighters …

The Nigerian government could temporarily suspend the 10 naira ($0.006) tax currently levied on every liter of sweetened beverage produced and imported into the country, Finance Minister Wale Edun announced on July 17. The decision is part of a six-month economic stabilization plan. “The temporary suspension of the tax on …

Gunmen have killed 26 people in an attack on a village in central Mali’s insurgent-hit Mopti region on Sunday, a local official said on Monday. The attack targeted a village in the Circle of Bankass, one of several areas in Mali’s north and centre where jihadist groups linked to al …

The day of July 26 is now an official “holiday” in Niger to commemorate every year the arrival of the military to power through a coup d’état on this date in 2023, the Nigerien government announced on Monday. “Brigadier General Abdourahamane Tiani, head of the military regime, signed today an …