Mali, Niger, & Burkina Faso & other Sahel Region of Africa countries or close to

Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have announced a new defense pact called the Alliance of Sahel States.

Skepticism from someone based in UK

A New West African Security Pact Is Bound to Fail
The Alliance of Sahel States is focused more on stoking anti-French sentiment than fighting violent extremism.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/10/24/alliance-sahel-states-security-extremism-mali-burkina-faso-niger/

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/mali-rebels-say-they-have-taken-base-vacated-by-un-peacekeepers-2023-10-31/

My interest in music from these countries, got me curious about the politics and such as well. There used to be a Rolling Middle East, North Africa (Mena) thread but that seems too expansive.

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/un-retreat-mali-disarray-violence-surges-2023-11-03/

The situation in northern Mali is a mess

timbuktu has been under siege for an age hasn’t it? the intersection of francophone/cfa-franc africa and the ever-increasing power of… i guess the best phrase is militant islamic armed groups? … is a geopolitical crisis.

Yep. I had thought situation was briefly getting better in the north, but definitely not now.

btw its good to have a less expansive sahel defined thread imo.

couple of recent(ish) pieces in my bookmarks

How France Was Driven Out of the Sahel

thread on coups in francophone africa

Chartbook #209 The Sudan Crisis And The Sahel Gold Rush

the disastrous role of the cfa in francophone africa was new to me until this year tbh.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/19/coups-climate-and-cost-of-living-key-issues-that-shaped-2023-in-africa

Coups, economy, climate change and more issues of 2023 and their impact in all of Africa

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/sudan/dirty-money-destroying-sudan?fbclid=PAAaYwdNEMWi9XwTFjDpsb4LUnTLF_3zOlTsPNi-wvNAJRujztELiFtSIE3es_aem_Ae4j0qQtB8x66DZIexBX2g0G3rlWVD4mcP83IdD7ulsJiLJCsjhVXh0kF5qOXhwbeF0

Dirty Money and Sudan