Follow our latest reporting and browse earlier stories from the Sahel.
Niger has barred groundnut exports to reserve the crop for domestic oil mills, with possible exceptions for its Sahel alliance partners. The restriction extends the government’s drive to process food at home, while its minister calls on public institutions and importers to buy locally produced goods.
Four villages in central Mali emptied after repeated attacks and drone fire blamed on al-Qaeda-linked jihadists, according to newly published RFI reporting. Its local sources also attribute an earlier market strike that killed a civilian to the same group, exposing violence absent from the fighters’ public claims.
The UN Security Council voted 13–0, with China and Russia abstaining, to keep peacekeepers in Abyei, a territory claimed by Sudan and South Sudan, until November 2027. Members split over whether future renewals should depend on progress by the two governments, which African members said could endanger civilian protection.
A local official has raised the reported toll from a drone strike on displaced people in Sudan’s Blue Nile state from nine to 16, with others still missing. Wounded survivors have reached the state capital, while other injured and missing people remain unaccounted for in the area, according to the new report.
Chad’s president has ordered security forces in Salamat province to confiscate military weapons from civilian holders and take them to prison. The instruction follows discussion of communal conflict and obstructed livestock-herding corridors, extending a disarmament drive whose earlier orders the president said had gone unfulfilled.
The UN migration agency estimates that 5,035 people fled three villages in Sudan’s North Darfur state on 10–11 November, and most families crossed into neighbouring Chad. The estimate, reported by Anadolu, comes as the World Food Programme seeks $520m to keep feeding people in Sudan through April 2027.
The World Bank has prepared about $760m in additional financing for Niger, its regional vice-president said after meeting the prime minister on Thursday, according to the state news agency. Niamey is separately seeking $561m to complete the Kandadji dam, a project meant to supply power, water and irrigation; no link between the sums was announced.
European fishing interests are lobbying to keep access to Mauritania’s waters before the EU–Mauritania fishing protocol expires at midnight on 14 November. About 60 European vessels, 25 of them from Andalusia in Spain, are affected, regional officials say. Mauritania’s own priorities include protecting fish stocks and local benefits.
Chad’s president inspected a solar power plant in Abéché, a city in the east of the country, that a local outlet says has been idle for nine months, and a mother-and-child hospital project halted since 2015. The visit puts long-delayed electricity and health infrastructure under presidential scrutiny.
Burkina Faso’s mining minister said any artisanal gold site where a child is found will be shut and those responsible punished, after children appeared among miners sent back from Guinea. He urged miners to form cooperatives or move into farming, and said the children belong in classrooms or training.
Mali’s treasury accepted CFA49.5 billion (about €75 million) at a regional bond auction on Wednesday, above its CFA45 billion target, a financial-news report says. Most went to three-year bonds at a 7.59% average yield, slightly below two weeks earlier. Mali continues to borrow in its regional market at about 7.6%.
A senior official of a party in Chad’s presidential camp has urged civilians to lead the provinces, alleging that some military administrators have interests in the disputes they judge. He backs the president’s security tour while linking the handling of communal violence to a change in who administers the provinces.
Ministers from Mali, Burkina Faso and the Republic of Niger opened a two-day review in Ouagadougou on Wednesday of their alliance’s security, diplomacy and development plans. The meeting prepares recommendations for the three heads of state, bringing military coordination and easier trade onto the same regional agenda.
UNICEF warns that Sudan’s cereal crop has little time to recover from poor rains while drone strikes disrupt power and water. Earlier food-security assessments forecast weak harvests across much of Darfur and Kordofan; local farming groups now describe reduced ambitions, poor germination and families leaving in search of food.
Mali’s foreign minister says the military-led government wants technology transfer to build its own defence capacity, naming Russia, China, Türkiye and the US among exhibition participants. A Malian daily reports President Goïta also met the head of US military operations in Africa, who said Washington wants to help.
The European Commission says it was not intending to ask Algeria or Niger for clarification of their bilateral commitments, after Niger summoned an EU representative. The exchange puts Niamey’s sovereignty objection alongside Brussels’ public account of its intentions over a neighbouring country’s military deployment in the Sahel.
Chad’s government says a new army offensive killed 22 members of an armed gold-miners’ committee in the country’s north. The reported fighting renews a contest over land, mining revenue and an earlier agreement that local opponents accuse the authorities of breaking; the casualty claim has no independent confirmation.
A local official in Sudan’s southeastern Blue Nile state says RSF paramilitary drones killed nine civilians who were heading for shelters for displaced people near the Ethiopian border, and wounded others. The statement, reported Tuesday, does not say when the attack happened; the RSF has not commented.
A newly released UN assessment finds unmet livelihood needs in more than two-thirds of Sudanese households, alongside widespread difficulty obtaining essential care. Its July–August interviews show how insecure daily earnings, higher prices, unavailable treatment and threats to movement combine, with displaced households reporting some of the largest gaps.
Niger has ordered fuel tankers to reach the capital from its eastern refinery within 36 hours, alongside inspections and planned GPS tracking. The announced intervention targets distribution after October shortages exposed gaps between available stocks, delivery to petrol stations and the ability of drivers to keep earning a living.
Mauritania’s parliament has endorsed the government’s policy statement after an overnight debate, giving political backing to promised help with household bills and a review of fuel pricing. The approval follows disputes over speaking time, while the prime minister has promised a more detailed programme when he returns to parliament in January.
Ghana has lifted the curfew in Hamile, a town on its border with Burkina Faso serving Sahel-bound transit trade, after the government reported improved security. The order eases restrictions on residents’ movement but retains the weapons ban; it does not establish that customs clearance or normal cargo flows have resumed.
Mali reported further convoys towards Burkina Faso on Sunday as its prime minister delivered food, medicines and an equipped health post for people leaving Guinea’s gold-mining areas. The response links three countries: Bamako is trying to organise onward transport at the frontier rather than add pressure to its capital’s reception sites.
Ghana’s immigration chief has offered to seek an end to a night-time curfew at a crossing used by Burkina Faso and Mali, if community leaders guarantee peace. Officials report a limited border reopening, but stranded trucks and lost trading income show why easing residents’ hours and restoring cross-border movement are different decisions.
