Follow our latest reporting and browse earlier stories from the Sahel.
Niger’s prime minister announced a strategic-cooperation memorandum during a visit to Benghazi with senior military officers. The agreement expands engagement with Libya’s eastern power centre, but its operational commitments and financing remain undisclosed.
Heavy patient attendance is testing hospitals in Chad’s capital as the dengue response continues. Health Minister Abdelmadjid Abderahim checked diagnostic supplies and patient care at three facilities on 1 November.
First-year pupils are moving to predominantly national-language instruction, but some teachers say they lack the preparation—or the local language—to deliver it. Newly disclosed classroom accounts expose practical difficulties in the nationwide bilingual-education drive.
Nouakchott’s three governors are to gain access to ARMA’s cleaning equipment from 2 November as rubbish continues to accumulate. The government is also preparing alternatives to the contractor before its end-December deadline.
The UN’s Western Sahara mission has reached the end of its mandate, leaving a gap in international monitoring beside Mauritania. Staff were told to suspend normal movements, while Morocco promised cooperation with a withdrawal and the Polisario warned against unilateral action.
Banks must hold substantially more money at the central bank as Mauritania raises its policy rate to 7.25%. The tightening targets inflation and excess banking liquidity, but could also make business finance harder to obtain.
A new overnight convoy has expanded the fuel available for distribution in Bamako. Authorities say more than 1,000 loaded tankers are now in the capital’s truck parks, with customs and police helping move supplies onward.
Burkina Faso’s customs service says it collected more than CFA141 billion before October’s accounts closed—over CFA20 billion above target. Cumulative collections have already matched the service’s entire 2025 total, strengthening a major source of government financing.
Former auditor-general Sidi Sosso Diarra and his former finance director are in custody as scrutiny turns to alleged irregularities inside the institution responsible for checking public spending. Newly disclosed details link the case to management between 2004 and 2010.
Niger’s military has released a second-half-of-October account of raids, weapons seizures and surrenders across several fronts. The newly disclosed operations include action near Nigeria and the surrender of former Boko Haram fighters and their families in Bosso.
Fourteen women and two children were among 134 people rescued from a boat heading towards the Canary Islands. The operation took place in the navigation channel of Nouadhibou’s port on Saturday morning.
Nouakchott’s electricity provider has announced a campaign to remove unauthorised connections after repeated fires on the network. Somelec blames unsafe wiring and unqualified installers for overloading equipment and endangering neighbourhoods.
Mauritanians abroad could gain new investment channels, cheaper transfers and assistance with humanitarian emergencies under recommendations adopted in Nouakchott. The proposals include state-guaranteed Islamic investment certificates, but financing and implementation dates remain open.
Voters in Assoungha will choose a replacement member of parliament on 13 December following the death of Hassan Moussa Yakhoub. The election authority announced the by-election on Saturday, opening the process to restore the department’s representation.
Algerian troops have reached Arlit in northern Niger, putting a major expansion of the countries’ security partnership into effect. Algeria says the deployment will protect shared energy and economic interests; its size and operational limits remain undisclosed.
The UN mission in Western Sahara faces the expiry of its mandate on 31 October after competing Security Council proposals failed. The impasse threatens an international monitoring presence in the conflict bordering Mauritania and has prompted sharply different responses from Morocco and the Polisario Front.
Chad’s latest dengue update lists 14 deaths and 4,600 suspected cases across six provinces, while health officials are investigating 34 newly reported suspected cholera cases in the Lac province. Both outbreaks are increasing demands on diagnosis, surveillance and treatment services.
At least seven people were killed and 22 injured in violence around Isné on 30 October, with wounded residents taken to Ngoura hospital. Security forces intervened after a dispute over access to water escalated into armed confrontation.
Two men have received one-year prison sentences, including six months to serve, for same-sex acts in a newly disclosed case. The conviction is the first publicly known application of Mali’s new criminal prohibition, according to coverage of the judgment.
Chad has prohibited the National Movement for Justice’s planned 31 October march, whose organisers wanted greater transparency over agreements with foreign partners. Police and other security services have been instructed to enforce the nationwide ban.
Niger’s and Chad’s foreign ministers have discussed easing their bilateral confrontation, opening direct diplomatic contact after Niamey accused its neighbour of facilitating a deadly drone strike. Responsibility for the attack remains disputed.
Residents in parts of Toujounine reported a fifth consecutive day without electricity, disrupting food storage and local businesses. Opposition figures separately demonstrated outside Somelec’s headquarters on 30 October, demanding accountability for repeated failures.
Travellers on the Gao–Intilit route face renewed insecurity after a second reported bus robbery within days. Passengers were reportedly stripped of belongings and their luggage searched and damaged.
Two French Mirage 2000 fighters and a transport aircraft will visit Chad for training, France’s military says, giving practical shape to renewed defence ties nearly two years after N’Djamena ended the countries’ longstanding military agreement.
