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Spotlight MALI Issue dated 12/05/2020

Tensions sky-high between Washington and Paris over MINUSMA

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“The Sahel threatened by a jihadist tornado”

SAHEL

The Sahel threatened by a jihadist tornado

As the Sahel security crisis worsens, with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) increasingly active, the states in the region find themselves in an ever more vulnerable position. In an attempt to stem the flow of jihadist propaganda which now risks overflowing into the coastal states, a number of security operations have been launched, among them Operation Barkhane, the G5 Sahel joint force, MINUSMA, and the Coalition for the Sahel. [...]

Chadian peacekeepers stand guard at the MINUSMA peacekeeping base in Kidal, Mali, July 22, 2015. ©REUTERS/Adama Diarra

There is a battle raging behind the scenes within the UN's MINUSMA. The United States wants to place its candidate at the head of the peacekeeping mission while cutting personnel numbers - both measures Paris deems unacceptable. [...] (618 words)

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NIGER SOMALIA 02/04/2021

Osprea corners armoured vehicle market with G5 Sahel and AMISOM

In delivering a new consignment of armoured vehicles to the Ugandan and Kenyan contingents deployed with AMISOM in Somalia, the manufacturer Osprea Logistics, already much in demand in the Sahel, has consolidated its position in Africa's military market. [...]

SENEGAL 26/02/2021

Macky Sall launches all-out diplomatic offensive as he prepares to take over as Africa Union chair

With just a year to go before he becomes chairperson of the African Union, Senegalese head of state Macky Sall has started to give the first indications of his plans for the continent. [...]

MALI 15/02/2021

El Ghassim Wane, the next head of MINUSMA

After months of deadlock, Washington has agreed to the idea of appointing Mauritanian diplomat El Ghassim Wane to head the UN mission in Mali, where he will replace Mahamat Saleh Annadif, who is due to leave office in April. [...]

David Gressly was number two at MONUSCO since 2015.

DRC UNITED STATES UNITED NATIONS 09/02/2021

MONUSCO number two David Gressly heads to Yemen

MONUSCO, the United Nations stabilisation mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), will shortly have a completely new management team. [...]

The current MINUSMA head Mahamat Saleh Annadif.

MALI 21/01/2021

Behind-doors negotiations over next MINUSMA chief

The arrival of the Biden administration should help rekindle talks for a replacement of the current MINUSMA head, Mahamat Saleh Annadif, whose mandate ends in April. Paris and Washington have been bickering over the matter for months. [...]

The US president-elect Joe Biden and the future secretary of state, Antony Blinken.

Spotlight UNITED STATES 01/12/2020

Will Biden end Trump's line-in-the-sand diplomacy in the Sahel?

The US president-elect Joe Biden already has his diplomats working on what position they will take in the Sahel, a contrast to months of blocked negotiations with the Trump administration. [...]

Israeli companies will provide equipment to strengthen security at MINUSMA bases (above in Kidal).

Focus ISRAEL MALI 09/11/2020

Africa gives Israeli firms IAI, Elbit and Mer a back door into the worldwide UN base security market

By dint of hard lobbying, Israel's IAI, Elbit and Mer groups have succeeded in landing the contract for the provision of protection at MINUSMA camps in Mali. They are now looking to repeat the feat at the 40 or so UN peacekeeping bases throughout the world, some of them in the Middle East. [...]

Zimbabwe's new ambassador to the United States, Tadeus Chifamba, has so far represented his country to European institutions.

ZIMBABWE UNITED STATES 02/11/2020

US sanctions top of the agenda for new Washington ambassador Tadeous Chifamba

With the US presidential election just days away, Harare has appointed a new ambassador to Washington, Tadeous Tafirenyika Chifamba. His first priority will be to tackle the thorny issue of getting American sanctions on his country lifted. [...]

GUINEA 02/10/2020

Conakry close to becoming African Union's new mining HQ

Two years after having been chosen to be the home of the African Union's African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC) against competition from Botswana and Ghana, Guinea is preparing to finalise the project. [...]

DRC 01/10/2020

UN appoints new panel of experts to oversee arms embargo

The membership of the United Nations' Democratic Republic of Congo expert group has been renewed. Several citizens of European Union member states have joined the group. [...]

Des casques bleus de la Minusma, dans la région de Tombouctou.

MALI UNITED STATES SENEGAL 24/09/2020

Culmen aims high for MINUSMA logistics and training contract

The US Department of State will be entrusting the logistics of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali to private American operators. [...]

Mahamat Saleh Annadif, the Special Representative for Mali and head of MINUSMA since 2015, will be keeping his post for another four months.

MALI 22/09/2020

After coup, MINUSMA leadership talks back in full swing

As the fallout of the 18-August coup continues to rock the country, the head of the peacekeeping operation in Mali, Mahamat Saleh Annadif, should have his mandate extended until April. But the debate on who will succeed him is back on and Washington is still pushing for David Gressly. [...]

TURKEY MALI 16/09/2020

Thanks to ties with coup-makers, Turkish businesses keep foot in the door

Less than two months after his tour of West Africa, Turkish foreign affairs minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu was back in the region last month to meet with the Mali coup leaders. He hopes to sponge off France's plans but also to consolidate Turkish industrial projects in the country. [...]

Ghanaian diplomat Mohamed Ibn Chambas, head the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel, UNOWAS.

WEST AFRICA 19/08/2020

Antonio Guterres chooses new United Nations "West Africa" boss

The United Nations Department of Political Affairs has found a successor to fill the shoes of the current head of UNOWAS, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, ahead of his imminent departure. [...]

IVORY COAST UNITED STATES 22/07/2020

US to bankroll counter-terrorism academy with Paris

Recent Jihadist attacks in Ivory Coast have revived interest in the international counter-terrorism academy project initiated by France during François Hollande's tenure, with the US now ready to get involved. [...]

AFRICA 09/07/2020

Race heats up for top airports job at ASECNA

With the five candidate countries having officially submitted their bids on 30 June to take over at the helm of ASECNA, the behind-the-scenes horsetrading between member states is already well under way. [...]

AFRICAN UNION CHAD SAHEL UNITED NATIONS 02/07/2020

Idriss Déby's global network of well-placed Chadian officials begins to fray

Déby had successfully positioned a number of Chadians in key international appointments over the past few years but two of the most strategic posts could slip from his grasp in 2021. [...]

MALI 30/06/2020

MINUSMA: second Ivorian tank corps deployed to Timbuktu

A second Ivorian tank corps should be joining MINUSMA in July after training with the Ivorian Army's 43rd battalion. [...]

MALI 17/06/2020

CAE, MAG and Leonardo ready as MINUSMA prepares airborne surveillance call for bids

The MINUSMA has set 17 August as the date for the issue of its tender call for a private contractor to operate ISR aircraft over a period of three to five years, attracting companies such as CAE Aviation, Air Attack Technologies, Leonardo and MAG Aerospace. [...]

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

CENTRAL AFRICA WEST AFRICA 11/06/2020

June is Sahel month for French diplomats

What with the presidency of the UN Security Council, the renewal of MINUSMA's mandate and the Coalition for the Sahel in June, and the G5 Sahel summit in early July in Mauritania, the Sahel region is set to keep French diplomats very busy during the next few weeks. [...]

CENTRAL AFRICA WEST AFRICA 03/06/2020

Security Council to probe Sahel army abuses

The United Nations Security Council has set itself a tall task for its 5 June meeting: overview the G5 Sahel States but also look into accusations of abuse against several of the coalition's national armed forces. [...]

AFRICA UNITED STATES 27/05/2020

Mike Pompeo appoints new US ambassadors to Djibouti, Burundi and Eswatini

Despite Covid-19 restrictions, the US Senate was able to meet earlier this month to approve the nominations of three new ambassadors to African countries. [...]

AFRICAN UNION 22/05/2020

Will UEMOA stump up for AU's 3,000-strong force in Sahel?

In recent weeks, the commissioner for peace and security Smaïl Chergui has been seeking to beef up the African Union's counter-terrorism capacities in the Sahel. This 3,000-strong force is set to be financed by UEMOA. [...]

AFRICA FRANCE 20/05/2020

Covid-19: France's Alain Le Roy, the sovereign debt eradicator

The French foreign ministry has appointed former UN under secretary-general for peacekeeping operations Alain Le Roy to be France's Covid-19 envoy for Africa, with finance as his main brief. [...]

United Nations Security Council meeting in the UN's New York City headquarters.

NIGER 11/05/2020

Niamey obtains cancellation of UN Security Council session on military abuses in Sahel

Niger has succeeded in orchestrating the cancellation of a meeting of the UN Security Council which had been due to discuss extrajudicial executions in the Sahel on 14 May. [...]

MALI 18/03/2020

French general Pierre-Joseph Givre to join MINUSMA

The current commander of the 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade, General [...]

MALI 04/03/2020

MINUSMA Ivorian contingent to deploy to Mopti

The Ivorian peacekeeping company currently deployed as part of MINUSMA [...]

MALI 21/02/2020

CAE, MAG and Leonardo among the contenders for MINUSMA's spy plane contract

The world's specialist airborne intelligence contractors, who are already active in the Sahel for the French and American armies, are [...]

UNITED STATES AFRICA 12/06/2019

How Donald Trump is equipping armies of Sahel

Little interested in backing multilateral initiatives in the region, Washington has been supplying Burkina Faso and Niger with a raft of military equipment. [...]

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Tensions sky-high between Washington and Paris over MINUSMA

The Sahel threatened by a jihadist tornado

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CAE, MAG and Leonardo ready as MINUSMA prepares airborne surveillance call for bids

June is Sahel month for French diplomats

Security Council to probe Sahel army abuses

Mike Pompeo appoints new US ambassadors to Djibouti, Burundi and Eswatini

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