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MALI

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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Diplomacy

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MALI
African Union Commission
Annadif Khatir Mahamat Saleh
Bintou Keita
David Gressly
Donald Trump
El Ghassim Wane
Emmanuel Macron
Jean-Yves le Drian
Mike Pompeo
Minusma
Monusco
Moussa Faki Mahamat
UNAMID
United Nations
United Nations Development Programme

MINUSMA head visits Berlin and Paris to discuss strategic review

The head of the UN mission in Mali (MINUSMA), El Ghassim Wane, is to begin a tour of Europe on 1 November. [...]

SAHEL UNITED NATIONS Diplomacy 20/09/2022

UN: Ministers, military, diplomats... Issoufou's Sahel task force

Niger's former president Mahamadou Issoufou was tasked by the UN Secretary General with drawing up a report on the situation in the Sahel that he will present to the UN General Assembly on 22 September. [...]

Former Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou.

WEST AFRICA Diplomacy 20/04/2022

How Dakar became West Africa's 'strategic thinking' capital Free

Over the last decade, Dakar has established itself as the centre of 'strategic thinking' in West Africa. The city boasts a think tank ecosystem where ministers, former generals, researchers and donors mingle. [...]

AFRICA Diplomacy 21/02/2022

AU security commissioner Bankole Adeoye hires heavyweight advisers

The African Union's most sought-after commissioner, Bankole Adeoye, has finally found a way to hire advisers to help him manage a portfolio where crises and coups are piling up dangerously. [...]

DRC Diplomacy 31/01/2022

Bintou Keita to stay on as MONUSCO head

The tenure of Bintou Keita as head of MONUSCO, the UN mission in the DRC, is set to be extended for a year. [...]

The head of the United Nations Mission in the DRC (Monusco), Bintou Keita.

IVORY COAST Diplomacy 30/11/2021

From Mali to CAR, Abidjan doing all it can to get its soldiers UN Blue Helmets

Abidjan is trying to place a new battalion within the UN mission in Mali (Minusma), where Ivory Coast already has 800 Blue Helmet peacekeepers [...]

AFRICA Diplomacy 31/08/2021

How Israel finally won observer status at AU despite SADC and North African opposition

The changing balance of power within the AU has allowed the Jewish state to make a decisive breakthrough. It now has the status of observer country at the Addis Ababa institution, much to the displeasure of several member states. [...]

The Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat (R) and Aleli Admasu, Israel's ambassador to Ethiopia, Burundi and Chad.

TUNISIA Diplomacy 20/07/2021

Despite red flags, UN keeps bankrolling National Guard

On 12 July, the UN Office for Project Services financed the construction of equipment for the National Guard School's urban combat training centre in Oued Zarga [...]

SOUTH SUDAN Defence Business 17/05/2021

Russian PANH Helicopters returns to UNMISS

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan, UNMISS, has once again opted for a Russian firm in its latest choice of subcontractor. In late April, the Krasnodar-based PANH Helicopters won a one-year $5m contract to supply a transport helicopter for logistics missions. [...]

ALGERIA NIGER Diplomacy 10/05/2021

Mohamed Bazoum due in Algiers to discuss the Sahel with Tebboune

Niger's new president, Mohamed Bazoum, is expected in Algiers this month to hold talks with his Algerian counterpart, Abdelmadjid Tebboune. [...]

NIGER SOMALIA Defence Business 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 Diplomacy 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 Diplomacy 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. [...]

DRC UNITED NATIONS UNITED STATES Diplomacy 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. [...]

David Gressly was number two at MONUSCO since 2015.

MALI Diplomacy 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. © Reuters

Spotlight

UNITED STATES Diplomacy 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). © Adama Diarra/Reuters

In Focus

ISRAEL MALI Defence Business 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. [...]

UNITED STATES ZIMBABWE Diplomacy 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. [...]

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

GUINEA Mining 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 Diplomacy 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. [...]

MALI SENEGAL UNITED STATES Defence Politics 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. [...]

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

MALI Diplomacy 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. [...]

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

MALI TURKEY Business 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. [...]

WEST AFRICA Diplomacy 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. [...]

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

IVORY COAST UNITED STATES Defence Diplomacy 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 Infrastructure Politics 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 Diplomacy 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 Diplomacy 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 Defence Politics 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. [...]

CENTRAL AFRICA WEST AFRICA Diplomacy 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. [...]

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

CENTRAL AFRICA WEST AFRICA Politics Diplomacy 03/06/2020

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Annadif Khatir Mahamat Saleh
Bintou Keita
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Donald Trump
El Ghassim Wane
Emmanuel Macron
Jean-Yves le Drian
Mike Pompeo
Minusma
Monusco
Moussa Faki Mahamat
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Tensions sky-high between Washington and Paris over MINUSMA

The Sahel threatened by a jihadist tornado

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Set up email notifications for these topics

MINUSMA head visits Berlin and Paris to discuss strategic review

UN: Ministers, military, diplomats... Issoufou's Sahel task force

How Dakar became West Africa's 'strategic thinking' capital Free

AU security commissioner Bankole Adeoye hires heavyweight advisers

Bintou Keita to stay on as MONUSCO head

From Mali to CAR, Abidjan doing all it can to get its soldiers UN Blue Helmets

How Israel finally won observer status at AU despite SADC and North African opposition

Despite red flags, UN keeps bankrolling National Guard

Russian PANH Helicopters returns to UNMISS

Mohamed Bazoum due in Algiers to discuss the Sahel with Tebboune

Osprea corners armoured vehicle market with G5 Sahel and AMISOM

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

El Ghassim Wane, the next head of MINUSMA

MONUSCO number two David Gressly heads to Yemen

Behind-doors negotiations over next MINUSMA chief

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

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

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

Conakry close to becoming African Union's new mining HQ

UN appoints new panel of experts to oversee arms embargo

Culmen aims high for MINUSMA logistics and training contract

After coup, MINUSMA leadership talks back in full swing

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

Antonio Guterres chooses new United Nations "West Africa" boss

US to bankroll counter-terrorism academy with Paris

Race heats up for top airports job at ASECNA

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

MINUSMA: second Ivorian tank corps deployed to Timbuktu

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

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

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

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

French general Pierre-Joseph Givre to join MINUSMA

MINUSMA Ivorian contingent to deploy to Mopti

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

How Donald Trump is equipping armies of Sahel

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