Sahel
Storms continue to gather over the G5 Sahel

Mauritania
France's Technamm boosts the army with EU funding

As part of the European Union's support programme for the G5 Sahel joint force, the Mauritanian army has received a batch of militarised pick-ups.

Niger
Italian ministry of defence agency wins €40m EU contract

The EU chose Agenzia Italiana per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo to equip Niger's armed forces with supplies for its training programme there, for an estimated €40m.

Sahel
Special envoys for the Sahel to meet in The Hague

EU special envoys for the Sahel to meet in The Hague on 17 and 18 April.

France, Niger
Bruno Fuchs and French MPs pay visit to Niamey

Bruno Fuchs, a member of the French Presidential party majority, has been in Niamey since 20 February and will remain there until the 23rd for a working visit,

The New Guard
Niger, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, South Africa

Every Wednesday, Africa Intelligence spotlights a new generation of movers and shakers in business and politics.

Niger Karim Soumana, Bazoum's soon-to-be ambassador in Qatar

Tunisia Faouzi Daas, Kais Saied's strategic adviser and upcoming MP

Ivory Coast Bakary Traoré, guardian of Ivory Coast's forests

South Africa Leon Schreiber, the opposition MP embarrassing the ANC

Sahel
G5 Sahel mulls transfer of joint force HQ to Niamey

Moving the G5 Sahel's joint force's HQs to Niamey was discussed during two separate meetings of the group's member countries' defence and foreign office ministers.

Sahel
Western capitals uneasy about delayed Issoufou report

Former Nigerien president Mahamadou Issoufou's report on the international response to the Sahel security crisis will not be ready in time for the AU summit in February as initially planned, with publication still several months away.

Mauritania
Saudis strengthen foothold in G5 Sahel Defense College

The G5 Sahel Defense College in Nouakchott, which trains 40 officer cadets from West African armies each year, is currently hosting 20 colonels from the Saudi Arabian Armed Forces (SAAF). Military collaboration between Mauritania and Riyadh is growing.

Mauritania, Sahel
Ghazouani makes fresh attempt to revive G5 Sahel

The G5 Sahel alliance has been virtually inoperative since Mali withdrew from it, but Mauritanian president Mohamed Ould Ghazouani is striving - not without difficulty - to revive it. He wants the organisation's presidency transferred from Chad to Niger at a summit meeting to be held next February.

West Africa
Issoufou's Sahel report for AU faces high expectations

Following on from his participation in the United Nations General Assembly in September, the former Nigerien head of state Mahamadou Issoufou will present his report on the situation in the Sahel at the African Union summit in Addis Ababa in February.