Jihadist groups are no longer content with launching attacks in West Africa and the Sahel: they administer territories, control trade routes, exploit new technologies and are gradually pushing their influence all the way to the Gulf of Guinea. Faced with this change, government responses are struggling to keep up, while a timid dynamic of regional…
Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire and Mali show how Washington is navigating security, commerce and sovereignty in a changing West Africa regional order. For Nigeria, the US Department of State’s Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Frank Garcia’s first official trip to Africa is worth watching closely. His planned visits to Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire and Mali…
Oxford — Bomi County Senator Edwin Melvin Snowe Jr. has called for far-reaching reforms to strengthen the ECOWAS Parliament, warning that democracy in West Africa stands at a critical crossroads as military coups, constitutional crises, insecurity, and weak institutions continue to threaten the region’s democratic progress. Delivering a public lecture at the University of Oxford…
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) is partnering with Uganda-based Unwanted Witness (UW), Ghana’s Data Protection Commission (DPC), and the Hewlett Foundation to organise the eighth edition of the Privacy Symposium Africa (PSA), themed “Money. Data. Control.” The symposium, which will take place on 25 and 26 November 2026, seeks to examine the intersection…
Bridge Bank Group Côte d’Ivoire launched an initial public offering on the BRVM, offering 10 million shares at 6,750 CFA francs each in one of the regional exchange’s largest listings in recent years. The sale represents 20% of the bank’s capital and is expected to raise 67.5 billion CFA francs, or about $118 million. The…
Ouidah, Benin — It is barely noon, and a group of women sit near the beach on the outskirts of Djégbadji village, in West Africa’s Benin, sifting through mounds of salt harvested from the Gulf of Guinea’s ocean. Large concrete vats covered with black tarpaulin show traces of white salt sediment as the seawater slowly…
The ECOWAS Parliament has adopted a series of resolutions and recommendations aimed at expanding access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy in rural communities across West Africa, with lawmakers calling for accelerated investment in renewable energy to drive economic growth and improve livelihoods. The resolutions were unanimously adopted at the conclusion of a five-day delocalised…
Danladi Verheijen, co-founder of private equity firm Verod Capital Management, is bullish on the education sector in West Africa. Last year, Verod sold its stake in TAG West Africa, which operates Lancaster University Ghana. The institution offers students a UK degree at a fraction of the cost. “There’s lots of demand for education,” Verheijen says. “Families…
Some of the West African film industry’s biggest names are backing a new mentorship programme to support emerging women filmmakers. Showcased at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the Mariama Lab project aims to help women bring their stories to a wider audience in the region and beyond. Born in Côte d’Ivoire, Azata Soro made her…
The Federal Government has said West Africa is central to Nigeria’s foreign policy stressing that the country must mobilise its enormous resources to lead the sub-region to tackle the wild wave of terrorism across the Sahel, proliferation of small arms and light weapons of illicit origin, drug and human trafficking. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador…
