Interim Leader of Chad Says He Plans to Run for President
Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno has been serving (Reuters) as interim president since his father was killed in 2021 after three decades in office; Déby originally announced an eighteen-month transition to elections, which were delayed and are set for May and June (Reuters)
His announcement came days after opposition leader Yaya Dillo Djérou was killed in the capital (Al Jazeera)
Chadian Opposition Leader Killed in N’Djamena
A state prosecutor said Yaya Dillo Djérou was killed in a shootout with security forces, but Dillo’s party and government officials gave different accounts of violent incidents that occurred in the capital, and mobile internet access was blocked; the event adds tension to the country’s presidential election set for May and June (Reuters)
Chadian Government Accuses Opposition Party Members of Attacking State Facility
The violence in the capital, N’Djamena, killed several people, while opposition officials said they had come under attack; the attack came the day after the government announced a presidential election date of May 6 (BBC)
Sub-Saharan Africa Senegalese President Announces Amnesty Bill for Political Protesters
President Macky Sall announced he would send the bill to the country’s legislature tomorrow as part of attempts to de-escalate tensions in the country following his decision to delay elections originally scheduled for this month (Bloomberg)
Rights groups said more than one thousand people have been detained during anti-government protests since 2021; the amnesty would cover actions taken between 2021 and 2024, Sall said (AFP)
West African Bloc Lifts Sanctions on Guinea, Mali, Niger
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said it was lifting some administrative and economic sanctions on the three countries after having imposed them following their respective military takeovers in recent years (AFP)
At an emergency ECOWAS summit on Saturday, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu called for a reexamination of the bloc’s position on “the quest for constitutional order” in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, which announced their withdrawal earlier this year (AP)
Senegal’s President Says He Will End His Term on April 2
President Macky Sall’s decision earlier this month to delay presidential elections originally scheduled for February 25 has caused street protests in recent weeks (AFP)
A new election date has still not been set; Sall said talks with political leaders in the coming weeks will determine “what happens next” (AP)
Guinea’s Military Leaders Dissolves Government
An official from the president’s office said the military leaders will name a new government; Guinea’s neighbors have been pressing the junta to restore civilian rule since they seized power in September 2021 (Reuters)
Authorities failed to make payments on a series of bonds due earlier this month, the regional market for government debt said (Al Jazeera)
Analysts warn that the missed payments present a risk to the financial stability of banks in West Africa; Niger’s sovereign debt makes up around 14 percent of the assets of country-based lenders, Moody’s Investors Service estimates (Bloomberg)
Senegal’s Top Court Rules President’s Delaying of Election Was Unlawful
Yesterday’s ruling said that the election must be held as soon as possible and that President Macky Sall’s term “cannot be extended”; earlier this month, Senegal’s legislature passed Sall’s proposal to postpone the vote from February 25 to December 15, allowing Sall to remain in power until then (FT)
Government Shuts Down Mobile Internet, Bars Protests in Senegal
Authorities suspended mobile internet yesterday and barred protests against a delay in the presidential election after President Macky Sall postponed the vote originally scheduled for February 25; a spokesperson for the UN human rights office called on Senegalese authorities to uphold the country’s tradition of democracy and respect for human rights (Le Monde, AFP)
Gunmen Kill Four, Kidnap More Than Forty in Nigeria
Residents of Nigeria’s Zamfara state confirmed that armed men first attacked the local police station before moving to civilians’ homes (Reuters)
ECOWAS Sends Delegates to Senegal After Election Postponement
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sent a delegation to meet with authorities and civil society representatives about a delay in Senegal’s presidential election that has prompted mass protests (Reuters)
African Union Offers to Mediate Between ECOWAS and Military Governments of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger
The three countries announced on Sunday that they planned to withdraw from the bloc; the Economic Community of West African States requires a yearlong period between a withdrawal announcement and full exit, opening a potential window for negotiations (Reuters)
Founding Members Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger to Depart West African Bloc
The three countries’ military governments said they were pulling out of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), calling the bloc “a threat to member states and peoples;” ECOWAS sanctioned the three countries after they each underwent coups in the last few years (Le Monde)
Leaving the bloc could complicate the countries’ international trade and their citizens’ ability to travel visa-free (Reuters)
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s air force made a first-time acknowledgment of its responsibility for a January 2023 strike that killed dozens of civilians, saying it regretted the incident; the strike was targeting suspected terrorists (Reuters)
Mali Junta Scraps 2015 Peace Deal With Rebels
Military leaders said that they ended a 2015 UN-brokered peace deal with rebels in the country’s north; tensions between central government authorities and the Tuareg rebels have grown as Mali’s military rulers have expelled French and UN forces in recent years (Reuters)
Meanwhile, Russian troops flew into Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on Wednesday as security ties between the two countries continue to warm; Burkina Faso’s junta expelled French troops from the country in 2023, provoking speculation that Burkina Faso would seek a closer partnership with Russia (Reuters)
Russia’s Putin Hosts Chad’s Junta Leader in Moscow
Chadian transitional President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno was due to discuss the potential for developing bilateral relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit; Chad is France’s last remaining counterinsurgency and military partner in the African Sahel region after French troops were forced to pull out of Mali in 2022 and Burkina Faso and Niger in 2023 (AFP)
Blinken Pledges $45 Million in New U.S. Security Funding for West Africa
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the pledge on a visit to the Ivory Coast, which brings U.S. stability-focused assistance in coastal West Africa to almost $300 million since 2022; Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara has been an outspoken critic of last year’s coup in Niger, and his country has become a critical partner for U.S. counterterrorism efforts in the region (VoA)
Blinken Visits Four African Countries on His Fourth Tour of Continent
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip this week to Angola, Cape Verde, the Ivory Coast, and Nigeria is focused on bolstering U.S. ties to those countries and discussing the deteriorating security situation in the Sahel region (AFP)
Niger and Russia Agree to Develop Military Cooperation
After a military coup in Niger last year, its military junta kicked out French troops and cut security pacts with the European Union, leaving Western countries concerned about the potential for Russia to expand its foothold in the region (Reuters)
Residents of Central Nigerian Village Still Missing After Attack
Armed raiders swept through fifteen villages and killed at least 140 people on Sunday, marking the country’s deadliest violence since 2018; it was not immediately clear what caused the attack, but experts point to climate change driving agricultural conflict between farmers and herders as a potential trigger (Reuters)
Chad Referendum Endorses Proposed New Constitution
The national referendum was boycotted by opposition groups; Chad’s government says the new charter will help the country’s transition to civilian rule, while opposition groups say it will concentrate power in the hands of General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, the transitional government’s leader since 2021 (FT)
Chad Holds Constitutional Referendum on Establishing Unified Versus Federalist State
The opposition said the referendum was paving the way for current transitional president, General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, to remain in power; provisional results are due later this month (AFP)
ECOWAS: Niger’s Deposed Former President Was Arbitrarily Detained
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice also ruled that former President Mohamed Bazoum should be reinstated; Bazoum was ousted during a military coup in July (Reuters)
UN Mission in Mali Officially Ends After Ten Years
The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) held a symbolic ceremony in Bamako to mark its departure, though some elements of the mission remain to be withdrawn from Gao and Timbuktu (Al Jazeera)
Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger Considering Political and Monetary Alliance
Niger’s General Abdourahamane Tchiani said he discussed the possibility on his recent visits to Burkina Faso and Mali; the move would further isolate the three regimes from other West African states, as it would involve leaving the eight-member West African monetary union (Reuters)