The African Tribune

An official narrative built on continuity Few African figures are invoked as often, or as deliberately, as Thomas Sankara. In Burkina Faso, the memory of the man who led the revolution of August 1983 has long since ceased to be a purely historical matter. It now occupies a central place in the political vocabulary of the transitional authorities headed by Ibrahim Traoré. Behind the official tributes, the military ceremonies and the construction of a mausoleum, one question persists: is the present leadership gradually absorbing the figure of Sankara in order to shore up its own legitimacy? The parallel is not merely the conjecture of observers. It is also legible in the state's own communication. Since 2026, a military ceremony devoted to Thomas Sankara has been staged every month, an init...

A killing field at first light outside Gao The day was only beginning on Tuesday, 15 September 2026, when bursts of automatic fire and thick black smoke rose above the Niger river just outside Gao. In a stretch of land that local families depend on for their daily survival, a patrol of Russian mercenaries from Africa Corps — the outfit that replaced the Wagner group across the continent — unleashed an operation of extraordinary brutality against people who had no way to defend themselves. The toll is devastating: 167 civilians executed at close range and more than 127 motorbikes deliberately gathered together and set on fire by the foreign fighters. Vegetable growers, fishers and traders were cut down as they began their working day. What remains is a landscape of ruin, and a community swa...

A showcase project sliding into industrial paralysis Presented with great fanfare as the ultimate proof of reclaimed sovereignty, the day-to-day running of the Société des mines de l'Aïr (SOMAÏR) by an entirely local workforce has instead delivered one of the sharpest reversals the sector has seen. The finance ministry's latest economic review notes an abrupt 83.3 percent collapse in Niger's uranium output during the first quarter of 2026, with volumes dropping to a bare 31.2 tonnes after 186.3 tonnes in the previous three months. The convenient story of a “logistics crisis” Confronted with figures that are difficult to dress up, the government has settled on a single culprit: “logistical constraints on the input import corridor.” It is a handy explanation, because it steers attention awa...

Eighteen months after the coup of 26 July 2023, the sovereignist showcase erected by Niger's military leadership is visibly coming apart. Behind the parade-ground imagery and the defiant speeches of the Conseil national pour la sauvegarde de la patrie (CNSP), the situation on the ground tells an entirely different story. Niger's armed forces are not merely buckling under suffocating security pressure along the borders — they are dissolving from within, and the wave of defections now sweeping the ranks has become the clearest proof that General Abdourahamane Tiani has lost the confidence of a large share of his own troops. A patriotic façade that no longer holds The narrative of a united, unshakeable military machine, pushed relentlessly by the junta's communication apparatus, collides wit...

Three states that have turned financial independence into the centrepiece of their political messaging remain among the heaviest borrowers on West Africa's regional securities market. On 31 July 2026, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger — the three members of the Alliance of Sahel States — together carried close to 7,727 billion CFA francs in outstanding public securities, a figure that sits awkwardly beside the rhetoric of a sovereignty funded entirely from domestic resources. The political line is well rehearsed: a break with old dependencies, national effort financed from own resources, and a rejection of mechanisms presented as imposed from outside. The market's own numbers sketch a more complicated picture. Positions recorded on 31 July 2026 show the three AES states still firmly anchored ...

Monday 14 september 2026 has arrived, and with it the return of pupils to schools right across Benin. From the earliest primary grades to the final years of secondary education, classrooms that had stood quiet for weeks are once again filled with the noise of lessons, registers and playgrounds. The new academic calendar is now under way across every region of the country. A countrywide restart of lessons on 14 september After the long break, learners in Benin picked up their schoolbags again this Monday, 14 september 2026. Head teachers, teaching staff and education officials have been working to welcome pupils and get lessons moving under the best conditions available in each locality. Because the resumption has taken place everywhere — in the far north as much as in the centre and the...

Presented as the cornerstone of Burkina Faso's economic sovereignty and its push for industrial self-reliance, the TEXFORCES-BF textile venture enjoys loud and unmistakable official backing. Yet behind the confident speeches, the way the project is financed — and the conditions under which it is meant to run — raise serious questions. Money drawn straight out of retirement schemes, thousands of beneficiaries still chasing pensions they are owed, a persistent terrorist threat across swathes of the country and no visible industrial maintenance plan: put together, these elements turn an ambitious flagship into something closer to a high-stakes bet.The financing model: retirement savings turned into start-up capitalAt the heart of TEXFORCES-BF lies a deliberate economic choice: to mobilise pub...

Niger's official narrative of economic emancipation collides with a stubborn set of figures. At the close of 2024, the country's international investment position showed a heavily negative balance — a reading that lays bare just how much the national economy leans on capital held beyond its borders. Where the country's foreign commitments really sit on the map Begin with geography, because it answers the question political speeches tend to sidestep. Of everything Niger owes to the outside world, the category labelled "other countries" — partners outside both the euro area and the West African Economic and Monetary Union, with China heading that list — accounts for 78% of the total. The euro area has been reduced to roughly 18%, while financial integration inside the UEMOA region stays m...

Half a million extra pupils join the school meal scheme When classes resumed for the 2026-2027 school year, roughly 1.9 million children in Benin sat down to a hot meal on every teaching day. Twelve months earlier, that figure stood at 1.4 million. In practice, some 500,000 additional pupils entered the system in a single year — a leap that confirms how central school feeding has become to the country's social policy. The figures tell a story of steady expansion rather than a one-off push. Benin's aim is to keep hunger out of the classroom, ease the pressure on household budgets and, at the same time, generate demand for food grown at home. From 30% coverage to a nationwide rollout Rewind to 2016: only about 30% of schools offered a canteen service. By 2022, coverage had climbed to 75%, wi...