The latest news from West Africa, summarised in English country by country — Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger… — from the local press. 891 articles published.
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The Burkinabè prosecutor has sought life imprisonment for Sayouba Sankara and Boukary Kaboré, accused of murdering Daouda Traoré on 26 March 2025 in Bobo-Dioulasso. The two men admitted the charges at the 12 October 2026 hearing, after several postponements of the trial, Netafrique reports.
Source: Netafrique
Ivory Coast’s opposition submitted a letter to the prime minister on 12 October 2026 calling for national dialogue on the composition of the new electoral body. It wants to define an institution responsible for guaranteeing the impartiality of upcoming elections, according to L’Infodrome.
Source: L’Infodrome
Togolese President of the Council Faure Gnassingbé accepted Xi Jinping’s proposal to elevate relations between Togo and China to a “China-Togo Community with a Shared Future in the New Era”. The two leaders want to turn this cooperation into opportunities, jobs and skills for their populations, Focusinfos reports.
Source: Focusinfos
Ivory Coast’s Health Ministry signed an agreement in June 2026 opening public hospitals to the INOVIE laboratory to carry out biological analyses across the country. The agreement, concluded without a call for applications according to Linfodrome, is being challenged by elements of the file that call into question the laboratory’s legal authorisation.
Source: L’Infodrome
Sékou Diabaté, co-founder and lead singer of Guinea’s Super Lion of the National Gendarmerie, recounts his move from a military career to music. Born in Coyah and now a senior retired officer, he looks back on his beginnings, years of service and artistic career in an interview with Guineenews.
Source: Guinéenews
Niger’s Justice Minister, Alio Daouda, condemned France’s expulsion of two Nigerien officers and their families. Niamey says one of them was treated in France after a mission in Diffa in 2014, while Le Monde mentions suspicions of surveillance of opponents.
Source: La Nouvelle Tribune
Higher education officials from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have opened work in Ouagadougou to harmonise their university and research systems. The initiative is intended to strengthen the AES’s scientific and technological sovereignty, according to Burkina Faso’s minister Adjima Thiombiano, quoted by La Nouvelle Tribune.
Source: La Nouvelle Tribune
Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has ordered a technical audit of sanitation systems after deadly floods in several localities. The government must also complete a national civil protection strategy before the end of November and is considering a sustainable sanitation fund, according to the Council of Ministers statement.
Source: Beninwebtv
Two thousand four hundred recruits, including 800 women, have joined the strategic reserve of the Malian Armed Forces after six months of military and civic training. The seventh cohort was presented with its colours on 13 October in Bamako at a ceremony chaired by Assimi Goïta, according to Malian authorities.
Source: Beninwebtv
Sahouba Kabré explained that Burkina Faso’s Observatory for the Quality of Financial Services helps clients resolve disputes with service providers free of charge. Integrated into the National Agency for the Promotion of Financial Inclusion, the body aims to improve service quality and confidence in the financial system, according to Lefaso.net.
Source: Lefaso
Freetown City Council in Sierra Leone has launched an eight-day training programme for 112 participants on using an app to track trees planted under the Freetown Tree Town project. The tool is intended to improve their geolocation and growth monitoring, as well as the reliability of data used to measure their survival and carbon sequestration, according to the city council.
Source: Sierraloaded
Gambia’s police force received a delegation from Nigeria’s Armed Forces Command and Staff College in Banjul, which was visiting to study regional security cooperation. Discussions focused on cross-border community engagement and public safety, according to Gambiana.
Source: Gambiana
Benin’s Ministry of Higher Education has opened a single platform for university pre-registration and re-registration for the 2026-2027 academic year. Available at etudiant.bj since 9 October 2026, it also assigns a student number linked to each student’s personal identification number, according to the ministry statement.
Source: La Nouvelle Tribune
Nigeria’s electoral commission has given parties until 24 October to challenge candidates’ exclusion from the final lists for the 2027 governorship elections. The 14-day deadline follows the omission of several prominent candidates and threats of legal action, according to Punch, citing INEC.
Source: Punch
Nigeria received 172 votes out of 181 to join the United Nations Human Rights Council for 2027 to 2029. It will take one of the four African seats alongside Burundi, Ghana and Zambia, according to the results of the General Assembly vote in New York.
Source: Beninwebtv
Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye asked the government to ensure parliamentary examination of the supplementary finance bill for 2026 and the 2027 budget. The texts are intended to support the clean-up of public finances and economic recovery, according to the Council of Ministers’ statement.
Source: Senego
Guinean President Mamadi Doumbouya has set regional elections for 29 November and senatorial elections for 20 December 2026 by decree. Regional and communal councillors will take part in electing two-thirds of the Senate, while the president will appoint the final third, according to the decree broadcast by public television.
Source: Beninwebtv
Gambian candidate Talib Ahmed Bensouda says the dalasi could reach 1,000 units for a given amount in CFA francs if President Adama Barrow wins another term. He accuses the government’s economic policy of having already sharply increased the exchange rate, Kerr Fatou reports.
Source: Kerr Fatou
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