Patrice Talon

Niger
Army counts heavy equipment losses after Niamey base attack

Half a dozen military aircraft were destroyed at the end of January during a terrorist assault targeting the airport in Niger's capital. The loss of these valuable reconnaissance and attack assets is set to hamper the air force's campaign against jihadist groups.

Ghana
Accra nurtures its relations with Alliance of Sahel states

John Mahama chose to invite the Alliance of the Sahel States to the high-level consultative conference on regional cooperation and security, rather than Ivory Coast and Benin.

West Africa
ECOWAS military chiefs heading to Freetown to debate future of standby force

The leaders of the region's armed forces will meet in the Sierra Leone capital in the coming weeks to launch the regional anti-terrorist force. The contingents made available to ECOWAS by each army will also be announced.

Africa
Online gambling giant betPawa faces mounting setbacks

The pawaTech affiliate's bid to continue its expansion across Africa is meeting fierce headwinds from some countries that take issue with its franchise model.

Benin
US security assistance programme halted

After initially benefiting from an exemption that allowed it to escape the freeze on foreign aid decreed by the Trump administration, Borsec II was eventually suspended.

Palace Intrigues
Alassane Ouattara, Patrice Talon, Samia Suluhu Hassan

Intrigues big and small: every Thursday, Africa Intelligence takes a peek into the corridors of power in Africa and beyond.

Ivory CoastAlassane Ouattara to be sworn in on 8 December

BeninFormer Patrice Talon loyalist, Aurélien Agbénonci, distanced from Cotonou

TanzaniaDuma Boko's stony silence around Samia Suluhu Hassan's inauguration

Benin
Opposition party hamstrung by internal fighting in run-up to presidential elections

To a background of tensions between party kingpins, the main opposition party may not be represented in the presidential elections in April 2026.

DRC
Demand for death penalty for Joseph Kabila raises tensions in SADC countries

The request for the death penalty against former Congolese President Joseph Kabila has worried several countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which fear a precedent within the regional organisation.

Benin
New AFRICOM boss expected in Cotonou

BENIN | General Dagvin Anderson, head of AFRICOM, plans to visit Benin, with whom the organisation has a long-standing relationship in the fight against terrorism.

Palace Intrigues
Félix Tshisekedi, Patrice Talon, Mohammed VI

Intrigues big and small... Every Thursday, Africa Intelligence takes a peek into the corridors of power in Africa and beyond.

DRCThe controversial guests at Christina Tshisekedi's wedding

BeninLionel Talon gets a kick out of MMA fighting

MoroccoMohammed VI readies for private, not state visit to France