Côte d’Ivoire has been one of the Top 10 nations to contribute troops to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali, but the government has announced it’s pulling out of the mission in a letter sent to the UN. The letter, according to Radio France International (RFI), confirms Abidjan’s decision…
African leaders speaking at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York laid out their case for how the destabilized global environment is impacting their nations, with food insecurity due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict a priority. The leaders of Ghana, Nigeria, and Rwanda were among those speaking at Wednesday’s…
The African nation of Chad has one of the world’s lowest rates for electricity access, but new investment in renewables is expected to reverse the situation, beginning with a solar plant expected to be fully operational in early 2023. Just 8% of Chad’s population had electricity in 2019, with access…
President Alassane Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire has announced US$2.3 billion in funding for the Abidjan Initiative, a five-year plan to combat land degradation and deforestation in the West African nation. Ouattara presented the launch of the program during opening remarks at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention…
Amina Mohammed, the deputy secretary general of the United Nations, plans to arrive in Côte d’Ivoire on Saturday ahead of a key meeting on desertification and land use in Abidjan. The meeting, the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention to Combat Desertification (COP15), is considered to be a…
The long journey toward a verdict in the murder trial of Burkina Faso’s former president Blaise Compaoré has ended, with Compaoré sentenced in absentia to life in prison for his role in the 1987 death of beloved revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara. Sentenced by the Ouagadougou court along with Compaoré were…
It was not a good year for improvements on corruption anywhere in the world, according to the 2021 annual report released by Transparency International on Tuesday. Overall, the Corruption Perceptions Index report shows that 86% of the world’s nations are either losing control in the fight against corruption or remain…
In Côte d’Ivoire, authorities announced another step forward in boosting the economy through its transport sector. Beginning Monday, the company’s SOTRA bus services — working in partnership with Italian manufacturer IVECO —will start production of new minibuses. The government’s agreements with the private sector firms call for 1,000 of the…
Senegalese foreign minister Aissata Tall Sall recently called on China to become more involved in the Sahel region, specifically expressing a hope that Beijing will be a “strong voice” in combatting the rising tide of terrorism in the region. The appeal certainly has its logic, given Beijing’s expanding influence in…
Sekou Siby of Côte d’Ivoire survived the September 11 attacks in 2001, but many did not—and dozens of them were also immigrants to the United States who, like Siby, worked at the World Trade Center that day. As Americans gathered at the weekend to mark the 20th anniversary of terror…
Authorities in Burkina Faso are monitoring a new case of suspected Ebola in West Africa. The country’s health ministry says a 22-year-old person is being treated at the Bogodogo University Hospital Center in Ouagadougou. They are isolated and receiving care while awaiting confirmation of any Ebola infection. The case points to the possibility…
The western African nation of Cote d’Ivoire has reported its first case of Ebola since 1994. The country’s ministry of health said the case was confirmed at the Institut Pasteur after samples were taken from a patient hospitalized in Abidjan. The unidentified person traveled to Abidjan from Guinea by road…
President Alassane Ouattara has won a third term in Côte d’Ivoire, where political and ethnic tensions remain high as opposition leaders dismissed the results and said they plan on setting their own new elections. The Independent Electoral Commission (CENI) in the West African nation said Ouattara won with more than…
Even as the polls closed Sunday in Guinea, where tensions ran high ahead of the contest between President Alpha Condé and challenger Cellou Dalein Diallo, neighboring Côte d’Ivoire saw fatal ethnic clashes ahead of its own bitterly disputed presidential elections. At least two people died in Bongouanou, where members of…
Opposition leaders in Côte d’Ivoire immediately rejected the news that President Alassane Ouattara will seek a third term in office, following his announcement on Thursday just as the nation celebrates its 60th anniversary. Leaders of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) and Parti Démocratique de la Côte d’Ivoire-Rassemblement Démocratique Africain (PDCI-RDA),…