Senegal

Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye on Thursday said that France should close all its army bases in the country, noting that it was “incompatible” with Senegal’s national sovereignty. Faye swept to power in the March elections. 

Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger’s decision to pull out of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) “even as terrorism and transnational organized crime remain a pervasive threat”, will be damaging to regional relations all round, said the UN’s top official in the region on Friday.

Senegal inaugurated Bassirou Diomaye Faye as its new president on Tuesday, completing the previously little-known opposition figure's dramatic ascent from prison to the palace in recent weeks.

Senegal's government has announced that the country's presidential election will take place on 24 March. The announcement follows tension in the West African nation after President Macky Sall postponed the election last month, sparking widespread protests.

Somalia's executive and legislative branches have approved a crucial 10-year defense and economic cooperation agreement with Turkey, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has announced.

Somalia remains resilient and strongly committed to state-building but more is needed to sustain the gains made in the fight against terrorist insurgency, the UN Special Representative in the country told the

Senegal’s government banned a scheduled march and suspended mobile internet access on Tuesday, amid continued protests over President Macky Sall's decision to postpone the Feb. 25 presidential election.

Senegal's parliament on Monday voted to hold a postponed presidential election on Dec. 15 in the face of public outcry that led some opposition lawmakers to blockade proceedings until security forces intervened.

[…] The period under review was marked by a fast-evolving regional context with heightened political tensions and instability, as illustrated by the unconstitutional change of government in the Niger, the attempted coup d’état in Sierra Leone and an unstable security situation in the central Sahel.

West Africa recorded over 1,800 terrorist attacks in the first six months of the year resulting in nearly 4,600 deaths with dire humanitarian consequences, and a top regional official said Tuesday that’s just "a snippet of the horrendous impact of insecurity."