(December 9, 2024)
According to the bloc, the departure of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger becomes effective one year after the announcement, in January 2025.
The trio have formed the Alliance of Sahel States after severing ties with France and pivoting towards Russia.
The CFA franc zone consists of 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, each affiliated with one of two monetary unions. Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte D’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo comprise the West African Economic and Monetary Union, or WAEMU, founded in 1994 to build on the foundation of the West African Monetary Union, founded in 1973. The remaining six countries — Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon — comprise the Central African Economic and Monetary Union, or CAEMC.
These two unions maintain the same currency, the CFA franc, which stands for Communauté Financière Africaine (African Financial Community) within WAEMU and Coopération Financière en Afrique Centrale (Financial Cooperation in Central Africa) within CAEMC. WAEMU and CAEMC account for 14 percent of Africa’s population and 12 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP).
On Thursday, the bloc ordered the deployment of a “standby” force to restore constitutional rule in Niger, with Nigeria, Benin, Senegal and Ivory Coast saying they would contribute troops.
But it’s unclear when, how or if the troops will deploy. The move could take weeks or months to set into motion, and while the bloc decides what to do the junta is gaining power, some observers say.
Mali said it and Burkina Faso, both neighbours of Niger run by military juntas, were sending delegations to Niger to show support. Both countries have said they would consider any intervention in Niger as a declaration of war against them.
I might also say that the – you know, the threats of other countries supporting the coup leaders – those are even more risible than the threat of invasion.
INSKEEP: Oh, meaning that other countries aren‘t – they don‘t have very many resources to make much of a difference even if they do want to support.
PHAM: Well, no. I mean, yes, definitely. For example, Burkina Faso, which has been very vocal, it‘s gone through two coups in recent years – very vocal in its support of the junta in Niger.
(07.08.2023)
A military source told CNN that Niger‘s armed forces brought in a convoy of about 40 pick-up trucks from other parts of the country on Sunday evening.
The U.S. has evacuated some staff from its embassy in the capital in Niamey, while the estimated 1,000 American troops stationed in the country were restricted to their bases.
(Aug 05, 2023)
ECOWAS Defence Chiefs finalised an intervention plan and urged militaries to ready resources. However, the Niger junta has threatened ‚devastating consequences‘ in case of an intervention. Watch this video for details.
(05.08.2023)
Nigeria deploys troops to its border for preparation of invasion into Niger. Brigadier General Tukur Gusau, Spokesperson for the Nigerian Ministry of Defense, has stated that no official order has been issued yet, but preparations are ongoing. France, the European Union, the United States, and Senegal have declared their readiness to support military intervention in Niger.
Putin pointed out that the Russian side has never rejected negotiations with Ukraine. It was Ukraine that declared its unwillingness, which was cemented by Zelensky’s decree.
Putin also pointed out that the Ukrainian authorities have preliminarily signed the draft agreement with Moscow, prepared in March, 2022, in Istanbul; however, after Russian forces were withdrawn, Ukraine disregarded the document. The President presented the document, which includes 18 articles and appendixes, to the African leaders. The document included clauses on neutrality and guarantees of security.
„It also touches upon armed forces and other things. It was all written down – up to numbers of vehicles and personnel,“ Putin disclosed.
Ramaphosa went on to outline a proposal that has been agreed upon by the seven countries involved in the mission:
– Both leaders must listen to one another;
– The war must be settled through negotiations and diplomatic means;
– There must be a de-escalation of conflict on both sides;
– The sovereignty of countries in terms of the UN Charter and internationally recognised principles should be recognised;
– There needs to be a guarantee of security for all the countries involved. This issue has been raised by all sides;
– The movement of grains across the Black Sea must be opened up to remove blockages so that commodities can reach markets;
– humanitarian efforts must be set up for those affected by the war;
– Prisoners of war must be released and children returned to Ukraine;
– There must be reconstruction of the destruction caused by the war; and
– Further engagements should be held to encourage more dialogue through the Africa Peace Mission.
South Africa‘s Ramaphosa, Zambia‘s Hakainde Hichilema and Comoros‘ Assoumani look much happier to be in Russia than they looked in Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin has begun talks with a delegation of seven African nations that arrived in St. Petersburg to look for solutions to the Ukraine crisis.
The meeting is taking place at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna, which was a residence of the Romanov imperial family and now hosts official events, including international ones.
„Judging by the schedule, after visiting Kiev [South African President Cyril] Ramaphosa will be the first to come here, President of the Union of the Comoros Azali Assoumani will be here, as well as Senegalese President Macky Sall, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbuly. There will also be representatives of Congo and Uganda. This will be the African delegation that visited Kiev on the previous year, holding a meeting with [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky,“ Peskov added.
„I reiterate that we are thankful to every country, every state or every public figure – because many initiatives were personally proposed by prominent figures, internationalists; we are grateful to everyone, who speaks about peace, who speaks about [peaceful] settlement and, who wants to be useful regarding this issue,“ she said.
„There are interesting ideas, which may work. There are ideas that are in sync with our approaches, and, for instance, it includes the Chinese initiative,“ she continued.
“A lot depends on our activity in the region, on dialogues and contacts at different levels, on Minister Kuleba‘s direct tour and on the upcoming visit of the presidents of African countries. But, I emphasize: we should not expect that a change in the positions of countries will occur in the short term. This is a ‘long game.’ And it requires strength, enthusiasm and faith. I believe that in the end it will become absolutely clear to African countries that Ukraine is fighting for the same values, freedoms, and rights for which these countries have been fighting and shedding blood for many years,” the ambassador said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia launched six Kalibr cruise missiles, six Kinzhal ballistic missiles, and two drones to carry out the strikes.
No buildings or facilities were damaged in the attack, Klitschko said.
(16.06.2023)
The delegation from South Africa, Egypt, Senegal, Congo-Brazzaville, Comoros, Zambia, and Uganda is meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday and President Vladimir Putin on Saturday.
But the timing of the visit seems off. It comes just as Kyiv is launching its much-vaunted counter-offensive.
The collective known as the Movement for Defence of Democracy, or M2D, said in a statement on Friday that it was indefinitely postponing the rally after discussions with religious leaders.
„The challenge that Pompeo‘s facing in Africa is explaining the contradictory messages coming from Washington,“ said Witney Schneidman, a fellow at the Brookings Institution‘s Africa Growth Initiative. „It‘s the lack of attention that‘s been paid. It‘s the fact that (former national security adviser John) Bolton rolled out this Africa strategy 14 months ago, and since then, very little has been accomplished where many other nations have moved forward.“
Senegal is the fourth leg of Zarif‘s tour after his participation in an annual UN meeting in New York last week. He has already visited Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia.
The currency has been criticized for making economic planning for the developing countries of French West Africa all but impossible since the CFA‘s value is pegged to the euro (whose monetary policy is set by the European Central Bank).[3] Others disagree and argue that the CFA „helps stabilize the national currencies of Franc Zone member-countries and greatly facilitates the flow of exports and imports between France and the member-countries“.[4] The European Union‘s own assessment of the CFA‘s link to the euro, carried out in 2008, noted that „benefits from economic integration within each of the two monetary unions of the CFA franc zone, and even more so between them, remained remarkably low“ but that „the peg to the French franc and, since 1999, to the euro as exchange rate anchor is usually found to have had favourable effects in the region in terms of macroeconomic stability“
CFA franc. These two words probably do not mean much to most readers, but they encapsulate one of the world’s most enduring – and little-known – economic experiments. In the simplest possible terms, the CFA franc is a currency used by 14 countries of Western and Central Africa, all of which are former French colonies.
Facebook has faced pressure to more transparently tackle misinformation since the revelation that Russia used Facebook to sway the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Held at Egypt‘s Mohamed Naguib military base, the largest in the Middle East and Africa that is located in Egypt‘s Mediterranean province of Matrouh, the joint exercises will last until Dec. 14.
Der Ausbau der EU-Flüchtlingsabwehr ist ein zentraler Schwerpunkt der gestern gestarteten Afrikareise von Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel. Wie Regierungskreise bestätigen, wird Merkel nach ihren gestrigen Gesprächen in Senegal auch heute in Ghana und morgen in Nigeria über Schritte verhandeln, um die Flucht von Menschen vor Armut, Hoffnungslosigkeit und Krieg zu unterbinden und die Abschiebung von Flüchtlingen aus Deutschland zu erleichtern. In Umfragen geben fast die Hälfte der befragten Senegalesen und rund drei Viertel der befragten Ghanaer und Nigerianer an, ihr Land verlassen zu wollen. Ursachen sind krasse Armut und eine dramatische Jugendarbeitslosigkeit. Arbeitsplätze vernichten systematisch Unternehmen aus der EU, die etwa senegalesische Küstengewässer leerfischen und damit Senegals Fischereibranche schwer schädigen oder auch Ghana mit Dumpinggeflügel überschwemmen und damit die einheimische Geflügelbranche in den Ruin treiben. Gespräche über den Stopp derlei fluchtverursachender EU-Praktiken stehen nicht auf Merkels Programm.