Month: September 2026

Can seven days of diplomacy undo a blockade that has sent shockwaves through the global economy? That is the question now dominating the corridors of the United Nations headquarters in New York, where Iran’s top diplomat announced he had handed Washington a concrete plan to restore shipping through the strait of Hormuz within a week. Speaking before a crowd of foreign correspondents, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said the offer had been formally passed to the American envoy Steve Witkoff on Tuesday. His message was blunt: the decision now belongs…

Can an administration that has built its political identity on rejecting dependence explain a public debt that has swelled by close to 4,000 billion FCFA in a little over five years? That is the awkward question now confronting Burkina Faso’s authorities, and it sits at the centre of the country’s economic debate. Ibrahim Traoré has made self-reliance a founding element of his message. He states repeatedly that Burkina Faso must count on its own strength, and that the country does not need to borrow in order to construct its development.…

Can Benin’s Republican Police turn a new generation of investigation tools into a real deterrent against terrorism, or will armed groups and cross-border criminal networks keep adapting faster? That is the strategic question behind the government’s latest push to strengthen the country’s internal security forces. With persistent risks along Benin’s northern borders, where transnational crime networks constantly change their methods, Cotonou has taken a decisive step. Fully renovated facilities have been handed back to the Republican Police, together with advanced investigation equipment. The goal is clear: link tighter territorial security…

As West Africa’s geopolitical map keeps shifting, Benin faces a troubling question: can a fresh defense partnership with Algeria meaningfully blunt the Sahel’s spreading extremist threat, or is Cotonou overestimating what a distant ally can deliver? The stakes were on full display during a meeting at the Ministry of National Defense, where Beninese officials received a high-level diplomatic and military delegation from the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria. That encounter did more than exchange pleasantries — it moved a bilateral strategic defense partnership closer to reality. Why Cotonou is betting…

The authorities in Burkina Faso have entrusted a single figure with a considerable responsibility. Under the regulation adopted on 24 September 2026 during the presidency of Captain Ibrahim Traoré, non-governmental organisations are now required to direct at least 80% of their resources towards direct investment in the field. The measure is presented as a tool for transparency and efficiency: fewer administrative costs, and more money reaching the communities that need it. Yet the stakes extend well beyond the arithmetic. Can a fixed percentage genuinely improve the way aid is delivered,…