Author: Aïcha Abdou

Journalist

Mali’s hardest question: keep paying 514 billion FCFA to Russian forces or rescue public services?

Aïcha Abdou

How long can Bamako keep paying for Russian firepower while its own citizens wait for electricity, medicine and classrooms? That is the question now weighing on Mali’s transition government, and the arithmetic behind it is difficult to defend. Once cash transfers, equipment purchases and mining concessions are added together, the cumulative bill for Russian paramilitary forces — the Wagner Group and its successor Africa Corps, now placed under the direct supervision of the Kremlin’s defence ministry — has climbed past 514 billion FCFA, or roughly 850 million dollars. Against a…

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Benin’s 2026 budget close-out: what’s riding on the final quarter?

Aïcha Abdou

Benin’s 2026 fiscal year is entering its final stretch, and one question now dominates the conversation among budget watchers: can the country hold the pace it set in the first half? The stakes are far from symbolic. With the fourth quarter about to begin, the latest execution figures point to an unusually comfortable position for the public treasury — and to a closing sequence that will shape how much room the government has in 2027. Why Benin enters the last quarter with rare financial headroom At the halfway mark, the…

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United Russia’s 355 seats: what does a landslide without an anti-war option actually settle?

Aïcha Abdou

The result is not in doubt: United Russia, the party of Vladimir Putin, has taken 355 of the 450 seats in the Douma. The question worth asking is a different one — what exactly did that landslide measure, in a country where voters who oppose the war in Ukraine were never handed a genuine anti-war option to support? The figures behind United Russia’s two-thirds majority Preliminary results from Russia’s parliamentary elections hand a decisive win to United Russia, the ruling party tied to President Vladimir Putin. According to figures released…

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Why does the M23 tighten its grip on eastern DRC’s coltan mines while the world watches?

Aïcha Abdou

What price is being paid in the mineral-rich hills of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as the M23 armed group expands its control over some of the world’s most sought-after resources? That is the stark question at the heart of a new investigation into the group’s activities on artisanal mining sites, where fighters stand accused of a chilling pattern of abuse. Since its resurgence in 2021, the M23 has seized large swaths of territory in eastern DRC, including the strategic mining town of Rubaya. This single site produces roughly…

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Can Ousmane Sonko’s playful Bambali challenge to Sadio Mané reshape Senegal’s 2029 race?

Aïcha Abdou

The question that echoed through Bambali: who really owns the political pitch? At the groundbreaking ceremony for the SM10 Agro agro-industrial project in Bambali, National Assembly President Ousmane Sonko turned a lighthearted moment into a pointed political tease aimed at football star Sadio Mané. Speaking on Saturday, Sonko suggested that if Mané ever entered politics in 2029, he would find Sonko standing in his way. The remark, delivered with a smile, raised a strategic dilemma: can a global sports icon translate local hero status into electoral power, or does the…

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Can Marseille halt the slide after another painful loss to PSG?

Aïcha Abdou

The question hanging over the Vélodrome: can Marseille stop the rot after a fifth straight defeat? Marseille’s 2-1 loss to Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday at the Vélodrome was more than just another defeat. It was a fifth consecutive loss in all competitions, leaving the club in 17th place in Ligue 1 and searching for answers. The question now is whether Bruno Genesio’s side can recover from this downward spiral, or if the season is already slipping away. PSG’s narrow win: a sign of strength or vulnerability? Paris Saint-Germain left Marseille…

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Niger: who can General Tiani still trust — and what does it cost the nation?

Aïcha Abdou

Does General Abdourahamane Tiani ever miss the years when he was simply the man in charge of presidential security — invisible, unburdened and safe? That question now hangs heavy over Niamey’s presidential palace, where the mood has become stifling. A little over three years after the July 2023 coup, the general has been forced to face a truth he never expected: seizing power by force was a colossal miscalculation, and his own life is now the price on the table. Far from the grand speeches about national sovereignty, the head…

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Mbappé’s PSG transfer: did Neymar’s arrival make the difference?

Aïcha Abdou

Kylian Mbappé is now in his third season at Real Madrid, wearing the iconic number 10. But his love story with Los Blancos could have begun nine years earlier, had PSG not intervened. Neymar’s move to Paris played a key role in Mbappé’s decision to join the French club instead of Real Madrid. That revelation came from his former teammate Thiago Silva last season. Things moved quickly for Kylian Mbappé. The 2016/2017 season was his first full campaign with AS Monaco. On the Rock, the young man from Bondy reached…

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Can Tiani still trust his own soldiers? The unanswered questions and the high stakes behind Niger’s August mutiny

Aïcha Abdou

How far was Niger’s ruling military prepared to go to force its own soldiers back into line? That is the question hanging over Niamey after the events of the night of 28 to 29 August 2026 an episode that remains one of the most opaque of Abdourahamane Tiani’s tenure. Soldiers, most of them young men drawn from the special forces, turned against their command. Base 101 at Diori-Hamani international airport, several sensitive installations and the perimeter of the presidential palace were targeted. For nearly twenty-four hours, the military leadership lost…

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Can Benin’s AirBadminton gold turn a single triumph into a lasting legacy?

Aïcha Abdou

A question worth asking after Benin’s 3-0 demolition of Mauritius When Benin’s men’s triples team stepped onto the sand at Aero Beach in Entebbe, Uganda, on Saturday, September 19, 2026, they carried more than just their rackets. They carried the weight of a nation’s sporting ambitions. By the time they walked off, they had answered one question emphatically: could Benin convert its rising AirBadminton momentum into continental gold? The answer came in the form of a 3-0 sweep over Mauritius in the final, a result that handed the Beninese delegation…

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Is Benin’s CCI really putting investment first with its 6.6 billion FCFA 2027 budget?

Aïcha Abdou

Benin Is Benin’s CCI really putting investment first with its 6.6 billion FCFA 2027 budget? The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Benin has approved a 6.6 billion FCFA budget for 2027, with 2.1 billion earmarked for investment. But the key question remains: will this allocation translate into tangible gains for small businesses, job creation, and formalization across all 77 communes? Key figure in this article Shadiya Alimatou Assouman Geraud Antonio See all articles September 20, 2026 at 04:51•Updated September 20, 2026 ECONOMY↓Read offline 🎧 Listen to the articleIs Benin’s…

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Can Bambali’s new agro-industrial park deliver on its billion-franc promise?

Aïcha Abdou

Can a single agro-industrial project transform an entire region? That is the question hanging over Bambali, the village in Sédhiou where Ousmane Sonko, president of the National Assembly, joined football star Sadio Mané to launch the SM10 Agro initiative. The event drew a crowd of officials, including Trade Minister Serigne Guèye Diop, and marked the official start of a massive agricultural processing complex. Sonko accepted Mané’s invitation and traveled to the village, where he was welcomed by the promoter himself. The presence of such high-profile figures underscores the stakes: can…

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