Dakar to Riyadh: Links for 10/3/2025
News and analysis from the Sahel, North Africa, the Horn, and the Middle East
You can read last week’s links here.
Sahel and West Africa
Ibrahima Fall and Catherine Kelly in the Journal of Democracy: “Why Senegal’s Democracy Survived.”
Mauritanian government spokesman Hussein Ould Madou stated that the Mauritanian authorities are working to help Mauritanian traders in Mali whose places of business were closed on Malian government orders.
The trial of former Malian Prime Minister Moussa Mara opened in Bamako on September 29.
In Cote d’Ivoire, slated to hold presidential elections on October 25, authorities banned an opposition demonstration.
Jeffrey Haynes for LSE’s Africa Blog: “Ghana Has Become a Liberal Democracy and a ‘Soft’ Theocracy.”
Oluseyi Olapoju for the Africa Report: “Nigeria: Tinubu Tightens His Grip on the South-South.”
Ibrahim Adeyemi for HumAngle:
As armed conflict, extremist violence, rural terrorism, and economic despair uproot locals in the heart of the Sahel, a catastrophic climate collapse is accelerating transnational mobility. A HumAngle investigation, involving cross-border reporting and interviews with climate refugees in Nigeria, Cameroon, and the Niger Republic, reveals that the phenomenon driving families away from home is beyond just war, as climate crises toughen up. Matched with open-source analyses and satellite imagery investigation, the on-the-ground reporting shows how desert encroachments, poisoned or vanishing water resources, and extreme weather are making communities unlivable across the Sahel, sparking a refugee crisis driven by a hostile climate.
Lewis Mudge for Human Rights Watch: “Chad’s Weaponization of Citizenship.”
North Africa
Morocco’s “GenZ212” protests have continued and escalated, with hundreds arrested. Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch has denounced disruptions to public order while insisting that “dialogue remains the sole path for addressing the challenges confronting our country.”
Will there be a parallel “GenZ213” next door in Algeria?
Jeune Afrique’s Frida Dahmani on the legal limbo affecting Tunisia’s municipal councils, which were dissolved in 2023; no new local elections have been announced.
Tim Eaton at Chatham House: “Libya Shows ‘Smash the Gangs’ Is Not Always a Useful Slogan on Migration Policy.”
Greater Horn of Africa
Alan Boswell at International Crisis Group: “All Eyes on the Quad: How the U.S. and Its Partners Can Push for Peace in Sudan.”
Barbara Usher for the BBC: “For 17 months the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have besieged el-Fasher, located in their ethnic heartland of Darfur, and now they’re closing in on key military sites in the city.”
Fasika Tedesse at Bloomberg: “GCL of China to Build $2.5 Billion Oil Refinery in Ethiopia.”
Victor Abuso at the Africa Report: “Kenya: Uhuru Reignites Feud with Ruto as 2027 Showdown Looms.”
Arthur Freyer-Lalaix for Le Monde: “Kenya-Led Anti-Gang Mission in Haiti Ends with Mixed Results.”
Mohamed Gabobe at the New Humanitarian: “The Diaspora Lifeline That Helps Keep Somali Families Afloat.”
Geeska on arrests of journalists in Somaliland.
Mashriq
Nidal al-Mughrabi for Reuters: “Israel Blocks Main Road to Gaza City, Gives Residents Last Chance to Leave.”
Reuters’ Mohammed Awad: “Israeli Bulldozers in West Bank Carve Up Hopes for Palestinian State.”
Chris Den Hond in OrientXXI on negotiations between the Syrian authorities and the Syrian Democratic Forces.
Saman Dawod at Amwaj: “Yazidi Political Upstarts Look Beyond Quota Seat in Iraqi Elections.”
The Guardian’s Patrick Wintour: “Iran Must Move Its Capital from Tehran, Says President as Water Crisis Worsens.”
Barak Ravid in Axios: “Trump Gives Qatar Unprecedented Security Guarantee after Israeli Attack.”
Oscar Rickett at Middle East Eye: “How the UAE Built a Circle of Bases to Control Gulf of Aden.”
Milana Vinn, Federico Maccioni, and Zaheer Kachwala for Reuters: “From Riyadh to Silicon Valley: How EA Became the Jewel of Saudi Arabia’s Gaming Vision.”
Zainab Fattah for Bloomberg: “Trump Firm Expands in Saudi Arabia with $1 Billion Project.”