The level of military expenditure in West Africa varies widely between countries. Nigeria is the fourth largest military spender in Sub-Saharan Africa – after Sudan, South Africa and Angola – and is by far the biggest military power in West Africa. However, despite its continued military operations against Boko Haram, Nigeria’s military expenditures fell in 2017 for the fourth consecutive year. Chad and Côte d’Ivoire also made substantial cuts to their military spending. Read on

Numerous extremists groups are active across the Sahara-Sahel area and in the Lake Chad region. Most are extremely mobile and operate easily across national territories because of the porous nature of national borders in the region. Their actions are being increasingly constrained by military responses launched by national governments in alliance with international partners. Read on

Six West African microfinance networks joined forces to create a new regional institute, the Financière de l’Afrique de l’Ouest. Based in Dakar, the new financing institute will start with 4.5 million clients and 800 points of sale. Read on

This is a must read for anybody who would like to understand the issues at stake in Mali’s next presidential election, which are set for 29 July 2018. Joseph Brunet-Jailly, an economist and Mali expert, analyses the state of play in Malian politics. The prospects are far from encouraging. Mali is in a catastrophic situation: the Algiers Peace Agreement has become void, the opposition is divided and the forthcoming presidential election will probably change nothing. Read on