[allAfrica] Harare -- The Burkinabe parliament gave the go-ahead for Captain Ibrahim Traore to send troops to neighboring Niger in response to a potential foreign military intervention to reinstate ousted leader Mohamed Bazoum, The North Africa Post reports.
[RFI] France's Culture Minister on Friday said the suspension of visas for artists from Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso was due to security concerns in light of the recent military coups in those countries and in no way a "boycott".
[RFI] Niger's junta has scrapped a military pact with Benin, accusing its neighbour of authorising the deployment of troops on its territory for a possible military intervention by the Ecowas regional bloc. This comes as the French foreign ministry has called for the immediate release of a French official who was arrested in Niger at the weekend.
[Africa Check] IN SHORT: Niger's coup leaders did reportedly ask Russia's Wagner mercenaries help them hold on to power. But a video circulating online with the claim it shows a planeload of Wagner soldiers landing in Niger in 2023 is 17 years old.
[The Conversation Africa] Recent coups in the West African nations of Gabon and Niger caught U.S. diplomats a little off guard. They also indicate Washington may need to reassess its policy in the region or risk becoming increasingly irrelevant to the new governments.
[allAfrica] Harare -- Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Mali's acting president, Assimi Goita, on the telephone, discussing issues like counter-terrorism measures and the situation in Niger, Mali's neighbor, the Kremlin is reported to have said.
[RFI] The leaders of Russia and Mali have agreed the political crisis in Niger should be resolved using diplmoacy and not force. Meanwhile France has rejected accusations by Niger's coup leaders that it's planning a military intervention.
[MSF] As a result of the political situation in Niger since 26 July, regional organisations including the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and a number of bilateral and multilateral partners, imposed a package of sanctions on the country.
[RFI] When a junta seized power in Niger on 26 July, joint military operations against jihadists between Niger and France were suspended. French troops, ordered to stay in their barracks, face an uncertain future as diplomatic wrangling over a possible pull-out continues.
[RFI] Niger's military-appointed prime minister has said he sees hopes of a deal with the Economic Communuity of West African States (Ecowas) - that threatened to use force to restore civilian rule after a coup in July - with "exchanges" reportedly also underway between French forces in Niamey and the Nigerien military.
[Premium Times] "President Tinubu noted that Nigeria, under General Abdulsalami Abubakar, instituted a nine-month transition programme in 1998, and it proved very successful, leading the country into a new era of democratic governance," presidential spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale said in a press release.