West Africa

Several hostages in the hands of jihadists were released on Thursday. Among them the leader of the Malian opposition. Soumaïla Cissé was kidnapped in March 2020 in the north of the country while fighting for the legislative election. And that is the relief in Mali after his release. as reported from Bamako For Soumaïla Cissé, it's a first day of freedom. The leader of the Malian opposition has returned home since Wednesday night after more than six months in captivity. "Physically, I have no problem. I feel good.…

This release comes less than two months after the CNSP's military coup, the junta that brought down President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta. Yet it was under the old regime that the negotiations were actively launched, but the moment of effective liberation necessarily favors the current strong men in Mali. The release of Soumaïla Cissé in Mali had become a national, transpartisan, unifying cause. While this is clearly not the primary goal, the associated political gain is indisputable. But to whom can this success be…

According to a report by the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) Foundation, child labor increased by almost 20% in Côte d'Ivoire between mid-March and mid-May, when schools closed. More generally, the phenomenon has been on the rise for ten years, according to NGOs, but the Ivorian government wants to show its progress in the fight against child labor. as reported from Abidjan, Police said they had rescued eleven children and two youths who were working illegally in cocoa plantations in the southwestern part of the…

"The good news finally fell yesterday", poster in large letters on the front of L'Indépendant, the Malian daily. "Soumaïla Cissé and other Western hostages, including the French Sophie Petronin, are free," we read."It is now confirmed and official," the article insists. "After more than six months in captivity or more than 190 days, the leader of the opposition was released yesterday, Thursday 8 October." He was in the…

The release of Sophie Pétronin and Soumaïla Cissé completes an operation whose underside remains unclear. Prior to the release on the weekend of October 3 and 4, by the new Malian authorities, a significant number of prisoners - more than 200 years old, according to an al-Qaeda news agency - were presented by Malian officials as well as jihadists. Was the release of the jihadists as a bargaining chip…

Sophie Pétronin, a French aid worker who was the last French hostage in the world, landed in the capital Bamako to have an emotional reunion with her son after being released along with a top Malian politician. Mali announced the release of Frenchwoman Sophie Pétronin, 75, and Malian politician Soumaïla Cisséon on Thursday along…

Sophie Pétronin and Soumaïla Cissé arrived in Bamako around noon. 22 local time. The aid worker and politician were released after four years and six months in captivity, respectively. When the Malian army plane arrived from Tessalit in Bamako, the joy and relief was enormous among relatives of the ex-hostages. it is the end of an infinite waiting time several days of excitement, four years of ordeal for the French humanitarian family and more than six months of torment for those close to Soumaïla Cisse, the leader of the…

The continuation of our series dedicated to transformations of the Guinean economy, the country Alpha Condé is very late on the Internet, but this delay can be compensated with the arrival of optical fiber. China has funded the construction of a public fiber optic network, known under the "backbone" of Anglicism. It is now entering the marketing phase. The traffic on the two buried loops over 4400 km,…

Auxiliary worker Sophie Pétronin was released on Thursday, October 8th. An event that puts an end to almost four years of captivity. Sophie Petronin had already narrowly escaped the kidnapping of terrorists in 2012. Previously, the French woman had worked since 2001 in favor of orphaned and malnourished children in Gao. In 2012, she was able to leave the Algerian consulate, where she had sought refuge, at the last minute and be filtered out of the country in disguise before the jihadists took control of the area. The…

Prominent Malian politician Soumaila Cissé, who was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in March, was released on Wednesday after Mali released over 100 alleged or convicted jihadists as part of negotiations to secure his release. Mali also released the prisoners in hopes of getting the release of abducted French aid worker Sophie Pétronin, who was kidnapped by the shooter in December 2016 in the northern city of Gao. "As part of the negotiations for the release of Soumaila Cisséand Sophie Pétronin, more than a hundred…