West Africa

The Ivorian justice system has been examining a drug trafficking case since December 22 involving a massive cocaine seizure in Abidjan and San Pedro in April 2022. On Monday, the prosecution requested a 10-year prison sentence for 13 defendants and asked for the acquittal of the former anti-drug commander in San Pedro. Here is a summary of the court proceedings.

In France, a scheduled auction on April 16, 2024, for over 300 books from the library of Senegal's first independent president was halted. The Senegalese government sought direct negotiations with the heirs to purchase this heritage. They plan to showcase it in a museum dedicated to Léopold Sédar Senghor.

Scheduled for April 29, 2024, legislative and regional elections are scheduled to take place in Togo. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) had initially planned to send an exploratory mission on April 15, but now, on April 16, the regional organization will only send an information-gathering team due to the tense political situation in the country following the adoption of a new Constitution at the end of March.

The Ghanaian government revealed that a debt restructuring agreement has failed on Monday, April 15. This is a blow to the country, once an economic powerhouse in Africa, now in default since 2022.

In Guinea, the end of the trial for the September 28 massacre is nearing. Delayed by several weeks due to Eid and debates on reclassifying the crimes as against humanity, this is one of the final stages of the trial that has just begun. Yesterday (Monday), confrontations started. Some defendants took the stand. Defendants whose accounts vary on key aspects of the case.

Approximately forty civil society organizations, including Amnesty International, are against Shell's sale of its land activities until the multinational cleans up the pollution it left behind. In January, the Anglo-Dutch major announced an agreement to sell its assets in the Niger Delta for up to $2.4 billion. An open letter calling on Nigerian authorities to stop this sale was published on Monday.

In Ivory Coast, a major cashew producer, the cashew selling season is slow. This is posing challenges for local producers and processors, as they face a tough year ahead.

$400 million is the amount Niger will receive from China through CNPC. Last Friday, the Chinese company and the transitional government signed a deal for the sale of Nigerian oil.

This past Sunday, the first day of programming took place at Masa, the African Performing Arts Market in Abidjan. There were a total of 28 free shows at the Palais de la culture, just for that day. One standout in the diverse lineup was the Malian company Anw Jigi Art, who captivated the audience with an English-language play.

There is a debate with Wathi, and Gilles Yabi, who recently organized a virtual roundtable on the future of regional integration in West Africa. This event was held in partnership with the Sahel and West Africa Club of the OECD on March 21st. It comes two months after the simultaneous departure announcement of the three Central Sahel countries, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, from ECOWAS. The discussion focused on the implications and challenges of this development for the region's future integration efforts.