West Africa

"I got to break and get into theater writers." Author and director Souleymane Bah, 46, will receive the RFI Theater 2020 award for La Cargaison on Sunday 27 September at the Festival des Francophonies, Les Zébrures d'Automne, in Limoges. The text from the Guinean author, exiled in France for four years, invites us to a "macabre stroll" populated by ruined destinies, stranded somewhere. Relaxed and determined at the same time, equipped with an easy opportunity to choose words and speech, during our meeting with the winner,…

Interview with Gilles Olakounlé Yabi, economist and political analyst. He is the founder of the West African Citizen Think Tank, Wathi (www.wathi.org). Commentary on the future of democracy in French-speaking Africa. RFI: What is your assessment of the state of democracy in Africa in 2020?? Gilles Yabi: Difficult to answer this question without first remembering the diversity of the continent. This diversity has profound implications for the assessment that can be made of the state of democracy in Africa. Political…

NGO Human Rights Watch investigated the violence that shook the city of Nzérékoré in southern Guinea during the double vote on March 22. It takes stock of at least 32 dead, 90 wounded and extensive property damage and also involves the security forces in this tragedy. Polling stations were attacked, places of worship burned down and dozens of dead have done so Nzérékoré mourned in a double vote of March 22nd. HRW believes the defense and security forces "did not do enough" to stop the inter-municipal clashes that erupted…

It is a project that worries Benin and is unanimous in Nigeria. Last Wednesday, the Nigerian director announced that it had released pledges of $ 1.9 billion for the construction of a 250km railway line that will connect Nigeria to neighboring Niger. A project whose foundations were launched in 2015, but whose costs and real interest rates are discussed. The future railway line will connect the city of Kano in Nigeria with Maradi in southern Niger and pass through Jigawa, Katsina and Jibia. But the announcement of this…

Turn young Beninese out of school in rural areas into green entrepreneurs. This is the Women Agripreneures project, a project set up by the Les Jardins de l'Espoir association, which has been promoting agro-ecology in several places in southern Benin for four years. There are four phases, funded by the American organization IREX: fifteen days of introduction to agroecology, internship on a farm for three months, training in entrepreneurship and monitoring of each participant. The goal is for them to become financially…

The death toll from a jihadist attack on the convoy of the regional governor of northeastern Nigeria has risen to 30, security sources said on Saturday. Two sources told AFP deaths from Friday's attack in the returning Borno state had doubled as more bodies were found and now included 12 police officers, five soldiers, four members of a government-backed militia and nine civilians. "The number has risen to 30 as many corpses were picked in the surrounding areas after the attack," said one of the sources, adding that…

In Senegal, it is the 18th anniversary of Joola's sinking this Saturday, one of the deadliest in history. On September 26, 2002, the ferry connecting Casamance in the south of the country to Dakar sank off the coast of Gambia. Nearly 2,000 people died, only 64 survived. With our correspondent in Dakar, Charlotte idrac In the context of the pandemic, the memorial is marked with sobriety this Saturday: no large gatherings, the victims' associations call for a minute of silence at. 12 UT. But for the survivors and…

Ivory Coast should allow former President Laurent Gbagbo, who is barred from running in next month's main presidential election, to vote in the vote, the African Court of Human Rights and Peoples' Rights said on Friday. The court, set up by members of the African Union in 2004, asked Côte d'Ivoire to "take the necessary steps to immediately remove all obstacles" that prevented Gbagbo from being added to the electoral roll. Ivory Coast withdrew its recognition of the Court's jurisdiction back in April this year.…

36 days before the Côte d'Ivoire presidential election, the African Court of Human Rights re-enters the debate. Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, whose candidacy was invalidated by the Constitutional Council on 14 September, scores one point. The court ordered the postponement of his conviction of Ivorian justice in the so-called "breach of the BCEAO" case and his re-registration on the electoral roll. With our correspondent in Abidjan, Pierre Pinto It is an ordinance, that is, a preliminary ruling of the…

Mali's interim president, Bah Ndaw, elected to lead a transitional government after last month's coup, was sworn in during ceremonies in the capital Bamako on Friday, AFP reporters witnessed. A committee appointed by the military junta that seized power on August 18 and overthrew President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita elected Ndaw, a 70-year-old retired colonel, as interim president. The Ndaw must lead a transitional government for a maximum of 18 months before organizing national elections. In a speech, Ndaw said he…