Mar 31, 2020 | Menas Associates, Niger, Sahara
There is an extraordinary parallel between Niger’s current defence ministry corruption scandal and those in Mali which led to the 2012 coup d’état. In Mali the army was quickly put to flight by the Tuareg rebels and Islamists because it was ill equipped and, in...
Feb 27, 2020 | Menas Associates, Sahara
The latest issue of Menas Associates’ Sahara Focus monthly reports concentrates on how France can redress the escalating negative perceptions of its activities in the region. We believe that if this is done it is possible that the Sahel could finally begin to reverse...
Oct 31, 2019 | Mali, Menas Associates, Sahara
The root of the failure of France’s Operation Barkhane in the Sahel is Paris’ inability to understand not just the political stakes but also the motivations that push hundreds of young people to join jihadism. Since France sent its troops to Mali in January 2013,...
Sep 19, 2019 | Mali, Menas Associates, Sahara
Mahmoud Dicko: from religous leader to politician? Mahmoud Dicko — who stood down in April after 11 years as president of the High Islamic Council of Mali — appears to be a resurgent force in Malian politics. Back in 2010, he was preaching against the high levels of...
Jul 24, 2019 | Mauritania, Menas Associates, Sahara
Mohamed Ould Cheikh Mohamed Ahmed Ould el-Ghazouani becomes Mauritania’s new president As expected President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz’s chosen successor, Mohamed Ould Cheikh Mohamed Ahmed Ould el-Ghazouani (b.1956), won the 22 June presidential election....
Jun 27, 2019 | Menas Associates, Sahara
The combatting of alleged ‘Islamist guerrillas’, ‘terrorists’ and ‘jihadists’ in the Sahel region has become a thriving business for private security companies. Many countries, as well as the United Nations, call on them to fulfil a range of functions ranging from...
