The Latest Breaking News from West Africa

Cotonou (AFP) - Beninese hairdresser Edwige Govi makes a point these days of using electric motorbike taxis to get around Cotonou, saying she enjoys a ride that is quiet and clean.

Violence has killed thousands of people and displaced more than 2.7 million across the Sahel, according to the UN.

Accra (AFP) - West African nations met with European leaders on Tuesday for talks on "homegrown" ways to prevent jihadist conflict in the Sahel threatening to "engulf" countries on the Gulf of Guinea.

Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo on Tuesday warned that a rampant Islamist insurgency in West Africa's Sahel is threatening to engulf the entire region.

France will stop sending public development aid to Mali because of the West African country’s alleged ties to Russian paramilitaries, according to the French foreign ministry.

Britain will pull out its 300 troops from a U.N. peacekeeping force in Mali following similar withdrawals this year by other Western nations, a government minister said on Monday.

This week, President Emmanuel Macron announced the official end of France's anti-jihadist mission in West Africa – Operation Barkhane. The move was accelerated by a collapse of relations with Mali's military junta, leading to the withdrawal of French troops as the jihadist insurgency across the Sahel continues.

In tonight's edition: South Africa approves a funding plan for phasing out coal-based power. However, the hundreds of millions in loans have some citizens worried about supersizing the nation's debt. African leaders at the COP27 summit look to hold wealthier nations accountable for their emissions, but some are courting fossil…

The West African Canary Current extends along the north-west African coast, from the northern Atlantic coast of Morocco to Guinea-Bissau. It’s a hotspot for changes in the oceans driven by climate change. These include rising temperatures, ocean acidification and ocean deoxygenation. All affect marine life on multiple levels.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced Wednesday a strategic shift for its military forces deployed in the Sahel region of Western Africa which are helping several countries contain jihadist insurgencies.

Souloukna Mourga plodded through his flooded millet and cotton field in northern Cameroon and uprooted soggy stems that had a few bolls on them. All six hectares of mostly dead crops were under water.