• The round of 16 of the 34th African Cup of Nations will have cost the Moroccans and Senegalese, given favorites. In addition, the entire final four of CAN 2022 – Senegal, Egypt, Cameroon and Burkina Faso – have gone by the wayside. It is also the seventh consecutive time that the CAN title holder has not seen the quarter-finals of the following edition. (Highlights of the competition can be found every morning on France 24 and every evening on our channel.)

  • The divorce is now complete between Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The three countries led by military regimes simultaneously announced their departure with immediate effect from the organization created in 1975 and bringing together fifteen member states until then.

  • Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni welcomed the leaders of more than 25 African countries to Rome to present to them a major development aid plan, in exchange for increased cooperation in the field of migration.

  • More than 50 people were killed and around 60 others injured during clashes in the Abyei region, on the border between the Republic of Sudan and South Sudan, according to the UN. Two peacekeepers are among the victims.

  • In Tunisia, Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of the Islamist Ennahda party, was sentenced to a new three-year prison sentence for illegally financing his training. This conviction comes while he is already incarcerated for “foreign financing” of Ennahda.

Withdrawal of Mali from ECOWAS: the opposition denounces an “illegitimate” decision

The Malian opposition denounces an "illegitimate" and "without consultation" decision, after Mali's withdrawal from ECOWAS. A choice of the ruling junta, which wanted to protest against the sanctions imposed by the regional body demanding a rapid return of civilians to power.  

13:23

Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso leave ECOWAS: democratic transitions “buried”

The announcement of the "without delay" withdrawal of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso from ECOWAS marks a clear end to the stormy negotiations on the organization of elections and the return of a civilian government. A subject considered secondary by the military in power in these three countries who have made sovereignism and the reconquest of territory a priority.

A small group of demonstrators wave Russian and Burkinabé flags to protest against the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, October 4, 2022. © Issouf Sanogo, AFP

With ECOWAS running out of steam, the fight against terrorism in West Africa is under threat

Forty-nine years after its creation, ECOWAS is showing signs of running out of steam: sluggish integration policy, inability to effectively deal with terrorism, variable application of the institution's texts and lack of authority.

'We are calling for a revolution' against Museveni, says Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine

France 24 spoke to Uganda's main opposition leader, Robert Kyagulanyi, known as Bobi Wine. The musician turned politician called for “civil disobedience, for a moral uprising, for a revolution” in his country, led for 38 years by Yoweri Museveni.

12:47

Africa on the fashion podium! How to make the sector a lever for development?

From Lagos to Casablanca, via Dakar and Johannesburg, in recent years, Fashion Weeks have multiplied on the continent. Today, 32 African countries organize fashion weeks. 

12:43

Africa Weekly © FRANCE 24

Nigeria: ban on single-use plastic in Lagos arouses fears and enthusiasm

From sidewalks littered with trash to street vendors packing their meals in polystyrene containers... Plastic waste is an integral part of the urban landscape of Lagos, the economic capital of Nigeria and the most populous city on the continent. An image that could soon change as the local government has just banned the use of polystyrene and single-use plastic.

02:57

AFP - Lagos January 2024 © AFP

View this post on Instagram

A publication shared by FRANCE 24 (@france24)

The France 24 summary of the week

invites you to look back at the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you! Download the France 24 application