Nigeria’s Constitution Review Makes Women’s Inclusion a Priority

Abu­ja, Nige­ria — Nige­ri­a’s con­sti­tu­tion is get­ting a revamp, and this time a com­mit­tee tasked with the respon­si­bil­i­ty says wom­en’s inclu­sion in polit­i­cal offices is a pri­or­i­ty. Women hold a tiny frac­tion of the seats in Nigeria’s Nation­al Assem­bly. Three of the 109 sen­a­tors and 15 of the 360 mem­bers in the House of Rep­re­sen­ta­tives are…

Senegal Constitutional Council Finds Election Delay Unlawful

DAKAR, SENEGAL — Sene­gal’s Con­sti­tu­tion­al Coun­cil on Thurs­day ruled that par­lia­men­t’s unprece­dent­ed post­pone­ment of the Feb­ru­ary 25 pres­i­den­tial vote was not in line with the con­sti­tu­tion, pitch­ing the coun­try into a new phase of elec­toral uncer­tain­ty.  Oppo­si­tion pres­i­den­tial can­di­dates and law­mak­ers last week filed sev­er­al legal chal­lenges to the bill that delayed the vote to December…

Afcon celebrations continue in Ivory Coast — BBC Africa

If you thought #AFCON2023 cel­e­bra­tions were over, think again! 🥅 ⚽️ 🎉 🇨🇮 Ivo­rians are still cel­e­brat­ing their third Afcon tro­phy, hav­ing matched Nige­ri­a’s 🇳🇬 record of three titles. The mood is jubi­lant in the streets of #Abid­jan, as large crowds wel­come home their nation­al team. 🏆 #Afcon #Afcon­Cham­pi­ons #TheEle­phants #IvoryCoast #Foot­ball #Afcon2023 Sub­scribe: http://bit.ly/subscribetoafrica Web­site: https://www.bbc.com/africa…

Cameroon Opposition Calls for Single Candidate to Face Biya in Next Election

Yaounde, Cameroon — Lead­ers of Cameroon’s main oppo­si­tion par­ty say they are nego­ti­at­ing with more than 30 oppo­si­tion lead­ers to present a sin­gle can­di­date in the next elec­tion, should 91-year-old Pres­i­dent Paul Biya be inca­pac­i­tat­ed by ill health. The oppo­si­tion react­ed after Biya, who has ruled for more than four decades, made no men­tion of running…

French Departure From Niger Underscores Fading Influence

PARIS — France clos­es 2023 with a dimin­ished pres­ence in Africa’s restive Sahel region, after with­draw­ing troops from three once-staunch allied coun­tries col­lec­tive­ly fight­ing an Islamist insur­gency, and see­ing its influ­ence increas­ing­ly replaced by oth­er pow­ers, includ­ing Rus­sia. The last French sol­diers left Niger ear­li­er this month, with Paris tak­ing the unusu­al step of clos­ing its…