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Al Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) has been targeting fuel convoys in Mali since September 2025. The attacks are causing fuel shortages at the pump, with long lines for petrol. The FRANCE 24 Observers team spoke to Bakary Sambe, the regional director of the Timbuktu Institute, who said JNIM’s strategy is “to delegitimise the government by using a form of economic jihad that hits at the heart of the country’s economy”.

More than 1,500 people in Morocco are facing prosecution after weeks of youth-led protests calling for an end to corruption and improvements in health and education, according to the Moroccan Association for Human Rights on Friday. Hundreds of those connected to the protests have already been given prison sentences, with some facing up to 15 years in prison, the NGO said.

For a third day in a row, drones targeted the army-held Sudanese capital and the Khartoum international airport in attacks blamed on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which the country’s regular military has been battling since April 2023.

From our correspondent in Abidjan – In the Abidjan district of Yopougon, a historic stronghold of former Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo, some residents reject politics, which they see as a divisive force. Others have decided to get involved, convinced that an alternative to President Alassane Ouattara, who is seeking a fourth term in office, is possible.

The election campaign in Ivory Coast has come with an upsurge in disinformation on social media. Supporters of both the ruling and opposition parties have circulated fake news about presidential candidates and Abidjan is concerned about destabilisation attempts from abroad, including from its neighbour Burkina Faso. As a response, the Ivorian government has begun censoring posts and making arrests. This report by Julia Guggenheim and Damien Koffi (Adapted by Tom Canetti).

A general strike and tens of thousands of protesters brought the southern Tunisian city of Gabes to a standstill on October 21, 2025, to back demands for the closure of a state chemical plant blamed for a pollution crisis. Over 200 people have been hospitalised in recent weeks for respiratory distress and gas poisoning, according to authorities and NGOs.

In President Alassane Ouattara’s stronghold of Abobo, a working-class commune in Abidjan’s north, the incumbent’s supporters are convinced that he will win Saturday’s presidential election in a first-round “knockout blow”. FRANCE 24 spoke to some of the president’s most ardent fans about what three terms of Ouattara have done for the neighbourhood.

In Lagos, tensions have been boiling over as protesters demand the release of separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu. Police used tear gas on demonstrators while there were also reports of gunshots being fired, with dozens arrested. Kanu, who is the leader of the banned Indigenous People of Biafra group, is currently on trial on terrorism charges. His case has caused tension in southeastern Nigeria, where the Igbo ethnic group allege marginalisation by the Nigerian government.

Morocco is among a string of countries in the Global South that recently experienced a wave of youth-led protests that brought digital dissent to the streets. After a royal cabinet meeting this Sunday, its government is attempting to appease the protesters – but will Gen Z be convinced?