Africa

The State of al Qaeda and ISIS in 2025

The Salafi-jihadi threat persists across Africa, the Middle East, and into Asia. Al Qaeda– and Islamic State–affiliated groups are engaged in local conflicts and have sought ways to strengthen on the ground within popular insurgencies. Their focus on expanding in the Muslim world has not replaced aspirations to strike the West, however. Those groups that once demonstrated or sought to develop transnational attack capabilities still seek to target the United States and Europe, creating an ongoing requirement for counterterrorism activities.

TIMELINE: Guinea-Bissau joins a list of recent coups in West Africa

Coups and their aftermath also fractured ECOWAS as they led to the creation of the Alliance for Sahel States (AES) by three junta-led West African states.

Guinea-Bissau has become the latest West African country to experience a coup, bringing the tally of such incidents in the sub-region since the turn of the decade to 10.

Mali : Barrick Mining paiera 430 millions pour résoudre un différend sur les mines d’or

La société minière canadienne Barrick Mining Corporation a accepté de verser 430 millions de dollars au Mali pour mettre un terme à un différend de longue date concernant la propriété des mines d’or de Loulo et Gounkoto, a annoncé mardi Bloomberg.

Tant Barrick que le gouvernement malien ont confirmé, dans des communiqués séparés, qu’un accord avait été conclu, mettant ainsi fin à toutes les procédures judiciaires en cours. Cependant, ni la société ni l’exécutif malien n’ont précisé les détails financiers de l’accord.

Q&A | The Islamic State’s pivot to Africa

The Islamic State is increasingly pivoting its operations toward Africa, where it maintains the capacity to coordinate violence across a broad area, generate financial resources, and expand its recruitment base. Over two-thirds of the Islamic State’s global activity in the first half of 2025 was recorded in Africa (see graph below). This pivot to Africa comes as the group’s propaganda also focuses more and more on its operations in Africa, with its affiliates gaining influence and prestige in the global IS network. This surge in activity raises urgent questions about the Islamic State’s capacity for violence in Africa, its strategies, and the threat it poses to regional governments and the world.