Africa

Who was Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahraoui?

Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahraoui was the nom de guerre of a prominent jihadist leader in the Sahel, Lehbib Ould Ali Ould Said Ould Yumani, who was born in 1973 in Laâyoune, Western Sahara. He spent part of his youth in Algeria, notably in the Tindouf refugee camps and at the University of Constantine, where he studied the social sciences. He was also reportedly a member of the Polisario Front, the political paramilitary movement that campaigns for Western Sahara’s independence, before joining jihadist insurgents in northern Mali around 2010.

The UK, Côte d’Ivoire and other nations plan to pull their troops out of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, clouding its future as it undergoes internal review. In this Q&A, Crisis Group experts discuss the mission’s challenges and scenarios for what could come next.

On 4 September, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba gave a speech reviewing his actions since he seized power on 24 January 2022. In this Q&A, Crisis Group experts Mathieu Pellerin and Rinaldo Depagne analyse this milestone.

Insurgents have established bases in an important nature reserve spanning parts of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger. They pose a growing danger to local ecosystems and people living around the park. The three countries need to collaborate more closely to keep the threat at bay.

Projections show that Africa’s real gross domestic product will stabilize at 4% over 2023–24, then grow at consistently higher rates than other regions.

In the inaugural release of a report dubbed ‘Africa’s Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook’ released on Jan.19, the African Development Bank Group reported that “growth across all five African regions was positive in 2022 and the outlook for 2023–24 is projected to be stable.”

Composed of distinct operational entities, the militant Islamist group coalition Jama’at Nusrat al Islam wal Muslimeen serves the role of obscuring the operations of its component parts in the Sahel, thereby inhibiting a more robust response.

Le ministère de la Défense a annoncé la mort de quatre terroristes lors d’une opération menée au nord du Mali par les forces spéciales françaises. Parmi eux, Abderkrim el-Targui, le chef de la katiba Al-Ansar d’Al-Qaeda au Maghreb islamique (Aqmi) avait revendiqué les assassinats de deux journalistes de RFI.

Mohamed Akotey, négociateur-clé de la libération des otages d’Arlit, était encore “à la manoeuvre” pour obtenir celle de Serge Lazarevic, d’après de nombreux médias. Ex-chef rebelle, ex-ministre, ce Touareg nigérien francophile dispose au Sahel de solides réseaux qui lui permettent de jouer ce rôle.