Burkina Faso and Niger have joined Mali in exiting from the G5 Sahel Joint Force, a regional alliance formed in 2014 to combat Islamic extremism in the region. Only Mauritania and Chad remain in the organization. The three countries have drawn closer since their military coups, and have proposed forming a federation to consolidate their military governments. Burkina Faso and Mali have also diminished the status of French, symbolic of their fraught relationship with France.

Negotiations between Sudan’s Army and the Rapid Support Forces have again failed to resolve the conflict. The civil war between both factions has displaced over 6 million people and included crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. In a June article in Foreign Policy, Sharath Srinivasan warned about the limits of such elite pacts in conflict resolution (paywalled). 

• DR Congo’s elections are scheduled for 20 December, against a backdrop of rising violence in the country’s East. Al Jazeera has a rundown of the leading candidates and issues likely to be on voters’ minds.
• The Ivorian Football Federation announced that its new stadiums are “all set” for the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in January.
• Tanzanian Vice President Philip Mpango’s absence over the past month sparks rumours around his health.
• Are Rems, Asake, and Tems, Nigerian music’s new “Big Three”?

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Image: Map of the Alliance of Sahel States. 17 September 2023. Photo credit: Lukt64.