Attacks on the Burkina Faso army headquarters and the French Embassy on 2 March 2018 were better organised, involved heavier weapons and were more sustained than anything seen so far in Burkina Faso. In this Q&A, our West Africa Program Director Rinaldo Depagne says the jihadist assault further exposes worrying weakness in the Burkinabé security forces.
In a troubled region, Burkina Faso is a rare example of religious diversity and tolerance. But a perceived discrepancy between a significant number of Muslims and their low level of public representation has created tensions. To safeguard Burkina's model of peaceful coexistence, the government must address this sensitive issue through careful reforms, particularly in the education system.
Jihadist violence in the West African Sahel has now spread to the north of Burkina Faso. The response of Ouagadougou and its partners must go beyond the obvious religious and security dimensions of the crisis, and any solution must take into account deep-rooted social and local factors.
The Global Center on Cooperative Security is pleased to announce the publication of the report, "Preventing Violent Extremism in Burkina Faso: Toward National Resilience Amid Regional Insecurity." The report is coauthored by Profs. Augustin Loada (Executive Director of the Ouagadougou-based Centre pour la Gouvernance Democratique) and Peter Romaniuk (Senior Fellow at the Global Center in New York). At a time when violent extremism in West Africa and the Sahel is at the top of the regional and international agenda, the report assesses the threat to Burkina Faso and surveys sources of resilience. The report finds that Burkina Faso is vulnerable to violent extremism but the threat is not imminent, while arguing that stakeholders (the Government of Burkina Faso, its international partners and civil society groups) should take steps to prevent the emergence of violent extremism and build resilience.
The report was formally launched on Thursday 12 June at the United Nations in New York at a side event during the biannual review of the UN Global Counterterrorism Strategy. Speakers at the event included H.E. Dr. Jerôme Bougouma (Minister of Territorial Administration and Security, Government of Burkina Faso), H.E. Mr. Ib Petersen (Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Denmark to the UN), Mr. Jehangir Khan (Director, UN Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force) and Prof. Loada. The report follows the publication by the Global Center in 2012 of "Countering Violent Extremism and Promoting Community Engagement in West Africa and the Sahel: An Action Agenda." The report was supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.
Il volume descrive le pratiche di dialogo e gestione dei conflitti nella regione saheliana del Burkina Faso, dove l'Union Fraternelle des Croyants, una ONG multi-confessionale, ha avviato una collaborazione proficua tra le comunità musulmane e cattoliche per promuovere lo sviluppo del territorio. E' delineato un quadro della variegata società burkinabè attraverso la sua storia, la sua composizione etnica e religiosa, un'analisi delle problematiche in atto e dei metodi di gestione del conflitto a disposizione dei cittadini. Il Burkina Faso può infatti rappresentare un esempio positivo di coabitazione pacifica tra etnie e religioni, nonostante le sue difficili condizioni climatiche ed economiche.
It can be observed that jihadist groups in West Africa are increasingly expanding their areas of activity from the Sahel to the coastal countries along the Gulf of Guinea for some time now. Especially from Burkina Faso, where entire regions are already outside state control, these actors are advancing further and further south.
This current development is the focus of the new study "La nouvelle frontière des groupes djihadistes", which the KAS Regional Programme Political Dialogue West Africa (PDWA) has implemented together with partner Promédiation. One of the study's key topics is the importance of national parks in border regions, which are increasingly used by jihadist groups as strategic retreat and activity areas and whose local resources are used for financing.
This report by guest contributor Dr. Leif Brottem uses ACLED data and primary information collected by Dr. Brottem and his team during research in northern Benin.
Les autorités du Bénin et du Togo doivent veiller à ce que les droits humains soient respectés dans le cadre de la lutte contre les groupes armés, a déclaré Amnesty International le 27 juillet alors que des informations font état d’arrestations et détentions arbitraires et de violations des droits à la liberté de réunion pacifique et d’expression, et alors que le président Emmanuel Macron effectue une visite au Bénin les 27 et 28 juillet 2022.
This paper looks at the effects of Islamization and colonialism on women in Hausaland. Beginning with the jihad and subsequent Islamic government of ‘dan Fodio, I examine the changes impacting Hausa women in and outside of the Caliphate he established. Women inside of the Caliphate were increasingly pushed out of public life and relegated to the domestic space. Islamic law was widely established, and large-scale slave production became key to the economy of the Caliphate. In contrast, Hausa women outside of the Caliphate were better able to maintain historical positions of authority in political and religious realms. As the French and British colonized Hausaland, the partition they made corresponded roughly with those Hausas inside and outside of the Caliphate. The British colonized the Caliphate through a system of indirect rule, which reinforced many of the Caliphate’s ways of governance. The British did, however, abolish slavery and impose a new legal system, both of which had significant effects on Hausa women in Nigeria. The French colonized the northern Hausa kingdoms, which had resisted the Caliphate’s rule. Through patriarchal French colonial policies, Hausa women in Niger found they could no longer exercise the political and religious authority that they historically had held. The literature on Hausa women in Niger is considerably less well developed than it is for Hausa women in Nigeria. This paper serves as an inquiry into the types of questions that need to be explored in future research on gender issues in Nigerien Hausaland.
Ce livre réunit pour la première fois la totalité des textes chantés au cours d'une cérémonie d'initiation ('girkaa') au culte de possession 'bòorii' des Hausa de la région de Maradi au Niger. La cérémonie dont traite le livre a eu lieu entre le 6 et le 14 novembre 1979 à Aderawa, petit village de 500 habitants, à 5 km au sud de Maradi. Chaque chant n'apparaît que dans une forme plus ou moins abstraite. Bien que chaque vers puisse être répété plusieurs fois, il ne figure dans ce livre qu'une seule fois. De même, seuls les vers chantés pas le 'mài gòogee' (soliste) sont reproduits; les autres joueurs se contentent dans la plupart des cas d'une répétition du texte proposé par le soliste. Les textes sont présentés en hausa avec une traduction française.
Nach einer kürzen Überblick über dan Staat (Teil I), folgt einer detaillierte Untersuchung der Provinz Gobir (Teil II und III). Der Verfasser beschäftigt sich dabei mit zwei Fragestellungen: wie verlaufen die Beziehungen zwischen staatlicher Verwaltung und Bauern? Wie wird den Bauern eine autonome Agrarkultur von einer islamisch-urbanen Kultur abgelöst? Bei der erste Frage konzentriert er seine Untersuchung auf die unterste Ebene, bei der Verwaltung und Bauern in unmittelbaren Kontakt zueinander treten. Die Herrschenden kommen dabei nur soweit ins Blickfeld, als sie auf den Bauern unmittelbar einwirken. Alle Angaben beziehen sich auf der Zeit vor dem Militärputsch (15.4.1947). Ebenfalls nicht berücksichtigt sind die heute weit wichtigeren Uran-Exporte. 6 Anhänge: Feldforschung - Hausa-Glossar - Preislieder - Das Budget von Bauernhaushalten - Das ökonomische System der Heiratsgeschenke - Die Kommerzialisierung des Bodens.
Hitherto studies of the Tuaregs have concentrated on the nomads of the north to the neglect of their southern brethren of Mali and Niger who have contributed most to the spread of Islamic culture and institutions. Their share in the foundation of towns like Timbuctoo, in the transmission of ideas particularly from Mamluk Egypt, their mystic lodges and their scholars played a key role in the penetration of Islam into the remote regions of the Southern Sahara. This is a comprehensive account of the history and spread of Islamic culture through the medium of the sacerdotal 'caste' of the Ineslemen, from the Arab conquests of the 7th century to the golden age of Tuareg scholarship in the 15th and 17th centuries. Tuareg history is brought up to date with an account of their resistance to the French and their present status in Niger after their severe sufferings in the recent Sahelian droughts. By detailed examination of the literary sources, talking and living with Tuareg scholars, the author is able to place the contribution of these devoted adherents of Islam in its true setting. This book is important for Islamists Africanists, Anthropologists and all those who wish to understand the achievements of this unique people.
À la suite de deux coups d’État militaires en 2022, les groupes islamistes militants ont encerclé Ouagadougou, laissant dans leur sillage une violence sans précédent.
Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt adapted from a forthcoming report by USIP’s Senior Study Group on Coastal West Africa. The report presents the recommendations of that study group, which consisted of current and former policymakers, prominent political scientists and economists, representatives of international organizations, and business leaders.
Depuis 2021, les forces béninoises ont enregistré une vingtaine d’incursions djihadistes, venant de la partie partie frontalière du Burkina Faso, pays très touché par les attaques. Cela montre l’urgence face à la menace persistante du djihadisme dans la sous-région.
Timbuktu Institute a procédé ce jeudi 16 juin à la restitution d'une étude régionale sur "Islam et islamisme en Afrique de l'Ouest" en partenariat avec l'Académie Internationale de Lutte contre le terrorisme (AILCT) basée à Abidjan.
