Weekly Updates: West Africa
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Weekly Updates: West Africa *
November 3, 2025 by Mathilda Simons
Photo courtesy of BBC
In Mali, jihadi militants part of Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin have enforced a fuel blockade on the capital city, Bamako, for over two months. Following two separate coups in 2020 and 2021, Mali has been under the control of a military junta. More instability looms with the apparent difficulties of the military junta to counter jihadi forces, despite the assistance they receive from Russian mercenary fighters. The crisis has led to staggering prices, with food prices tripling, closed schools, and local chaos as citizens compete for fuel. JNIM, formed in 2017 as a coalition of jihadi groups and affiliated with al-Qaeda, has kidnapped and attacked drivers entering the capital, especially those from neighboring countries. This is part of a larger strategy of economic warfare, which has also led to attacks against industry and mining sites, where Mali’s gold production (its primary source of income) occurs. Several countries, including the U.S., Germany, and Canada, have called on their citizens to evacuate Mali.
JNIM’s goal appears to be to cause unrest against the ruling military junta, creating sufficient frustrations to ensure that the regime is no longer sustainable. They have conducted destabilizing attacks across other West African countries as well, including Nigeria and Burkina Faso.
Violence broke out between Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), killing hundreds, in Nigeria’s Lake Chad region. ISWAP was formed as a breakaway faction from within Boko Haram that allied with IS. The clash lasted from November 5 to November 8. It is part of a larger competition between non-state actors vying for territory and influence in the Sahel region.
Protests have continued in Cameroon after the re-election of 92-year-old Paul Biya, the world’s oldest president. Biya has been in power since 1982 and has now entered his eighth term, made possible by the term-limit extension he passed earlier in his career. The opposition party, led by Issa Tchiroma Bakary, Bita’s former spokesperson, has challenged the result and called on Cameroonians to reject it. The resulting protests have led to arrests and violence. The Cameroonian government claims the death toll from the past month’s protests is 13, a number human rights groups have contested, claiming the death toll has reached 55, with about 800 protestors arrested.
Mathilda Simons (CC’29) is a West Africa Representative at Columbia Academics in Foreign Affairs (CAFA), with intentions to study Economics and Philosophy