Honoured to get quoted by the @financialtimes.com www.ft.com/content/36fa...

As reported by Levent Kemal, 🇹🇷 Turkey now warns its citizens against all non-essential travel to 🇲🇱 Mali, due to "recent developments" and a worsening of the security situation.

Yet another kidnapping of a foreigner in Niger where I was two weeks ago. Kidnappings will force NGOs leading to more poverty and more volunteers to join the fighters, I tell @AP apnews.com/article/nige...

Mauritania has done more than other Sahel countries to win over jihadists willing to lay down arms, I tell @guardian www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

The US has offered Mali to target leaders of jihadists I tell AFP. Some officials seem to believe that Mali’s gold might be interesting to US firms. lnkd.in/dCdFET3H

I talk to U.S.-based The World radio about why Mali decided to return ancient manuscripts to Timbuktu, a major ancient seat of learning. lnkd.in/d2FM3Y5B

Russia’s Africa Corps is focused rather on training not fighting like Wagner which could be a contentious issue as Moscow pressures the Central African Republic to make the switch, I tell AP apnews.com/article/cent....

www.dw.com/en/how-the-s... includes quotes from me

Sharing some observations from my latest trip to Niger, the capital Niamey and the economic center Maradi. Two years ago I was about to open an office there for a huge EU project to train political parties. Well now

JNIM Is staging attacks in western Mali to force the government elevate forces from the north and center, I tell the @telegraphnews.bsky.social www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...

Many thanks Tobias

Sharing some observations from a recent second trip to Chad. The challenges are multiplying. More Sudanese refugees arrive, the UN will cut funding for them. At Lake Chad you have more sophisticated jihadist attacks

Niger used to import its food needs via Lome and Cotonou ports. But with the Bénin border closed and the Burkina Faso route dangerous most stuff comes these days from Nigeria - cafes and restaurants in Niamey now serve Lagos-bottled Heineken beer.

Honoured get quoted by @theguardian.com on this excellent takeout on the Sahel jihadist menace www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j... #sahel

Includes quote from me www.reuters.com/world/africa...

Tunis

Glad to be back in Tunisia for another Sahel Maghreb dialogue @KAS_africa this time to discuss employment opportunities for the two regions’ young populations

Wagner’s exit from Mali signals a lighter Russian military footprint in the Sahel as the Africa Corps takes over, I tell Reuters www.reuters.com/world/africa...

Includes quote from me apnews.com/article/mali... Russia's Africa Corps to remain in Mali despite Wagner mercenaries exit | AP News

I had the pleasure writing for @KASonline @auslandsinfo on jihadists at Lake Chad. I wrote the article around New Year so parts are already outdated given the fluid situation but it still gives - I hope - a good overview. www.kas.de/en/web/ausla... open.spotify.com/episode/01rzL2…

Gastbeitrag von mir zum Sudan-Konflikt. Ich war vor zwei Wochen im Osttschad an der Grenze zum Buergerkriegsland und habe mit sudanesischen Fluechtlingen gesprochen www.t-online.de/nachrichten/...

Sharing some observations from my recent Chad trip, my first since the French troop withdrawal late 2024. Obviously the Sudan refugee crisis is pressing (see separate thread) as Chad remains fragile and seeks post-Paris new alliances ….

I spent the last three days in eastern Chad at the Sudan border, my first visit since April 2024 - the humanitarian situation has gone from very bad to much worse with a new spike in refugee arrivals. Thanks much for @helpfromgermany for having me again. A few thoughts: #chad #sahel

Just arrived in New York, coming all the way from Chad on an rather empty Egyptair flight. Really excited to discuss all things Sahel first at an event at our UN office and then in DC. Great to be back in the US

Chad Sudan border - the cars and people in the background are on the Sudanese side. Main crossing point for refugees - arrivals picking up since RSF attacks on Zam Zam camp in El Fasher. Also Arabs fleeing Khartoum since the army defeated RSF there

Made it back to eastern Chad/Sudan border to report on the humanitarian crisis. Two years into the Sudan war, refugees keep coming from as far as Khartoum. Since the RSF attack on Zam Zam camp numbers have been spiking with 11000 arriving alone last week. @KASonline on the ground

Good to be back in N’Djamena in Chad to discuss migration issues. My last visit was in July 2024 at Lake Chad. Much has happened since then post-election and with the Sudan war raging in the east

table.media/africa/news/... Inklusive Zitat von mir

Includes quote from me www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

ith my colleague Steven Hoefner I travelled last week (thanks to GIZ and @Refugees @UNHCRWestAfrica ) to eastern Mauretania to visit Mbera camp, the Mali border and regional capital Nema to see the humanitarian crisis – I covered many conflicts for Reuters but this looks bad.. #sahel

UNHCRWestAfrica registration center (co-financed by Germany’s GIZ) for Malian refugees in Mauretania near the joint border. Some 6,000 arrive every month fleeing conflict in Mali

Hungary Chad military cooperation taking shape with Hungarian military plane bringing from N’Djamena a group of Hungarian and Chadian soldiers to the FlintRock exercise in Ivory Coast

Mbera camp for Malian refugees on the Mauritanian side of the joint border. Exists since 2012 when the Mali crisis broke out. Last year more than 100,000 new refugees arrived Mali

Most Malian refugees in Mauretania live in an overcrowded camp. Newcomers end up in villages or the countryside. This lake has been attracting Malian fishers to make a modest living. Smoked fish is sold in Mali (Mauritanians prefer meat). You see the impact of climate change

Flew with my colleague Steven Hoefner to southern Mauritania near the Mali border to see firsthand a major refugee crisis - some 300,000 or so Malians fled conflict at home. Will spend the week here and share findings. Thanks to GIZ and @UNHCRWestAfrica for having us

Soviet airline Aeroflot ad seen in Hotel in Kara in northern Togo- there was a time when they were flying to Lome during Soviet times it seems …

Interview (in German) on the latest expat kidnapping in Agadez, Niger www.srf.ch/audio/srf-4-...

Turkish Airlines flight to Bamako now takes around 90 minutes longer as Algerian air space closure by Mali requires Morocco détour. I guess RAM is the winner for Europe-bound traffic for which Turkish was always at disadvantage due to its Istanbul hub www.flightaware.com/live/flight/...

Libyan embassy in Praia in Cabo Verde - prime location next to missions from European Union, former colonial power Portugal, Russia and China. Probably little going on in terms of bilateral ties but the Africa embassy network set up by Gaddafi still exists

www.deutschlandfunk.de/mali-was-die... Inklusive O-Ton von mir

Our Air Senegal flight is 10h late so had a bit of time at Bamako. The usual Russian transport plane arrived no surprises but really interesting to see that RAM now seems to have TWO daily flights to Casa, making most of Air France’s absence

Mauretanien wird zum neuen Fluechtlingshotspot - die Niger-Libyen Route ist nicht mehr so attraktiv, da die EU die Kuestenwache Libyens und Tunesiens stark unterstuetzt. www.kas.de/de/laenderbe...

Chinese supermarket in Bamako well-stocked with liquor

Mauretanien entwickelt sich zu der am schnellsten wachsenden Migrationsroute nach Europa - das hat Folgen fuer das Sahelland. Mit O-Ton von mir. #sahel www.deutschlandfunk.de/entlastung-f...

apnews.com/article/nige... includes quote from me

Informal gold mine Senegal

Sofia airport duty free shop

Good morning Sofia. Really excited to be here for a @KASmediaSEE conference on Russia, the Sahel and Balkans and plenty of meetings. My first Bulgaria visit since 1992 (when I was returning to Germany by bus/train from year studying Arabic in Kuwait)

Mauretanien, Mali, Migration – und #Russland mittendrin, um der EU zu schaden. Was sich gerade auf den Kanarischen Inseln abspielt, hat mir @ulflaessing.bsky.social erzählt. Er war selbst vor Ort in Westafrika. 🧵1/5

Sharing observations from a trip to the Senegalese side of the Mali/Guinea border. We had a seminar in the western Malian city Kayes 2023 so it was good to see the other side. Good news is that Malis ECOWAS exit has not hampered traffic - Mali is on the other side of the river #sahel