In his WATHI column, Harouna Drabo warns about the growing threat of disinformation and foreign influence operations in West Africa, especially amid ongoing political instability and repeated coups. The region’s young, hyperconnected population has become a prime target for online manipulation campaigns. Drabo argues for strengthening the cognitive resilience of youth through education in critical thinking, source verification, and media literacy. He advocates a systemic, multi-stakeholder response involving the media, civil society, public institutions, and digital platforms. Regional organizations such as ECOWAS and the African Union should take the lead in building African digital sovereignty and negotiating with Big Tech to ensure fair content regulation and information security across the continent.

Sovereignty, Youth, Numérique, Disinformation

The paper “Most Western African migrants remain local and travel short distances” by Irene Tafani, Ola Ali, Rafael Prieto-Curiel, and Massimo Riccaboni investigates migration distances of over 60,000 individuals from eight West African countries (Senegal, Guinea, Gambia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, and Chad) during 2021–2023. Using Random Forest and XGBoost machine-learning models on International Organization for Migration data, the study finds a bimodal distribution: most migrants move locally within 100 km, while a smaller share travels more than 3,000 km. Key determinants of migration distance include employment status, nationality, and motives for movement, with conflict-driven migration being especially long and unpredictable. The paper underscores that most mobility in West Africa is regional or short-distance and urges policy frameworks that integrate both local and long-range displacement dynamics.

Migration, Conflict, Poverty, Socio-economic integration

The Pastoral Surveillance Bulletin No. 33 (June–July 2025), published by Action Against Hunger (ACF), reports a gradual improvement in pastoral conditions with the onset of the rainy season across the Sahel. Vegetation growth and water replenishment have enhanced forage and watering availability. Livestock body condition is assessed as fair, with some reported animal diseases but no major outbreaks. Cattle movements remain limited, though some returns and forced displacements continue due to insecurity. Cereal and livestock prices have slightly increased, resulting in unfavorable terms of trade for herders. The report also highlights the persistent vulnerability of displaced households and the need for stronger support to the pastoral sector.

State, Livestock, Natural ressources, Security, Conflict, Education, Gold, Human security, Vulnerability, water

In this article, Anta Barry explores the evolution of the concept of human security in the Sahel region and argues that its ambition is increasingly unattainable. The central Sahel namely Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso represents a paradox: a territory rich in resources yet undermined by weak governance, colonial legacies, mis-aligned development policies and recurrent political instability. The notion of human security, initially focusing on protecting individuals from economic, political and environmental threats, is confronted with a “poly-crisis”: terrorist insecurity, climate change, food crises and the retreat of the state from basic services. Barry criticises the application of standardised international models that fail to reflect Sahelian realities and highlights the shrinking political space of states in the face of powerful external actors. The article concludes that without a rethink of approaches and a genuine empowerment of local actors, the ideal of human security in the Sahel will remain in crisis.

Governance, Climate change, Security, Development, Food security, Crisis

The Pastoral Surveillance Bulletin No. 36 (August–September 2025), published by Action Against Hunger – Mali Mission, provides an overview of pastoral conditions in Gao and Timbuktu regions. Seasonal rains have improved pasture availability, vegetation cover, and livestock health, easing tensions between herders and farmers. Access to water remains satisfactory on 61% of monitored sites. However, security challenges persist, with continued livestock thefts and extortion by armed groups. Market exchange terms remain unfavorable to herders, and institutional support for the pastoral sector is limited. The report calls for strengthening veterinary services, conflict prevention mechanisms, and sustainable management of rangeland resources to improve livelihoods and food security in northern Mali.

State, Livestock, Natural ressources, Security, Education, Gold, Human security, Knowlege production, Marché, water

This study by Evans Yeboah and Václav Adamec, published in the Journal of Social and Economic Development (Springer Nature, June 9 2025), examines the effects of investment and trade on economic performance across twelve ECOWAS member states from 1993 to 2022. Using PMG-ARDL and NARDL estimation techniques, the paper finds that gross capital formation and trade openness positively influence long-run GDP per capita growth, whereas population growth, labor participation, unemployment, merchandise trade, and FDI exert negative effects. External debt is statistically insignificant in the long term. In the short term, increases in FDI and merchandise trade enhance income growth. Nonlinear estimations show that both increases and decreases in FDI dampen growth, while trade expansion boosts economic performance. The authors recommend promoting trade liberalization, improving FDI quality, ensuring sustainable debt management, and implementing labor-market reforms and export diversification strategies.

Governance, Economic Development, Trade, Economic growth

This narrative review explores how to integrate indigenous knowledge and modern technologies to process, preserve, and add value to West African indigenous crops (e.g., pearl millet, sorghum, fonio, yam, cowpea, leafy vegetables). Traditional methods—fermentation, sun-drying, roasting, soaking, ash/clay, and botanicals—extend shelf-life, enhance digestibility, and sustain cultural identity, yet are labor-intensive with variable hygiene and quality. Modern innovations—solar dryers, vacuum/modified-atmosphere packaging, defined starter cultures, mechanization, composite/fortified flours, cold chains, and digital tools—cut post-harvest losses, improve consistency, and open markets, but face barriers of cost, capacity, and access, particularly for women processors. The paper advocates hybrid approaches, decentralized processing hubs, and gender-responsive policies alongside training, finance, and market linkages. The ambition is year-round availability of nutrient-dense foods, stronger livelihoods, and more resilient, inclusive food systems across the region. Keywords: indigenous crops; post-harvest; preservation; value addition; nutrition security

Agriculture, Food security, Hygiène

This paper investigates the relationship between stock market development and economic growth across five West African countries (Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Mali) over the period 2005-2020, using panel data methods including fixed effects, random effects and system GMM estimators. The study assesses how market capitalization, trading volume, turnover ratio and number of listed companies affect GDP growth, controlling for macro-economic and institutional variables. Results indicate a positive and significant effect of market capitalization on growth (β ~0.043), a marginally significant effect of trading volume, and an insignificant role of turnover ratio. The number of listed companies per million population yields a positive effect. Interaction terms highlight that governance quality strengthens the growth impact of stock market development. Panel Granger causality tests reveal two-way causality between market capitalization and GDP growth in some countries. The author concludes that though modest, stock market development importantly contributes to growth, especially under strong institutions, and calls for policies enhancing market depth, governance and regional integration.

Governance, Economic Development, Development, Economic growth

This paper conducts a sub-national scale examination of the links between water scarcity and violent conflicts across the central Sahel and Lake Chad Basin (2000-2021). Employing the water footprint concept and the Falkenmark index, the authors develop five monthly water-scarcity metrics (runoff, soil moisture, potential evapotranspiration, water consumption, demographics). The findings reveal high levels of water scarcity — especially green water scarcity (soil moisture deficit) and low Falkenmark index values (population-driven water stress) — during the dry, pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons at all locations with recorded conflicts. This indicates an indirect relationship between green water scarcity, water-stress indices and violent conflicts. The study suggests that its methodology and results could help improve water-resources management and conflict-prevention efforts in the region and beyond.

Governance, Security, Conflict, water