The 2025 G20 Summit, held in South Africa, marked a pivotal moment in the rearticulation of global governance, with a renewed focus on the Global South. Central to the summit’s agenda was the need to strengthen cooperation, particularly across Africa. Yet, even as the G20 called for deeper integration and solidarity, West Africa has been moving in the opposite direction. The creation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) by Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger on 16 September 2023, following their withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has created what many analysts describe as an emerging…
Mamah Djiman Hairath
Mamah Djiman Hairath
Mamah-Djiman Hairith is an investigative reporter from Benin with more than 10 years of field experience in Africa's media industry. She has worked across various platforms including radio and newspapers like Le Paradoxe and Togo Finance et Business in Benin and Togo. She holds a degree in linguistics and communication and is passionate about telling stories around science and technology.
Foreign fleets, predominantly Chinese and South Korean, dominate West African waters, reaping profits while local economies suffer. Industrial vessels engage in destructive practices such as saiko, a form of transshipment whereby large trawlers offload catches onto smaller boats for resale. A 2024 Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) report said that saiko accounted for more than 100,000 tonnes of illegally caught fish in Ghana in a single year. Chinese vessels are the most prolific offenders, catching an estimated 2.35 million tonnes annually in the region – half of China’s distant-water fleet catch, valued at $5 billion. This overexploitation devastates artisanal fishing communities.…
The Benin government’s efforts to fight corruption were reinforced in January 2022 with the launch of a toll-free hotline service that enables members of the public to report allegations of corruption in all its forms. Citizens can call the hotline as well as make a complaint online. The website has been designed to not only allow members of the public to lodge an allegation or complaint but also to track uptake and monitor progress on the investigation if the special unit assigned to it finds there are grounds for investigation. The system was established specifically to encourage citizens to play…
Since 2016, the authorities in Benin have undertaken various initiatives to provide the population with access to clean drinking water. These efforts are primarily focused on enhancing the effectiveness of the National Water Company of Benin (SONEB), the main public organisation responsible for this resource. In 2017, Benin established the National Drinking Water Supply Agency in Rural Areas (ANAEP-MR) with the goal of achieving the targets set by Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, which aims to ensure access to water and sanitation for all by 2030. The primary objective of this agency is to develop and manage the country’s water…
