Africa Political Monitor No. 67

NIGER MUTINY QUELLED WITH SUPPORT FROM RUSSIA
On August 28-29, mutinous soldiers engaged forces loyal to the ruling military junta in sustained gunfire at the Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey, Niger. The airport is a strategic hub and hosts a key military air base as well as the headquarters of Russia's Africa Corps in the country. Fighting also took place near the presidential palace. The unrest culminated in the arrest or killing of dozens of soldiers. The mutiny appears to have been triggered by grievances over rising insecurity in the country, including rampant jihadi attacks. Jihadi violence has worsened in the Sahel region, including in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali. Niger's junta previously promised to stabilize the country, but security has deteriorated markedly.

The mutineers were subdued after Russia's Africa Corps intervened on the side of loyalist forces with ground and aerial support. The Russian mercenary outfit, an outgrowth of the Wagner mercenary group now under greater control by the Russian government, is believed to have between 200 to 300 personnel in Niger, where it is primarily engaged to protect the ruling junta and its interests. (Associated Press, August 30, 2026; ABC News, September 12, 2026)

DRC EBOLA OUTBREAK PERSISTS
An Ebola outbreak was declared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on May 15th of this year. As of September 19th, there have been 7,541 recorded confirmed cases of the disease and 3,639 deaths from it – evidence that this outbreak has spread significantly faster than previous ones, becoming the second-largest on record. This strain of Ebola (Bundibugyo) does not currently have a vaccine or treatment. A total of 70,000 Ervebo vaccines were approved for use in the DRC to administer to frontline and health workers, but the treatment does not guarantee protection for this strain of the virus. Medical experts using tracing and genome sequencing tools note that the first case of the disease may date all the way back to February 2026, raising questions about the delay in response. The WHO and various CDC institutes continue to work with the Congolese government to get the outbreak under control, but success remains elusive. (TimesLive, September 20, 2026, ContagionLive, September 20, 2026, Deutsche Welle, September 16, 2026, CDC, September 14, 2026

OVER U.S. OBJECTIONS, UN VOTES TO ADOPT NEW WORLD MAP
Last month, the United Nations General Assembly approved a resolution introduced by Togo aimed at changing the way Africa and other regions are represented by world maps. Six countries voted to abstain while the United States was the only country to vote against the nonbinding resolution. The resolution encourages wider use of equal-area projection maps, which more accurately show the true relative size of countries and continents, although their shapes are somewhat distorted. The Mercator map, which is currently the most commonly used, was developed primarily for navigation. It allowed sailors to plot courses along straight lines while maintaining a constant compass bearing, but distorted the size of countries and regions farther from the equator. Critics have long argued that the Mercator map produces subtle biases and affects international power dynamics as it reinforces a Eurocentric view while minimizing the presence of the global south. (NPR, September 4, 2026; New York Times, September 4, 2026; UN News, September 4, 2026)

ETHIOPIA, ERITREA SPLIT OVER TIGRAY REBELS
East African neighbors Ethiopia and Eritrea have severed diplomatic relations as renewed fighting in northern Ethiopia is raising fears of a wider regional conflict. The diplomatic fallout comes as Ethiopian federal forces battle fighters from the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and its allies across the north, and only hours after powerful explosions were heard in Adis Abba, Ethiopia's capital. Ethiopia has accused Eritrea of supporting the rebel alliance – an allegation Asmara denies. The breakoff of ties marks a dramatic reversal from 2018, when the two countries restored relations and ended two decades of conflict. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize the following year for his role in securing the accord with Eritrea.

The latest hostilities are the most serious since a peace agreement ended the Tigray war in 2022, which left hundreds of thousands dead. The two countries were allies during the 2020-2022 war, but relations have suffered due to Ethiopia's push for direct access to the Red Sea, which was lost when Eritrea became independent in 1993. Both the Ethiopian government and the TPLF accuse the other of starting the latest hostilities. Tigrayan authorities say their forces were responding to a federal offensive and drone strikes. (BBC, October 2, 2026; Washington Post, October 3, 2026)