Thousands of Burkinabè, people from Burkina Faso, who worked in Guinea’s gold mines are heading home through Mali after Guinea banned unregulated mining in its north-east. Burkina Faso’s security minister, speaking in Mali’s capital Bamako, said some of his compatriots were wounded, some by gunfire; Guinea says it is targeting illegal mining, not nationalities.
Ethiopia has expelled six Sudanese consular staff and closed Sudan’s consulate in a western border city, AP and Reuters reported. Sudan accuses Ethiopia of letting drones that struck its power grid launch from Ethiopian soil; Ethiopia denies backing the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, and no reason for the expulsions was given.
Mauritania’s cabinet approved implementing rules for its new public-procurement law that would create a regulator and require procurement officials to declare their assets and interests. The government says the rules aim to cut corruption risks, speed up state contracts and widen access for Mauritanian companies.
Sudan’s top UN official says hundreds of aid trucks cannot move for lack of fuel, even though permits for aid workers have improved. She links the shortage to drone strikes on power and fuel sites that have also cut hospital electricity, while Sudan’s energy minister says national fuel supplies are sufficient.
Human Rights Watch says al-Qaeda-linked JNIM killed at least 24 civilians at a gold-mining site in northern Burkina Faso in September. JNIM admits attacking the site but says the dead were government-allied militia, while witnesses told the rights group that no soldiers or militia were there.
Mauritania’s energy ministry has signed production-sharing contracts with US company Murphy Oil for two offshore blocks, C10 and Tiof. The ministry says they will help restart offshore exploration; they are exploration and production contracts, not an announcement of new output, as Mauritania also pursues gas projects with Senegal and a new gas-fired power plant.
Chad, the Central African Republic and the UN refugee agency opened talks in N’Djamena on 3 November to prepare voluntary returns of Central African refugees. Chad, which hosts more than 140,000 of them, says no one will be forced to leave and those choosing to stay will retain protection and assistance.
Burkina Faso’s gold-driven revenue has not shrunk its 2026 deficit target: the IMF says stronger receipts are matched by higher spending, particularly public investment. Parliament’s budget papers list roads, buildings, vehicles and a city-surveillance programme, while the IMF says fuel and food prices remain a risk for households.
A sweets factory in Khartoum, Sudan, is back at 40% of capacity but short of machinery, spare parts and cash. The World Bank says Sudan’s recovery is fragile after an output loss of about 40% in 2023–24, and a weaker currency raises the cost of importing what factories need.
A regional payment system now routes transfers between banks and mobile-money providers, including in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, with small domestic sends protected from fees. Equivalent protection for cross-border transfers starts only on 1 June 2027, and reported failures in Senegal underline the distinction between a common network and reliable customer access.
