The Latest Breaking News from West Africa

An American aid worker held by Islamic extremists in West Africa for more than six years and a French journalist abducted almost two years ago were both freed on Monday.

French journalist Olivier Dubois was hugged by emotional reporters at a briefing in Niger on Monday announcing the release of him and U.S. aid worker Jeffery Woodke who had been held hostage in West Africa for years by Islamist militants.

The banjo is a key instrument in Western folk music -- from US bluegrass to Irish trad -- and over the past 20 years, research into the roots of this three-stringed instrument have revealed its west African lute origins, with two instruments, the ngoni and the ekonting, now understood to…

In tonight's edition: The pope consoles Congolese victims of atrocities from the country's volatile east as he welcomes them in Kinshasa on the second day of his trip. Also, the trafficking of medical products in the Sahel is on the rise and costing lives, according to a UN report. Finally,…

The World Bank has signed an agreement with four West and Central African nations worth $311 million to fund renewable energy projects.

France has waged a counterterrorism campaign in the small West African country of Burkina Faso since 2018. But on Jan. 20, hundreds of protesters in the capital city of Ouagadougou waved Russian flags and demanded the French army’s ouster. Days later, the country’s military government told the French to leave…

Nigeria's president has marked the opening of a $1.5 billion, Chinese-funded deep seaport in the commercial hub of Lagos that authorities hope will help grow the West African nation’s ailing economy

The authorship – and therefore origins – of jollof rice (called ceebu jën in Senegal according to the Wolof spelling) is the subject of a spicy debate between West African nations. In particular, Senegalese, Nigerians and Ghanaians claim ownership. And each believes their recipe surpasses all others.

In tonight's edition: The foreign ministers of France and Germany head to Ethiopia to show support for the deal upon which rest hopes of peace after two years of conflict with Tigray rebels. Also, record temperatures are making life harder for millions around the world. We hear from those in…