What Just Happened? Mali in Crisis

Podcast

May 8, 2026

On this episode, Sub-Saharan Africa analyst Edward Bach joins Samuel McVicar to discuss the recent attacks across Mali by al-Qaeda-affiliated Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) in collaboration with the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA; an ethnic-Tuareg secessionist group). These parties’ capture of Kidal, their expanding control of northern Mali and the ongoing enforcement of a blockade around the capital represent the most serious threat to the Malian state in years. Edward Bach outlines the significant threat these conditions pose to access to key goods, law and order and the presidency of Assimi Goita. 

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#Mali #Sahel #Geopolitics #PoliticalRisk #Africa

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