France and Sahel nations vow to step up anti-jihadist fight

UNICEF has published a report saying the region has seen a "significant increase of violence against children." The findings showed some 5 million kids now need humanitarian aid as conflict shows no signs of abating.

The annual US-led military exercise Flintlock is underway in Mauritania amid concerns that the US will draw down its military in Africa. In response, France and Germany are pushing for greater EU involvement.

On this edition, we look at how coronavirus is impacting food distribution in Africa and putting countries in the Sahel in danger of supply shortages. Also, Nigeria has been fighting fake news on social media that spreads misinformation about covid-19. Finally, ahead of the 60th anniversary of the Senegalese independence, we bring you a report on those who helped the country break away from France.

In the fight against terrorist groups in Africa, US forces provide crucial support to the G5 Sahel group (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger) with intelligence, logistics and supplies. But as the terror threat continues to spread in the region, Africa is no longer a priority for the Pentagon, which could well withdraw its troops, as announced by US President Donald Trump.

The G5 Sahel military alliance comprising of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger are due to hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron and Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez today in the Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott. The summit is a follow-up to talks in the French city of Pau in January that gave a political reboot of war against the jihadists. Dennis Amachree, CEO of Zoomlens Security Solutions joins CNBC Africa for more.

Nigerian Army has extended its military operation Sahel Sanity to December this year. The Operation was established in June this year to tackle activities of kidnapping, cattle rustling, armed banditry and other crimes in the northwest zone of the country.

US-based record label "Sahel Sounds", which specialises in music from Africa's semi-arid Sahel, releases monthly EPs online which local artists record on mobile phones and send to Portland, Oregon over WhatsApp.

More than two million people have been forced to flee their homes within their own countries' borders owing to violence engulfing Africa's Sahel region, according to the United Nations. The humanitarian response is "dangerously overstretched" in an area covering parts of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger, said UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.

Islamist jihadis in the unstable region have killed thousands of soldiers. French President Emmanuel Macron is thought to want support for a troop drawdown amid rising numbers of French combat deaths.

As this year's G5 Sahel summit kicks off in Chad, France is making no secret of the fact it wants to reduce the number of French troops fighting the jihadist threat in the region. So what will be France's strategy going forward? Our Perspective guest is Jérôme Pigné, researcher and Sahel expert at the Thomas Moore Institute.

International donors on Tuesday pledged to assist countries in Africa's Sahel region. The UN sounded the alarm over the millions in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger who are facing acute hunger during a militant insurgency.