Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have launched Tafouk TV, a joint television channel for the Alliance of Sahel States. The channel’s official programme schedule started from Bamako on 16 September, with its availability through Canal+ and online.
Tafouk TV is part of a wider drive by the three military-led governments to establish joint media institutions. The channel’s planned news, fact-checking and geopolitical programmes will be in French, English and regional languages, including Bambara and Hausa.
Its focus will be on developments in the three countries and enhancing what the governments see as information sovereignty. Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop has said the initiative was intended to help the Sahel states promote their own narrative.
The channel’s launch follows the strengthening of political and security cooperation among Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, through the Alliance of Sahel States. The three countries have also deepened their media cooperation, including through the Daande Liptako radio service and plans for a joint news agency based in Niamey.
Russia has backed the initiative, with Tafouk TV signing a cooperation agreement with the parent company of Russian state-funded broadcaster RT.
The agreement covers content exchanges, expertise and joint coverage of events in Russia and the Sahel. Critics have raised concerns about media pluralism, with a former Nigerien lawmaker warning that the channel should not become a government propaganda tool.
Tafouk TV’s launch adds a new dimension to the wider contest over how events in the Sahel are reported and interpreted.
