Burkina Faso: Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger Launch Tafouk TV Channel to Push Their Own Narrative

What the report says

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have launched Tafouk TV, a new television channel that the three military-led Sahel states say is meant to present their own version of events and counter Western media coverage. According to Radio France Internationale, the channel began official programming on 16 September and broadcasts from Bamako, with distribution through Canal+.

The project is part of a broader media effort linked to the Alliance of Sahel States, or AES, as the three governments deepen political and security cooperation and distance themselves from France and other Western partners. Tafouk TV is being positioned as one element of a wider network that already includes Daande Liptako radio and a planned joint news agency in Niamey. The channel airs daily bulletins focused on AES countries and plans programming in French, English and regional languages such as Bambara and Hausa.

RFI reported that the channel’s launch reflects growing efforts by the Sahel juntas to control how their policies and conflict reporting are portrayed, especially amid criticism of restrictions on media and political opposition. The report also said Russia has publicly backed the initiative, and that Tafouk TV has signed a cooperation agreement with the parent company of Russian state-funded broadcaster RT. Observers quoted in the report warned that the new outlet should not become a propaganda tool and should allow open debate.