The Sahel is in the spotlight at the beginning of 2022. The crisis is causing a stir in Mali, leading to the departure of French forces from the country in February, while a coup d'état shook Burkina Faso on 23 January. Our media in the region (Studio Tamani in Mali, Studio Yafa in Burkina Faso and Studio Kalangou in Niger) have been asked by the Swiss news website Heidi.news for a special newsletter. You can read about journalism in Mali today, the position of Burkinabe youth on the military coup, attempts to regulate the use of plastic bags in Niger, the tracking of cocaine trafficking and a report on a traditional horse and camel race in the same country.