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Portrait of Elian Peltier

Elian Peltier

I write about the events and trends shaping West Africa, one of the most dynamic and yet unstable regions in the world. It includes Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, countries in the area known as the Sahel, which have undergone a series of military coups in recent years, and many others. What I love the most about this beat is how people in this region engage with key phenomena shaping our century: rapid urbanization, extreme effects of climate change, challenges to democracy and huge demographic changes. I am always interested in hearing stories about how people in the region are challenging Western perceptions.

I joined The Times in 2017 as a reporter covering France, where I grew up. I wrote about the country’s ambivalent relationship to diversity through sports, mainly soccer, and extensively covered the Notre-Dame fire and its aftermath.

I later moved to London to cover breaking news across Europe. I spent several months in Spain and France covering the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on people’s lives, and later in Brussels to cover the European Union.

In 2022, I moved to Dakar, where The Times’s West Africa bureau is located. I have since reported from a dozen countries on the continent, including several that were colonized by France. Experiencing, and covering, how those countries are questioning their relationship to a former colonizer has been fascinating.

I have a dual master’s degree in international security and journalism from Sciences Po Paris, and spent a year studying journalism at the University of Missouri while in college.

I aim to be fair, accurate, and open-minded in all the stories I write. I try my best to talk to as many people as possible. Because I work in a region where many don’t speak English or read The Times, I strive to clearly explain who I am, who I work for, and how a conversation might appear in a story. I don’t accept gifts and press trips. I never pay a source to talk to me. You can read more about The Times’s Ethics policy.

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