ADF

ADF STAFF Deep in Benin’s Pendjari National Park, a former luxury resort has become a military base. There, Soldiers are tracking the movements of extremists coming and going from neighboring Burkina Faso in an effort to stop a surge in violence. In recent years, Benin has seen terrorist attacks in its northern Atakora and Alibori departments as the extremism that has crippled Burkina Faso seeps south. The military that previously spent much of its time serving on peacekeeping missions has been redeployed to defend its own country. Since terrorists attacked a military outpost in Porga in 2021, the country’s leadership…

CLUES This UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the Seven Wonders of Portuguese Origin in the World. Its port was a stopping place for explorers Vasco da Gama in 1497, on his way to India, and Christopher Columbus in 1498, on his third voyage to the Americas. Its position at the crossroads of civilizations gave rise to the first fully fledged mixed-race Creole society. Once a key port in the slave trade, it has preserved a “pillory monument” that commemorates this sad history.

U.S. Africa Command Staff When civil-military relations are out of balance, an entire nation can slide into chaos. In recent years there has been a spate of military coups in Africa. Burkina Faso, Gabon, Guinea, Mali, Niger and Sudan all experienced undemocratic transfers of power. The details are different in each country, but the pattern is the same. Coup leaders justify their actions by blaming ineffective, corrupt and authoritarian governments. Deposed civilian leaders point the finger at power-hungry soldiers. The coup leaves the nation less safe and diplomatically isolated. Experts say coups are a symptom of wider dysfunction in the…

Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, a Gambian diplomat, was appointed president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission in 2022. Previously, he was ambassador and permanent representative of The Gambia to the African Union and ambassador to Ethiopia. He spoke on May 28, 2023, to mark ECOWAS Day on the 48th anniversary of its founding. His remarks have been edited for space and clarity. Every year on the 28th of May, we celebrate ECOWAS Day to honor the vision of our founding fathers and the huge sacrifice of our member states and citizens in creating a single socioeconomic…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE After decades on the sidelines, African countries are venturing into the space industry, hoping to reap rewards in agriculture, disaster prevention and security. Côte d’Ivoire, which hosted a “NewSpace Africa Conference” in April 2023 organized by the African Union, has announced the creation of a space agency and plans to build the country’s first nanosatellite by 2024. Nanosatellites have a mass of 1 kilogram to 10 kilograms. About the same time, Kenya’s first working satellite was put into orbit by a SpaceX rocket launched from the United States. The two countries follow African pioneers South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria…

ADF staff After 18 years and three multinational peace missions, Somalia is taking full control of its own security. The African Union Transitional Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) is withdrawing troops from the embattled Horn of Africa nation. The African Union was withdrawing troops gradually and strategically, sector by sector, with an eye toward ending ATMIS by December 31, 2024. Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda contribute troops to the mission. As ATMIS troops withdrew, Somali troops were finishing training abroad. The goal was to have 15,000 Soldiers ready by the end of 2023, Hussein Sheikh-Ali, national security advisor to Somali…

ADF staff Senior land forces leaders gathered in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, in May 2023 for the African Land Forces Summit to discuss shared threats and the need to cooperate as Sahel-based extremists push toward the West African coast.  “The land forces need to come together and work together,” said Maj. Gen. Christopher Musa, Infantry Corps commander of the Nigerian Army. “Asymmetric warfare requires the services of everybody — a whole-domain approach, all-regional approach. That’s why it’s important for us to meet, look at all the challenges we are facing and the best way to go through it.”  Military chiefs and…

In the Senate chamber in Abuja, Nigeria, four nominees to lead military service branches took turns making the case that they were fit for the job. Each presented his credentials and outlined a vision for improving security in the country. “Under my watch, the armed forces shall continue to serve the Nigerian people dutifully and in line with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and other extant laws of the federation,” Chief of Defense Staff Maj. Gen. Christopher Musa told senators in July 2023. Afterward, senators questioned the nominees for three hours before confirming all four. This might seem…

Lt. Gen. Dennis Sitali Alibuzwi has served in the Zambia Army for more than 40 years. During his service he has held various command and staff positions. He has served in United Nations peacekeeping missions in Angola, Darfur, Ethiopia/Eritrea and Sierra Leone. In 2019, he was appointed deputy commander of the army, and in 2021 he was appointed army commander. He spoke to ADF from Zambia Army Headquarters in Lusaka. This interview has been edited for space and clarity.  ADF: Zambia has been a major contributor to peacekeeping missions with nearly 1,000 peacekeepers serving in various U.N. missions. Why is…

ADF STAFF When eight pirates attacked the fishing vessels Aliman and Shenghai-2 off Sierra Leone’s coast, perhaps they thought they would kidnap crew members and extort ransoms for a hefty payday. Maybe they thought one or both of the boats would serve their ongoing criminal enterprises. What they could not have known is that they were about to sail into the jaws of “Operation Killer Whale” as the Liberian National Coast Guard (LCG) waited to their south. The Sierra Leone Navy had contacted Liberia, which watched as the captured Shenghai-2 entered its territorial waters. When it did, coast guard authorities…