ADF

ADF STAFF Mali’s ruling junta took power in 2021 proclaiming that it would do what previous leaders had not: put an end to extremist terror in the country. Two years later, the junta has little to show for its efforts and has begun to repress citizens who criticize the lack of success. One recent example of the junta’s turn was the sentencing in September of influential social media figure Adama Ben Diarra, also known as Ben the Brain. Diarra supports the junta, which appointed him to Mali’s interim parliament, the National Transitional Council. He was arrested in August when he…

ADF STAFF Kenyans experienced 860 million cybersecurity incidents over the past year — a level of attacks that is more than 100 times higher than it was five years ago, according to the country’s Communications Authority. Across Africa, cybercrime is on the rise, made easier by the spread of smartphones and internet technology. Internet criminals cost Africans $4 billion a year. At the same time, governments and corporations have been slow to adopt cybersecurity countermeasures designed to block online scammers, identity thieves and other malicious actors. Along with Kenya, South Africa has reported a dramatic rise in cybercrime in 2023,…

ADF STAFF After a six-month lull, a new swell of violence has washed over the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where the Congolese army has accused M23 rebels of violating another cease-fire. “M23 terrorists have just fired two mortar bombs at the advanced positions of the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) in Kibumba,” North Kivu province spokesperson Lt. Col. Guillaume Ndjike Kaiko said in an October 6 statement. On October 10, Kaiko reported that the rebels had killed seven Congolese in Kisigari, not far from Kishishe village, where M23 massacred more than 145 civilians…

ADF STAFF The Nigerian Navy aims to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to strengthen its operational capacity and keep pace with evolving technological advancements in the maritime industry. Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Adm. Emmanuel Ogalla revealed this in August during the presentation of a paper by Navy participants at the National Defence College, titled “Artificial Intelligence and Ship Maintenance: Strategic Options for the Nigerian Navy by 2035.” Ogalla said the Nigerian Navy is embracing AI since it and other emerging technologies increasingly are used in ship construction. “The Nigerian Navy must continue to adopt and integrate these technologies in…

ADF STAFF Africa’s coastal nations are fighting a rising tide of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, piracy, and drug smuggling. A recent report by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) says local, regional and international criminals are taking advantage of poverty and corruption to transform African waters into “the world’s biggest transnational crime scene.” “The under-policed ocean is central to the business model of organized crime networks,” the ISS report said. West Africa, for example, is the world’s epicenter for IUU fishing. The scourge costs the region $10 billion a year, according to the Stimson Center, a think tank.…

ADF STAFF The United Nations’ Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide is sounding the alarm over “atrocity crimes” in Ethiopia and warning of the risk of widening ethnically based violence. Alice Wairimu Nderitu listed incidents of targeted killings of families, rape used as a weapon of war and the forced displacement of communities. She said the risk factors for a genocide are present in the country one year after a peace deal was signed to end the war in Tigray. “The suffering of innocent civilians should never be accepted as inevitable,” Nderitu said. “Rather, it must reinforce our commitment…

ADF STAFF Peter Kiano, a math professor from South Sudan, had just finished eating breakfast at Khartoum’s Souq Abu Hamama when fighters with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) arrived. Moments later, with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) nearby, the RSF fighters told everyone to lie on the floor. Kiano chose to run. An RSF fighter shot him twice in the head as he fled, killing him. Kiano was one of thousands of Sudanese civilians caught up in the relentless violence between the SAF led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan’s de facto leader, and his RSF rival known as Hemedti.…

ADF STAFF The sound of gunfire and land-shaking explosions are routinely heard and felt in Timbuktu, the northern Malian city that was once a bustling hub for international tourists drawn to its historic mosques and mausoleums. Months of violence there prompted Alan Kasujja, who hosts the BBC’s Africa Daily podcast, in August to describe Timbuktu as a “city under siege.” Timbuktu has experienced more than a decade of war after a 2012 insurrection led by Tuareg rebels. For nearly a year, the city was controlled by extremist groups who enforced strict religious law and destroyed many of the city’s historic…

ADF STAFF The Sahel and West Africa have seen their share of crowds waving Russian flags, chanting, and holding posters with pro-Russian and anti-French sentiments. When a few dozen youths held a “freedom rally” in Diabene community park in Takoradi, Ghana, on August 13, it quickly became clear that the gathering had been coordinated to raise the visibility of Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group. Ghanaian authorities arrested five people and charged them with “planning to overthrow the government and destabilizing the peace.” Among them was Michael Asiedu, a 25-year-old blogger with 1,500 followers who posts pro-Russian content on Facebook. He discussed…

ADF STAFF The recent military coup in Niger has not made life easier for Nigeriens or people in the wider region. Economic sanctions closed the bustling border between Niger and Nigeria, halting roughly $1.3 billion worth of annual trade. Food prices have risen sharply in Niger’s capital, Niamey. “Frankly, I’ve felt it in my pocket. And right now, where we are, we’re all stocking up,” shopper Abou Kane told Reuters, lamenting that a sack of rice had risen more than $25 since the coup. The wave of coups that has swept through Africa is disrupting economic progress, stifling investment, trade…