ADF

ADF STAFF For a brief time earlier this year, the war-weary people of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) had reason to be optimistic about a long-promised peace process. Beginning in December 2022, the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF) oversaw the process of M23 rebels handing over bases to the peacekeeping force. But a tenuous cease-fire has not held as fighting resumed in North Kivu province in September, according to civil society spokesperson Telesphore Mithondeke. “For the past week, new waves of M23 rebels have burst into Masisi territory via neighboring Rutshuru. M23 men are returning from…

ADF STAFF New research shows that Burkina Faso’s security situation has worsened dramatically one year after the first of its two military coups. Since the coups that brought Capt. Ibrahim Traoré to power in October 2022, deaths from terrorism in Burkina Faso have tripled, according to an analysis by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS). “This violence, coupled with the geographic spread of extremist activities effectively surrounding Ouagadougou, puts Burkina Faso more than ever at the brink of collapse,” ACSS analysts wrote in a report. Traoré’s pledge to rein in extremists in two to three months has stretched to…

ADF STAFF Rising intercommunal violence and a war in neighboring Sudan threaten South Sudan’s fragile five-year peace deal, experts say. Against this backdrop, the Advocacy Unit of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in September joined forces with various organizations to promote peace through events held in Juba, the national capital, and Terekeka County. On September 21, International Peace Day, UNMISS and the Central Equatoria State’s Ministry of Peace Building organized a forum attended by government officials, religious leaders, academics, students and others. “If we aim to sustain peace, we must wholeheartedly uphold the rule of law, human…

ADF STAFF Military logistics professionals from 13 West African nations met in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, in September for the West Africa Logistics Conference hosted by the Ivoirian Armed Forces and United States Africa Command (AFRICOM). Representatives from Benin, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone discussed solutions for common logistics and coordination challenges during the two-day conference that ended September 21. “The meeting on West African Logistics offers an excellent framework for analyzing the challenges linked to the operational engagement of our forces,” Ivoirian Director of the Defense Ministry Jean…

ADF STAFF China’s United Front operation is a continentwide campaign using African elites, media figures, Chinese expatriates, and cross-cultural institutions to cultivate a favorable view of China and its policies. It’s also a campaign that polling suggests might be failing in its mission. United Front relies on public figures such as former Tanzania Prime Minister Salim Ahmed Salim, a longtime supporter of China, who chairs the Tanzania China Friendship Promotion Association. Along with government elites, United Front targets influential media figures, whom Chinese authorities describe as “borrowed mouths,” to spread Chinese propaganda through print, broadcast and online channels. Chinese authorities…

ADF STAFF The concepts of service and leadership were foremost in the mind of Zambian Army Sgt. Maj. Monday Nonde as he participated in the recent African Senior Enlisted Leaders Conference (ASELC). The conference focused on the empowerment of non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and the professional development of enlisted forces. “Servitude and leading through example are the best methods of leadership for achieving goals and objectives,” the Zambian Army’s seniormost NCO said during a panel discussion. Nonde was among the more than 125 military leaders from 27 African countries who took part in the 5th ASELC from September 10 to 13…

ADF STAFF Ethiopia recently completed the fourth and final filling of its huge Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). However, the controversy the dam has created with Egypt and Sudan remains unresolved. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced the end of the multiyear effort to fill the dam’s enormous reservoir on September 10. Ahmed’s statement provoked a testy response from Egypt, which has opposed the dam on the Blue Nile since before construction began in 2011. “Ethiopia’s unilateral measures are considered a disregard for the interests and rights of the downstream countries and their water security as guaranteed by principles of…

ADF STAFF Somalia has asked the United Nations to delay a planned drawdown of 3,000 African Union peacekeepers for three months to allow its security forces time to regroup after a series of extremist attacks. The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), which is mandated by the U.N. Security Council, took over for the African Union Mission to Somalia, also known as AMISOM, in April 2022. ATMIS completed the first phase of the drawdown of 2,000 troops on June 30 and was due to withdraw more September 30, reducing its military personnel to 14,626. But Reuters has reported that…

ADF STAFF Shipowners operating in the Gulf of Guinea received a piracy alert in late June after a Swiss bulk carrier vessel was boarded and some of its crew injured during a pirate attack off Conakry, Guinea. Four criminals with weapons boarded the ship and stole money from a safe before fleeing, according to TradeWinds, a shipping news source. It was one of the latest piracy incidents recorded in West Africa after years of declining attacks, including 81 in 2020, 34 in 2021 and just three last year. To address piracy, illegal fishing and other sea crimes, Benin, Nigeria and…

ADF STAFF As the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) grinds on, Sudan’s de facto leader, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, spent several weeks in August and September traveling outside Sudan to buttress relations with neighboring countries and allies in the Persian Gulf. Al-Burhan also visited the annual gathering of heads of state at the United Nations General Assembly, where he gave a speech. His rival Hemedti also released a video message. Each blamed the other for starting the conflict that has riven their country while pledging themselves to finding a peaceful resolution. Al-Burhan’s…