ADF

ADF STAFF To confront a host of cybersecurity threats in 2023, internet users and governments need updated technology, quicker reactions and greater transparency about attacks. That is the assessment of Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN), which recently issued a report detailing the threats facing the country. Many of the same threats apply across the continent as the expansion of digital technology brings millions of Africans onto the internet, often unprepared for the scams awaiting them. “In 2023, we envisage an increase in the exploitation of computing resources of government establishments for malicious use,” wrote the report’s authors. Government-held…

ADF STAFF A suspicious vehicle was driving through the streets of Durban, South Africa, around 3:45 a.m. with water leaking out of the back. When police pulled over the red Toyota Condor they found eight bags of shelled abalone worth about R500,000 (just more than $29,100), South African newspaper Daily Maverick reported. The driver was arrested as it is illegal to harvest abalone without a permit under South African law. The mid-January incident is common in South Africa, where abalone poaching is often controlled by gangs and linked to the devastating spread of crystal methamphetamine and other drugs. The country…

ADF STAFF Three years after Burkina Faso recruited civilian volunteers to join the fight against terrorists in its northern regions, those groups are being blamed for crimes. The deaths of 30 people in late December in the Nouna community in the western province of Kossi are the latest example of how the groups, known as Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland (VDP), have become more aggressive. Critics say they have shifted from simply observing and reporting suspected terrorism to authorities and have begun taking matters into their own hands. “VDPs have been accused of abuses committed against civilians,” wrote…

The war-weary people of Casamance are desperate for peace, but timber and cannabis trafficking continue to fuel conflict. An agreement signed in August 2022 between a factional leader of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) and Senegal brought some hope that the 40-year conflict might be nearing an end. Neighboring Guinea-Bissau mediated the agreement. But observers immediately questioned whether the agreement could hold since it was signed by the leader of only one MFDC faction, while others were not involved. “To my knowledge, this is neither a peace agreement nor even a cease-fire,” Jean-Claude Marut, an expert on…

ADF STAFF Despite much speculation that Chinese lenders were constructing a so-called “debt trap” as a way to claim key national assets from their African borrowers, an analysis by the think tank Chatham House suggests that China might have actually trapped itself. “In some cases, the lending was haphazard and not strategic or particularly political,” Chatham House analyst Alex Vines told ADF in an email. “I suspect that this has resulted in a reverse debt trap. That is why Beijing used its handbrake on profligate lending in 2018 and has been much more selective since.” Over the past two decades,…

ADF STAFF There was no gunfire in Banjul, the capital of The Gambia, on December 20, 2022, or the next day when the government announced it had thwarted an attempted coup. What began with rumors ended with an official statement. “Based on intelligence reports, some soldiers of the Gambian army were plotting to overthrow the democratically elected government of President Adama Barrow,” it read. “The GAF [Gambian Armed Forces] High Command, in a swift military operation conducted yesterday, arrested four soldiers linked to this alleged coup plot.” The Gambia announced on December 27 that an 11-member investigative panel would investigate…

ADF STAFF Many rural West African communities rely on donkeys as a source of labor, transport and income. Traditional Chinese medicine values donkeys for their skins. In recent years, China has been unable to meet its high demand for ejiao, a gelatin created from boiling donkey skins. So, China has turned its attention to Africa, where donkeys now suffer along with their owners, as theft, illegal slaughtering and trafficking increase. “The donkey slaughter is causing a huge impact on livelihoods at the rural level,” Dr. Monicah Maichomo, a Kenyan livestock researcher, told Devex. Despite the absence of scientific evidence, ejiao…

ADF STAFF To help authorities detect illegal fishing, a new study combined the identities of 35,000 vessels with a decade of GPS data to offer a worldwide assessment of fishing compliance, fishing by foreign-owned trawlers and reflagging patterns. Published in Science Advances, the study found that West Africa, the world’s epicenter of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, was among the regions where reflagging occurs most often. Reflagging is when a vessel changes its flags from one country to another, often to avoid penalties and regulations. Researchers from Global Fishing Watch (GFW), Duke University and the Stockholm Resilience Center…

ADF STAFF As Mozambique tries to quell illegal fishing, drug trafficking and other maritime security threats in its waters, the U.S. has provided a 10-meter coastal patrol boat to its Navy. Mozambican Navy officials also participated in training offered by the boat’s U.S. manufacturer, SAFE Boat International. The $700,000 high-speed boat is used for interdictions and maritime boarding operations. It was delivered in early December. As of 2021, Mozambique’s Navy had 14 patrol and fast patrol boats. The country is responsible for a 2,470-kilometer coastline along the Mozambique Channel, the waterway between Madagascar and southeastern Africa that carries about 30% of…

ADF STAFF The United States has given $9 million in weapons, vehicles, medical supplies and other equipment to the Somali National Army to help it battle the extremist group al-Shabaab. The equipment, formally donated in a January 8 ceremony, includes support and construction vehicles, explosive ordnance disposal kits, medical supplies, and maintenance equipment for vehicles and weapons. Most of the supplies were shipped to Hishabelle and Galmudug states to support Somali National Army troops. “Allow me to convey the appreciation of the Federal Government of Somalia to the Government of the United States of America for the continued support to…