ADF

ADF STAFF Until November 2021, Benin had been spared from the kind of extremist violence that has ravaged its neighbor to the north, Burkina Faso. Since then, Arnaud Houenou has witnessed a change in the attitudes of his fellow Beninese. The national security expert, who works as professor at Benin’s University of Abomey Calavi, said fear is now prevalent. “We thought for a moment, perhaps because of a certain naiveté … that [we] could escape the situation of threats, of near-daily attacks,” he told The Associated Press. “But reality has set in.” Principally two Islamist terror groups — the Islamic…

ADF STAFF As it seeks to expand its presence in the Sahel region, Russia appears to be following the same playbook in Burkina Faso that it used to embed itself into Mali’s security apparatus. Despite recent denials, Burkina Faso has courted Russian support, possibly including Wagner Group mercenaries. Burkinabe Prime Minister Apollinaire Kyelem de Tambela indicated as much after January talks with Russia’s ambassador. He also visited Moscow for several days in December to discuss cooperation between the two countries. Multiple reports indicate a Wagner deployment is likely. A European diplomatic source told Reuters that the European Union has knowledge…

ADF STAFF China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) promised huge investments in ports throughout the world. But the environmental and human cost of these projects are only beginning to be understood, according to new reporting. Chinese-built ports in Angola, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Mauritania and Mozambique have become examples of how such projects can disrupt aquatic ecosystems and local artisanal fishing communities, according to a report led by Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center. Countries on Africa’s Atlantic coast — particularly Angola, Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire — face the greatest risk to their local fishing communities from port projects. Cameroon’s…

ADF STAFF Bright Tsai Kweku knows well the perils of working on board a Chinese-owned fishing vessel in Ghana. He said he witnessed one crew member die of cholera because the Chinese crew would not take him to shore for treatment. He saw one crew member die of severe burns and another perish after being injured by a propeller. Kweku, who works as an officer in charge of equipment and the crew, told the BBC he has been ordered to work three days without sleep, had food withheld and forced to drink dirty water. He said Chinese crew members routinely…

ADF STAFF Kenya was among seven African nations to receive an array of equipment from the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) to help fishing inspectors battle illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Delivered in December, the equipment includes floater suits, hand-held GPS devices, onboard and waterproof cameras, laptop computers and tablets. Kenya’s marine resources are threatened due to an influx of foreign industrial trawlers. “The materials and equipment donated will help facilitate their exercise of reporting, to improve their security and to promote transparency in the performance of their mission,” Vêlayoudom Marimoutou, secretary general of the Commission for Indian Ocean, said…

ADF STAFF Stuck in a holding pattern since Mali’s 2022 withdrawal, the G5 Sahel gathered the foreign ministers of its four remaining member nations in the Chadian capital of N’Djamena on January 18 to discuss how to fortify and sustain the joint counterterrorism force. The group, made up of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania and Niger, indicated after the summit that it has a “burning desire for the sister Republic of Mali to rejoin the natural family that is the G5 Sahel.” Security experts say the G5 Sahel should also look to Algeria. “Even with Mali, the G5 Sahel cannot validly…

ADF STAFF The United States government delivered two high-speed patrol boats to the Tanzanian Navy to boost its capacity to fight sea crimes such as illegal fishing and drug trafficking. Valued at more than $1.35 million, the boats are a 10.5-meter Interceptor model and an 11.5-meter enclosed cabin command boat. They were handed over during a ceremony in Dar es Salaam in mid-December. The package included repair and maintenance equipment, towing vehicles and a two-week training course. Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is thought to take as much as 20% of Tanzania’s fish, costing the country $400 million a…

ADF STAFF With 1 billion users, TikTok has become one of the fastest growing apps in the world. It holds nearly 32% of the social media market in Nigeria and has doubled its users in South Africa to about 10 million. But cybersecurity experts are warning that the Chinese-designed app is also used for data theft from users. Analysts say the app collects more data than is necessary including contact lists, calendars, and scanning hard drives. It also tracks the user’s location every hour, potentially posing security risks if it is added to smartphones held by military or government officials.…

ADF STAFF A new report by the United Nations Panel of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) revealed the grim security challenges in the active battleground that is the country’s eastern region. A battalion of 750 South Sudanese Soldiers were the latest deployed to the country in an attempt to restore security. They are part of the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF), created to help stem the tide of violence by armed groups. “Protect the civilians and their properties from any harm,” President Salva Kiir told his troops at a ceremony in Juba on December 28.…

ADF STAFF Ghana has become the first West African country to join an international call for banning the trade of rosewood. The move in July 2022 was the latest attempt to stanch the Chinese-driven flow of scarce timber out of the region. The runaway harvesting of rosewood from Ghana’s forests promotes corruption, disrupts relations between farmers and herders, and creates erosion and flooding in forest communities. Small-scale timber harvesters say the pace of harvesting by Chinese companies will leave Ghana with little to no rosewood in a few years. If that happens, Ghana will follow in the footsteps of The…