ADF

ADF STAFF African nations lose an estimated $10 billion annually to illegal fishing, which also drives food insecurity across the continent. To combat the issue, maritime security experts have long called for greater transparency in fisheries management. A new collaboration between the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) aims to enhance transparency by establishing unique, standardized IDs for fisheries in Africa and around the globe. The universal ID codes will be available through FishSource, an online resource established by SFP that offers profiles on thousands of fisheries worldwide. Information gleaned from the codes will…

ADF STAFF From energy to shipping, tourism and fishing, the ocean plays a major role in South Africa’s economy. But, as the nation hopes to expand this sector, a researcher at Stellenbosch University said it is time to develop a better strategy to protect it. A three-step process can help the country protect its waters and boost its blue economy, Francois Vreÿ, emeritus professor of military science at the university, wrote in an opinion piece published by The Conversation. The first step would be to create a government-led process that includes a “high-office body” and key stakeholders. Secondly, Vreÿ argued that…

ADF STAFF After the kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls in Nigeria’s Borno State in 2014, the then-leader of Boko Haram took to social media to celebrate the act and to post grainy video of the hostages. Since then, Boko Haram and other terrorist groups across West Africa have expanded their use of social media channels, including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, along with Telegram and WhatsApp, to spread propaganda, recruit new members, incite attacks, and plan. According to Bulama Bukarti, a senior fellow at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, social media helps provide Boko Haram and groups like it with…

ADF STAFF Burkina Faso has become the third West African country to acquire Turkish-made armed drones for use in the fight against extremism. The Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicles are increasingly in demand by countries looking for relatively cheap air power to give them an upper hand against insurgent groups. Niger and Togo purchased TB2s recently. Analysts say the appeal of the weapon is clear. “They can stay in the air for a long time, differentiate between targets and wait for a shot even if there is a short-range air defense system,” Akram Karief, an Algerian defense journalist, told Radio…

ADF STAFF Since gaining independence in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has experienced at least nine different coup attempts. The most recent plot, in February, shared similarities with others in that it involved members of the military who are connected to the country’s infamous drug trade. Heavily armed gunmen surrounded the presidential palace while President Umaro Sissoco Embaló held a cabinet meeting. Seven members of his security detail, three government workers and one assailant were killed in the ensuing five-hour battle. Afterwards, Embaló said the “failed attack against democracy was well-prepared and organized and could also be related to people involved in drug trafficking.”…

ADF STAFF Ghana sees enormous potential in its blue economy, but faces threats including piracy, illegal fishing, drug smuggling and human trafficking. The new National Integrated Maritime Strategy (NIMS) aims to ensure that Ghana’s maritime domain will be safe and its blue economy thriving by 2040. The strategy has been in the works since 2016. It was drafted after consultations with state agencies and departments; local private entities, including those with fisheries and environmental interests; commercial and non-commercial maritime actors; experts and international partners; among others. It was developed with support from the Centre for Maritime Law and Security (CEMLAWS)…

ADF STAFF Since early 2020, Mali has banned the export of rosewood, also known as kosso. Despite that, nearly 150,000 tons of the wood — equal to 220,000 trees — left the country over the last two years, all of it with a single destination: China. “Rosewood is a species traditionally and culturally valued by the Chinese, so there’s almost like an insatiable demand there,” Haibing Ma, Asia policy expert for the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), told Voice of America. China’s hunger for rosewood and other forest materials, such as ebony and teak, is stripping forests, crippling both the…

ADF STAFF A large industrial fishing vessel casts its massive net off the coast off Saint-Louis, Senegal. The net, which looks like a halo atop the water, can catch more fish in a week than an artisanal canoe can catch in a year. There was a time when local fishermen made a satisfactory living fishing in their own waters, but the influx of foreign trawlers has decimated fish stocks in Saint-Louis and around West Africa. Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing costs the region $2.3 billion each year, according to the United Nations. IUU fishing is also linked to other sea crimes,…

ADF STAFF Anti-United Nations protests in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have spurred experts and stakeholders to consider major changes to the approach to missions around the world. The three most complex missions in Africa — in the DRC, Mali and the Central African Republic — are called “stabilization” missions. They deal with an array of political challenges, criminal networks, extremist groups and mercenaries. There is no durable peace to keep in these countries, so the objective is to stabilize each country enough for its own government to operate. These types of missions are now being reconsidered.…

ADF STAFF Christelle Youmbi’s 11-year-old son was taking a bath behind their house in the Boko-Boudeye community of the Central African Republic when Wagner Group mercenaries grabbed the naked boy and carried him away as he struggled to escape. “I begged them to tell me where they were taking him to, but they refused to say anything,” Youmbi told news website The Daily Beast. In all, Wagner mercenaries snatched seven boys between the ages of 10 and 13 from the community that day, according to reports. They told Youmbi they were taking the community’s boys to keep them safe ahead…