ADF

ADF STAFF Kenyan President William Ruto’s recent decision to reveal key parts of a major Chinese loan reveals the lopsided terms African nations often face when borrowing from China. In some cases, these loans can put their own economies at risk as they struggle with high levels of debt. Ruto lifted the lid on Kenya’s initial $2 billion loan from the Export-Import Bank of China that financed the construction by a Chinese company of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) between the port of Mombasa and Nairobi. The entire railway, including a link with neighboring Uganda, costs $4.7 billion. Construction beyond…

ADF STAFF South African officials are vowing to dismantle terror cells that have links to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). “We will not allow our territory to be used to fund terrorism in other countries,” said Mondli Gungubele, the minister in the presidency responsible for state security on November 9. “As such and working with our counterparts in the fight against terrorism, we will do everything in our power to uncover and root out acts of terrorism and illicit financing in particular.” In November, less than a week after the United States and other countries issued a…

ADF STAFF Forests cover just one-tenth of Sudan and are shrinking, the victim of governmental neglect that has allowed militia groups to log them with impunity. The disappearing forest cover is leading to increased desertification, destroying grazing land and crippling the country’s production of gum arabic, a food stabilizer, which is made by tapping acacia trees. The destruction has also undercut Sudan’s portion of the African Union’s Great Green Wall project — a plan to plant millions of trees across the Sahel to stave off the encroaching desert. “We are heading towards a hole in the ground that may well…

ADF STAFF Letta Nkabinde rises before the sun and worries about the rising price of the minibus she takes each morning to her factory job in Johannesburg, South Africa. A single mother of three, Nkabinde is among the tens of millions of African people feeling the economic impact of Russia’s assault on Ukraine. “It is difficult to take care of yourself and your children these days,” she told Al Jazeera in October. “We are down to basics, and you must make tough choices. “Think about the current food inflation price. These days you have to choose between bread and things…

ADF STAFF Mali’s decision to quit the G5 Sahel Joint Force in May has sent ripples of insecurity across the region. In speaking to the United Nations Security Council at the time, U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Africa Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee called Mali’s withdrawal “unfortunate” and “regrettable.” “It is most certainly a step back for the Sahel,” she said on May 18. Pobee, who also called into question the future of counter-terrorism efforts in the region, is part of the U.N. departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations. “It is perhaps time to rethink our approaches and change…

ADF STAFF Longtime observers of illegal fishing say the practice of shark finning is among the most barbaric acts committed at sea. Typically, when a shark is caught, its fins are removed and the body is thrown overboard, leaving the fish to slowly die. Countries such as The Gambia and South Africa have banned shark finning altogether, although many nations allow it if the number of shark carcasses on a vessel corresponds with the number of fins. One Chinese company, Dalian Ocean Fishing, takes staggering amounts of sharks from waters around the continent, according to a report by Mongabay, which…

ADF STAFF On a street in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, a poster appeared earlier this year with a succinct message accusing the ruling military junta of betrayal. It read: “Russia supported the coup so it could steal our gold.” There are many connections between Sudan’s coup leaders, who seized power in October 2021, and Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is one of Vladimir Putin’s closest advisors. New reporting has revealed that Prigozhin is benefiting from hundreds of tons of gold removed from Sudan in recent years. Also known as “Putin’s chef,” the infamous founder of Russia’s shadowy Wagner Group owns a mining subsidiary…

ADF STAFF One-third of vessels engaged in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in Africa are Chinese-owned, according to a study by the Financial Transparency Coalition (FTC). According to the FTC, eight of the world’s top 10 companies involved in IUU fishing are from China, with Pingtan Marine Enterprise and China National Overseas Fisheries Corp. leading the pack. The others are from Colombia and Spain. Almost half of the world’s IUU vessels operate in Africa, which costs the continent up to $11.5 billion a year. The most affected sub-region is West Africa, which loses up to $9.4 billion annually to illegal…

ADF STAFF Terror is at a boiling point in certain parts of the African continent. According to the 2022 Global Terrorism Index, Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 48% of global terrorism deaths in 2021. In the Lake Chad Basin, Somalia, Mozambique and parts of the Sahel, the problem has persisted for years and may be worsening. Using Nigeria as an example, South Africa-based terrorism analyst Jasmine Opperman said violent extremist groups are diversifying, expanding and advancing. She said the Islamic State group in West Africa Province (ISWAP) is a growing problem. “Boko Haram is not the same as we have seen…

ADF STAFF At the Mitondo gold mine in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), it’s easy to know who is in charge: They’re wearing red. The Mitondo mine in South Kivu is officially operated by local authorities and the DRC government. But residents and workers know who is profiting — the Mai Mai Yakutumba, one of the many violent rebel groups that have operated in the region for decades. Rebel activity has been funded by the illicit trade in gold scraped from the earth by men, women and children. The gold from Mitondo and other mines…