ADF

ADF STAFF The Chinese government has established a network of overseas police stations that, observers say, are used to crack down on dissent and could pose a threat to host countries. A 2022 report by Safeguard Defenders, a nonprofit human rights organization, says China has opened more than 50 such stations on five continents through operations known as Sky Net and Fox Hunt. In Africa, China operates stations in Lesotho, Nigeria and Tanzania. The stations purportedly are to combat telecommunications fraud and internet crimes by Chinese citizens living abroad. But the Safeguard Defenders report showed that methods used by the…

ADF STAFF In an effort to bolster its military, which has suffered heavy losses in Ukraine, Russia reportedly is freeing prisoners from jails in Africa and conscripting them to fight in its war. Two senior military sources in the Central African Republic (CAR) recently told independent Nigerian journalist Philip Obaji that dozens of jailed rebels have been recruited into the Russia’s infamous mercenary Wagner Group. “Security sources in the Central African Republic have told me that the Wagner Group is currently recruiting ethnic Fulanis who could be deployed to Ukraine,” Obaji tweeted on November 10. “Hundreds of Fulani fighters, I’m…

ADF STAFF On December 22, units from the Somali National Army joined local clan militias to liberate Ruun-Nirgood, a strategically important community in the Middle Shabelle region. A military spokesman said the operation eliminated al-Shabaab’s last stronghold in the region and solidified the government’s control over Middle Shabelle, just north of the capital, Mogadishu. The assault was the latest in a string of successful campaigns against al-Shabaab by a rapidly improving Somali military. A sustained rebuilding effort aided by the African Union has produced a Somali military that can stand on its own and push back against al-Shabaab, according to…

ADF STAFF Fisheries officials have long known that trawlers involved in illegal fishing turn off their automatic identification systems (AIS) to cloak their activities. Researchers using Global Fishing Watch data have specified for the first time that West Africa is among the world’s hot spots for AIS disabling. The region is mostly targeted by China’s distant-water fishing fleet, the world’s largest. The study, which tracked AIS disabling between 2017 and 2019, showed that up to 6% of global fishing is hidden due to the practice. West Africa accounted for the third-highest number of AIS-disabled hours tracked in the study, trailing…

ADF STAFF Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing continues to rob the Gulf of Guinea of precious fish stocks and threatens the marine ecosystems necessary for their survival. Maj. Gen. Richard Addo Gyane, commandant of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Ghana, made his frustration with the situation clear during a maritime security conference in late November. About 5 million people in the region depend on fisheries for food and income, but for decades industrial and semi-industrial foreign trawlers, mostly Chinese, have targeted Gulf of Guinea fish. The trawlers are known to use illegal gear, fish in prohibited…

ADF STAFF Nigerian authorities in early December reopened the railway linking Kaduna to Abuja eight months after it was attacked by local bandits and Boko Haram terrorists. At least 10 people were killed in the March railway bombing. Most of the 170 people unaccounted for in the attack’s aftermath eventually were released for ransom. It was not the first time the terrorist organization was linked to joint attacks with local bandits. Nigerian military officials revealed their suspicions of such cooperation in 2021, when it was reported that Boko Haram was training bandits to use anti-aircraft guns, explosives and other weapons,…

ADF STAFF Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing continued to be a costly issue around the continent in 2022. That fact was highlighted by an October 2022 report by the Financial Transparency Coalition (FTC) that showed that illegally caught fish costs the continent almost $11.5 billion annually. The study found that one-third of vessels engaged in illegal fishing in Africa are Chinese and that almost half of the world’s industrial and semi-industrial trawlers involved in illegal fishing operate in Africa. “Developing countries also lose billions of dollars in illicit money flows due to illegal fishing, yet vessel owners continue operating…

ADF STAFF When he took power in Eritrea nearly 30 years ago, Isaias Afwerki promised multiparty elections and the development of civil-society institutions. Decades later, Afwerki has consolidated all power into himself and appears to be grooming his son, Abraham, to take his place. The senior Afwerki is 76 and has reportedly suffered health issues in the past. With no vice president and no established line of succession, Afwerki appears to be an example of a leadership issue affecting many countries across Africa: family dynasties as male heads of state place their sons in positions from which they can eventually…

ADF STAFF With the signing of a truce in early November, the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan rebels ended their brutal conflict and showed the capability of the African Union to find an African solution to the chronic problem of armed disputes within its member states. The role African Union (AU) officials and various African governments played in brokering a peace deal in Ethiopia’s 2-year-old conflict shows how a more active continental security system is emerging, according to researcher Alexander Clarkson. “The recent efforts by African states and institutions to mediate the peace agreement in Ethiopia and contain the growing violence…

ADF STAFF The attempted coup that shook São Tomé and Príncipe in late November likely had its roots in the country’s national elections the previous year, according to experts familiar with the island nation’s politics and history. The precise cause of the coup attempt remains under investigation by Portugal, which was invited to conduct the review by the current government. The current government is led by President Carlos Vila Nova and Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada, who took office in October and November 2021, respectively. The attempted coup happened overnight on November 24-25, 2022. In requesting the investigation, Vila Nova described…