ADF

ADF STAFF The list of central Malian towns where massacres have occurred is growing as Russia’s notorious Wagner Group expands its reach in the country. In March it was the towns of Diabaly, Nioni and Moura. In April, Hombori, Boni and Mondoro were added to the list. Witnesses and survivors of joint Malian-Russian operations tell similar stories involving indiscriminate killings, summary executions, torture, theft and rape. Kidnappings often follow and villagers have been forced at gunpoint to dig mass graves. Sahel researcher Yvan Guichaoua, a senior lecturer on international conflict at the University of Kent in England, says abuses are…

ADF STAFF | Photos by U.S. AFRICA COMMAND Niger’s military has launched a program to improve the lives of citizens living in the Agadez region surrounding Nigerien Air Base 201, a United States drone air base. The newly created Action Civil-Militaire (ACM) division of the Forces Armées Nigeriennes (FAN) is conducting humanitarian aid missions. The division has conducted its missions in conjunction with U.S. Civil Affairs teams stationed at the base. Under the program, ACM members select villages to receive aid and execute each mission supported by U.S. Civil Affairs. A separate ACM unit is performing similar missions out of…

ADF STAFF Ghana Armed Forces Soldiers stepped from a helicopter and sprinted toward a simulated enemy with their weapons drawn as a commanding officer barked instructions. It was the opening day of Operation Eagle Claws, an exercise meant to prepare military and emergency response personnel for terrorist threats. The five-day annual exercise included members of the Ghana Police Service, Ghana National Fire Service, National Disaster Management Organization, National Ambulance Service, and other security and intelligence agencies. It concluded in late May 2021. The 2021 Operation Eagle Claws exercise focused on responding to terrorist attacks such as those carried out during…

ADF STAFF The East African Community (EAC) is preparing to create a counterterrorism center to help coordinate the region’s response in the event of an attack.  The center still is in the early planning stage, but the six-nation regional bloc believes concrete action is needed. “Each of us has been dealing with immigration and counter terrorism on their own and now we have come together,” Peter Odoyo, Kenya’s chief administrative secretary for national security, told The East African. “The EA Counter Terrorism Centre is under discussion. It is still under infancy stages.” The center could play an important role in…

REUTERS A project in Kenya is using biogas technology to tackle two major pollution problems with one device: a machine that converts waste such as invasive water hyacinth into cleaner cooking fuel. Biogas International, a Kenyan energy technology company, is partnering on the project with drugmaker AstraZeneca and the Institute for Sustainability Leadership at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. The project so far has provided 50 “digesters” to homes in the city of Kisumu in western Kenya, enabling families to switch from wood or charcoal, both of which are hazardous, time-consuming cooking methods. Some of the families were…

REUTERS Every night Moussa Kamara works at his bakery in Senegal, preparing hundreds of loaves. But at sunrise, instead of going home to sleep, he starts a second back-breaking job — hoeing the earth and tending newly sown seeds in a specially designed circular garden. Kamara, 47, believes the garden will prove even more important than the bakery in the future for feeding his extended family, including 25 children, and other residents of Boki Dawe, a town near the border with Mauritania. He is part of a project that aims to create hundreds of such gardens, known as “Tolou Keur”…

ADF STAFF A vaccine process tested in Burkina Faso and Mali could reduce malaria illnesses and deaths by 70%, scientists say. The drug trial focused on giving young children a modified version of a vaccine that has been used for 20 years, along with administering anti-malarial drugs at the time of year when children are most vulnerable. In West Africa, malaria spreads as the rainy season begins, about June, when mosquitoes breed and bite. Researchers said they were surprised at how effective the combination of vaccine and drugs turned out to be. The tests spanned three years. Scientists said that…

ADF STAFF Tanzania has plans to boost its “blue economy,” the sustainable use of ocean resources to support tourism, jobs and environmental protection. But before that can happen, the country has to come to grips with illegal fishing. Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing is stripping Africa of its natural resources.   Tanzanian Livestock and Fisheries Minister Mashimba Ndaki said officials are determined to tighten current fishing industry regulations. “Unfortunately, there are still dishonest and greedy fishermen in the country who are helping aliens to smuggle fish and other products outside the country, as well as engaging in fishing using prohibited…

ADF STAFF A cellphone app is helping Kenyan farmers diversify their crops and improve yields, despite the economic hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. DigiFarm helps farmers source supplies such as seeds and fertilizer. It also helps with insurance, loans to diversify crops and market access. It even helps plan for extreme weather such as droughts and floods. DigiFarm, a free service from telecommunications giant Safaricom, was launched in 2017, but most of its 1.4 million users signed up after the pandemic hit, Elizabeth Mudogo of DigiFarm told The Star of Kenya. The app recently expanded into Nigeria and Tanzania.…

ADF STAFF Ugandans traveling to neighboring South Sudan no longer require visas to enter the country. The move reciprocates one taken by Uganda in September 2021 to scrap visa entry requirements for South Sudanese. South Sudanese Deputy Foreign Minister Deng Dau Deng confirmed the development and said that his country’s decision was in line with requirements of the East African Community (EAC). The EAC is a regional intergovernmental organization with headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania. Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda are the other member states. In July 2021, South Sudan and Kenya also scrapped visas for their nationals traveling between…