ADF

ADF STAFF When the Islamist extremist group Ansar al-Sunna began spreading terror in the Cabo Delgado province of northern Mozambique in 2017, its fighters brandished machetes. Today, the insurgents carry assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). Battlefield losses are a major reason for this. In 2019, when the insurgency in Mozambique was growing in strength and sophistication, its leaders pledged allegiance to the Islamic State Central Africa Province. Soon after, posts on ISIS social media platforms showed off assault rifles, dozens of ammunition magazines and several RPGs — all captured from the Mozambican military. Militant groups throughout the continent have…

ADF STAFF With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on everyone’s mind, the question from a Cameroonian journalist caught no one by surprise: How important are Africa’s security partnerships with Europe and the United States, and how do they affect Russia’s ambitions on the continent? Seated next to his U.S. Army counterpart, Malawi Land Forces Commander Maj. Gen. Chikunkha Harrison Soko breathed deeply and took the first crack at answering the complex question during a live media briefing on the last day of the 2022 African Land Forces Summit (ALFS) on March 24. “What affects Europe, affects Africa. What affects Africa, affects the whole…

ADF STAFF Participants from 14 African nations completed the International Security Management Institute (ISMI) Level 2 Fishery Inspector Training Course in Côte d’Ivoire in March. The four-day course in Abidjan offered technical training at the second level of a professional curriculum for fisheries inspectors. Financed by France, the course was led by experts from Côte d’Ivoire and the European Fisheries Control Agency, according to online news publication ModernGhana. ISMI held a Level 1 course in 2021. The aim was to train fisheries inspectors to more effectively address illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Gulf of Guinea, where experts say up to 60%…

ADF STAFF Insecurity, hunger, drought, inflation and poverty haunt Malian civilians daily as the country deals with a confluence of crises. Mali is increasingly isolated from the international community after two military coups led to regional sanctions. The ruling junta has announced plans to restore a civilian-led government but has not offered details on when and how this will happen. Mali’s recent collaboration with Russia’s infamous Wagner Group mercenaries led to accusations of human rights abuses and the departure of international security forces and support. Humanitarian groups also are sounding alarms about rising hunger as rising violence against civilians comes…

ADF STAFF At his bakery in Khartoum, Saeed Ahmed is seeing the price for everything from flour to electricity rise sharply. “But the biggest increase is in the wheat,” Ahmed told Al-Jazeera recently. “Wheat is imported, and the cost of importing has increased.” The cost of bread has risen as much as 40% in recent months. High bread prices in Sudan date back several years and have led to huge protests, but prices rose even higher after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, disrupting imports from both countries. According to Trading Economics, Sudan imports nearly $70 million in products each year…

ADF STAFF More than 800 military personnel from Djibouti, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and other countries gathered in Kenya and Rwanda for three weeks of field training and command post exercises to strengthen their ability to work together during peacekeeping operations. The activities were part of the Justified Accord exercise, sponsored by U.S. Africa Command and U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF). The exercise ended March 18. “The entire package of the exercise was tailored to address African Standby Force and U.N. complex multidimensional aspects of peacekeeping and counterterrorism, which is the enduring threat currently being experienced across the…

ADF STAFF In its continuing efforts to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, Kenya ratified the Cape Town Agreement (CTA) and the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Fishing Vessel Personnel (STCW-F) in mid-March. Adopted by the International Maritime Organization in 2012, the CTA outlines fishing vessel standards and regulations to protect crews and fisheries observers, according to Pew Charitable Trusts. Vessels engaged in IUU fishing are less likely to provide their crews with food, medicine and adequate shelter, and crew members are often forced to work in deplorable conditions, experts say. In 2021, Kenyan fishermen working…

ADF STAFF Many Africans are closely following the news of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on television or the radio, but they are also feeling its impact somewhere much closer to home: the market. The ripple effect of Russia’s war continues to punish African economies, particularly in the fuel, wheat and fertilizer industries. “Once they increase petrol prices, the cost involved in transporting the goods from the farm gates to the market centers also goes up,” plantain trader Mary Tiwaa told the Ghanaian newspaper The Daily Graphic in late March. “This affects the prices of the foodstuffs.” International oil prices, a key…

ADF STAFF The men purporting to be Central African Republic (CAR) soldiers stood in front of their national flag and pledged allegiance. But they were not pledging loyalty to their country. This was something far different. “We are ready to go to Ukraine and we will go there with determination,” one soldier said. “My Russian brothers, hold on!” a soldier declared in a second video. “We Africans are coming soon. Courage, courage.” The messages were part of a series of videos shared widely on the secure messaging app Telegram. The identity of the soldiers could not be confirmed and efforts…

ADF STAFF Several thousand people gathered in the stands of Barthélemy Boganda Stadium in the Central African Republic (CAR) capital of Bangui to watch a Russian movie called “Touriste.” According to Russian media, “Touriste,” which was filmed in the CAR, was financed by Yevgeny Prigozhin, an oligarch close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Prigozhin also is reportedly the financier and head of the shadowy paramilitary Wagner Group, which experts believe is a tool of Russia’s foreign policy. Screening a movie in a stadium that wasn’t even one-quarter full might appear insignificant, but the event included several high-level government officials giving pro-Russian speeches.…