ADF

ADF STAFF Despite efforts to crack down on trafficking, Madagascar’s precious natural resources are being looted at an alarming rate. And when rare tortoises, lemurs, and rosewood and ebony logs leave the island, most have the same destination: China. In the ongoing effort to stanch the loss of the island’s natural resources, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided two $1 million grants to international organizations working with Malagasy officials to stop illegal trafficking and protect the resources for the future. “Wildlife and timber trafficking are multibillion-dollar transnational criminal enterprises that rob Madagascar of its unique biodiversity and…

ADF STAFF  It’s a $5 million prize, and the rules are very simple. To qualify, all a politician must do is leave office at the end of his or her term and have demonstrated exceptional leadership. It sounds straightforward, but it rarely has been so over the past 60 years on the African continent. On March 8, Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou was awarded the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Excellence. He became only the sixth departing head of state to win the prize since it was created in 2007 by Ibrahim, a Sudanese billionaire. A former winner of the prize, Festus…

ADF STAFF Justine Tinou remembered when the beach at Pointe-Noire, a port town in the Republic of the Congo, would be lined with sardinella, tuna, sharks and rays waiting to be bought, processed and sold. That was about 20 years ago when the country’s fishing industry was booming. Now, thanks to an influx of foreign industrial trawlers, the beach is mostly clear at the end of a fishing day. The smaller fish species have been long overfished, and the number of sharks and rays have dramatically decreased, threatening the livelihoods of those in the fishing industry, depleting an important source…

ADF STAFF Five years after West Africa defeated a major Ebola outbreak, health care workers are rushing to stop new outbreaks in Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) before they can spread. At the end of February, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported 17 Ebola cases and seven deaths in Guinea and eight cases and four deaths in the DRC. Teams have begun so-called ring vaccinations in both countries to protect people who may have come into contact with those exposed to the virus. Ring vaccinations control an outbreak by vaccinating and monitoring a ring of people…

ADF STAFF A coastal area near Mozambique’s border with Tanzania has become the latest hot spot in the ongoing insurgency by extremists in Mozambique. Attacks against villages near the administrative post in Quionga the last two weekends of February sent hundreds of residents fleeing into the forest for safety. Attackers armed with machine guns and machetes stalked the towns of Quirinde and Namoto, burning homes and looting supplies. Although defense forces reestablished control, the violence signals that extremists once again are armed and ready to fight after a relatively quiet start to the year. “After a lull of several weeks,…

ADF STAFF Borno State in Nigeria is the birthplace of Boko Haram’s armed uprising. It’s also the province that has been hit the hardest. The terror group has wrought havoc and killed tens of thousands since it formed in the northeastern region in 2009. In the past year, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has worked to expand the size and scope of paramilitary and police forces. The United States is supporting those efforts. “We will direct our attention and strength to reenergizing and reorganizing the security apparatus,” Buhari pledged in a New Year’s Day broadcast amid a spike in insurgent violence.…

ADF STAFF Despite recent setbacks, China continues to bank heavily on exporting coal-based power to Africa through its Belt and Road Initiative. And it does so even as the government promotes renewable energy at home. Since 2000, the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China have funded $51.8 billion in coal projects globally, according to the Boston University Global Development Policy Center. Of China’s 34 coal-fired power projects worldwide, 11 are in Africa. The list of countries includes Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Plants are under construction in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The rest are awaiting approvals…

ADF STAFF The continued presence of foreign fighters in Libya threatens to undermine a peace deal brokered by the United Nations in October 2020. Russian mercenaries who are part of the Wagner Group, which supports Gen. Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA), still are on the ground, as are Turkish Soldiers backing the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA). Under the Juba Peace Agreement, foreign fighters were supposed to leave the country by late January. Weeks after the deadline passed, the United Nations issued a report alleging that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) also maintained contact with Sudanese forces…

ADF STAFF Home to the second-largest rainforest in the world, the Congo Basin plays a crucial role in the world’s biodiversity, water quality and in regulating the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. All of those benefits are under assault. In 2019 alone, nearly 7,000 square kilometers of forest vanished from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Many factors are driving deforestation, from traditional slash-and-burn farming to mining and illegal logging. The development of the trans-African Lagos-Mombasa Highway also has opened previously inaccessible portions of rainforest in Cameroon and Nigeria to development. In the past, tracking deforestation depended…

ADF STAFF For Nigerien Armed Forces (FAN) Soldiers operating in remote regions of the country, first aid training can be the difference between life and death. A United States-led training event helped give Nigerien forces the skills necessary to stabilize wounded Soldiers on the battlefield and move them quickly to a hospital. In conjunction with FAN’s emergency medicine personnel, the U.S. military distributed individual first aid kits (IFAKs) and conducted a one-day medical readiness training exercise (MEDRETE) at FAN’s base in Niamey for 20 Nigerien Soldiers on January 21, 2021. “The medical readiness training exercise illustrated the importance for the…