ADF

ADF STAFF China commands the world’s largest distant-water fishing fleet (DWF), has the world’s worst illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing record, and its crews are known to abuse foreign workers, according to the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF). An EJF report released in March offers the first global analysis of China’s DWF. It was based on an analysis of China’s own limited fisheries data, which the nation made available in recent years. China’s fishing fleet has targeted African waters, especially the Gulf of Guinea, for decades. “Chinese vessels have the highest rates (not just overall case numbers) of alleged IUU…

ADF STAFF There are signs of progress in the 19-month civil war that has thrown Ethiopia into chaos and displaced millions. A ceasefire brokered in March mostly has held, and humanitarian aid convoys are reaching areas affected by drought and famine. In May, African Union envoy Olusegun Obasanjo negotiated the release of 4,200 prisoners of war in what was termed a “confidence-building exercise.” “There is now a real opportunity for political and diplomatic resolution of the conflict,” Obasanjo said earlier this year. Despite this, major barriers remain to a lasting peace. Experts say if Ethiopia is to avoid a return…

ADF STAFF The East African Community is moving ahead with plans to create a regional military force to deploy to the troubled eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The DRC officially joined the East African Community, or EAC, as the regional bloc’s seventh partner state on March 29. Other member countries are Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. Less than a month later, the EAC voted to establish a regional military force to address armed groups that have plagued eastern DRC for decades. Kenya and Uganda already have troops fighting rebels in eastern DRC.…

ADF STAFF Coastal states are sounding the alarm that a lack of resources to patrol waters, combined with limited surveillance of vessel activity, are enabling illegal fishing and leading to food insecurity and the loss of income for millions of people. Those facts were underscored during a seminar led by the Ministerial Conference on Fisheries Cooperation among African States Bordering the Atlantic Ocean (ATLAFCO) in Morocco in May. Illegal fishing “negatively affects the livelihoods of people who depend on fisheries in the African coastal countries,” Abdennaji Laamrich, ATLAFCO’s head of cooperation and information systems, said in a report by Ghanaian…

ADF STAFF The militant rebel group March 23 Movement, known as M23, recently launched its biggest offensive in a decade in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Tens of thousands of civilians have fled the resurgence of violence. The group gained international attention when it sparked eastern DRC’s last big rebellion in 2012 before its defeat months later. “We are displaced, we are fleeing the clashes that took place,” Rutshuru district resident Alexis Sikuli told AfricaNews in late May 2022. “Following this situation, we are afraid. That is why we are going to Kibati near Goma [capital of the…

ADF STAFF Islamic State attacks in the Sahel have shifted in recent months toward towns along the Mali-Niger border. Civilians continue to pay with their lives. “Armed men arrived on motorbikes and shot at everything which moved,” a local official said to France 24 about attacks on three Nigerien villages — Intazayene, Bakoarate and Wistane — where terrorists killed at least 137 people in late March. Hundreds have been killed this year, and nearly half a million Nigeriens have fled the violence. In Mali, the United Nations peacekeeping force MINUSMA responded by deploying two units to the tri-border area where…

ADF STAFF Facing the threat of extremist groups encroaching into its northern border regions, Ghana recently announced its “See Something, Say Something” campaign urging citizens to report suspicious activity that may be connected. “Launching this campaign is to ensure we have all-inclusive, society involvement,” government spokesman Palgrave Boakye-Danquah told Joy News television. “The highest level of security, especially modern-day security, is to involve the citizens.” Ghana’s leaders are ratcheting up security as Sahel-based extremists expand their operations into coastal countries. Ghana’s neighbors, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Togo, have already experienced extremist attacks originating in Sahelian countries. “The spread makes the…

ADF STAFF Benin became the first African nation to commit to publicly share data about fishing vessels in its waters when it partnered with Global Fishing Watch (GFW) in May. Benin will establish a vessel-monitoring system (VMS) and share its data through GFW’s map. Until Benin’s VMS system is established, the partnership will help track all fishing vessels operating in Beninese waters using an automatic identification system (AIS), and in adjacent waters outside Benin’s exclusive economic zone. “Through our partnership with Global Fishing Watch, we can strengthen our ability to monitor fishing activity, enforce the law and demonstrate our commitment…

ADF STAFF In the months since the junta ruling Mali invited Russia’s Wagner Group into the country, more than 450 people have died in military actions carried out by Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) in partnership with Wagner mercenaries, according to reports by the United Nations and others. “Malian Armed Forces, supported on certain occasions by foreign military elements, increased military operations to combat terrorism … some of which sometimes ended in serious allegations of violations of human rights,” the U.N.’s Malian mission, known as MINUSMA, said in a report. Mali’s experience is being repeated in other countries: Anywhere the Wagner…

ADF STAFF After Russia invaded Ukraine in February, prices for food and other goods skyrocketed around the globe. Parts of Africa, where food insecurity already was exacerbated by COVID-19 and severe droughts, were hardest hit. In response, the U.S. government pledged in May to provide an additional $215 million in emergency aid to Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Kenya, Mauritania, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Many African nations rely on Russia and Ukraine for wheat, fertilizer and vegetable oil imports, but the war has disrupted global markets and supply chains, causing food prices to soar. In East Africa, one person…