ADF

ADF STAFF Isah Lankpene slept in the bush for two days as he and members of his Nigerian forestry task force monitored an illegal Chinese timber operation deep in the woods of Niger State. They raided and shut down the camp in early November. Lankpene’s team arrested the Chinese nationals who ran the company and were suspected of being in Nigeria illegally. The task force also found two standby generators, several machines used for cutting and refining timber, as well as containers and trucks used to transport wood to Lagos State, where it was shipped overseas. “The factory is located…

ADF STAFF A proposed port in Nigeria’s Rivers State is hailed as a one-of-its-kind project that will include processing facilities, warehouses and ship maintenance yards. Promoters say the $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion port will deal in large amounts of mackerel, herring, tuna and crustaceans, most of which will be exported. Critics say the Andoni Fishing Port and Processing Zone could attract more foreign trawlers to the Gulf of Guinea, a region already reeling from illegal fishing, overfishing, piracy and environmental damage. Port construction is expected to begin in 2021. The port’s harbor, processing facilities and warehouses should be running…

ADF STAFF In the villages known as aldeias in Mozambique’s far north province of Cabo Delgado, attacks come before dawn. Militants open fire at random and set homes ablaze. Those lucky enough to escape flee into dense forest or pile into boats to risk their lives at sea. Those who do not escape face a far worse fate. “They kidnap the women to violate them and force them into marriage,” Fatima, a woman whose village was attacked in July, told reliefweb. “The older men they kill. The young men are forced to join them [the militants].” Cabo Delgado is home…

ADF STAFF Mozambique has joined the growing list of African nations seeking — but rarely receiving — relief from their overwhelming debts held by Chinese lenders. “We have been working with our bilateral creditors. We are just waiting for the decision,” Adriano Maleiane, Mozambique’s minister of economy and finance, said during the World Bank’s annual meeting, held virtually in October. “So far, we have not received formal reaction from creditors. We assume they are doing their best.” Mozambique owes about $15 billion to foreign creditors, which is equal to about 100% of its gross domestic product. At least $2 billion…

ADF STAFF Malian Armed Forces drove armed extremists out of the tiny village of Farabougou, where the population had endured a two-week siege. The clash began about October 8, when terrorists kidnapped several villagers in the town of 2,000 and fought with local hunters. When heavy rains made it impossible for special forces to access central Mali by land, the nation’s Air Force flew them in. The Air Force also airlifted wounded civilians to a nearby town for medical treatment, Reuters reported. Observers say the terrorist threat still looms in the area. “The access roads to Farabougou are still blocked,…

ADF STAFF The Nile River is essential to life for many in the 11 countries it passes through. A new dam offers a different type of prosperity for some, but it threatens regional stability. Since Ethiopia announced plans in 2011 to build the $4.8 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), controlling the Nile water flow has become a contentious issue for downstream countries Sudan and Egypt. The GERD represents a tangle of complicated problems. Egyptians have based their civilization around the river for thousands of years. More than 95% of the country’s current population, estimated at more than 102 million, is centered…

ADF STAFF Liberia’s artisanal fishing community exhaled with relief after its government denied fishing censes to six Chinese supertrawlers capable of decimating the area’s fish stocks. The 50-meter Chinese vessels with huge nets and sophisticated fish-tracking equipment can catch more than 2,000 metric tons of bottom-dwelling fish annually. That is 4,000 times more than a local artisanal canoe can haul in, according to SeafoodSource. Liberia’s waters are mostly populated by sardinella, marlin, sea bream, croakers and marine catfish. Emma Metieh-Glassco, director general of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority, said in a statement that licenses for the supertrawlers to fish…

ADF STAFF A Toyota Land Cruiser carrying 13 people on a dirt road in eastern Angola was blown into the air by an anti-tank mine earlier this year. Five passengers died, and the rest suffered serious injuries. The mine likely had been hidden there for decades. “Many cars drive along this road,” driver Antonio Perreira said from his hospital bed in an interview with Agence France-Presse. “I do not know how it happened. We set off the mine, and a lot of people died.” After three decades of civil war, Angola is left with a deadly legacy: land mines. Although…

ADF STAFF Authorities in Gabon arrested two fishing trawlers carrying 5 metric tons of rough-head sea catfish and more than a metric ton of rays. Catching the catfish species and removing the fins of rays, sharks and skates is banned in Gabonese waters. Sea Shepherd Global, which helps several West African governments rid their waters of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, helped make the daytime arrests during routine inspections. IUU fishing leads to overfishing, destroys local ecosystems, and deprives locals of food and income. Authorities inspected the trawlers several times previously, and its Chinese captain claimed he didn’t know…

ADF STAFF Ghana didn’t just celebrate National Cybersecurity Awareness Month in October; it took action. The National Information Technology Agency (NITA) opened a Security Operations Centre (SOC) to fight cyber crime and increase protection for government ministries, businesses and the public. “As we continue to digitize, we need to take our cyber security seriously,” Minister of Communications Ursula Owusu-Ekuful said at the launch on October 23. The SOC will offer network monitoring to help the government spot threats as soon as they occur. “With advanced analytical and correlation technology to recognize threats, the SOC will aid in the identification of…