ADF

ADF STAFF The captain of a Senegalese fishing canoe suffered serious burns recently after he confronted the crew of a Chinese trawler sailing aggressively in the Gulf of Guinea. Maguette Mbaye, 36, told Gambian authorities he was at the helm of an 11-person boat off The Gambia’s coast when a large Chinese trawler tried to capsize the canoe on Sept. 19. Mbaye said he was attacked when he boarded the Chinese vessel “to question them about the dangerous maneuvers carried out against my canoe,” according to Gambian government spokesperson Ebrima G. Sankareh. “Before I could finish speaking, a shower of…

ADF STAFF Daniel exhaled a sigh of relief when he received his welcome kit after arriving at the six-day Hoops4Kids (H4K) fall basketball camp in Niamey, Niger, on October 5. It included a backpack, T-shirt, jersey, reusable water bottle, towel, and most important, shoes. “To be honest, I was worried about having to play in flip-flops,” he said to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Niger, which supports the camp. “I now look and feel like a professional player. I even have a jersey with my name on it!” In previous H4K camps, many children could not participate…

ADF STAFF Members of the Ansar al-Sunna terror group recently raided Mocimboa da Praia, a major port in Mozambique’s embattled Cabo Delgado province. Once known for attacking small villages with machetes, the terror group successfully fought off mercenaries, sank a Mozambican military vessel and seized a cache of weapons in August. The port is used for deliveries to nearby natural gas projects worth about $60 billion. Ansar al-Sunna’s short-term occupation of Mocimboa da Praia and numerous islands off the coast helps the group control maritime infrastructure for operational support and access illicit trade routes for funding, according to an October…

ADF STAFF Nigerien Prime Minister Brigi Rafini toured submerged farmlands and neighborhoods with collapsed mud homes in late August after the Niger River overflowed and swamped the capital, Niamey. He was furious to see so many dikes breached after workers had rehabilitated them before the rainy season. “I thought that the capital of Niamey was safe from flooding,” he told local media. After torrential rains led to historic flooding since July, Rafini called on the international community to help in a September meeting with foreign diplomats and international nongovernmental organizations. The United States is answering. After meeting Nigerien President Mahamadou…

ADF STAFF The Methane Princess, a liquified natural gas tanker ship, was docked off Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, on October 17 when pirates attacked. They ignored the cargo and took something more valuable: two crew members. Although piracy has declined globally, it is rising in the Gulf of Guinea. Attacks have grown 40% since the beginning of this year. Unlike the Gulf of Aden, where decades of piracy have forced crews to defend against attacks, ships in the Gulf of Guinea are more lightly armed and less prepared for pirate assaults, Onyekachi Adekoya, managing director of PR24 Security in Nigeria, told…

ADF STAFF From Mauritania to Benin, trawlers’ illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing tactics are drawing scrutiny. Vessels in West African waters sail under flags of convenience and use deception to haul in huge catches that decimate local ecosystems. Chinese vessels are among the worst offenders and recently caused controversy in Senegal. There, a Chinese fishing fleet previously caught illegally fishing in Djibouti, was granted fishing licenses amid lockdown measures to contain COVID-19. Senegal’s Fishing Ministry publicly rejected the applications of 52 trawlers, but pressafrik.com, an online newspaper based in Dakar, reported that the government issued licenses to three fishing…

ADF STAFF Morocco and the U.S. have signed a 10-year deal that will support the nations’ shared military goals. The accord “serves as a road map for defense cooperation and aims to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries and support shared security goals,” a statement from the Moroccan Royal Armed Forces said. The deal also aims to improve Morocco’s military readiness as the kingdom combats terrorism, manages a migration crisis, and promotes stability in the Sahel and Mediterranean regions, according to Agence Marocaine de Presse (MAP), Morocco’s state news agency. The two countries reached the agreement in early…

ADF STAFF The fishing nets hauled aboard a Chinese trawler swelled with sardinella, a tiny silver fish that is a source of food and income in Ghana. Some of the catch was dead and thrown overboard, and much of it was transferred from the trawler to a large canoe capable of carrying about 450 times more fish than an artisanal fishing canoe. The Chinese trawler was fishing in an area designated for artisanal fishermen. The transshipment of fish at sea, known as “saiko,” is illegal in Ghana. In 2017, saiko took 100,000 tons of fish from Ghanaian waters, costing the…

ADF STAFF An insurgency in Ghana’s Volta region started in early September with a declaration of sovereignty and a manhunt by regional police for whoever erected makeshift signs reading, “Welcome to Western Togoland.” Since then, the situation has escalated to include spells of violent confrontations and threats of open rebellion. At least two groups are demanding independence for disputed land along Ghana’s eastern border with Togo. Ghana’s government has dismissed the issue as a police matter. “The area today they call Western Togoland must be a figment of their imagination,” Ghanaian Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia said on Asempa radio in…

ADF STAFF In the farming communities of Nigeria’s northeastern Borno State, Boko Haram extremists have spent years raiding farms, stealing livestock and driving farmers off their land. Now, those same farmers can return to their work without fear: The Agro Ranger Squad has their backs. Last year, Nigeria’s Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) launched the program that puts well-trained, armed escorts into the fields to watch over farmers as they work. The rangers also patrol the broader region around Bama and other communities on the lookout for Boko Haram fighters. The group travels the area between strongholds in the…