ADF

ADF STAFF France and several of its allies have announced the formation of a new task force to fight terrorist groups in West Africa’s Sahel region. Thirteen countries are task force members: Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Mali, the Netherlands, Niger, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom. A statement said the task force would be operational by early 2021. It is called “Takuba,” which means “saber” in the Tuareg language. The Sahel region, extending from Senegal east to Eritrea, has been home to a steady rise in violence. In January 2020, the United Nations envoy for…

ADF STAFF The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) killed several top Boko Haram commanders during airstrikes on settlements near Lake Chad. “The airstrike was executed on the heels of impeccable intelligence reports,” said Brig. Gen. Bernard Onyeuko, acting director of Defence Media Operations, of the March 18, 2020, operation. Onyeuko added that the reports showed that top Boko Haram “commanders as well as some of their fighters and designated suicide bombers had assembled at the location for meetings, aimed at orchestrating coordinated attacks.” The strikes were part of Operation Decisive Edge, a mission to decimate strongholds used by the extremist group.…

VOICE OF AMERICA Officials at South African National Parks say cooperation with neighboring Mozambique has been key to reducing rhinoceros poaching in the famous Kruger National Park. Kruger is home to the world’s largest wild rhino population and has proven a tempting target for poachers who for years jumped the park’s borders. South African rangers, their Mozambican counterparts and private business people leasing land from Mozambique’s government met with journalists along the border fence between the two countries during a park-organized media trip to the Marula North region of the Kruger. This area used to see heavy rhino poaching originating…

VOICE OF AMERICA Debate on the future of the CFA franc in the six-member Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) has intensified after the announcement that eight African countries agreed to change the name of their common currency to “eco.” They also severed the CFA franc’s links to France. The CFA franc used by West and Central African states is considered by many as a sign of French interference in its former African colonies. Louis Nsonkeng, a researcher and economic lecturer at the University of Bamenda-Cameroon, said when the eco becomes legal tender, the eight West African states will…

VOICE OF AMERICA The World Health Organization says East Africa has the highest rate of cervical cancer in the world. Kenya has begun a mass vaccination of girls against the human papillomavirus (HPV), which can lead to cervical cancer. The vaccine is being welcomed by HPV patients, who hope their children will be protected better than they were. Jacinta Agunja, 30, tested positive in 2016 for one of the HPVs that leads to cervical cancer. After two years of intensive and expensive treatment, she was free of HPV and did not get cancer. Agunja hopes Kenya’s mass vaccination of girls,…

VOICE OF AMERICA Meat may be meeting its match, as more and more South Africans are experimenting with vegetarian and vegan lifestyles. Veganism, which entails cutting out all meat and animal-derived products, such as dairy, eggs and honey, is slowly growing globally. A Google Trends report puts South Africa at 14th globally in searches for “vegan,” the only African nation to rank so high. Other African countries, including Nigeria and Kenya, are also reporting an increased interest in veganism. One 200-member community in Nairobi is entirely vegan, reports Deutsche Welle. Yvonne Iyoha of Nigeria founded the blog Eat Right Naija…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE In a humming factory in Kenya’s highlands, tea is hand-plucked from the fields, cured and shredded into the fine leaves that have sated drinkers from London to Lahore for generations. But Kenya’s prized black tea isn’t fetching the prices it once did, forcing the top supplier of the world’s most popular drink to try something new. In the bucolic hills around Nyeri, factory workers are experimenting with a range of boutique teas, deviating from decades of tradition in the quest for new customers and a buffer against unstable prices. Like the bulk of Kenya’s producers, they’ve been manufacturing…

VOICE OF AMERICA British companies have made bigger profits investing in Africa than in any other region of the world, according to an international report. The Overseas Development Institute urges companies to seek profits on the continent rather than seeing it as a place to do charitable work. The institute said that with 1.2 billion people and eight of the world’s 15 fastest-growing economies, Africa offers world-beating returns on investment. The report looks at investment by British companies in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. Its authors say the “young population, growing middle class, and planned industrial growth make the…

World Bank Making use of vast energy potential such as solar, wind and geothermal, and a grid that is nearly 100% supplied by renewable sources, Ethiopia is undertaking an ambitious project to achieve universal electricity access by 2025.  In fact, not only is Ethiopia emerging as a role model for energy development in Sub-Saharan Africa, it is doing so while spearheading innovations on gender equality. In 2018, the Ethiopian Electric Utility decided to ensure that women are better represented in what has been an overwhelmingly male-dominated sector. In 2020, women represent 20% of the utility’s workforce. The utility wants that…

ADF STAFF The Sultanate of Damagaram was never one of Africa’s biggest empires. In what is now Niger, at its most expansive it was about 70,000 square kilometers — about the same size as modern-day Sierra Leone.  But as a commercial center, it was unrivaled in the region during its time. It was the hub of a trade route that swept from what is now coastal Libya in the north, down to what is now Nigeria in the south. Its sultans, 26 in all, ruled for 200 years until the early 20th century. At its center was the capital, Zinder,…