ADF

ADF STAFF Russia recently admitted it has been blocking United Nations investigations into violations of arms embargoes in four African conflict zones — some involving Russian mercenaries. U.N. diplomats on September 29 said Russia is delaying the appointment of independent experts to monitor violations of U.N. sanctions in the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Mali and South Sudan. “It looks like Moscow wants to paralyze sanctions and panels of experts to divert attention from what Wagner is up to in Africa,” International Crisis Group’s U.N. Director Richard Gowan told Foreign Policy magazine. “So in…

ADF STAFF From colorfully patterned radiated tortoises to sea cucumbers, Madagascar’s wildlife ranks among some of the most poached on the planet, with much of the island’s plundered natural resources headed for China. A new program launched in October by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) aims to undermine illegal wildlife trafficking and the corruption that helps it flourish. USAID’s Countering Corruption and Wildlife Trafficking project is a joint effort with Transparency International Initiative Madagascar and Alliance Voahary Gasy, as well as the international anti-trafficking group TRAFFIC and the World Wildlife Fund. The three-year project will identify the best…

ADF STAFF Small-scale fishermen on Madagascar’s east coast are disturbed by the growing presence of Chinese fishing trawlers in the island nation’s waters. In the last several years, at least 14 Chinese industrial vessels have likely fished in Madagascar’s waters, according to an analysis by OceanMind, a United Kingdom-based nonprofit organization that specializes in marine compliance and fisheries management. Madagascar’s government may have authorized the Chinese vessels to fish there, but if it did, the authorization process was not public. “It is of course unacceptable that so many vessels operate within Malagasy waters without any publicly known contract or permit,”…

ADF STAFF Through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China has loaned billions of dollars to African nations for a variety of major infrastructure projects, from highways and ports to power plants and government buildings. Although countries such as Angola, Kenya and Mozambique have acknowledged much of their debt to Chinese lenders, a new study by the AidData project has revealed that countries across the continent are responsible for billions more in “hidden debt” — debt issued to private entities or state-operated enterprises for which national governments also are responsible in the event of a default. Globally, the scale of…

ADF STAFF Amid a recent surge of terrorism in Somalia and the continued lack of adequate state security forces, the need for peacekeepers remains high. Time is running out, however, on the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which is set to expire December 31. The AU and the government of Somalia do not agree about what the mission should look like moving forward. On October 10, the AU’s Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) announced its intention to form a joint mission with the United Nations and allow “other willing and interested AU Member States” to join the operation. The…

ADF STAFF An influx of foreign industrial trawlers in Cameroonian waters has led to an increase in illegal fishing and highlighted the nation’s maritime and national security issues, according to a new study. An estimated 70 industrial fishing vessels operate in Cameroon, but most of them are Chinese or Nigerian, according to research by Maurice Beseng of the United Kingdom’s University of Sheffield. Beseng studies fisheries crimes in the Gulf of Guinea region. As in other areas in the region, the vessels are known to fish in areas designated for artisanal fishing, use prohibited chemicals, fail to declare catch data, submit…

ADF STAFF A sharp rise in deadly attacks in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has coincided with a link to ISIS. There are 122 armed groups operating in the densely forested region that borders Uganda to the east, according to estimates by the Kivu Security Tracker (KST), a conflict monitoring tool. The Allied Democratic Forces is the bloodiest of them all, notorious among locals for burning and looting villages and massacring civilians and religious leaders in frequent nighttime attacks. “The [Allied Democratic Forces] is completely ruthless,” consultant Peter Fabricius wrote for the Institute for Security Services in September…

ADF STAFF Boaventura Martins has been fishing off the island of Maio for 40 years. Maio is part of the Cabo Verde archipelago, a group islands 620 kilometers off Africa’s west coast, where the waters once teemed with sharks, whales, rays, sea turtles, tuna and blue marlin. Years ago, Martins could pull hundreds of kilograms of fish from the turquoise sea on a given day, but now he says he’s fortunate to catch 10 kilograms per day. An influx of scuba divers and semi-industrial fishing trawlers are to blame for the declining fish populations, Martins and other artisanal fishermen told…

ADF STAFF Military analysts say the decision by Mali’s government to invite Russian Wagner Group mercenaries into the country could backfire and lead to further instability. Wagner’s track record in other countries shows its fighters will likely be unprepared for the Sahelian mission and try to wage a heavy-handed counterinsurgency campaign that could include human rights abuses and indiscriminate killing. According to Reuters, the Malian government led by Col. Assimi Goïta has agreed to pay the Wagner Group nearly $11 million per month to supply up to 1,000 fighters to train and advise Mali’s military, protect high-ranking government officials, and…

U.S. Africa Command Staff COVID-19 has slowed global commerce, but it has not stopped criminals intent on stealing Africa’s natural wealth. In fact, some poachers, loggers and maritime criminals see the virus as an opportunity. They are trying to take advantage of the lockdowns and diversion of security resources to expand their operations.  The huge scale of their crimes demands a unified response. About 11,000 square kilometers of rainforest in the Congo Basin are logged each year — most illegally — so wood can be sent overseas to feed furniture demand.  Off West Africa’s coast, fleets of foreign trawlers are…