ADF

REUTERS Nzambi Matee hurls a brick against a footpath constructed from bricks made of recycled plastic that her factory produces in the Kenyan capital. It makes a loud bang, but it does not crack. “Our product is almost five to seven times stronger than concrete,” said Matee, the founder of Nairobi-based Gjenge Makers, which transforms plastic waste into durable building materials. “There is that waste they cannot process anymore; they cannot recycle,” she said. “That is what we get.” Matee gets the waste from packaging factories for free, although she pays for the plastic she gets from other recyclers. Her…

VOICE OF AMERICA Africa has launched the world’s largest trade bloc after the World Trade Organization. Every African nation except Eritrea has signed on to the African Continental Free Trade Area, and countries are developing safety guidelines for trade during the pandemic. The launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area initially was scheduled for the middle of 2020 but postponed due to the pandemic.  African governments decided to proceed with the launch in hopes that the trade bloc could boost African economies affected by COVID-19.  In some countries, such as Nigeria, authorities are dealing cautiously with trade by screening…

ADF STAFF It was just before midnight at the end of a long election day in 2000, and Lamine Cissé, Senegal’s minister of the interior, had the unenviable task of telling the president he had lost.  In a historic phone call, Cissé, a retired four-star general, found just the right words to let President Abdou Diouf know that the people had spoken and it was time to accept their decision. “Mister President, the situation is difficult for you and for your party. The trends going against you are now irreversible,” Cissé said, according to his memoirs. “If you congratulate your…

CLUES This park is 249,313 hectares and spans two countries. It features sandstone ramparts, arches, caves, cliffs, pillars and rock pools. The endangered Cape vulture and bearded vulture live here, as does a minnow found nowhere else. The San people, who lived here for 4,000 years, left behind the largest, most concentrated group of cave paintings south of the Sahara. ANSWER  Maloti-Drakensberg Park, South Africa and Lesotho

ADF STAFF Niger’s military has launched a program to improve the lives of citizens living in the Agadez region surrounding Air Base 201. The newly created Action Civil-Militaire (ACM) division of the Forces Armées Nigeriennes (FAN) is conducting humanitarian aid missions. The ACM has conducted its missions in conjunction with U.S. Civil Affairs teams stationed at Nigerien Air Base 201. Under the program, ACM members select villages to receive aid and execute each mission supported by U.S. Civil Affairs. ACM members have contacted multiple communities near the base to determine how best to meet residents’ needs. Seven missions are in…

ADF STAFF Ghana’s Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development announced plans in mid-September to review licensing loopholes that allow foreign fishing companies to operate illegally, often by establishing shell companies that disguise a vessel’s true owner. Shell companies typically operate through local front companies, using opaque corporate structures to import their vessels, register and obtain a fishing license, according to the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF). While foreign industrial fishing vessels are banned in Ghana, some companies are known to pay off local entities for illegal fishing purposes, Fisheries Minister Mavis Hawa Koomson said in a story by the Ghanaian newspaper…

ADF STAFF The Islamic State group, which once held about a third of Syrian territory and even more ground in Iraq, now oversees a network of affiliates of varying sizes across Africa. Each affiliate arose in disparate regions with unique histories and grievances. Groups exploiting those grievances through extortion and violence eventually took on the brand known globally as ISIS. Now the international community is joining African nations in looking for ways to combat the spread. Islamic State group influence in Africa has grown yearly since 2014, according to a 2021 Sky News report. By 2019, at least 22 African…

ADF STAFF Shaky cellphone videos captured the scene of a lone terrorist engaged in a shootout with police on the streets of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in late August. Walking in the afternoon sun, the man held an assault rifle in his hands with a second rifle hanging around his neck. He killed three police officers and a security guard before being shot dead by police at the gates of the French Embassy. Tanzanian Inspector General of Police Simon Sirro speculated on the attacker’s motive, suggesting it could be related to the Islamist insurgency in neighboring Mozambique, where Tanzania sent…

ADF STAFF Nigerien forces recently received special training in river-based patrolling on the Niger River. The training by a mobile team from the U.S. Naval Small Craft Instruction & Technical Training School (NAVSCIATTS)was designed to build a force of Niger-based instructors who could train future troops in patrol techniques. “The training was very important to us because our unit is the first of that kind in our country’s history,” Lt. Abdoul Rachid Amadou Abdou of the Nigerien Special Operations Forces Amphibious Company told ADF. “It taught us many skills we needed.” Those participating in the September training on the Niger…

ADF STAFF Armed members of the Nigerian Navy were crouched on the deck of a warship, their eyes locked on a target. A helicopter whirred overhead, and drones were ready to fly. Nearby, an attack boat sped toward a vessel in Nigeria’s Apapa port. In Nigerian waters and around the Gulf of Guinea, piracy, illegal fishing and other sea crimes are rising, threatening lives, food security and international trade. To increase the country’s maritime security capabilities, members of Nigeria’s Navy recently participated in a four-week maritime security training exercise conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard. The training, sponsored by U.S.…