ADF

ADF STAFF The cease-fire that ended more than a decade of fighting in Libya included the demand that all foreign fighters leave the country. A series of international resolutions following the cease-fire echoed the call. Yet, more than 10 months after the October 2020 truce, an estimated 20,000 fighters from Chad, Russia, Sudan, and Syria remain in Libya. International observers say their presence continues to destabilize the country even as its political leaders try to stitch it back together. “If elections are to be held in December 2021 as scheduled, Libyans should be able to undertake that process in a safe…

ADF STAFF Members of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) stepped from a helicopter and sprinted toward a simulated enemy with their weapons drawn as a commanding officer barked instructions. It was the opening day of Operation Eagle Claws, an exercise meant to prepare military and emergency personnel to respond to terrorist threats. The five-day annual exercise included members of the Ghana Police Service, Ghana National Fire Service, National Disaster Management Organization, National Ambulance Service, and other security and intelligence agencies. It concluded in late May. “High Command intends to use this year’s exercise to equip troops with the requisite capacity…

ADF STAFF Maritime security experts warn that illegal fishing can undermine Africa’s “blue economy,” which includes the continent’s fisheries, tourism, aquaculture, transport, ports and oil drilling. The African Union Development Agency (AUDA) stated development of the blue economy is critical to the continent’s prosperity. “Africa is one of the most blessed continents in the world in terms of its potential marine and terrestrial natural resources,” wrote Seleman Yusuph Kitenge of the AUDA. “However, most of these riches, particularly the marine resources which contribute to the Blue Economy, are yet to be responsibly utilised to foster the economic transformation of a…

ADF STAFF African scientists are at the forefront of a new malaria vaccine that has proved highly effective in early trials and is being hailed as a potential breakthrough. A recent study in British medical journal The Lancet showed that the R21/Matrix-M vaccine prevented the disease more than 77% of the time in early trials — the first time a vaccine candidate has surpassed the 75% efficacy goal set by the World Health Organization (WHO). “These are very exciting results showing unprecedented efficacy levels from a vaccine that has been well tolerated in our trial program,” Halidou Tinto, principal trial investigator, said in…

ADF STAFF Anger is boiling over in Africa’s last absolute monarchy, Eswatini. Since May, protesters have taken to the streets demanding political reform and greater economic opportunities. The protests were sparked by the killing of 25-year-old law student Thabani Nkomonye. He died under suspicious circumstances, and members of his family allege a police cover-up. On May 21, during a public memorial event for Nkomonye, police dispersed crowds using armored cars, tear gas and rubber bullets. “What I saw on that day, I had never experienced before. I was sprayed with tear gas while sitting down, without any reason,” Bacede Mabuza,…

ADF STAFF Chinese technology firms have been peddling “safe city” and “smart city” packages of technology in Africa for years. Suites of interconnected products and services include surveillance equipment, communications tools and digital municipal management systems. Billed as public safety tools, the programs are increasingly used to control the population and crack down on dissent. “It can be dangerous in the hands of someone who is not responsible, and it can easily be misused,” Zlatko Petrović, a Serbian public official who deals with personal data protection, told the Financial Times. In China, millions of video cameras dot cityscapes. While they…

ADF STAFF Just as one maritime security challenge in Somalia seemed all but resolved, another one gained momentum. After years of declining pirate attacks off mainland Africa’s longest coastline, the country is now fighting to rid its water of illegal foreign trawlers. Experts fear Somalia is in the throes of a cycle of sea crime that threatens its food supply, economic stability and ecosystems. Last year, officials discovered a massive fleet of Iranian fishing vessels engaging in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in Somali waters. Global Fishing Watch, a nonprofit organization that tracks fishing vessels, and Trygg Mat Tracking, a nonprofit…

ADF STAFF Although the kidnapping of 276 students from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok led to global outrage, the shocking practice continues. Schoolchildren across northern Nigeria have become pawns in a thriving industry for kidnappers seeking attention and money. In just the first three months of 2021, extremists kidnapped more than 800 students and their teachers in six events across four states. Heavily armed men have attacked boarding schools and universities, forcing the students into nearby forests to hold them for ransom. During a kidnapping at Greenfield University, in Kaduna State, the kidnappers killed five hostages when their…

ADF STAFF Companies operating in Ghana’s trawl fishing industry must reapply for fishing licenses to continue working in the country’s waters. Ghana’s Fisheries Commission gave the notice after the country was issued a second yellow card from the European Union (EU), which determined that the country’s level of development and engagement against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing was inadequate. Vessels that must reapply for licenses to fish in Ghana include industrial fishing trawlers, which largely are responsible for decimating Ghana’s small pelagic fish populations, such as sardinella, which has dropped 80% in the past two decades, according to the…

ADF STAFF A wave of recent attacks by Islamist terrorists in northern Côte d’Ivoire indicate that the country’s worst fears are coming true: The bloody Sahel conflict is spreading to West Africa’s coastal states. Militants have launched at least seven attacks in 2021 near the border with Burkina Faso, a neighboring country to the north beset by frequent Islamist attacks. Since 2015, more than 1,300 Burkinabe have been killed, and more than a million have fled their homes. Violent extremist organizations have been pushing for years to move south toward the Gulf of Guinea and some of Africa’s fastest-growing economies,…