ADF

VOICE OF AMERICA An international money transfer company has launched an online service for East Africans to send and receive money more easily. Analysts say WorldRemit will lower the cost of transferring money and boost African economies. Africa has become a thriving market for money transfer companies as its telecommunication facilities improve and its economies grow. WorldRemit, a British-based company, handles the transfer of at least $1.6 billion to Africa each year. The co-founder and head of WorldRemit, Ismail Ahmed, said money transfers in Africa have changed over the years. “When we launched our services, 99 percent of remittances were…

REUTERS Morocco has inaugurated Africa’s fastest train, which promises to cut in half the traveling times between the commercial and industrial hubs of Casablanca and Tangier. King Mohammed VI and French President Emmanuel Macron boarded the train for the inaugural trip from Tangier to the capital, Rabat, in November 2018. The train ultimately will run at 320 kilometers per hour, greatly reducing the time it takes to make the 200-kilometer journey between the two cities. It is about twice as fast as South Africa’s high-speed Gautrain, which links Johannesburg’s international airport to the city’s financial district of Sandton. The state…

ADF STAFF The kingdom of Zimbabwe fell into decline in the early 15th century. Some historians say the region was starving. Others say that the kingdom’s warrior prince, Nyatsimba Mutota, left the landlocked region in search of salt, a priceless commodity at that time. The prince is said to have found salt among a tribe of elephant hunters near the Zambezi River about 300 kilometers to the north. He took control of the region, which included some gold deposits. He took over most of the Zambezi River Valley, establishing the Empire of Mutapa, also known as Monomotapa, and established his…

CLUES The Carthaginians founded this site as a trading post, and it was permanently settled in the fourth century B.C. After the fall of Carthage, the city came under Roman rule. Baths, temples and fountains remain from this time. The city ceased to exist soon after the Arab conquest of 635. Excavation has uncovered more than half of the ancient city, including a theater. ANSWER  Archaeological site of Sabratha, Libya

U.S. Africa Command Staff Photo by Reuters No country is immune to violent extremism, and no country has solved the riddle of what causes it. Historically, Africa was not a hotbed for violent religious extremism. That changed in 1998 when it was the site of two major terror attacks with the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Since then, homegrown groups such as Boko Haram in Nigeria and al-Shabaab in Somalia have taken root. These groups thrive in areas with weak governance and few economic opportunities. At the same time, internationally affiliated groups such as ISIS and…

Photo by AFP/GETTY IMAGES Moussa Faki Mahamat is the former foreign minister of Chad and the president of the African Union Commission. He addressed the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)/Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) Joint Summit on Peace, Security, Terrorism and Violent Extremism on July 30, 2018, in Lomé, Togo. His remarks have been translated from French and edited to fit this format. The security challenges facing West and Central Africa are well-known. Whether it is terrorism, so prevalent in the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin; armed rebellions and other forms of violence that are raging…

REUTERS Photo by Reuters Four Somali brothers have imported dozens of Holstein Friesian cows, the world’s top milk-producing breed, hoping they can build up the war-torn country’s dairy industry from scratch. Parts of the country still are plagued by violence, but a degree of stability in the capital in recent years has begun to attract investment from locals and Somalis living abroad. Some see opportunities in the livestock industry, whose mainstay is traditional breeds of cattle, reared by pastoralists. These breeds produce little milk. A devastating drought recently killed off thousands of cows and camels. Yusuf Abdirahman Dahir, 49, who…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Photo by AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Dusk settled on Sainte-Cecile square, and the oil lanterns cast a soft yellow light as a storyteller captivated the audience with a tale about a naughty little girl who disobeys her parents and whistles at night — a way of summoning evil spirits. Fierce beasts attack her, but her neighbor, a hunter, courageously intervenes and saves her from death. Melissa Djimadja, a high-school student, was among those who were spellbound by the centuries-old story. “I was always told never to whistle at night but never understood why,” she said. “Now I know.” Benin’s rich…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Photo by AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Every year, thousands of Yorubas gather to celebrate Osun, the goddess of fertility and water. The festival held by the West African ethnic group takes place in the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove in southwestern Nigeria. According to UNESCO, which named the area a World Heritage site in 2005, the dense forest of the grove and its river “is dotted with sanctuaries and shrines, sculptures and artworks in honor of Osun and other deities.” Priestesses prepare offerings and sacrifices to the great goddess: a heady mixture of sacrificed chickens, ochre powder, potato chips and gin. Crowds…

Extremist Groups Threaten Security Across the Continent ADF STAFF A United Nations peacekeeping mission battles al-Qaida-linked extremists and others in Mali. The African Union Mission in Somalia holds al-Shabaab militants at bay. Nigeria has teamed with Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger to battle Boko Haram in and around the Lake Chad Basin.  There are big players and smaller groups launching attacks. The following is a look at what terrorism is, who is using it and what can drive people to participate in it. Terrorist Groups in Africa According to “Terrorism in Africa: A Quantitative Analysis” by Adriana Lins de Albuquerque,…