ADF

We are making efforts to tackle piracy, sea robbery and all illegal activities within our maritime domain through the establishment of the Maritime Guard Command with the combined efforts of NIMASA [Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency], the Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force, Nigerian Police Force, and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps. We are championing the anti-piracy bill before the National Assembly to provide a legal framework for punishing piracy and other maritime crimes. When passed into law, it will ensure adequate sanctions against offenders and act as a deterrent to others. We have also achieved over 85 percent…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Bismark Owusu covers clothes and furniture with a sheet before mixing a mosquito-killing chemical with water. He then puts on safety gear, straps the spray pack to his back and methodically sprays walls, windows and corners of the room. Owusu’s visit to Domeabra, a community in central Ghana, is his latest stop in the country’s fight against malaria. The death of two of his friends from the disease spurs him on. “Why wouldn’t I help if others are dying?” he said. “I am here today helping to eradicate this deadly malaria.” There were 216 million cases of malaria…

THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION Growing up on Mount Boutmezguida in southwest Morocco, Khadija Ghouate never imagined that fog would change her life. Every day Ghouate and other women would walk 5 kilometers to fetch water from open wells. Overuse and drought made getting water more difficult. But a mathematician whose family came from the area had an idea: using fog to make water. Now Ghouate’s village is connected to the world’s largest fog collection project. “You always had to go to the wells — always be there, mornings, evenings,” Ghouate said. “But now water has arrived in our house. I like…

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Joseph Kamonjo Kariuki, 37, known in his Kenyan village as “Joseph of the Donkeys,” thinks three of his animals were victims of a black market scheme that uses donkey skins as a key ingredient in a Chinese health fad. Animal rights groups say agents are seeking to feed China’s insatiable appetite for a gelatin they call ejiao (pronounced “uh-jee-ow”), which is made from stewed donkey skins and purports to provide health benefits. Shrinking donkey herds in China have driven ejiao producers to seek supplies from Africa, Australia and South America, activists say. Fourteen African governments have banned…

Piracy Remains a Problem, but African Nations Are Working Together ADF Staff With more than 30,000 kilometers of coastline, the fortunes of the African continent are inextricably bound to safety and security at sea. From Senegal to Angola, nations are working to deter pirates and thieves who ply the waters of the Gulf of Guinea for oil, fish and ransoms. In the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean — all the way down to the Mozambique Channel — nations and international forces combat Somali pirates, who have staged something of a resurgence recently. Seventy percent of Africa’s nations —…

Foreign Trawlers are Depleting Africa’s Fish Stocks, but Nations Have the Tools to Fight Back ADF STAFF For the Oleg Naydenov, a Russian trawler, the blue waters off the coast of West Africa once were an all-you-can-eat buffet. The rusted 120-meter vessel and its 82-person crew could haul in and process 18,000 metric tons of fish each year. They paid little attention to the laws in the waters where they sailed, operating without permits. That changed in 2012 when Senegal strengthened its laws, increased enforcement and raised the maximum penalty for ships caught fishing illegally. In late 2013, French forces…

Rear Adm. Peter Kofi Faidoo of Ghana  Sees Collaboration, Technology and Training as Keys to a Safer Gulf of Guinea Rear Adm. Faidoo is Ghana’s chief of naval staff. Before his appointment in 2016, he held a number of posts, including director of Naval Operations and National Maritime Security coordinator. In 2012, he was appointed director general of training at the General Headquarters, and, in 2015, he became flag officer commanding the Western Naval Command. In 1998, as commanding officer of the GNS Sebo, he took part in the Naval Task Force of the Economic Community of West African States…

ADF STAFF Photos by reuters When the Ebola virus emerged in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in 2013-2014, West Africa — and the world — was caught unprepared. More than 11,300 people died in the outbreak, which spread into urban areas and popped up in other nations, including Mali, Nigeria and Senegal. Even as the crisis ended in the spring of 2016, it was clear that Africa had not seen the last of Ebola. Nations across the continent would have to be ready for its eventual re-emergence. Steps were taken for the next outbreak, including the formation in January 2017 of…

Africa’s Smallest Nation Is Setting a Standard for Safe, Sustainable Seas ADF STAFF As the six Seychellois crew members of the fishing boat Galate slept at sea southeast of Mahé Island, they should have had little more to fear than awakening to another busy day of hauling in tuna from the Indian Ocean. Armed bandits, however, were stalking the waters. International naval patrols had pushed pirates hundreds of miles from the Somali coast and the Gulf of Aden. Now some of those pirates had their sights on the fishermen. About 2 a.m. on March 30, 2010, nine Somali pirates, recently in possession…

Complex Laws and Limited Resources Make it Hard to Bring Criminals to Justice ADF STAFF The guilty verdict handed down in a São Tomé and Príncipe courtroom echoed across the globe.  A Chilean captain and two Spanish crew members of the notorious fishing vessel the Thunder were sentenced to two to three years in prison and fined a total of $15 million. For the tiny Gulf of Guinea island that relies heavily on the sea economy, it felt like a rare win in a losing battle against illegal fishing. “This isn’t just a victory for our country,” said Frederique Samba…