ADF

THE EAST AFRICAN In a long-awaited vote, the U.S. Congress moved to extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) by 10 years. “AGOA has been called ‘the cornerstone’ of the U.S.-Africa economic relationship, and on this stone we will build an even more lasting and stronger commitment,” reads a statement issued by U.S. Congresswoman Karen Bass, who is the ranking member of the Africa subcommittee. The House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate voted “overwhelmingly to reauthorize AGOA [in June 2015], sending the legislation to the President and guaranteeing a seamless and long-term extension of this vitally important law,”…

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/ADF STAFF In what is being lauded as a major crackdown on the illegal ivory trade, Tanzanian officials have arrested and charged a Chinese woman, dubbed the “Queen of Ivory,” with smuggling ivory worth $2.7 million. Yang Feng Glan, 66, is among the most prolific traffickers ever brought to justice in the war against elephant poaching. She is believed to be behind a network that trafficked a massive quantity of ivory over the past several years, according to Elephant Action League, a conservation group. “It’s the news that we all have been waiting for, for years,” said Andrea…

DEFENCEWEB The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has asked the South African military to help train Soldiers. It is not a new task for South African Army instructors, who have been training Soldiers from the DRC’s Army for at least four years as part of an agreement. Operation Thebe, as it is known, is separate from South Africa’s involvement in and commitment to the United Nations Mission in the DRC — MONUSCO — and the mission’s Force Intervention Brigade. The issue of more training was raised in August 2015 when Congolese Army commander Gen. Etumba Didier called on South…

DEFENCEWEB The Tunisian Navy has commissioned its first locally built patrol boat, the product of a partnership between the government and a shipbuilding company. The boat, named Al Istiklal (Independence), was launched by Defense Minister Farhat Horchani at a ceremony in the Gulf of Tunis on August 21, 2015. Horchani told guests that the boat was built entirely by Tunisian engineers. He added that the country was the first to develop a successful shipbuilding industry in the Arab world and among the first in Africa. The government partnered with Société de Construction Industrielle et Navale, based in Sfax, to start…

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Benin’s president vowed to contribute 800 troops to a regional force to combat the Nigeria-based Islamic extremist group Boko Haram. Thomas Boni Yayi made the announcement in August 2015 during a visit from Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari that coincided with Benin’s independence celebration. “This is an opportunity for Benin to express solidarity with countries on the front line against the Islamic sect, Boko Haram,” Boni Yayi said. “This solidarity will result in the sending of a contingent of 800 men from Benin’s Army.” At a meeting in Cameroon in February 2015, Nigeria and a group of neighboring…

BBC NEWS AT BBC.CO.UK/NEWS Members of the African Union’s new 25,000-strong multinational standby force gathered in South Africa in October 2015 to begin field training for the first time. The exercises, known as Amani Africa II, aimed to make sure the force was ready by January 2016 to respond to crises across the continent. The force consists of five brigades from Africa’s economic blocs. The logistical base for the African Standby Force (ASF) will be in Douala, Cameroon, after a deal signed in October 2015. The training began at the South African Army Combat Training Centre in Lohatla with an…

REUTERS Power cuts in 15 Sub-Saharan African countries could become an exception rather than the norm in 10 years, with private capital expected to play an increasingly bigger role, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said in an August 2015 survey. Africa’s power generation capacity is expected to quadruple from 90 gigawatts in 2012 to 380 gigawatts in 2040, boosted by private investment, green energy initiatives and cross-border energy trade, the survey showed. Three-quarters of respondents said there was “a medium to high probability that the private sector will own and operate” more than half of power-generating projects by 2025. The continent needs about…

IPS Dr. Helena Ndume of Namibia was one of two people honored with the first United Nations Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize on July 24, 2015. Ndume has performed 30,000 pro bono surgeries for sufferers of eye-related illnesses in Namibia, according to the nonprofit Surgical Eye Expeditions (SEE) International. The blind patients are fitted with intraocular lens implants free of charge. In 2015, she collaborated with SEE on three programs in Namibia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The organization expected 700 patients to regain their eyesight in the programs. Ndume left Namibia for exile at age 15. She lived…

story and photo by JEFFREY MOYO/IPS Hillary Thompson throws leftover rice, mixed with some beer dregs from his sorghum brew, into a swimming pool he has converted into a fish pond. “For over a decade, fish farming has become a hobby that has earned me a fortune,” Thompson, of Harare, Zimbabwe, said in August 2015. In fact, he has been so successful that he acquired a number of properties that he rents out. African fish farming is growing as the United Nations urges nations to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns as part of its proposed new Sustainable Development Goals…

VOICE OF AMERICA Kenya and Uganda have agreed on the route for a pipeline that will carry crude oil from Ugandan oilfields to the Kenyan coast. The pipeline, when built, will run about 1,500 kilometers from Uganda’s Hoima district through the Lokichar basin in northern Kenya and to the Kenyan coastal town of Lamu. The East African neighbors also had considered building the pipeline through southern Kenya. Proponents of that route said the northern route is more vulnerable to attacks by the Somali militant group al-Shabaab. The decision was announced in August 2015, after talks between Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni…