ADF

With their fight against terrorists foundering and their economies teetering, the Sahel’s three junta-led nations are putting the squeeze on foreign mining companies to supply more cash for their cause. As the same time, they are offering Russia greater access to mineral wealth in exchange for military aid. In recent months, Burkina Faso nationalized two mines previously owned by Canadian companies with the expressed intent of running them itself. The takeover happened as Burkina Faso’s gold output continued to slide, having fallen from 67 metric tons in 2021 to 47.7 metric tons by late 2024. The junta has threatened to…

African militaries are working to expand and modernize their air fleets to project power across vast territories, stop threats from terror groups and respond to humanitarian crises. Several countries are acquiring used aircraft from other regions at discounted prices. According to AirPro News, this strategy accounts for about 75% of the continent’s fleet expansion. Egypt has the continent’s highest military aircraft capacity, followed by Algeria and Angola. Cairo commands the world’s eighth-largest military aircraft fleet with 1,093 combat aircraft, while Algeria’s 608 military aircraft ranks 17th globally and Angola ranks 34th worldwide with 298 aircraft, the Global Firepower Index reported.…

Few weapons have changed the nature of warfare in Africa quite like drones. And few drones have been as popular and as effective as those coming from Turkey. From small quadcopter-style ZD100 and ZD200 models to the fixed-wing, semi-autonomous Bayraktar TB2, Turkish drones are rapidly becoming the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of choice for African nations. While Turkish companies offer a variety of drones for a wide range of purposes, African nations have focused much of their attention on the military drones developed by Baykar, run by the son-in-law of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In late 2024, Kenya became…

A Cameroonian man was being treated in the infirmary of a Russian military camp in eastern Ukraine when he shared his story. The Kremlin, he said, is recklessly sending African conscripts to fight and die on the frontlines of Russia’s war on Ukraine. “Samuel” was among the thousands of Africans sent to the frontlines to fight, most of them against their will. Instead of fighting alongside Russian troops, however, Samuel said foreign conscripts are being used as cannon fodder. “Here, as soon as we can walk, they send us to the front,” he told Radio France Internationale (RFI), which gave…

ADF STAFF The deadliest terrorist attack in Beninese history has shaken the country and its military, leading to harsh criticism inwardly and outwardly. Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an affiliate of al-Qaida, claimed responsibility for killing 30 Beninese Soldiers in the January 8 attack on an army position called the Point Triple forward operating base in the north. The base is near the Mekrou river, which marks the border with Burkina Faso and Niger. Beninese National Guard Chief of Staff Col. Faizou Gomina called the base “one of the strongest and most militarized,” as he urged military commanders to improve…

ADF STAFF Virginia Gamba recently raised alarms about the increase in state militaries and nonstate armed groups recruiting children across Africa, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Mozambique, Somalia and Sudan. “The cries of these children echo across conflict zones, but far too often, the world remains silent,” the United Nations Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict said in a December 31, 2024, statement. “Their pain is a stain on our collective conscience. We must do better, because every moment we delay, another child becomes just another number in the long list of conflict related casualties…

ADF STAFF Recent drug tests conducted by clinics in South Africa show that fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, is spreading rapidly in the country. Fentanyl was detected in younger people in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. The drug, which produces intense, short-term euphoria, is about 100 times more potent than morphine and 30 times stronger than heroin. It also has been found in the country’s wastewater, leading some analysts to fear that a crisis is unfolding. Fentanyl users sometimes appear to fall asleep while walking or walk into traffic. Some overdose and die. Dr. Alanna Bergman, a nursing scientist in…

ADF STAFF More than one-third of African business leaders and cybersecurity experts doubt that their governments and major economic players are prepared to respond effectively to a sophisticated cyberattack, according to a recent study by the World Economic Forum. In its recently released 2025 Global Cybersecurity Outlook, the international economic body asked experts how confident they were in their country’s ability to respond to major cyber incidents targeting critical infrastructure. Among African respondents, 36% said they had no confidence while an equal percentage said they were confident or very confident. Africa lags behind the rest of the world in internet…

ADF STAFF Africa’s rapidly evolving online environment is outpacing the continent’s cybersecurity efforts, creating the potential for an event experts refer to as “cybergeddon.” This worst-case scenario would include an assault on computer networks that could cripple power and water systems, financial networks and, ultimately, a country’s national security. The good news is that African countries’ risk of such an attack is relatively low at the moment. The bad news is that the threat increases with every new computer terminal and mobile phone connection. A plan to defend against cybergeddon needs to be part of every country’s cyber strategy, according…

ADF STAFF Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar recently said the Nigerian Air Force is experiencing a “Golden Era,” marked by the acquisition of advanced platforms, including jets and helicopters. Mandated to protect the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the NAF is surrounded by threats of terrorism with the Boko Haram insurgency in the Lake Chad region to the east and the encroachment of several extremist militant groups affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group in the Sahel. Abubakar, the NAF’s chief of staff, has said Nigeria expects to have the third largest air force on the continent in the next…