ADF

A young boy in the mainland city of Mbini, Equatorial Guinea, bounces a football off his head, no doubt imitating his favorite footballers. In many ways, he’s no different than millions of other boys and girls on the continent with an affinity for the sport. But this young fan was having his fun on January 30, 2015, in the middle of the Africa Cup of Nations tournament. And this year, the biennial event took place in his home country, from January 17 to February 8. The tournament came to the small Gulf of Guinea nation of 720,000 people when Morocco, the…

Gulf of Guinea Nations Will Have to Navigate Activities on Land and Sea to Combat Oil Theft When an automobile runs low on petrol, Benin offers two options. The driver can tool into the nearest service station and fill up at regular prices, or he can stop at one of many roadside tables featuring an array of bottles, jugs and cans. The various bottles may once have held water, rum or vodka. Even empty Fanta soda bottles find new life in this enterprise. Now they all contain the same liquid: an amber elixir called “kpayo.” Kpayo, a term applied to many…

Illegal Fishing Is Damaging Livelihoods and Economies All Along the Gulf of Guinea The women of Jamestown fishing village in Accra, Ghana, pour large baskets of small sardines onto the concrete floors at the center of the community to dry under the West African sun. Children play games, drawn with colored chalk, on the hard surface nearby. It’s a Saturday, and a steady breeze comes in off the Gulf of Guinea, rippling the surface of the water as the area bakes in the March heat. On Tuesdays, however, the men of Jamestown take over the common area, turning the multipurpose…

Legal experts call for closing loopholes to prosecute pirates In an interview on board a Ukrainian freight vessel, Somali pirates bragged that they had outsmarted the system. They said they could hijack a commercial ship, knowing that the ransom payments could be worth millions and if they were caught, it would pose no problem. In their words, they would just get a “free ride back to the beach” from one of the dozens of international naval ships patrolling the area. “They can’t stop us — we know international law,” Jama Ali, a pirate, told The New York Times in 2008.…

A Nigerian Admiral outlines the key steps needed to stop piracy REAR ADM. ADENIYI ADEJIMI OSINOWO Rear Adm. Adeniyi Adejimi Osinowo has served in the Nigerian Navy for more than 30 years. During that time he has held the positions of chief of training and operations, and director of transformation for the Navy. He was also on the directing staff of the National Defence College in Abuja. In 2011, he received the Meritorious Service Medal from the United States for his seven months spent as deputy commander of Africa Partnership Station. He also helped develop the Africa Integrated Maritime Strategy 2050,…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE A film made in Uganda for about $200 has become an Internet sensation, with its trailer viewed more than 2 million times. Who Killed Captain Alex was written, directed and produced by Isaac Nabwana in 2010. Nabwana has produced almost 50 films. In April 2015, he filmed Operation Kakongoliro (“Ugandan Expendables”), an action film. It was filmed in a scrap yard in Wakaliga, a neighborhood in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, which now is known as“Wakaliwood.” “It is going to be as big as Nollywood, Bollywood or even Hollywood — there’s no reason why not,” Nabwana boasted of Uganda’s informal…

A film with a powerful anti-extremist message has been internationally honored. The film Timbuktu was nominated for an American Academy Award and won top honors at France’s César Awards. The film tells the story of northern Mali under the control of jihadists. The ancient caravan town of the title, often a byword for otherworldly remoteness, was seized by armed insurgents who cut a swath through the West African nation for most of 2012. The movie depicts the resistance of the townspeople and their struggle to retain their way of life under the brutal, ultraconservative regime of the insurgents. It shows…

An arts charity based in Kenya has produced its third film, about the lives and relationships of people from different walks of life in Mombasa. Its goal is to shed light on what prompts young people to turn toward extremism. Watatu is a production of Sponsored Arts for Education (SAFE) Kenya, which also produced the acclaimed movies Ndoto Za Elibidi, about the AIDS epidemic, and Ni Sisi, about ethnic violence. The latest movie was filmed entirely in Mombasa, Kenya’s second largest city. The film’s name is Swahili for “three” and focuses on the lives of three men. One is a…

THE CITIZEN, TANZANIA There’s a glimmer of hope at last for Dar es Salaam drivers: The Japanese government has donated $13 million in a bid to reduce the city’s traffic gridlocks. The money will be spent to build overpasses at key road junctions. Minister for Works Dr. John Magufuli said the city was searching for an engineer for the project. “We expect that by mid-June we will have obtained an engineer from among the bidders,” he said. “Our major aim is to end traffic jams in the city.” In the 2014-2015 budget, the Works Ministry will spend $14 million on…

Morocco has agreed to provide military, operational and intelligence support to the United Arab Emirates to help fight terrorism. The announcement came during a visit by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in March 2015. It was one of the 21 bilateral deals expected to be signed during the visit, Agence France-Presse reported. “This action, part of the tradition of successful partnership and strong solidarity between the two brotherly countries, reinforces a historic and multifaceted military and security cooperation with Gulf States,” Morocco’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. During his two-day…