ADF

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…

ADF STAFF Algeria and Mali are locked in a diplomatic row. Bamako accuses Algiers of backing Malian separatist groups while Algeria has criticized Mali for failing to uphold a peace agreement with Tuareg rebels. The feud boiled over recently when Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf opposed Mali’s plans to reclassify certain northern separatist groups as terrorist organizations. Attaf also criticized Mali’s heavy-handed counterterrorism efforts as ineffective. “A military solution is impossible in the Sahel and Sahara, particularly in Mali, as it has been attempted three times in the past and failed,” Attaf said in a December statement. Algeria has advocated…

As Sudan continues to be torn apart by civil war, Russia and Iran are fueling the conflict with shipments of arms and other goods. The countries are supplying the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) with guns, drones, fuel and parts for fighter jets as it battles the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is accused of arming the RSF. Bloomberg reporter Simon Marks recently spent time in Port Sudan, a strategic location on the Red Sea that is attractive to Russia and Iran. Marks reviewed satellite images and shipping data and interviewed Sudanese officials about deliveries from…

ADF STAFF About 1,000 kilometers east of Moscow, the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Russia’s southern Tatarstan region has undergone a dramatic expansion of its secret drone manufacturing facilities. One of the keys to the operation, which is critical to the Kremlin’s war on neighboring Ukraine, has been the use of African women in the workforce. But many of the women have said they were duped into these dangerous jobs and are not allowed to leave. Several of the African participants’ home countries are unaware of their predicaments, according to Institute for Science and International Security founder David Albright, who…

ADF STAFF Gold is just one of the precious minerals found in abundance in South Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). But anger continues to swell among the people of the region as the scourges of illegal mining and smuggling deprive them of their land’s wealth. Several hundred people protested in the city of Bukavu on January 8 after the release of a group of Chinese men arrested on suspicion of illegal mining. Two Congolese men held a banner that read “South Kivu minerals should serve the development and well-being of local communities,” according to Agence…