ADF

ADF STAFF The Ghana Navy in September received two Defender patrol boats that will enhance its capacity to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, drug trafficking, arms smuggling, piracy, armed robbery at sea and other maritime crimes. The U.S. government donated the boats and also provided a storage facility. The donation was worth more than GHC24 million ($1.5 million). The U.S. also gave Ghana two Defender boats last year. During a handover ceremony at the Naval Training Command (NAVTRAC) in Ghana’s Volta Region, Chief of the Naval Staff, Rear Adm. Issah Adam Yakubu thanked the U.S. for providing the four…

ADF STAFF Tensions between Algeria and Mali are growing over how to resolve Mali’s ongoing Tuareg rebellion, which has continued for more than a decade. Algeria supports a negotiated settlement that addresses the rebels’ concerns and builds off a 2015 agreement. Mali’s ruling junta favors a military response. “Algeria fears that these escalating tensions could lead to a successful Tuareg separatist movement, which would inspire marginalized ethnic groups across Algeria, Niger and Libya to pursue autonomy,” analyst Assala Khettache wrote recently for the Royal United Services Institute. “A Tuareg breakaway in Mali could potentially destabilize an already fragile Sahel region,…

ADF STAFF The young woman was enticed by social media ads promising a job, good pay and a new life in Russia. The advertising photos showed women smiling as they cleaned floors and wearing hard hats while directing cranes at a factory in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. The ads included videos with upbeat music that showed African women visiting Tatarstan’s cultural sites or playing sports. They promoted a program called “Alabuga Start” that touted a free plane ticket to Europe and a well-paying job upon arrival. Excited by the benefits of a work-study program in a field such as…

ADF STAFF Three members of Guinea’s National Front for the Defense of the Constitution (FNDC) were planning a demonstration against the country’s military junta when soldiers dressed as civilians arrived in armored vehicles and arrested them on July 9. The young men, Mamadou Billo Bah, Mohammed Cissé and Oumar Sylla, were taken to a jail on the island of Kissa. “There was a gendarme who gave me a slap and another one gave me a violent blow with his foot,” Cissé told Guinea’s FNDC TV. Cissé said the soldiers hit them in the face with metal bars and asked who…

ADF STAFF With almost half of all United Nations peacekeeping operations located in Africa, the continent has been the site of many successes, challenges and hard-earned lessons. In order to share some of these lessons, 10 senior leaders collaborated on a newly published book, “Military Diplomacy: The Experience and Leadership of Former United Nations Force Commanders in the Service of Peace.” With an eye on advancing Africa’s regional security architecture, former U.N. force commanders shared their experiences and takeaways in a panel discussion hosted by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS) and the Swedish Defense University on October 22.…

ADF STAFF South Africa’s Navy, once the continent’s most powerful, is now struggling after years of financial belt-tightening forced it to forego needed maintenance and recruitment. The Navy’s recorded sea hours have dropped by more than 75% since 2018, reaching just over 2,700 hours this year. The underfunded service has a staffing shortfall of 3,000 people on a planned operational staff of more than 9,500. The Navy was forced to cancel a mission circumnavigating the African continent when its lead vessel, the SAS Amatola, was found unfit to sail. Once Sub-Saharan Africa’s most powerful Navy, South Africa’s Navy can now…

ADF STAFF Neighboring countries Somalia and Ethiopia are trying to put an end to violence that has affected the Horn of Africa for decades. Some experts believe the healing must begin at the community level and spread from person to person. There are grassroots efforts to institutionalize transitional justice and reconciliation (TJ&R) in the region to end the cycle of tragedy by acknowledging past wrongs and addressing deeply rooted grievances. “Transitional justice can help to transform a society by addressing historical injustices, fostering inclusivity and promoting a culture of human rights,” Patience Chiradza, African Union director for Governance and Conflict…

ADF STAFF Public health officials say Rwanda’s response to its recent Marburg virus outbreak demonstrates the benefit of preparedness and quick response. Rwanda’s outbreak, which began in late September, is the latest surge of the virus after episodes last year in Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania that killed 17 people. Rwanda’s first Marburg virus epidemic left more than 60 people infected and 15 dead across 30 districts of the country. However, Rwanda has one of Africa’s strongest health care systems and public health officials have been planning for a Marburg-type viral event since 2018. At the same time, Rwanda is benefitting…

ADF STAFF New data is shedding light on how Burkina Faso’s security has deteriorated in the two years since the military took power in a coup. Burkina Faso is now the most terrorism-affected country in the world, according to the Global Terrorism Index. The United Nations has reported that more than 20,000 Burkinabe have died and more than 3 million people forced from their homes since the country’s insurgency began in 2015. Last year, more than half of the deaths due to militant Islamist violence in the Sahel occurred in Burkina Faso, according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies.…

ADF STAFF The Sahel region has emerged as a new drug trafficking epicenter in recent years. According to a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report, authorities seized 41 kilograms of cocaine in 2021. The number spiked to 1,466 kilograms the next year — an increase of 3,476%. Annual estimates are not available for 2023, but 2.3 metric tons of cocaine had already been seized in Mauritania by June last year, and the trend of large drug busts has continued. In April 2024, Senegalese authorities seized more than a metric ton of cocaine worth nearly $150 million from…