ADF

As terror groups in Africa fundraise, recruit and coordinate online, security forces and technology companies are collaborating to fight them. “Terrorists are pervasive on the web, and this necessitates many, many up-to-date tools and having enough actors on our end to monitor all of these tools,” Maj. Guéable Hervé Zeni, chief of the Cyber Defense Office of the Armed Forces of Côte d’Ivoire, told a recent webinar hosted by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. The webinar focused on the best ways for African nations to combat terrorism online. Zeni and his team of technology experts pay close attention to,…

Umaru Tanko stood in the middle of a town reduced to ashes. Outside a charred shop in the western Nigerian town of Woro he told a reporter that the bodies of a friend’s son and grandson lay inside. “They set them ablaze … but we did them no wrong,” Tanko told Al Jazeera. Islamic State group (IS) terrorists leveled the Kwara State community in a February 3 attack. Locals said terrorists targeted them for refusing to allow radical preachers to give speeches in the town. After the violence, only about 200 people remained from a once-bustling town of 17,000. On…

What is security? It could mean access to food, shelter, health care, economic stability or protection from violence. Often it means all of the above. Increasingly, militaries are taking a holistic approach to security provision. They know that their primary responsibility is to protect the citizens of the country, but that rarely can be done through military means alone. More often, complex problems require a response that addresses the root causes of insecurity. In West Africa, for example, coastal nations face a growing threat from Sahel-based terrorist groups. These groups are determined to expand southward and form a caliphate that…

Gen. Charles Muriu Kahariri, Kenya’s chief of the defense forces, gave the opening remarks at the 2025 African Chiefs of Defense Conference in Nairobi on May 28. During the conference, senior military officials from across Africa discussed countering transnational threats, strengthening partnerships and sharing expertise. His remarks have been edited for length and clarity. For those of us in the defense community, the African Chiefs of Defense Conference has come to represent far more than a conference. It is a forum that enables us to align strategic thinking, strengthen our collective posture and reinforce the unity that underpins continental security.…

Nigerian Soldiers killed two top Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) leaders in as many weeks in May and June 2025 as part of the Army’s ongoing Operation Hadin Kai. On May 30, 2025, Army officials confirmed the death of Amir Abu Fatima, one of Nigeria’s most wanted terrorists. Soldiers killed Fatima and two top lieutenants in Aleru village in Borno State, according to Premium Times. Authorities said he was captured alive but soon bled to death from his wounds sustained in a gunbattle. Fatima was thought to have coordinated ISWAP attacks in northern Borno. Nigerian forces recovered AK-47 rifles,…

Ask experts for solutions to Africa’s many security challenges, and many are likely to call for more cooperation, training and professionalism for militaries. The path toward that goal leads through one of the continent’s many centers of excellence. Over the past 25 years or so, Africa has seen a boom in institutions designed to help military leaders understand and respond to key security issues such as artificial intelligence, counterterrorism, maritime security and empowering noncommissioned officers. The centers are designed to develop leadership, expertise and best practices in specific fields. Some, such as the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Cooperation Organization, have…

When deadly floods swept through Gabarone, Botswana, in February 2025, the Botswana Defence Force swung into action, working alongside government agencies and nongovernmental organizations to protect the city’s residents and restore order. Soldiers employed their expertise in search and rescue, medical evacuation, and logistics to support their civilian counterparts during the natural disaster. For Maj. Gen. Molefi Seikano, the response was a model for civil-military relations among African nations. “It showed the military as a force for stability,” Seikano told ADF at the 2025 African Chiefs of Defense Conference (ACHOD), where civil-military relations were a topic of discussion. Across Africa,…

Maj. Gen. Fructueux Gbaguidi, an Army officer with more than 35 years of experience, has studied and trained at institutions in France, Madagascar, Senegal and the United States. During his career in the Beninese Armed Forces (FAB), he served as commander of the 1st Combat Company of Benin’s Rapid Intervention Battalion, aide-de-camp to the chief of the general staff and commander of the 2nd Combined Arms Battalion. He held leadership roles at the National Higher Training School for the Army and the National School for Non-Commissioned Officers. He served as chief of army staff from 2016 to 2022 before being…

In a grueling, eight-day exercise spread across three departments in Benin’s southern zone, members of the National Guard were pushed to their limits.  They rescued hostages, put down insurrections and warded off ambushes. They rappelled from cliffs, navigated high rope courses and dropped from helicopters hovering over water.  The scenarios were fictional, but the real test was coming soon. Many of the 560 Soldiers training in July 2025 were expected to deploy to the north of the country to take part in Operation Mirador, Benin’s military mission to contain a growing terror threat.  “They are training and developing the reflexes necessary…

The Tunisian Air Force has taken delivery of a C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, the fourth from the United States since 2021. U.S. officials handed over the aircraft in a ceremony at Sidi Ahmed Air Base in Bizerte on January 13. During the ceremony, Tunisian Minister of National Defense Khaled Sehili praised the strategic partnership between the two countries, saying it was based on common interests and mutual respect. He said Tunisia and the U.S. are working together to develop the operational capabilities of the national army, providing special equipment and supplies, intensifying training and exercise programs, exchanging experiences and providing…