Africa Defense Forum - Africa Defense Forum

U.S. Africa Command Staff Modern conflicts rarely end with the signing of a treaty or a formal surrender. Some insurgent groups fight until the last gasp, while others hide among civilians. Ethnic tensions can simmer for generations…

Since 1978 and 1979, when 10 female cadet officers and 64 recruits enlisted in the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF), more women have volunteered to serve. They have showed us, through more than 40 years of dedicated service to…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Malawi has received 17 black rhinos from South Africa under a program to replenish the species that temporarily died out in the Southern African country in the 1980s. African Parks, a charity headed by Britain’s…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Early each morning, a crowd gathers outside Ahmad Isah’s radio studio in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, hoping to share their problems over the airwaves. For those waiting, Isah’s Brekete (which means “very big” in…

THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION Data analyst Fabrice Sonzahi enrolled in a course on artificial intelligence (AI) in Dakar, Senegal, hoping to help farmers improve crop yields in his home country of Côte d’Ivoire. He is part of an…

ADF STAFF M.K. was an unruly child, by his own admission.  The Idgwi island boy was not a good student. He didn’t listen to his parents or teachers. At age 13, he traveled to Goma, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) North…

Lt. Gen. Molla Hailemariam is ground force commander of the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF). His military career began in 1981 when he joined the struggle against the country’s ruling Derg regime. After Ethiopia’s return to civilian…

BRIG. GEN. (RET.) KHALIFA NAFTI/TUNISIAN AIR FORCE More than eight years after the Arab Spring protests of 2011, many people in North Africa are still striving for freedom and dignity. The stability and security many hoped for during the…

MUSTAFA ELSAGEZLI Since 2011, Libya has gone through almost unimaginable turmoil with every aspect of society touched by violence.  During this time, the country has run on what is sometimes called a “war economy,” with many people,…

ADF STAFF One of the world’s largest maritime exercises included Djibouti in October and November 2019, providing training for African naval and coast guard forces intent on maintaining freedom of the seas.   The naval drills occupied…