Africa Defense Forum - Africa Defense Forum

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…

ADF STAFF When legendary Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta made his way into what is now Somalia between 1330 and 1332, he took note of the extraordinary woven cloth he found in the Horn of Africa. In those days, Somalia was a major…

ADF STAFF On an August day in the Malian village of Gossi, a group gathered to mark the opening of a new building for the local women’s association. The humble clay structure was a rare bright spot for the desert town of about 8,000 that…

ADF STAFF | Photos by Reuters If any country should know about the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of enemy fighters, it would be Uganda with its experience with the Lord’s Resistance Army. Joseph Kony’s Lord’s…

ADF STAFF The proliferation of armed groups in Africa’s second-largest country has destabilized the nation for decades, but an incident in December 2017 brought renewed attention to the dangers present in the Democratic Republic of the…

Long-serving dictators have many tricks to help them hold onto power. One is a process known as “coup-proofing,” or building armed forces that will not rebel. Political scientist Philip Roessler said leaders attempt to coup-proof a…

ADF STAFF  |  Photos by TECH. SGT. ASHLEY NICOLE TAYLOR/U.S. AIR FORCE The United States has sold six MD 530F helicopters to the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) that can engage in attack, scout and close air support missions for the East…