Africa Defense Forum - Africa Defense Forum

REUTERS The Ghana Navy announced it freed a tanker that was hijacked off the coast of Nigeria and arrested eight pirates believed to be responsible for seizing it. Pirate attacks have increased in West Africa in recent years, raising…

DEFENCEWEB The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa and the University of Blida in Algeria signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a Joint Centre of Excellence in aeronautics research. The…

BBC NEWS AT BBC.CO.UK/NEWS The World Health Organization (WHO) has approved the first rapid blood test for Ebola. It should allow patients to be identified, isolated and cared for as quickly as possible to bring an end to the outbreak…

REUTERS When Namibians voted in November 2014, it marked a historic event as Africa’s first electronic election. Despite an 11th-hour challenge from the opposition party over the devices, the election commission used 4,000 voting machines…

Zakariya Ismail Hersi, a former senior al-Shabaab commander, speaks during a press conference at the presidential palace in Mogadishu, Somalia. VOICE OF AMERICA Somalia’s president has renewed an offer of amnesty to members of the…

REUTERS On the edge of Nairobi, two doors down from a gleaming display of Germany’s luxury Porsche cars, another showroom offers Africa’s answer to the continent’s potholed roads. It’s called the Mobius. It has no flashy dials, alloy…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE In the blue waters off Cape Town, South Africa, a revolutionary experiment with an electronic barrier seeks to exploit the supersensitivity of sharks’ snouts to keep swimmers safe. The technology has been developed by…

Julia Rainer/IPS With annual economic growth rates of more than 10 percent and attractive investment conditions due to low infrastructural and labor costs, Ethiopia is eagerly trying to rise from the status of a low-income to a…

In the short history of Burkina Faso, one name towers above the rest: Thomas Sankara. Born into a working-class Catholic family in the northern town of Yako, Sankara entered the military at age 19. He rose through the ranks, impressing his…

CLUES This former Roman colony was founded in the first century, during the reign of the Emperor Nerva. The site has a large collection of mosaic pavings, illustrating myths and daily life. At 900 meters above sea level, the site…