Africa Defense Forum - Africa Defense Forum

VOICE OF AMERICA The countries around Lake Chad in Central Africa say they are expanding a joint task force to combat arms trafficking, terrorism and cross-border attacks as regional tensions escalate. The conflict in the Central African…

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Nigerian Navy announced in March 2014 that it had destroyed 260 illegal oil refineries and burned 100,000 tons of contraband fuel to try to halt oil thefts that are bedeviling the economy of Africa’s largest…

Côte d’Ivoire President Alassane Ouattara REUTERS Côte d’Ivoire is re-emerging as the prime investment destination in West Africa after a decade of political turmoil, but President Alassane Ouattara must weed out corruption and promote…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Angola announced $10 million in aid for the strife-torn Central African Republic, with a possible credit line in the future, during a visit by the CAR’s president in March 2014. Joaquim do Espirito Santo, Africa…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, who as president was widely credited with returning peace to Sierra Leone after years of brutal civil war, died March 13, 2014, at his home in Freetown, the country’s capital. He was 82. Kabbah led…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE A former minister became Nouakchott’s first female mayor in February 2014 after being voted in by councilors to head up the sprawling Mauritanian capital’s local authority. Maty Mint Hamady, 46, is an economics…

Feature Image: Nigerian animator Ekene Nkenchor designs a video game at the Lagos offices of Kuluya, a video game company that is winning fans across the continent. AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE It’s a common challenge in Nigeria and across…

REUTERS Resource-rich African countries are setting up sovereign wealth funds. Oil producers Angola, Ghana and Nigeria started funds in the past two years. Before then, only Botswana, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon had them. Liberia  and…

REUTERS Zakes Hadebe’s minibus taxi has nearly half a million kilometers on it, a broken speedometer and a fuel gauge he struggles to keep just above empty. Yet by 8 a.m. one morning, Hadebe and his rattling Toyota already had overcome…

ADF STAFF Kwame Nkrumah was Ghana’s founding president and a leader who ascended to the heights of power and experienced the depths of failure. Today, despite his flaws, he is remembered as a hero in his home country and across the…