Africa Defense Forum - Africa Defense Forum

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE A long-awaited film on the life of anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela premiered in his native South Africa on November 3, 2013, stirring emotional memories of the country’s turbulent history. The film opened a month…

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Togo’s first competitor at the Winter Olympics, cross-country skier Mathilde-Amivi Petitjean, did not expect to win a medal at the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia. Instead, she hoped to inspire African athletes to compete…

REUTERS The European Union has signed a development grant with Ethiopia worth $287.26 million to help finance road construction and projects targeting maternal health and drought resilience. As of 2014, Ethiopia, Africa’s…

REUTERS At Cape Town’s Elswood Secondary School, even the metal grills welded into its walls did not deter burglars from ripping out the copper cables that delivered Internet service to the students. But Elswood’s pupils were saved by…

REUTERS Tanzania, famed for its safari parks beneath snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro, estimated that it attracted 40 percent more tourists in 2013 than in 2012. The country estimated it hosted 1.5 million visitors as it broke into new Asian…

MAGHAREBIA.COM In a move described as the largest border mobilization in recent history, Algeria announced in October 2013 that it would send thousands of troops to secure the eastern and southern frontiers to halt the infiltration of…

ADF STAFF The Nigerian Navy announced plans to build commercial warships that can be exported to other African countries. Vice Adm. Dele Ezeoba, Nigeria’s chief of Naval Staff, made the announcement in November 2013 while inspecting the…

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The U.S. Department of Defense announced plans to train 5,000 to 8,000 Libyan Soldiers in a continuing effort to bolster security in the North African nation. Defense spokesman Col. Steve Warren said the Army will…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE In November 2013, Ghanaian authorities impounded a South American ship carrying 400 kilograms of cocaine and arrested its five-member crew, according to the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB), Ghana’s anti-narcotics…

REUTERS West African neighbors Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire aim to settle a long-running dispute over their maritime boundary. The move could defuse sometimes-tense relations between the countries and smooth the way for oil and gas exploration.…