Benin

ADF STAFF Experts say Russia is expanding influence efforts on the continent through the Wagner Group, designed to bolster African governments that partner with its mercenaries, such as the Central African Republic (CAR) and Mali. This…

ADF STAFF Along their northern borders, Gulf of Guinea countries have experienced repeated incursions by extremists crossing over from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Faced with rising pressure from Sahel-based extremists, Gulf countries…

ADF STAFF Until November 2021, Benin had been spared from the kind of extremist violence that has ravaged its neighbor to the north, Burkina Faso. Since then, Arnaud Houenou has witnessed a change in the attitudes of his fellow Beninese.…

ADF STAFF A year after Benin, Ghana and Togo reaffirmed their willingness to work together to reduce illegal fishing, some fishermen in the region say its badly depleted fish stocks show signs of improvement. Besides at-sea patrols,…

ADF STAFF To help Benin combat piracy and other maritime crimes in the Gulf of Guinea, the U.S. government delivered a new patrol vessel to the country in December. The U.S. also helped build a new boathouse, maintenance shop and launch…

ADF STAFF When he opened a recent meeting of the regional bloc he chairs, Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embaló urged a new response to West Africa’s rash of coups. He was speaking from experience, having escaped a failed coup that…

ADF STAFF Five years after its formation, Accra Initiative has agreed to assemble a multinational military force to help stop the spread of violent extremism spilling out of the Sahel toward West African coastal nations. A meeting of the…

ADF STAFF Mali’s decision to quit the G5 Sahel Joint Force in May has sent ripples of insecurity across the region. In speaking to the United Nations Security Council at the time, U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Africa Martha Ama…

ADF STAFF Since early 2020, Mali has banned the export of rosewood, also known as kosso. Despite that, nearly 150,000 tons of the wood — equal to 220,000 trees — left the country over the last two years, all of it with a single…

ADF STAFF Founded in 1925, Virunga is Africa’s oldest national park. It is one of the continent’s most biologically diverse conservation areas and is home to one-third of the planet’s endangered wild mountain gorillas. The park is located…