Benin

ADF STAFF Senior leaders from land forces across Africa gathered in Côte d’Ivoire in May for the 2023 African Land Forces Summit (ALFS). It was an opportunity to discuss the shared threats they face and the need for cooperation as…

ADF STAFF Benin’s W National Park sits on the country’s northern border, which has become the frontline in the battle to contain Sahel-based violent extremist organizations. With the W Park as a convenient entry point, that frontline is…

ADF STAFF Decades of simmering ethnic tensions in the northern Ghanaian town of Bawku recently boiled over into armed violence. Security forces have been deployed, and the conflict has captured the attention of the country and raised…

ADF STAFF People walk freely between Ghana and Burkina Faso where the towns of Paga and Dakola are joined. Aside from the rickety metal barriers and gate that cut across the main road, there is little indication of where one country ends…

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…

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…