Burkina Faso

ADF STAFF Photos by: AFP/GETTY IMAGES fter Twitter deleted a post by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in 2021, Nigeria shut down access to the country’s most popular social media site for seven months. “The loss was humongous,”…

ADF STAFF Internet blackouts have become the tool of choice for many governments trying to quash protests or tamp down on unrest, sometimes in violation of their own constitution. Advocates for internet freedom say that up to 90% of…

ADF STAFF Larba Mathieu Yougbare hunched over as he tried to loosen the firm, dry soil with a small hoe. Frustration was as evident on the farmer’s face as beading sweat. He returned to the eastern Burkina Faso city of Fada empty-handed.…

ADF STAFF After Burkina Faso’s second coup d’état on September 30, people took to the streets of Ouagadougou waving Russian flags. They gathered, in part, as a result of Russia’s relentless disinformation efforts, which paint Moscow as a…

ADF STAFF Two military coups in eight months in Burkina Faso have failed to deliver promised security but may be opening the door to greater Russian interference. Between the coup at the end of January and the second coup in September,…

ADF STAFF Extremist groups are again trafficking weapons from Libya and other sources into the Sahel, signaling a potential escalation of violence. Analysts say the increase comes after a period of relatively low trafficking levels. “The…

ADF STAFF Restoring security was the main justification used by coup leaders in Burkina Faso and Mali when they seized power. New data shows they are not delivering on these promises. In fact, both countries at mid-year were on pace…

ADF STAFF As terrorism spreads south from the Sahel toward the Gulf of Guinea, Ghana stands out among its neighbors for its lack of attacks. But experts are warning that the country might be living on borrowed time. Professor Emmanuel…

ADF STAFF In the pale light of dawn on July 22, two vehicles rigged with explosives set off on a deadly attack on Mali’s biggest military base in Kati, just 15 kilometers northwest of the capital of Bamako. Islamist militants entered the…

ADF STAFF The recordings posted online in 2020 claimed to be Ghanaian President Nana Afuko-Addo endorsing several notorious conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic. There was one problem: The recordings were fake. Afuko-Addo’s…