Gulf of Guinea

ADF STAFF The Guinean Navy found more than 1.5 tons of cocaine on board a fishing vessel off the coast during an inspection in early April. The seizure illustrates a trend in West Africa, where at least 57 tons of cocaine were seized…

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 They toil for long, grueling hours without water or food. They sleep on the decks of the fishing vessels where they work, exposed to the elements. There is no medicine if they get sick, and they are routinely forced…

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 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 As nations emerge from the pandemic, they are trying to boost economic growth wherever possible. One focus is the “blue economy,” made up of the businesses that rely on water to thrive. This sector, which includes energy,…

Vice Adm. Awwal Zubairu Gambo has served in the Nigerian Navy for more than 30 years. His career includes time working on naval strategy, intelligence, training and as a defense attache. In 2017, he was the security coordinator for the…

ADF STAFF  |  PHOTOS BY NIMASA As 2021 drew to a close, the once-perilous waters off Nigeria’s coast were showing signs of becoming uncharacteristically calm. In fact, the entire Gulf of Guinea region had shown a steady decrease in…

ADF STAFF AsRussian armored personnel carriers and tanks trundled into Ukraine carrying more than 100,000 conscripts, Sudanese Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, was meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in…