North Africa

ADF STAFF The Maghreb region’s cold war between Algeria and Morocco continues to add new layers of frost. The latest round of provocations began in early March with the opening of an office in Algiers for the Moroccan Republic of the Rif,…

ADF STAFF About 75% of the world’s industrial fishing vessels are not publicly tracked, with many of them hiding their positions at sea by turning off their automatic identification systems (AIS). The practice, known as “going dark,”…

ADF STAFF In September, terrorists fired three rockets at a ferry on the Niger River, killing 49 people. Witnesses said the victims, all civilians, drowned or were burned to death. The terrorists reportedly were members of the…

ADF STAFF The earthquake that struck Morocco this month created an opportunity to ease tensions between the kingdom and its neighbor, Algiers, which broke off diplomatic ties in 2021. The magnitude 6.8 quake killed more than 2,000 people…

ADF STAFF If the conflict in Sudan continues to escalate, experts say the fighting could spread over the porous Chadian border to the west. Mucahid Durmaz, senior analyst at risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft, believes Chadian…

ADF STAFF Months of declining cases of COVID-19 throughout Africa have given rise to a burgeoning sense of optimism among health experts and officials. But it is a cautious optimism, tempered by nearly two years of hard-won progress. Dr.…

ADF STAFF After Russia invaded Ukraine in February, prices for food and other goods skyrocketed around the globe. Parts of Africa, where food insecurity already was exacerbated by COVID-19 and severe droughts, were hardest hit. In…

ADF STAFF The Russian invasion of Ukraine has set off a cascade of food shortages across many parts of Africa. The war is compounding existing problems caused by a drought and food prices that were already on the rise before the war…

ADF STAFF Africa’s COVID-19 caseload has taken a sharp downturn since peaking around the beginning of the year. This offers hope that the fourth wave of infections may be abating in many countries. During his February 3 news briefing,…

ADF STAFF In video widely circulated in mid-July, a hospital director in Mateur, Tunisia, was seen breaking down in tears as a national shortage of medical oxygen threatened the lives of COVID-19 patients. “People are dying in front…