West Africa

ADF STAFF Mario Boris Fernandez pulled his artisanal fishing canoe ashore at Porto de Bandim in Guinea-Bissau. A longtime fisherman in Bissau, the national capital, he did not struggle with the weight of a large haul. That’s the…

ADF STAFF In little more than two years, Niger has exemplified the power of presidential security forces — and what can happen when that power is unchecked. In March 2021, Niger’s presidential guard quelled an attempted coup by elements…

ADF STAFF As Niger’s military junta has held the deposed president in isolation, the country has become increasingly isolated by the international community — one of the many consequences of unconstitutionally seizing power. Nigerien…

ADF STAFF The coup in Niger is the latest in a sharp rise of military takeovers that have undercut decades of democratic progress on the continent. With juntas in charge from Guinea in the west to Sudan in the east, Africa now has what…

ADF STAFF The number of terrorist attacks in Africa rose from 330 in 2000 to 2,365 in 2018, according to the Global Terrorism Database. The sevenfold increase of attacks led to higher military spending in affected countries and their…

ADF STAFF Piracy is drastically declining in the Gulf of Guinea, but experts say more can be done to eliminate the threat. The number of piracy incidents in the region fell from 81 in 2020 to 34 in 2021, when the Gulf of Guinea also…

ADF STAFF Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for an attack that killed six civilians and three Soldiers at the Pearl Beach Hotel restaurant in Mogadishu, Somalia, in early June. The attack, which started with a bomb blast and ended in…

ADF STAFF Decades of warfare, corruption and ethnic conflict have left West Africa awash in small arms that continue to fuel instability and extremism across the region. Although numbers are difficult to pin down, some experts estimate…

ADF STAFF The world was shocked last year at the deaths of nearly 70 children in The Gambia that were linked to cough syrup from India. The medicines contained “unacceptable” levels of diethylene and ethylene glycol, and the children…

ADF STAFF In late 2022, Togolese gendarmes stormed a restaurant in a counterterrorism exercise that simulated a response to a terrorist attack. For Togo, this type of training has become all the more urgent as violence spreads from…