Africa Archive

On Oct. 18, the foreign ministers of Niger and Nigeria signed a defense pact in Niger’s capital, Niamey, establishing joint border patrols along their 930-mile border. The pact also envisions infrastructure projects, including road construction and potential rail links to connect the two countries, as well as renewed efforts to re-demarcate the border. President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger announced the deal in a French-language Twitter post on Oct. 24, declaring that, from now on, “whoever attacks Niger, attacks Nigeria.” In the communiqué launching the pact, both countries’ heads of state, Issoufou and Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, expressed their concern about […]

Tanzania is lobbying to be allowed to make a one-off sale of its ivory stockpile ahead of the annual meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). In an email interview, Esmond Martin, an independent wildlife trade consultant, discussed the ivory trade regime. WPR: What is the CITES decision-making process on issues like Tanzania’s request for a one-off sale of its ivory stock? Esmond Martin: The present CITES decision-making process concerning Tanzania’s request for a one-off sale of ivory consists of a panel of experts put together by CITES to visit Tanzania to check how effective the […]

A splinter group of Darfur’s rebel Justice and Equality Movement announced this week that it would implement a cease-fire and enter into talks with the Sudanese government, scheduled to be held in Doha. In an email interview, Eric Reeves, a professor at Smith College and the author of “Compromising with Evil: An Archival History of Greater Sudan, 2007-2012,” reviewed the current state of violence and humanitarian efforts in Darfur. WPR: What is the current state of hostilities — what groups are engaged, and how extensive is the current level of violence? Eric Reeves: Violence is pervasive in Darfur, although it […]

Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series on the implications of the African National Congress’ decline for South Africa’s political landscape. Part I examined the factors contributing to the ANC’s decline. Part II examines the prospects for the opposition Democratic Alliance to become an alternative governing party. The African National Congress (ANC) is trapped in a systemic crisis from which it cannot extricate itself. Consequently, the wellbeing of South African democracy requires a shift from the current one-party dominant system to a more competitive multiparty system. One route to this outcome is through the fragmentation of the […]

Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series on the implications of the African National Congress’ decline for South Africa’s political landscape. Part I examines the factors contributing to the ANC’s decline. Part II will examine the prospects for the opposition Democratic Alliance to become an alternative governing party. Despite President Jacob Zuma’s claim that the African National Congress (ANC) will rule South Africa “until Jesus comes again,” the party, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, is on an irreversible downward electoral trajectory. Its support fell for the first time in a general election in 2009 and […]

KAMPALA, Uganda — Following months of heated exchanges between international observers and Rwandan officials, a United Nations investigative body leveled its most detailed and controversial accusations over alleged Rwandan support for the Congolese M23 rebels in a 44-page report leaked late Tuesday. The document claims that Rwandan Defense Minister Gen. James Kabarebe exercises direct command over the rebel group. Formerly integrated into the Congolese army, M23 launched a mutiny in April, carving a significant swathe of territory out of the volatile, crisis-prone eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ever since. The Ugandan government is also implicated in […]

Argentina’s legacy of debt default is back in the headlines this week after a Ghanaian port detained an Argentine navy ship, executing a court order on behalf of the country’s creditors. The bondholders who seized the ship said they do not plan to release it until Argentina repays at least $20 million of the $300 million they are owed on defaulted debt. This is the latest example of creditors — often vulture funds that purchased discounted bonds discarded by investors after Argentina stopped honoring its debts during its economic free fall 10 years ago — trying to seize the country’s […]

Editor’s note: WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, was quoted by the Associated Press in the run-up to French President François Hollande’s trip to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, this weekend to attend the Francophonie Summit. The following is the full, lightly edited version of his emailed comments.Almost every French president enters office promising to reset relations with Africa, and in particular to put an end to the historical postcolonial system based on corruption and clientelism, with little regard to democracy and human rights. Hollande’s predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy, declared the same thing, and actually managed to update most of the defense […]

Recent years have witnessed a significant increase in both labor disputes and regulatory burden in the resources sector across the world. The ongoing mining sector unrest in South Africa, marked by widespread wildcat action and shocking levels of violence, suggests that these pressures continue to mount and that previous policy responses may prove insufficient. Moreover, there is a risk that the disorder seen in South Africa may presage a new, even more contentious phase of global resource exploitation characterized by a higher incidence of resource nationalism in both developing and developed economies. Resource nationalism can take many forms (.pdf). At […]

ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire — Last week, five suspects appeared at Abidjan’s Palace of Justice for the opening of the first trial related to Côte d’Ivoire’s recent bout of postelection violence. The conflict, which began after former President Laurent Gbagbo refused to step down despite losing the November 2010 election to current President Alassane Ouattara, claimed at least 3,000 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands. Eighteen months after the power struggle ended with Gbagbo’s arrest in April 2011, persistent political divisions have largely thwarted efforts at national reconciliation. The beginning of the justice process is seen as a potential catalyst for […]

On Oct. 1, Niger launched its “Strategy for Development and Security” (SDS), a $2.5 billion, five-year initiative targeting six of the country’s eight regions. The project is part of Niger’s ongoing efforts to prevent the kind of chaos that has gripped its neighbor Mali, where a Tuareg uprising in January touched off a domino effect that included a coup in the south and the seizure of northern Mali by armed Islamists. As regional and international actors plan a military intervention in Mali — a move Niger’s government has strongly advocated — Niger is hoping that financial and political outreach will […]

The global landscape has been scarred for decades by conflicts that defy both the passage of time and the efforts of armies and diplomats — conflicts that at times seem so intractable as to appear impossible to solve. That is why it’s worth pausing to take note of a momentous, in fact, astonishing, development that has taken place in recent months: Three of the world’s most durable, deadly and stubborn conflicts appear to be coming to an end. The progress in resolving the decades-old conflicts in Somalia, Sudan and Myanmar will undoubtedly give rise to countless claims of credit. These […]

Last week, the presidents of Sudan and South Sudan signed an economic and security deal in which they agreed to resume oil exports from the newly independent South and create a demilitarized zone along their still-disputed border. Jon Temin, director of the Sudan and South Sudan Program at the United States Institute of Peace, told Trend Lines that in the weeks ahead he will be keeping an eye on the implementation of the agreements, which has been the downfall of so many deals between the two sides in the past. “Are the various committees and other bodies called for in […]

African Islamist terrorist organizations have made headlines in recent weeks, with media outlets paying closer attention to terrorist networks operating on the continent after the Libyan government blamed the local Salafist jihadi group Ansar al-Sharia for the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. Meanwhile, in response to plans for external military intervention in Mali, where Islamist guerrillas have seized control of the north of the country, one of the main Islamist commanders said that no matter the affiliation, all of the continent’s militant groups “have the same ambition, the application of Shariah.” “Whenever there’s an attack on […]