Africa Up Close

After Abiy Ahmed was sworn-in as Ethiopia’s prime minister (PM) in April 2018, his government engaged in normalization talks with Eritrea. In July 2018, the two countries signed a historic agreement that ended two decades of “no peace and no war.” Following this, people-to-people relations resumed, embassies reopened, air flights restarted between Addis Ababa and Asmara, international telecommunication was fixed, and, most notably, border crossings reopened, allowing for free movement of people in both directions. These achievements helped Prime Minister Abiy garner huge popular support within and outside of Ethiopia, and contributed to his being awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) October 2020 session will debate the future of its peace mission (MONUSCO) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). According to UNSC Resolution (UNSCR) 2502 adopted last December, MONUSCO’s mandate will end on December 20, 2020. This completion date conflicts with the recommendation made last year by an independent assessment of MONUSCO ordered by the UNSC. The report advised a period of three years for the Mission’s drawdown and exit, to be completed at the end of 2022.

The provenance of the coronavirus pandemic (the COVID-19 virus) has been traced to Wuhan, the capital of China’s Hubei Province. To China’s rivals and detractors, this fact is an effective tool in their efforts to undermine China’s growing global influence and its expectations of being a leader in providing public goods and combating disease. The COVID-19 virus presents the world’s most threatening health crisis in more than a century. Due to the rapid spread and severity of the pandemic in the first quarter of 2020, in March the World Health Organization characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic is hitting African countries recently emerging from violent conflicts, already struggling with violent conflicts, or transitioning from conflict to peace. The initial impact of COVID-19 in these countries is on health and the economy. As a result, response measures have significant socio-economic impact that may hinder these countries’ attainment of the UN Strategic Development Goals on poverty, food security, inequality, and peace.

The year 2020 will live in infamy as the global economy reels under the deadly COVID-19 pandemic that has seriously impacted lives, jobs, and trade. The virus has so far claimed 582,125 lives and infected more than thirteen million people globally. African countries are already challenged in stemming the spread of the virus, but the task is even more complicated for countries that are constitutionally mandated to hold elections during this unprecedented time. COVID-19 mitigation measures during elections have massive implications for peace and security in these countries, as the measures have the potential to upend the electoral process, lead to bans on campaigning, and abuse by incumbents.

The outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has devastated the global human security landscape. Currently, there are 7,068,144 confirmed cases and 400,857 deaths worldwide, while 3,496,290 persons have recovered.[1] Beyond the human toll, the pandemic is projected to contract the global economy by 5.7 percent in 2020, with severe consequences on economic development in countries across the world. In Africa, 194,141 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been recorded as of June 7, with 5,304 deaths and 85,447 recoveries. In West Africa, the pandemic has spread across the 15-member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), with 42,206 confirmed cases and 882 deaths. Although recorded cases in West African states are relatively low for now, their governments have nonetheless introduced a suite of responses including restriction on movements to mitigate the spread of the pandemic. In addition to the health aspect of West African states’ responses, measures have also been taken to mitigate the acute economic impact of the pandemic. Notwithstanding this, the region’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic appear to be generalized, with relatively less attention devoted to the specific vulnerabilities of women. This inattention to the gender aspect has heightened the impact of the pandemic on West Africa’s health and economic security. Given the significant role women play in socio-economic development in West Africa, disregarding the gender gap in COVID-19 responses has the potential to exacerbate the already entrenched gender inequalities in the socio-economic sphere of societies in the region.

The May 7, 2020 United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) report on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is alarming: “An estimated 12.8 people are in need of humanitarian assistance (…) This figure represents 10 percent of the total worldwide humanitarian caseload. Those affected by this complex and widespread crisis remain exposed to (…) chronic malnutrition and epidemics, notably cholera, measles, and the Ebola virus.” The majority of people affected are in the eastern DRC’s volatile Kivu region. This situation in Kivu, according to the UN OCHA, is the consequence of a long period of insecurity and the result of continuing fighting between the Congolese Army and non-state armed groups. The region’s long-standing fragility and instability are now facilitating the spread of yet another humanitarian emergency in the DRC: the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. In short, one health emergency (COVID-19) is exacerbating another (Ebola, cholera, and measles).

Libya Citizens along the Libyan-Tunisian border. Photo courtesy of the EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations Department via Flickr Commons.

World leaders met in Berlin on January 20 to enforce an arms embargo and ceasefire to end the long-running civil war in Libya. A little over two months later, the fighting restarted and intensified as the world’s attention turned to the global fight against coronavirus. In Libya, the Government of National Accord (GNA) announced emergency measures and restrictions in recent weeks, urging citizens to self-isolate to stop the spread of the virus. Meanwhile, residents in Tripoli described the resumption of Khalifa Hafter’s self-styled Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF) offensive on Tripoli and resulting fear as the “worst since 2011,” with the attackers shelling homes, killing six civilians, and injuring six more.

A Somali man photographed after receiving remittances in Mogadishu, Somalia. Photo courtesy of AMISOM Public Information via Flickr Commons. 

The increasing importance of remittances in global financial flows has elicited calls by experts in the development community for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries to harness the enormous potential of remittances for development. In response to these calls, migration and remittances featured extensively in deliberations on financing implementation of the post-2015 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Members of al-Shabaab disengage and lay down arms in Somalia. Photo courtesy of  AMISOM via Flickr Commons. 

Globalization and information technology have increased the free movement of people, goods, and information from one territory to another, highlighting the interdependence and interconnectedness of the world’s people and economies. However, the world’s increasing interconnectedness, while generally a boon for society, also benefits criminals. They exploit the blue sky of globalization by increasingly becoming transnational and borderless. One of the manifestations of this is the existence of illicit networks in the Horn of Africa and their linkages to the global criminal world.