Africa Up Close

Although Africa has seen the emergence of many secessionist movements such as in Katanga, Biafra, and Casamance, only two countries have successfully achieved full independence since the decolonization process ended: Eritrea in 1993 and South Sudan in 2011. The Organization of African Unity (predecessor of the African Union) decided in 1963 to maintain the colonial borders as they had been established by colonial powers to avoid potential border conflicts. However, rooted in economic, cultural, and historical factors, secessionist movements have persisted in Africa. In recent years, we have witnessed a rekindling of these types of conflicts with the war in Tigray, the escalation of the conflict in Anglophone Cameroon, and the breakdown of the ceasefire in Western Sahara. Though there has been little attention given by the academia and the media, an old secessionist movement has also resurfaced in the heart of Ghana.

This blog was originally posted on NewSecurityBeat, a blog of the Environmental Change and Security Program at the Wilson Center.

Security conditions in the Sahel are rapidly deteriorating. Since 2016, the region has witnessed a 16-fold increase in terrorist attacks. In Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger, 10.5 million people are facing starvation, and with climate-related disasters increasing and intensifying in the region, food insecurity is projected to rise. Against this backdrop, rapid population growth is outpacing governments’ ability to provide access to basic services. These pressures have transformed the central Sahel into the epicenter of a forced displacement crisis, with dire long-term and global humanitarian consequences that reverberate well beyond the region’s borders.

This blog was originally posted on NewSecurityBeat, a blog of the Environmental Change and Security Program at the Wilson Center.

Deteriorating security in Ethiopia, a country W.E.B. Dubois once described as where “the sunrise of human culture took place,” is deeply concerning. The last few months have seen a dramatic involution for a country that was once a poster child for sustainable development. The conflict between the government and rebel forces in Tigray is not just a matter of regional security, but a significant blow to the world’s efforts to fight climate change.

This blog was originally posted on NewSecurityBeat, a blog of the Environmental Change and Security Program at the Wilson Center.

Secretary of State Blinken is right to focus on climate change and democracy during his first trip to sub-Saharan Africa. At the top of his and everyone else’s mind should be the question: will democratic backsliding in countries like Benin make it more difficult to deal with the effects of climate change? Even more worrisome: will it worsen conflict hotspots, such as the West African Sahel, where climate change is playing a role? All eyes should be on coastal West Africa as countries such as Benin deal with violent insecurity and climate pressure creeping down from the Sahel. My ongoing research in Benin suggests that the country’s democratic local institutions, despite all their faults, are the country’s best defense against the breakdown in rural governance that has befallen Mali and neighboring Burkina Faso. 

Frederik Willem (‘F.W.’) de Klerk, the last leader of apartheid South Africa, died on November 11, 2021.

Nothing new was expected of de Klerk when he became President of South Africa in 1989. A member of the ultra-conservative “Dopper” wing of the Dutch Reformed Church, he progressed through the strict rites of passage common to Apartheid leaders–membership of the Voortrekkers, the Federation of Junior Rapporteurs, the Afrikaans Student Union, and the supreme accolade of an invitation to join the Broederbond, the elite, secret society dedicated to promoting Afrikaner interests. His father, Senator Jan de Klerk, was almost elected (ceremonial) State President, and he served as Labour Minister under Prime Minister J. S. Strijdom, who was married to F.W.’s aunt. Like them, his politics were hard-line and traditional.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan concluded yet another trip to Africa on October 17 this time to Angola, Togo, and Nigeria. Having visited 30 African countries so far, he is far ahead of other non-African leaders, including past ones, in terms of the number of countries on the continent he has visited. For a quick comparison, his closest rival, former French President François Holland, visited only 12 African countries.

South Africa’s then Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, and Turkey’s then Prime Minister Erdogan, signed the South Africa-Turkey Bi-National Commission in 2012. Photo courtesy of the Government of South Africa via Flickr Commons.  

Turkey is getting ready to hold its third Turkey-Africa Summit, probably this April, in the framework of its eye-catching Africa partnership policy. Launched in the early 2000s, this policy is widely considered successful given Turkey’s prior near-absence from the continent for almost a century. However, two major dynamics negatively impact this engagement. First is Turkey’s increasing involvement in the Middle East’s conflicts, starting from 2011. And second is the internal rift between the Turkish government and the socio-religious movement led by Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who has lived in self-imposed exile in the U.S. since 1999, and Ankara’s designation of the Gulen Movement as a “terrorist organization”[1] in 2016. These major developments have considerably impacted Turkey’s agenda and priorities vis-à-vis Africa.

Before making an assessment of the fallout of these issues on Turkey-Africa relations, it would be appropriate to begin with brief historical background.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and H.E. President Isaias Afwerki signing the joint peace agreement. Photo courtesy via Wikipedia Commons.

Reconciliation and the Way Forward

Following the decision passed by the executive committee of the ruling party, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), Ethiopia’s new reformist Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed, announced that Ethiopia would accept the 2002 United Nations backed border demarcation, paving the way for peace between the two nations. Dr. Abiy Ahmed then paid a historic visit in July to Eritrea, during which he and President Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea signed a declaration ending 20 years of hostility and restoring diplomatic relations and normal ties between the countries. President Isaias Afwerki reciprocated with a state visit to Ethiopia just days later.

Continue reading for a summary of recent news stories relating to some of the most pressing issues on the continent. We draw on a wide range of respected news sources, both from Africa itself and around the world. The themes of today’s In the News post are updates on economic development and political issues in Kenya and Mozambique, food insecurity in Zimbabwe, the new PM of Senegal, a bombardment on the Somali President’s motorcade, and governance in Swaziland.

Continue reading for some of the events this week in D.C. concerning Africa.