Africa Up Close

The Ethiopian federal government’s April 6, 2023, decision to dismantle the special forces (paramilitary forces) of all the country’s regions and reintegrate them into either the national defense force, the federal police, or the respective regional police led to wide public protests in Amhara Region. The incident resulted in human rights violations such as killing individuals by security forces, destruction, and interruption of basic services. Additionally, the internet shutdown continued throughout many parts of the region. The main goal of the decision, according to the federal government, was to strengthen the Ethiopian National Defense Force and enhance its ability to maintain peace and security in the country. On April 15/2015, the government announced its completion of the integration process.

The rivalry between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which helped overthrow Sudan’s civilian administration in October 2021, derives from the two sides’ disagreements on how to begin a new internationally backed transition with civilian groups. In early April 2023, a final agreement was supposed to be signed to coincide with the fourth anniversary of the fall of long-reigning despot Omar al-Bashir by a popular revolt. The arrangement called for the army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF deputy General, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (also known as Hemedti) to transfer control. Two issues, however, stood out as being very divisive: the first was the precise date the army would be fully placed under civilian control; the second was the timeline for the RSF’s integration into the regular armed forces.

On March 21, Uganda’s Parliament passed the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Bill, widely hailed as among the world’s harshest anti-gay laws. Though same-sex relations were already illegal in the country, this bill further cracks down on LGBTQ+ rights. It imposes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality” (including sex when the “offender” is a person living with HIV), mandates life in prison for those convicted of homosexual relations, instates a 20-year prison sentence for the promotion or abetting of homosexuality, and requires by law that family, friends, neighbors, and healthcare workers report the homosexual relations of their loved ones or face up to six months of jail time.

Are power dynamics in international aid changing? In 2020, the racial justice movement called out the entrenchment of racism in national and international systems, including in foreign aid. Activists and aid workers alike called on the aid industry to stop perpetuating a global system that places wealthy donor countries in positions of power and poorer developing countries as passive recipients.

A plot of land that was in the process of being cleared for agriculture in Kenya. Photo by Amanda Clark

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 70 to 80% of people in Sub-Saharan Africa rely on herbal medicine as their primary form of health care. In some countries, the rates are even higher—in Ethiopia and Burundi, 90% of the population uses traditional medicine to meet their healthcare needs. Other communities use traditional medicine as a supplement to modern (or Western) medical practices–one study shows that 76% of members of Kenya’s Kuku Ranch use both herbal and modern medicine in tandem.¹ Most forms of traditional medicine are herbal or plant-based and thus rely on the accessibility of plant resources.

It has been a decade since African leaders envisioned a fifty-year transformational plan, Agenda 2063, by signing the 50th-anniversary solemn declaration at the African Union (AU) Summit held in Addis Ababa in May 2013. Agenda 2063, under the auspices of the AU, guides the continental, regional, and national development plans to transform the continent with sustainable development.

Given the rate at which young populations in many African countries are expanding, the continent promises to emerge as a major consumption market in the coming decades. Over 75% of Africa’s current population is under the age of 35, and by 2030, 42% of the world’s young people are expected to reside in African nations. These statistics point to the potential for the continent to develop itself and contribute largely to innovative spaces and the world economy. However, for the continent to compete in world markets, technology will be critical to help this emerging population of leaders and doers reach their full potential and take their rightful place in the world.

Climate change has thrown East Africa into its worst drought in over four decades, contributing to widespread acute food insecurity and displacement. While climate change is not the sole contributor to these calamities—socio- and geopolitical factors are also to blame—it acts as a threat multiplier, aggravating underlying socio-political tensions and increasing communities’ susceptibility to political and economic insecurity.

One of the most interesting accounts on Twitter may be a relatively new one: that of His Excellency Mohammed El Senussi, the pretender to the throne of Libya, who established a presence on Twitter earlier this month. Twitter has thus far had little resonance in Libya, which is home to one of the lowest Twitter account numbers per capita in the Arab world. Yet, his account has been surprisingly successful, with some posts getting thousands of interactions.

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

When a military-led or military-influenced coup d’état occur in a foreign country, does evidence from demographic research merit consideration in the U.S. foreign policy response? It’s a question that U.S. policymakers should be asking as deteriorating political conditions in West Africa come increasingly into confluence with the limited tools available either to deter or respond to illegal and extra-legal forms of political succession.