Africa Archive

On Dec. 11, three days after four people were reportedly killed in the latest clashes between protesters and security forces in the city of Bamenda in northwestern Cameroon, the government’s communications minister issued a statement suggesting the demonstrators’ main grievance was a nonissue. For more than a month, Cameroonians in the country’s English-speaking regions had been publicly criticizing the use of French in courts and schools and, more broadly, the perceived marginalization of the minority Anglophone population. That issue, which has roots in Cameroon’s colonial history, is a decades-old source of tension. Yet in his statement, the minister, Issa Tchiroma […]

The third anniversary last week of the start of South Sudan’s ongoing civil war served only to reinforce how intractable that conflict has become. A peace deal is in tatters, along with the country’s economy. With the return of the dry season, the combatants appear to be preparing for another round of fighting. And the United Nations is now warning of possible genocide. South Sudanese are keenly aware that after three years of fighting, the situation can still deteriorate further. Since the end of October, more than 280,000 people have fled the country. According to the U.N.’s refugee agency, that […]

A bomb ripped through a church in central Cairo last week, killing at least 26 people in the most brutal and brazen attack on Egypt’s Coptic Christian community in years. The self-declared Islamic State, which has been waging an insurgency against the government in the Sinai Peninsula since 2014, claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing of St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, the seat of the Egyptian Orthodox Church. It vowed to escalate what it called a “war on polytheism,” a sign that it seeks to stoke more sectarian violence in Egypt and target the country’s beleaguered Coptic minority. The attack […]

The race to lead the African Union is entering a critical stage, as candidates to succeed outgoing AU Commission Chair Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma make their final pitches and struggle to overcome regional divisions that stalled the election process five months ago. On Dec. 9, the five contenders made their most public appeals yet, in a first-ever televised debate broadcast from the AU’s headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, that marked an overt effort to popularize the organization across the continent. Traditional divides along regional and linguistic lines forced a six-month delay of the election in July, when heads of state failed to […]

For as long as many Moroccans can remember, they have been told that their country is moving toward reform. They have likewise heard about the government’s near-constant efforts to advance social and political development. But the net effect of these reforms and development programs, particularly in the political realm, has been minimal. That’s largely by design. When King Mohammed VI ascended to the throne in 1999, he allowed greater freedoms of the press and enacted meaningful social reforms, such as the 2004 revision of the family code, which granted women greater rights and legal protections. He also oversaw efforts to […]

Piracy in Africa brings up images of Somalia and its neighbors in the Horn of Africa, where maritime security has been an issue for years. On the other side of the continent, West African countries enjoy far more developed governmental structures and security tools and should, in theory, be able to keep piracy at bay. Yet piracy is significantly decreasing in Somalia, while it is growing in the Gulf of Guinea. According to the International Maritime Bureau, there was just one attempted attack in Somalia in the first nine months of 2016, whereas 31 incidents of piracy were reported off […]

In a surprise victory that shocked Gambians and foreigners alike, opposition candidate Adama Barrow defeated Gambia’s long-time dictator, Yahya Jammeh, in the country’s presidential election last Thursday. Initial reporting suggested that Barrow had won by 50,000 votes or more, which would have been a blowout victory in a country with roughly 1.8 million people. But the revised and final tally issued by Gambia’s Independent Electoral Commission on Dec. 5 showed a much closer result: 227,708 votes for Barrow, 208,487 votes for Jammeh and 89,768 for third-party candidate Mamma Kandeh. It will take time before the structure of Barrow’s victory is […]

In this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, and senior editor, Frederick Deknatel, discuss the death of Fidel Castro and the implications for reform in Cuba and normalizing ties with the United States. For the Report, Anouar Boukhars talks with Peter Dörrie about Islamist militancy in West Africa. Listen:Download: MP3Subscribe: iTunes | RSS Relevant Articles on WPR: What’s in Store for Cuba—and U.S. Ties—After Fidel Castro? The Costs of Uncertainty With Trump’s Trade Policies Iran Struggles to Grow Its Economy While Adapting to Climate Change How West Africa Became Fertile Ground for AQIM and ISIS Trend Lines is […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series inviting authors to identify the biggest priority—whether a threat, risk, opportunity or challenge—facing the international order and U.S. foreign policy today. As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office in January, he will be confronted with a number of global challenges that will test some of his most popular campaign rhetoric. As a candidate, Trump proposed an “America First” agenda that he used to explain his call for a fairer sharing of costs related to America’s military role abroad and reduced foreign assistance, among other promises. Such an agenda […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the status of women’s rights and gender equality in various countries around the globe. Last month, the African Union praised Rwanda for its inclusion of women in government—women make up 64 percent of the lower house of parliament—and encouraged other African countries to follow Rwanda’s lead on gender equality. In an email interview, Pamela Abbott, a professor at the University of Aberdeen, discusses women’s rights in Rwanda. WPR: What is the status of women’s rights and gender equality in Rwanda? Pamela Abbott: Girls are as likely to attend […]