29 Nov 2024

African Think Tank

Association For Strategic Culture and Research Foundation

African Think Tank

Mozambique Might Require Foreign Military Assistance To Clean Up Its Hybrid War Mess

Chronically impoverished and formerly civil war-torn Mozambique has the potential to become the world's fourth-largest natural gas exporter due to its vast offshore reserves in the extreme northeastern part of the country, but this Southern African state's ambitious plans are at risk of being derailed by the ever-intensifying Islamist-driven Hybrid War in that strategic corner of its territory, one which might ultimately require foreign military assistance to resolve after the national armed forces proved themselves incapable of containing this threat.

By Andrew Korybko

30 November, 2020

Struggle for influence in Africa

Africa is of natural interest to the leading political forces operating on the world stage. It has a huge territory, more than a billion people and natural resources, which, according to various estimates, make up 30-40% of all mineral reserves of the planet. At the same time, the level of development of the continent itself, at least in the last five hundred years, is significantly lower than the level of development of the surrounding European and Asian countries.

By V.M. Sergeev, VIPerson

27 May, 2021

Is There Any Hope Left For The Horn Of Africa?

The high hopes that many had for a radical improvement of the situation in the Horn of Africa just a few short years ago have been shattered by a combination of internal and international conflicts centered on Ethiopia, but it might be premature to predict that the region won't ever recover since Prime Minister Abiy could drastically turn everything around once more should he have the political will to do so.

By Andrew Korybko

6 June, 2021

The LAPSSET Corridor Is China's Latest Silk Road In East Africa

IGAD's Chinese-backed infrastructure projects will eventually create a regional version of Beijing's vision for a Community of Common Destiny, one of the central philosophical tenets behind BRI.

By Andrew Korybko

8 June, 2021

The Battle for Indian Ocean and Island States

Russia has taken an increasing interest in strengthening consistently its diplomacy with small island States especially Cape Verde, Mauritius, Maldives and Seychelles. Late December, the Kremlin appointed Deputy Director Artem Kozhin at the Foreign Ministry as the new ambassador to the island of Seychelles, signaling the strategic importance it attaches to this island state of Seychelles with an estimated population of 85 thousand, located in the Indian Ocean, northeast of Madagascar and east of Kenya.

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

14 August, 2021

More African Countries Register Russia's Sputnik Vaccine. What Next After The Registration Campaign?

Russia's drive to share Sputnik V vaccine, of course, offers a chance to raise its image and strengthen alliances in Africa. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation has made efforts promoting the vaccine using all its channels. But supply and delivery have largely lagged behind, the pledges have simply not been fulfilled. Russian authorities have oftentimes said that they would step up efforts for fruitful cooperation in combating coronavirus in Africa.

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

17 September, 2021

Germany’s Forgotten Genocide in Namibia

As some world leaders gather in New York for their annual United Nations General Assembly rituals, the September 22 debate on “Reparations, Racial Justice, and Equality for People of African Descent” to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 2001 Durban Racism Conference, will be particularly significant. While at the Durban conference itself, the issue of reparations was not allowed to be debated by former Western slaver and imperial powers, this issue is now firmly on the agenda.

By Professor Adekeye Adebajo

18 September, 2021

Is Amnesty To Boko Haram Unfair To Nigerian Society?

It was recently reported that President Muhammadu Buhari’s government has granted amnesty to thousands of repentant Boko Haram members. This development has generated mixed reactions across Nigeria and the world, with many questioning the justification for this action.

By Olusegun Akinfenwa

19 September, 2021

Françafrique Is A Blunt Tool For Explaining Foreign Policy

Africa needs more robust political analysis of countries’ internal dynamics and their relations with world powers. This approach is more empirically sound than resorting to ‘Françafrique’ which adopts a moralising and infantilising approach to African actors. And the notion is misleading for four reasons.

By Paul-Simon Handy, Felicite Djilo

14 October, 2021

Africa Condemns the Continuing Imperialist Legacy of France

France for centuries had been involved in the Atlantic slave trade and colonialism making it one of the leading imperialist powers to emerge from the tumultuous conquering of large swaths of territory throughout the world

By Abayomi Azikiwe

25 October, 2021

Sudan Coup Prompted by Failures in Washington’s Foreign Policy

For decades now the political affairs of the Republic of Sudan have been a preoccupation of the U.S. State Department, Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Prior to the partition of the country in 2011, Sudan was the largest geographic nation-state in Africa. The country of 50 million was becoming an emerging oil-producing state maintaining ties with both the West and the developing countries.

By Abayomi Azikiwe

1 November, 2021

What Next For Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Negotiations?

The previous stances of the UNSC concerning Arabs in general have usually been neutral and non-binding, but it seems incapable of confronting the language of power, arrogance and unilateral thinking. Therefore, it was expected that the council’s decision on the GERD crisis would call for the continuation of negotiations on the basis that none of the three conflicting parties would be harmed or that the situation would not create a general crisis in a region that the world sees as inflamed.

By Dr. Abdel Latif El-Menawy

9 November, 2021

France and Africa: Towards a New Model of Relations?

In recent decades, French foreign policy in Africa has been preoccupied with a jump-start of relations with the African nations, marked by a gradual curtailment of the Françafrique, a concept that provided for a direct military and political intervention in affairs of the French-speaking nations on the continent. France is now in search for a more balanced framework for interaction with the countries in the region.

By Alexei Chikhachev

9 November, 2021

Mozambique: Rule Of Law Prevails On Chang Extradition, But At A Price

Judge Margaret Victor overturned a decision by South Africa’s Justice Minister Ronald Lamola in August this year to send Chang to Mozambique to face similar charges in the US$2 billion ‘hidden debts’ scandal.

By Peter Fabricius

17 November, 2021

US Investors to Explore Opportunities in AfCFTA

United States investors are looking forward to exploring several opportunities in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a policy signed by African countries to make the continent a single market.

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

17 November, 2021

Documents Show Bill Gates Has Given $319 Million to Media Outlets

In most coverage, Gates’s donations are broadly presented as altruistic gestures. Yet many have pointed to the inherent flaws with this model, noting that allowing billionaires to decide what they do with their money allows them to set the public agenda, giving them enormous power over society.

By Alan MacLeod

22 November, 2021

US-Africa Relations: An Opportunity Lost Or Found

As Africa’s economies and middle class continue to grow, there is a tremendous market for American consumer goods. Consumer and business spending in Africa is expected to top $6.6 trillion by 2030, up from $4 trillion in 2015. Again, not only China, but also nations in every other region of the world, are looking to fill the continent’s need for consumer goods.

By Ambassador Charles R. Stith

22 November, 2021

Somalia’s Democracy By Installments

Somalia this week elected two Members of the Lower House of Parliament in polls delayed by a year, mainly by political infighting. That means it still has to elect 273 more seats by 24 December, and those elected MPs must in turn vote for a president for the ‘democratic’ transfer of power to be complete.

By Peter Fabricius

24 November, 2021

The United States and Africa: Building a 21st Century Partnership

We welcome the African Continental Free Trade Area, because we want to see Africa’s economic power in the world grow. More consumers should gain access to African goods and services. More jobs must be created for Africa’s young people – the global workforce of the future.

By Antony J. Blinken

25 November, 2021

China and Africa Move into New Era of Cooperation

Africa is experiencing a flowing tide of solidarity and self-strengthening, and the continent’s influence in international affairs continues to grow. It is now forging ahead with the development of free trade zones, accelerating industrialization and modernization, and heading towards the bright future envisioned in the AU’s Agenda 2063.

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

30 November, 2021

China will donate 1 billion covid-19 vaccines to Africa

Apart from flagging the threats of China’s model of engagement with developing countries, the US and other countries have not been able to provide any tangible alternatives (US has sought to further increase its outreach vis-à-vis Africa in recent years, and it seeks to increase economic engagement under the umbrella of the Indo-Pacific.

By Tridivesh Singh Maini

9 December, 2021

South Africa’s Police: A Rigid Bureaucracy Struggling To Reform

The SAPS should fully embrace a non-militaristic ethos oriented towards public service and minimal use of force. Police leadership, and the governance system that oversees policing in South Africa, must also be revitalised.

By David Bruce

11 December, 2021

Burning Ambition: Egypt’s Return To Regional Leadership And How Europe Should Respond

Egyptian foreign ministry officials interviewed for this paper describe the last decade of Egypt’s regional positioning as “defensive” in nature as the country contended with domestic issues.

By Hafsa Halawa

11 December, 2021

Africa-China Relations Could Serve as Bulwark against Imperialist Hegemony

Note: These remarks were prepared and delivered in part for a webinar held on Sunday December 12 entitled “China/Africa Relations: Challenges of Cooperation and Development.” The event was sponsored by the International Manifesto Group and the Group for Research and Initiative for the Liberation of Africa (GRILA).

By Abayomi Azikiwe

14 December, 2021

Africa in Review 2021 (Part III) : Unification is Essential to Progress and Development

Of course, Dr. Nkrumah during the years between 1945-1972, wrote extensively on the necessity of African unification. The union of African governments and people would encompass the national economies, the trade unions, youth, women, military institutions and the establishment of a continental market based in socialist planning.

By Abayomi Azikiwe

1 January, 2022

Russia, Africa and the Sputnik V

On bilateral basis, Russia has made some vaccine deliveries, but only to its preferred countries including North Africa (Algeria Morocco and Egypt), in East Africa (Ethiopia), in Southern Africa (Angola, Mozambique and Zimbabwe) and West Africa (Guinea). Media reports say South Africa has rejected Sputnik V donation.

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

5 January, 2022

What Does 2022 Have In Store For Africa?

Compared to other recent periods, the continent has relatively fewer conflict situations at the dawn of 2022 and a few conflicts that are quite deadly. Several states—Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Libya, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria and Somalia—are experiencing a range of violent conflicts that are leaving much civilian suffering in their wake. Many have tended to privilege military approaches to ending them. A change in strategy in Ethiopia and states in the Sahel could move them closer to peace.

By Dr Issaka Souaré

12 February, 2022

The Horn of Africa States – A New Regional Block

After a nearly two decades old antagonistic relationship between Ethiopia and Eritrea, it ended with a seemingly unexpected rapprochement between the two countries in July 2018.

By Dr. Suleiman Walhad

16 February, 2022

Can Africa Unite?

The AU and the EU, both together and individually, must focus their efforts on the appropriate vehicles for attaining this goal. For its part, the AU will need to establish stronger institutions capable of nurturing economic growth and ensuring that its gains are widely shared. As recent coups in West Africa show, many African countries have a long way to go to establish good governance and thereby provide for their populations.

By Malado Kaba

19 February, 2022

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