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Rodriguez, experienced in Afghanistan, becomes new AFRICOM boss
Gen. David M. Rodriguez, one of the Army's most battle-tested officers, took over Friday as head of U.S. Africa Command as the U.S. military is confronting a growing threat from Islamic militant groups operating across the continent. Rodriguez replaced Gen. Carter F. Ham, who will retire after leading AFRICOM through a tumultuous two years that included leading the military campaign in Libya that ultimately led to the ouster of dictator Moammar Gadhafi and a commando mission to rescue hostages from Somalia. The command also trained African soldiers, who are now engaged in security operations in places such as Somalia and Mali. Stars and Stripes
The Benefits of U.S. Drones in West Africa
The United States has continued to ramp up its counterterrorism and intelligence efforts in Africa, recently announcing that it has come to an agreement with Niger to establish a drone hub in that country and that the U.S. Department of State has designated Mali-based Ansar Dine a foreign terrorist organization. Ansar Dine, which has ties to al Qaeda, is one of the militant Islamist groups that took control of parts of Mali following last year's coup and has launched attacks against Malian and French forces. The establishment of a U.S. base in Niger is intended to facilitate intelligence collection and will provide a more complete picture of militant movements in Niger, Mali, and other countries in the Sahel. U.S.News & World Report
France 'to buy US drones'
Paris is reportedly mulling the purchase of the US-made surveillance Reaper drones in a bid to grow its military capabilities, according to a French defence ministry source. In the midst of France's Operation Serval in Mali, Paris is considering buying US-made unarmed surveillance drones to boost its military capabilities, a source from the defence ministry told AFP on Friday. France24
France Says Mali Elections Feasible, Urges Tuaregs to Disarm
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Friday France would stick to plans to reduce its military presence in Mali ahead of elections in July, and he called on Tuareg rebels to lay down their arms so the vote could go ahead. Visiting the Malian capital Bamako for talks with the interim government, Fabius said France would proceed with plans to cut its military presence from late April despite attacks by Islamist fighters in northern cities. VOA
Algerian governor escapes Al-Qaeda assassination
Medea wali Brahim Merad on Wednesday (April 3rd) survived an assassination attempt by al-Qaeda terrorists in the Algerian city of Mezghena. Terrorists opened fire on police officers who were securing the route for the governor's convoy going to an event. One police officer was killed and two others were wounded and were taken to a hospital in Tablat. There are conflicting reports as to what happened, El Watan noted. One of the newspaper's sources said that terrorists started shooting into a crowd of people they thought were surrounding the governor. Magharebia
How three Canadians graduated from a rebellious high school friendship to the world of Islamist terrorism
The distressed family of Ali Medlej explained the unexpected death of their son by saying he was killed in a car accident. The truth, as they - and the world - now knows, is more ghastly and perplexing: The young London man died perpetrating January's terrorist attack on an Algerian gas plant. The violent end of Ali Medlej, along with Xristos Katsiroubas, his chum from school whom he helped convert to Islam, came not in a car, but in the North African desert in an attack that left 37 hostages dead, most of them incinerated in an explosion that likely also purposely killed the Canadian attackers. National Post
Africa Answers: Perspectives on President Obama's Meeting with African Leaders
Last week, President Obama met with President Macky Sall of Senegal, along with President Joyce Banda of Malawi, President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone, and Prime Minister José Maria Pereira Neves of Cape Verde. Their discussion largely revolved around strengthening democratic institutions in their respective countries and Africa in general. I sat down last Thursday with Abdoulaye Diagne-the director of the Consortium for Economic and Social Research (CRES) in Senegal, one of our think tank partners from Africa-to discuss the significance of last week's meeting and new challenges facing Senegal. Below are Abdoulaye's answers to my questions. CRES is a great resource on Senegal and economics in West Africa. You can follow them on Twitter at @CRESContact, or leave a comment below. Brookings
President Obama congratulates Uhuru on election victory
President-elect Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto today received a congratulatory message from America's President Barrack Obama on their election in last month's general elections. In the congratulatory message that was delivered to the President-elect today at his KICC office by America's Ambassador to Kenya Mr Robert Godec, President Obama said the electoral process and the peaceful adjudication of disputes that ensued are testaments to the progress Kenya has made in strengthening its democratic institutions. The Star
Darfur and Sudan: visionary approach needed - and Qatar can help
The crisis in Darfur is now a decade old, yet fighting continues. More people were displaced by a surge of violence in January than in the whole of 2012. Over half the population (3.5 million Darfuris) still receives food aid - about the same amount as five years ago when the Darfur crisis was said to be at its height. Even more telling of the suffering of civilians, 1.4 million of those receiving food aid are still living in "temporary" camps. In its bid to foster peace in this region, Qatar is hosting the Doha Donors Conference on Darfur this Sunday. Such leadership should be lauded. However, if Qatar wants to see real return on its investment, those attending the conference must understand the reality and look beyond Darfur to the fundamental drivers of conflict that affect all of Sudan. The Guardian
Report: Uneven justice could hurt stability in Ivory Coast
A recent Human Rights Watch report highlights imbalance in charges against culprits of the 2011 post-election violence. The president's supporters have not faced the kind of punishment opponents have. CS Monitor
Here Are the U.S. States That Benefit Most From America's Wacky International Food-Aid Program
The U.S. buys and ships American grains to feed distressed nations. Some charity groups want to change that, but shippers say doing so will cost thousands of American jobs. [...] On one side, a coalition of humanitarian groups hopes the 2014 federal budget - which should be announced Wednesday - changes the current, decades-old system run by the Department of Agriculture so that emergency food would instead be bought in the markets of the country it's intended to help, rather than in the U.S. This, proponents say, will be more efficient (no more shipping food over thousands of miles of ocean), better for local producers and growers, and less disruptive to the food economies of developing countries. The Atlantic
Coptic Christians under siege as mob attacks Cairo cathedral
Hundreds of Christians are under siege inside Cairo's Coptic cathedral as security forces and local residents, some armed with handguns, launched a prolonged and unprecedented attack on the seat of Egypt's ancient church. At least one person was killed and more than 20 injured as Christians inside the walled cathedral compound came under a frenzied assault from their assailants in the main road outside. The Independant
Egypt's Looming Famine and America's Grain Bounty
Headlined in Sunday's New York Times, front page lead column "Short Of Money, Egypt Sees Crisis On Fuel and Food" goes into the grim details that Egypt is at the precipice of an acute food shortage, and that Egypt's desperately scarce wheat, needed to feed a growingly restive population with subsidized bread, is "stirring fears of an economic catastrophe." Negotiations with the World Bank and the IMF are foundering given the tax increases and subsidy cuts demanded by these international institutions of an Egyptian government already struggling to quell the ever mounting violent protests by its political rivals. The Huffington Post
North Africa: Why Has Libya Given U.S.$2 Billion to Egypt?
Libya's large donation to Egypt, particularly in the context of its own domestic problems, has led to a range of theories. [...] in the aftermath of the collapse of both the Gaddafi and Mubarak regimes, the new rulers of Libya and Egypt have decided to pursue the programme of economic integration initiated in the late 1990s. Last month, Libya's government authorised the transfer of $2 billion to the Egyptian treasury.[...] Speculation about Libya's capital 'gift' to its Egyptian neighbour is rife. One theory is that Libya, whose own (already rather ramshackle) economic infrastructure was devastated during the conflict which deposed Gaddafi, is keen to attract tens of thousands of Egyptian labourers to help aid its national reconstruction process. allAfrica
Post-Arab Spring censorship on the rise
More journalists, bloggers, musicians and other public figures are increasingly being summoned to court in an apparent crackdown on freedom of expression in Egypt and Tunisia. But they're not going without a fight. Egyptian TV satirist Bassem Youssef, who has been compared with United States news parody show host Jon Stewart, this past week had to answer to Egyptian prosecutors over charges of insulting Islam and President Morsi. Although an Egyptian administrative court threw out a lawsuit filed by a Muslim Brotherhood lawyer seeking to ban Youssef and his satirical political show, Youssef still faces other, similar charges. Deutsche Welle
Nigerian Presidential Commission to Discuss Boko Haram Amnesty
Possible measures that would grant amnesty to members of the militant group Boko Haram are to be reviewed this week by a commission established by Nigeria's president, Goodluck Jonathan. Barrister Solomon Dalong, a leading member of the Boko Haram Commission, says Nigeria has granted amnesty to several groups as part of efforts by previous governments to end violence and stabilize the country. VOA
Mozambique: Political Violence Rises
Members of a Mozambican opposition party's militia killed four police officers in an attack on a provincial police station to try to free more than a dozen party members arrested in a police raid on their headquarters, the police said Friday. The opposition party, Renamo, confirmed that its members carried out the attack on Thursday in the town of Muxungue in Sofala Province, home of the party headquarters that the police had raided a day earlier. The party's security chief, Osufo Madate, said the attack showed Renamo's refusal to tolerate "oppression" by the governing party, Frelimo. The episode was one of the worst outbreaks of political violence in a decade and raised concerns about next year's elections. Reuters on the New York Times
Joseph Kony Gets a Break as U.S. and African Forces Stop Their Search
Infamous African warlord Joseph Kony might soon be taking a break from life as a fugitive. Following a recent coup in the Central African Republic, the African Union has ordered a halt to the hunt for Kony and his rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), which launched an insurgency 25 years ago. Since 2008, African troops, led by the Ugandan military and later supported by 100 U.S. Special Forces soldiers in 2011, have combed the dense jungles between Congo, North and South Sudan, and the Central African Republic trying to find the elusive warlord. Kony, a self-styled mystic leader, was indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. His rebels are notorious for mutilating innocent people and abducting children to become sex slaves. Now, without the counter-LRA force, civilians and NGOs are extremely concerned about the consequences of Kony's forces being free to roam this remote region. The Daily Beast
UN Mission in Congo: Can UN Peacekeepers Really Resolve the Crisis? Probably Not
Did you catch that? The United Nations is planning on sending a peacekeeping force to the Congo with aggressive intent. According to the NYT, "The United Nations Security Council authorized ... an unprecedented mandate to take military action against rebel groups to help bring peace to the eastern portion of the country." This looks like a recap of the entire history of the United Nations: A resolution that aspires upward and upward ... to nowhere. Policymic
DRC wants own currency back
With the economy on the mend, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has begun a campaign to rebuild the national currency and wean the country off the US dollar. In the 1990s, during the waning days of the brutal regime of dictator Mobuto Sese Seko, hyperinflation that hit 2 000% led to the marginalisation of the Congolese franc and the rise of the safehaven greenback. By the end of last year, the dollar accounted for 89% of bank deposits and 95% of loans, according the country's central bank. News 24
Guinea-Bissau ex-navy chief in US court
The former navy chief of Guinea-Bissau and four others were ordered detained in New York on Friday after being arrested for an alleged trans-Atlantic cocaine trafficking plot. The highest-profile member of the alleged gang was Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto, a US-designated drug "kingpin" who is alleged to have exploited political chaos in his West African homeland to establish himself as a major middleman in the international narcotics trade. The five were presented before a Manhattan federal judge and ordered detained without bail, but did not enter pleas, the US prosecutor's office said in a statement. News 24
Terrorists planning Somali attacks, UK government warns
Terrorists are in the final stages of planning attacks in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, the British government has warned. Concerns about a possible attack were highlighted in a statement issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), which already advises against all travel to Somalia. The Foreign Office's website states that attacks in and around Mogadishu continue to be carried out by al-Shabaab, a terrorist group, and others opposed to the Somali government. The Guardian
Lions on the move: The progress and potential of African economies
Africa's collective GDP, at $1.6 trillion in 2008, is now roughly equal to Brazil's or Russia's. While Africa's increased economic momentum is widely recognized, less known are its sources and likely staying power. Among the key findings: Africa's growth acceleration was widespread, with 27 of its 30 largest economies expanding more rapidly after 2000. All sectors contributed, including resources, finance, retail, agriculture, transportation and telecommunications. Natural resources directly accounted for just 24 percent of the continent's GDP growth from 2000 through 2008. Key to Africa's growth surge were improved political and macroeconomic stability and microeconomic reforms. McKinsey & Company
Investing in Africa: The hottest frontier
Africa's equity markets are hot, with investors attracted by the sub-Saharan region's GDP growth rate of more than 5% over the past three years. The main markets in Nigeria and Kenya have risen by more than 50% in the past year (see chart). Over the past decade Africa supplied six of the world's ten economies with the fastest growth. By 2020 more than half of African households will have enough income to splurge some of it on non-essentials, according to McKinsey, a consultancy. Furthermore, more than half of Africa's population is aged under 20. Within three decades it will have a larger working-age population than China. The Economist
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