Please note: The following news items are presented here for informational purposes. The views expressed within them are those of the authors and/or individuals quoted, not those of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, the National Defense University, or the Department of Defense.
The survival of Obama’s legacy for Africa
David Ignatius: African initiatives a good start
Africa: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Africa Must Leapfrog its Way to the Future
Using a Tactic Unseen in a Century, Countries Cordon Off Ebola-Racked Areas
Inside the Ebola outbreak with the CDC
Ebola outbreak: Kenya at high risk, warns WHO
Kissing the Corpses in Ebola Country
Video: Expert virologist plays down hopes of Ebola ‘cure’
Canada sends trial Ebola vaccine to W Africa
Libya crisis: Head of Tripoli police ‘assassinated’
Benghazi fighters ignore ceasefire plea
As Libya deteriorates, Egyptians are desperate to get out
Sierra Leone: Justice Sector and the Rule of Law
Schumann: Both sides ’still pursuing military option’ in South Sudan
Concerns over South Sudan arms build-up as famine looms
Sudan receives $1.22 billion in credit guarantees from Qatar: official
In Nigeria, Boko Haram follows in the footsteps of Iraq’s Islamic State
Mozambique passes amnesty law for Dhlakama
At Niger’s School For Husbands, The Lesson Is ‘Space Your Children’
What’s More Important, the War on AIDS or Just War?
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The survival of Obama’s legacy for Africa
The test of President Barack Obama’s Africa policies will be if they survive after the next US president takes over in 2017. Obama is focusing on programmes to increase electricity production and distribution, boost agriculture and improve the business climate. Many of the policy initiatives of his predecessors are still in place and form the basis for US-africa cooperation. President Bill clinton signed the african Growth and Opportunities act (AGOA), which provides duty-free access for a series of african products to the Us market, back in may 2000. The Africa Reports
David Ignatius: African initiatives a good start
[...] One thing the United States learned in Afghanistan was insurgents feed on a lack of law enforcement and justice. So it’s good the security initiative imagines, as a model, strengthening a Ministry of Justice’s and Director of Public Prosecution’s ability to lead a government-wide effort against terrorism and other transnational crimes, provide oversight and accountability, and ensure effective and accountable corrections management. A danger of the Africa initiatives is that the United States will view the continent’s complex problems through the sometimes distorting lens of counterterrorism. A strong military and security service that enables economic development, as in Rwanda, can also veer perilously close to authoritarianism. Perhaps recognizing the dangers of militarization, the policy papers issued by the White House this week made little mention of any role for the Pentagon’s regional command, known as Africom. And it’s notable that the new Security Governance Initiative will be based at the State Department — which makes sense as long as State has the resources and expeditionary spirit to make it work. CJ Online
Africa: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Last week, President Obama hosted the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, D.C. He welcomed over 40 African heads of state and their outsized entourages to what was a festive affair. Indeed, even the Ebola virus in West Africa failed to dampen spirits in the nation’s capital. Perhaps it was the billions of dollars in African investment, announced by America’s great private companies, that was so uplifting. Good cheer was also observed in the advertising departments of major newspapers. Yes, many of the guest countries paid for lengthy advertisements–page turners–in the newspapers of record. That said, the substantive coverage of this gathering was thin. Neither the good, the bad, nor the ugly, received much ink. What about the good? Private business creates prosperity, and prosperity is literally good for your health. My friend, the late Peter T. Bauer, documented the benefits of private trade in his classic 1954 book West African Trade. The Cato Institute
Africa Must Leapfrog its Way to the Future
Governments, NGOs and businesses spend billions of dollars across Africa building new hospitals and training new doctors. But currently, the doctor-patient ratio in many African countries is one-twentieth or less of what it is in the US and Europe, meaning many patients, particularly in remote areas, never get the specialist care they need. Even in the best conditions, hospitals take time to build and it can take more than a decade to train a specialist doctor. Is the right approach to improving Africa’s healthcare therefore to build hospitals and train doctors? Think Africa Press
Using a Tactic Unseen in a Century, Countries Cordon Off Ebola-Racked Areas
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is so out of control that governments there have revived a disease-fighting tactic not used in nearly a century: the “cordon sanitaire,” in which a line is drawn around the infected area and no one is allowed out.Cordons, common in the medieval era of the Black Death, have not been seen since the border between Poland and Russia was closed in 1918 to stop typhus from spreading west. They have the potential to become brutal and inhumane. Centuries ago, in their most extreme form, everyone within the boundaries was left to die or survive, until the outbreak ended. The New York Times
Inside the Ebola outbreak with the CDC
There are nine of us from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention in Lagos, Nigeria. We arrived from different U.S. states, or from the CDC’s polio team already in Nigeria, and possess varying skill sets, including infection control, global migration and quarantine, data management, epidemiology and communications. We’re here to work with colleagues and partners from Nigeria’s Ministry of Health, UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders and the World Health Organization to stop the largest Ebola outbreak in history — the first in a densely populated, urban environment. Nigeria is the latest country to become affected by the outbreak. The first person to die of Ebola here was an American named Patrick Sawyer, who arrived from Liberia. Now WHO suspects Nigeria has had 12 cases and three deaths. CNN
Ebola outbreak: Kenya at high risk, warns WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified Kenya as a “high-risk” country for the spread of the deadly Ebola virus. Kenya was vulnerable because it was a major transport hub, with many flights from West Africa, a WHO official said. This is the most serious warning to date by the WHO that Ebola could spread to East Africa. The number of people killed by Ebola in West Africa has risen to 1,069, the WHO said in its latest update. Fifty-six deaths and 128 new cases were reported in the region in the two days to 11 August, it added. BBC
Kissing the Corpses in Ebola Country
Ebola victims are most infectious right after death—which means that West African burial practices, where families touch the bodies, are spreading the disease like wildfire. [...] The harder phone calls that the Dead Body Management Team receives, and the more dangerous burials they perform, take place in the communities themselves. Here, they must walk a delicate line between allowing the family to perform goodbye rituals and safeguarding the living from infecting themselves. The washing, touching, and kissing of these bodies—typical in many West African burials—can be deadly. But prohibiting communities from properly honoring their dead ones—and thereby worsening their distrust in medical professionals—can be deadly, too. The Daily Beast
Video: Expert virologist plays down hopes of Ebola ‘cure’
Despite the World Health Organisation giving the go-ahead for untested drugs to be used in the fight against the ongoing Ebola outbreak in West Africa, one expert told FRANCE 24 Wednesday it will be “a constant battle” to create enough doses. Jonathan Ball, Professor of Molecular Virology at Nottingham University in the UK, told FRANCE 24 that ZMapp, a drug that has so far only been tested on animals, was in such short supply that “it can’t be used to treat the several hundred people suffering from Ebola”. France 24
Canada sends trial Ebola vaccine to W Africa
Canada is sending up to 1,000 doses of an experimental vaccine to West Africa to help the World Health Organisation (WHO) fight the Ebola epidemic, the country’s health minister announced. Minister Rona Ambrose said on Wednesday between 800 to 1,000 doses would be distributed through the WHO in West Africa. Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Liberia and Guinea have all reported cases. Ambrose said the Canadian government was “committed to doing everything we can to support our international partners, including providing staff to assist with the outbreak response, funding and access to our experimental vaccine.”Al Jazeera
Libya crisis: Head of Tripoli police ‘assassinated’
The head of police in the Libyan capital Tripoli has been killed by unknown gunmen. Col Muhammad Suwaysi was shot while leaving a meeting in Tajoura, a suburb in the east of the capital. Two of his colleagues were also taken captive, the interior ministry said. Libya has been gripped by violence involving militias that spearheaded the 2011 uprising against Muammar Gaddafi. Thousands have been forced to flee recent fighting in Tripoli. More than three years after the uprising, Libya’s police and army remain weak in comparison to the militias who control large parts of the country. BBC
Benghazi fighters ignore ceasefire plea
Despite repeated calls for a ceasefire in Libya, terror group Ansar al-Sharia launched fresh attacks against security forces last week in Benghazi. Ansar al-Sharia and their allies from the Central Shield and February 17 brigade launched attacks on the Benina district to try to destroy the airport, under the control of Operation Dignity forces. This led the air force to perform a defensive operation that killed at least 74 Ansar al-Sharia members and other extremist fighters in Benghazi last Thursday (August 7th). Magharebia
As Libya deteriorates, Egyptians are desperate to get out
It’s easy to spot Egyptians returning from Libya at the Cairo airport. They come through the doors of the arrival hall almost at a run, one carrying a plastic bag, another a small backpack, eyes down, not scanning the crowd for a familiar face. Most are from Upper Egypt or the Delta region and their families are a long way from the capital. Some arrive in groups from the same village or town in Egypt, and many wear the long brown or gray cotton robe commonly worn in rural areas, dusty after days spent on the Libya-Tunisia border. Libya’s two largest cities, Tripoli and Benghazi, have seen heavy fighting among rival militias in the last few weeks, and daily life has “stopped,” according to an official at the Libyan embassy in Cairo who spoke on condition of anonymity. Globalpost
Sierra Leone: Justice Sector and the Rule of Law
The report, ‘Sierra Leone : Justice Sector and the Rule of Law’, suggests that while a number of successful initiatives and reforms have been achieved, challenges such as the lack of adequate legal aid services, discriminatory laws and allegations of corruption persist. Open Society Initiative for West Africa
Schumann: Both sides ’still pursuing military option’ in South Sudan
The diplomats from the 15-member council were on a two-day mission in the South Sudanese capital Juba. South Sudan is on the brink of famine following eight months of violence sparked by a power struggle between President Salva Kiir and his sacked deputy Riek Machar. Thousands have been killed and more than 1.5 million have been displaced. DW: UN diplomats have sent their strongest message yet to South Sudan threatening the country with sanctions. Is this likely to have any impact? Peter Schumann: I don’t think so. This is not the first time the Security Council has threatened sanctions, or action similar to sanctions. They did it in the past when there was a problem between north and South Sudan. Deutsche Welle
Concerns over South Sudan arms build-up as famine looms
There are reports that South Sudan’s warring factions are arming themselves for another bout of fighting, a delegation from the UN Security Council said, threatening both sides with sanctions amid growing fears of a man-made famine. At least 10 000 people have been killed since fierce fighting erupted in December, pitting President Salva Kiir’s government forces against supporters of Riek Machar, his former deputy and long-time rival. The two men signed a ceasefire on May 9 and agreed to form an interim government by August 10, but they missed that deadline as peace talks in Addis Ababa stalled. Diplomats said both sides violated the truce while negotiations continued. DefenseWeb
Sudan receives $1.22 billion in credit guarantees from Qatar: official
The governor of the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS), Abdel-Rahman Hassan Abdel-Rahman, disclosed that Sudan received $1.22 billion in credit guarantees from Qatar following the visit by president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir to Doha last month. The Qatari newspaper al-Sharq on Tuesday quoted Abdel-Rahman as saying that the governor of the Qatar Central Bank (QCB), Abdullah Bin Saud, agreed to provide Sudan with $500 million in credit guarantees to import Qatari products, noting that the step would encourage Qatari companies and businesses to export their products to Sudan. Sudan Tribune
In Nigeria, Boko Haram follows in the footsteps of Iraq’s Islamic State
Boko Haram has long wanted to carve out its own country in north-eastern Nigeria. It’s always been an improbable goal – until now. Emboldened by the successes in Iraq and Syria of the Islamic State, Boko Haram has changed its tactics and is closer than ever before to realising an Islamic state of its own. The Daily Maverick
Mozambique passes amnesty law for Dhlakama
Mozambique’s parliament has approved an amnesty law that will allow opposition Renamo party leader Afonso Dhlakama to leave his hideaway in the bush, sign a peace accord with President Armando Guebuza and run in an October 15 election, lawmakers said. The law approved late on Tuesday also applied to Dhlakama’s supporters, who had clashed with the government army since 2012. The violence raised fears for stability in the southern African nation which is developing big coal and offshore gas deposits. The amnesty is part of a peace deal between Renamo and Guebuza’s ruling Frelimo party, old foes in a 1975-1992 civil war, and means Dhlakama will not face prosecution or arrest for the attacks carried out by his followers over the last year. IOL News
At Niger’s School For Husbands, The Lesson Is ‘Space Your Children’
The school for husbands is in session in Niger. It’s part of an effort to bring down the world’s highest birthrate: more than seven children per woman on average. That’s a major problem in a country that depends on agriculture but has only a limited amount of land that can be farmed — much of Niger is desert — and ever more hungry mouths. The current population of 17 million is expected to double in 20 years if the birthrate stays at its current level. Jason Beaubien visited Niger this summer to see how the government is trying to bring down family size. He’ll report on this topic on the radio in the weeks ahead, but gave Goats and Soda a preview of the schools for husbands, which began in 2011 as a program from the United Nations Population Fund. In different communities, men meet twice a month, under a tree or in an open-air classroom, to talk about maternal health and contraception. NPR
What’s More Important, the War on AIDS or Just War?
hey say there is a war on and its target is the deadly human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This war runs worldwide but its main battleground is sub-Saharan Africa, where seven out of 10 HIV positive persons in the world live – 24.7 million in 2013. The region suffered up to 1.3 million AIDS-related deaths in the same year, according to the United Nations. A ragtag army is fighting the war on AIDS. Sometimes it is comprised of well-dressed aid officials sitting in conference rooms allocating funds. At other times, it deploys shabby foot soldiers – community healthcare workers and AIDS activists – into desolate rural areas with no running water, let alone antiretroviral therapy. IPS News