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.
UN Security Council urges immediate ceasefire in Libya, steps up sanctions
Libya’s Proxy Apocalypse
Tunisia, Neighboring Countries Reject Foreign Intervention
Al Shabaab and Boko Haram’s madness could save Africa in the end – but the price will be very high
Algeria to launch $262 bln five-year investment plan
WHO: Dozens Monitored for Possible Ebola in DRC
Ebola spreads to Nigeria oil hub Port Harcourt
Ebola causing huge damage to West Africa economies: development bank
How Not to Solve Terrorism – the Kenyan Edition
Rwanda steps up the fight against human trafficking
South Sudan rivals sign new ceasefire deal
IGAD’s Missed Opportunity for Action on South Sudan
When Do Food Shortages Become A Famine? There’s A Formula For That
DRC: Kabila eyes lifetime presidency and must be given a way out
Nile Basin Tension Mounts as Waters Decline
UN asks Sahel countries to set up border patrols
Zambia power struggle as doubts grow over president’s health
To Stem Africa’s Illegal Ivory Trade to Asia, Focus on Key Shipping Ports
Cracking down on cybercrime in Ivory Coast
Ethiopian girls as young as five married off
Equatorial Guinea’s ambassador to US ’suspect in beating of girl’
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UN Security Council urges immediate ceasefire in Libya, steps up sanctions
The UN Security Council on Wednesday adopted a resolution on Libya, calling for an immediate ceasefire while expanding sanctions to include those involved in violence there. In the unanimously approved resolution here, the 15-member Council “calls on all parties to agree to an immediate ceasefire and an end to fighting, and expresses its strong support for the efforts of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in this regard.” The Council condemned the use of violence against civilians and civilian institutions and called for those responsible to be held accountable, said the resolution. Xinhua
Libya’s Proxy Apocalypse
[...] In any case, the raids mounted by U.A.E. warplanes using Egyptian air bases proved ineffectual in stopping renegade Islamists from securing Tripoli’s mostly destroyed international airport. The United States and its European allies fear outside interference will only exacerbate deep political divisions and will draw Libya deeper into regional disputes, turning the country into a proxy battleground for outside powers. But the Americans and the British have closed their embassies because of the growing threat to their personnel. And once again Washington, Brussels, Paris and London seem to be behind the curve figuring out what’s happening on the ground. Advisers to Libya’s latest interim prime minister, Abdullah al-Thinni, accuse Western powers of “lacking realism” about the perilous situation that already exists. Dealy Beast
Tunisia, Neighboring Countries Reject Foreign Intervention
Ministers of foreign affairs from Libya’s neighboring countries met Monday in Cairo to discuss the country’s crippling violence and its consequences for the region. “Tunisia affirms the importance of [finding] a peaceful solution to the Libyan crisis and rejects the possibility of foreign intervention in the country,” Tunisia’s foreign ministry said Tuesday in a communique on its official Facebook page. The meeting’s concluding statement called for an immediate ceasefire and “dialogue between all political parties that renounce violence as a step toward achieving national reconciliation and building a new constitution for the country.” Tunisia Live
Al Shabaab and Boko Haram’s madness could save Africa in the end – but the price will be very high
AS the Somali militant and extremist group Al Shabaab continued to bomb innocent people, and on the weekend beheaded a driver they kidnapped from neighbouring Kenya, and Nigeria’s even more ruthless Boko Haram released a video showing them carrying out mass executions and beating their prisoners to death with shovels, it seems like madness to see any goodness in their actions. Yet, there is something “positive” in their insanity. Boko Haram and Al Shabaab are different from previous rebel and anti-establishment insurgents not so much in their brutality – Angola’s UNITA and Mozamibque’s Renamo were worse and they were Christian– but in their politics. Mail and Guardian
Algeria to launch $262 bln five-year investment plan
Algeria will launch a new five-year investment plan worth $262 billion to boost domestic production and move its economy away from reliance on oil and gas, the government said. The OPEC member north African country has been spending heavily on social programmes and infrastructures to avert unrests and diversify the oil-reliant economy. But analysts say previous investment plans have had little impact due to a slow pace of reform that has limited foreign and private investors’ involvement in bringing the economy out of stagnation. Projects to be included in the 2015-2019 plan will be finalised before the end of this year, said an official statement following a cabinet meeting chaired by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika this week. The new step is intended to “develop a productive and diversified economy”, it said, without giving details. The Africa Report
WHO: Dozens Monitored for Possible Ebola in DRC
The World Health Organization says 80 people are now being monitored for Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where officials reported an outbreak of the disease this week. The United Nations agency said Wednesday it was awaiting lab results to confirm that the disease was definitely Ebola. The WHO said the outbreak began with a pregnant woman in Equateur province who fell sick with Ebola-like symptoms after butchering an animal killed by her husband. VOA
Ebola spreads to Nigeria oil hub Port Harcourt
Nigeria has confirmed its first Ebola death outside Lagos – a doctor in the oil hub of Port Harcourt. A further 70 people are under surveillance in the city, while his wife has been put under quarantine. He died last Friday but the results of the tests have only just been announced by Nigeria’s health minister. The latest figures show that more than 1,550 people have died, with more than 3,000 confirmed cases – mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. West Africa’s health ministers are meeting in Ghana to discuss how to tackle the world’s most deadly Ebola outbreak. line BBC
Ebola causing huge damage to West Africa economies: development bank
Ebola is causing enormous damage to West African economies, draining budgetary resources and slashing economic growth by up to 4 percent as foreign businessmen leave and projects are cancelled, the African Development Bank president said. As transport companies suspend services, cutting off the region, governments and economists have warned that the worst outbreak of the hemorrhagic Ebola fever on record could crush the fragile economic gains made in Sierra Leone and Liberia following a decade of civil war in the 1990s. Air France, the French network of Air France-KLM said on Wednesday it has suspended its flights to Sierra Leone following advice from the French government. France did not recommend suspending flights to Nigeria and Guinea. Reuters
How Not to Solve Terrorism – the Kenyan Edition
In an effort to combat domestic terrorism, and in a bid to create an ‘open and united country,’ Kenya is breaking its own laws to harass, kidnap and execute suspects. It’s a strange way to go about things – and could well backfire on the Kenyan government. In the wake of last year’s Westgate siege, in which 67 people were killed, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta issued a grim warning to its perpetrators. ‘We have overcome terrorist attacks before. In fact, we have fought courageously and defeated them within and outside our borders. We will defeat them again,’ he said. ‘But let me make it clear. We shall hunt down the perpetrators wherever they run to. We shall get them. We shall punish them for this heinous crime. I have directed security agencies to be decisive in their response to this or any other threat.’ allAfrica
Rwanda steps up the fight against human trafficking
Human trafficking is a growing problem in Rwanda, say the country’s police, although they are reluctant to give precise figures or even speculate. Nevertheless, there are many examples. Just last year, seven girls who had been dragged off to neighboring Uganda were successfully liberated. Police reported that the girls were forced into prostitution after having been lured with promises of good employment. Rwandan President Paul Kagame has now taken up the issue. “How is it possible that our children – particularly girls – have become a commodity, even though we are aware of the problem?” he asked in parliament. Deutsche Welle
South Sudan rivals sign new ceasefire deal
South Sudan’s warring leaders have signed a fresh ceasefire deal vowing to end more than eight months of conflict, according to mediators who threatened sanctions should the agreement fail once again. East Africa’s regional IGAD bloc, which mediated the talks between President Salva Kiir and his sacked deputy Riek Machar, called on the leaders to forge a unity government within 45 days. Thousands of people have been killed and more than 1.8 million have fled civil war sparked by a power struggle between Kiir and Machar, who met on Monday for the first time in more than two months. Al Jazeera
IGAD’s Missed Opportunity for Action on South Sudan
Over 40,000 people living in shin-deep disease-filled sludge and water, surrounded by an abusive conflict. Sleepless nights standing in water that sits for weeks on impermeable mud, children dying every day, buried in the same slick earth in unmarked graves, dark skies threatening to flood already submerged grass homes even further. It’s hard to imagine that things could get worse here − the UN base in Bentiu, South Sudan, is already hell − but it just might. In the last weeks, South Sudan’s war has come right up to the edges of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) base with gun battles and shelling in Bentiu shaking the air. As has been demonstrated time and again in this nine-month war, just because civilians have fled to a UN base does not mean they are safe. Moreover, regional leaders tasked with ending the war have just missed an opportunity when the heads-of-state summit of East Africa’s Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the body mediating South Sudan’s peace negotiations, ended on 25 August without tough action. Think Africa Press
When Do Food Shortages Become A Famine? There’s A Formula For That
[...] Consider Somalia, a country that’s been mired in war and chaos for more than two decades. When FEWS NET declared famine there in 2011, aid money poured in, as did television cameras. The famine was quickly defeated. But by the time the Somali famine was officially declared, at least half of its 260,000 victims had already died. So by the time conditions become so dire that they warrant the famine label, it can be too late. Holly Solberg, the emergency response director for CARE International, worked in Somalia before and after famine was declared. She hopes South Sudan doesn’t have to reach such an extreme state before it merits an international rescue. It is far cheaper, she points out, to avert a famine before it begins, than to alleviate it once it’s declared. NPR
DRC: Kabila eyes lifetime presidency and must be given a way out
Current events in the elite politics of the DRC should be of great concern for those who follow developments in the country. Systematic efforts are being made by the Presidency and sections of the Presidential Majority to modify the 2006 constitution or, more likely, to have a new constitution passed by referendum. This would enable the incumbent President to abolish the current two-term limit to his presidential mandate. This new constitution would open the door for a lifetime presidency, leaving President Kabila in power until he dies or until he goes into exile. The extensive efforts made since 1998 to turn the bullet into the ballot risk being wasted. However, if concerted action is taken then the lifetime presidency can be prevented before it’s too late. A first effort from the President to remain in power occurred during the 2013 National Dialogue which regrouped the major part of the political elite, majority and opposition. President Kabila tried to turn the Dialogue into a forum on the modification of the constitution. African Arguments
Nile Basin Tension Mounts as Waters Decline
Today, nearly a billion people in the developing world don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water. In sub-Saharan Africa, people’s true potential is restricted by time lost trying to gather water and energy spent suffering from water-borne diseases. Education is lost to sickness. Economic development fails when people have to fight for survival. As water supplies get tighter, conflicts will inevitably emerge, warns Lester Brown, the president of the Earth Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. “Not only could it get worse, but it will get worse,” Brown said. “Africa has two water problems: water safety – getting water that is safe to drink- and getting enough water to produce food.” VOA
UN asks Sahel countries to set up border patrols
The UN Security Council on Wednesday asked African countries of the troubled Sahel region to set up regional patrols to better protect their borders from organized crime and terror groups. In a unanimously adopted statement, the council expressed concern for the “alarming situation” in the region, citing groups such as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Nigeria’s Boko Haram and Mali’s Ansar Dine. It called on countries to “strengthen border security and consider establishing special units to undertake regional patrols, to effectively constrain the spread of transnational threats in the region.” Originally from Algeria, AQIM fighters were key players in the insurgency in northern Mali and Boko Haram rebels have staged attacks in Cameroon, highlighting the cross-border reach of the armed groups. AFP on Yahoo News
Zambia power struggle as doubts grow over president’s health
Ailing Zambian President Michael Sata has not been seen in public for more than two months, prompting a behind-the-scenes power struggle to succeed him. Publicly at least, the government of this copper-rich nation maintains that 77-year-old Sata – once nicknamed “King Cobra” – is in sound health and is discharging his duties as normal. But inside Lusaka’s State House and the headquarters of his ruling Patriotic Front (PF), such is the worry about Sata’s health that jockeying for position has already begun, according to analysts. “There is a power struggle because those that are close to him know that he is not strong enough to live much longer, and they have advanced their preparations for elections,” political scientist Neo Simutanyi told AFP. Africa Review
To Stem Africa’s Illegal Ivory Trade to Asia, Focus on Key Shipping Ports
While there are effectively unlimited numbers of poachers and consumers fueling the lucrative illegal ivory market, a new report suggests that nearly all the ivory shuttled from Africa to Asia—the biggest market—is confined to as few as 200 shipping containers a year. This “transit or supply chain is the single greatest point of vulnerability in the illicit ivory system,” says Adam Roberts, CEO of Born Free, an anti-poaching group based in Washington, D.C. On Wednesday, the group issued what it calls a “landmark” study on how illegal ivory is moved from Africa to Asia. Called “Out of Africa: Mapping the Global Trade in Illicit Elephant Ivory,” the study was conducted over three months by C4ADS, an NGO that seeks to shed light on global conflict and security issues through research and analysis. National Geographics Daily News
Cracking down on cybercrime in Ivory Coast
[...] The Ivorian government has set up a special forensic police unit, Plateforme de Lutte Contre la Cybecriminalité (PLCC). It is composed of policemen, computer and telecommunication experts, and law practitioners to combat escalating cybercrime – which analysts say has dented the image of the country abroad. Annual reports published by the PLCC showed that victims lost $6.2m in 2012 and $6.6m in 2013 from cybercrime carried out in Ivory Coast. A total of $28m has so far been stolen since the police unit began keeping records of complaints five-years ago. Al Jazeera
Ethiopian girls as young as five married off
Mekdes Murgeta does not remember her actual wedding, but her family told her it happened when she was five. Pointing at her own five-year-old daughter she confirms she was her age. Murgeta lives in Mosebo, a rural village in the Amhara region in central Ethiopia. There, as in the rest of Ethiopia, it is illegal to be married before the age of 18. According to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Amhara has some of the highest rates of child marriage in the world. Estimates in 2009 show at least 50 percent of women marrying before they reach 18. Murgeta thinks she is around 28 now, but is unsure. Keeping track of your age is not common here. She is six months pregnant with her second kid. “I want to adequately serve them, adequately feed them. If I have many children, I can’t do that,” she explains. Al Jazeera
Equatorial Guinea’s ambassador to US ’suspect in beating of girl’
Equatorial Guinea’s ambassador to the US is suspected of beating a girl with a wooden chair leg but will not be arrested because he has diplomatic immunity, officials say. Police in Arlington, near Washington DC, were called to Ambassador Ruben Maye Nsue Mangue’s residence on Monday. Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck said they found a juvenile with a large cut to her head and other injuries. “We determined the ambassador was the primary suspect,” he said. Mr Sternbeck said the girl had sustained a “significant laceration” to her head, bruises and a swollen eye and was taken to Virginia Hospital Center. He said she had been beaten with the wooden leg of a chair. Mr Sternbeck added that police officers, who do not have jurisdiction in cases involving diplomats, did not make any arrests and informed the US state department. A state department official said the agency was in contact with local authorities but could not discuss the incident further. BBC