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.
Late to the party, Obama seeks bigger U.S. Africa role
The First US Africa Summit: More than a Birthday Party for President Obama
US strategy in Africa reflects lessons learned in Iraq, Afghanistan
Africa summit brings leaders with close U.S. military relations to Washington
US-Africa summit: What does Obama hope to achieve?
What Obama’s Washington summit means for Uhuru and other African leaders
Civil Society Calls on Summit to Focus on Governance, Rule of Law
2-Billions of dollars in deals and funding to be announced at Africa summit
US to hold mini-summit on S. Sudan alongside Africa meet in Washington
Opinion: Africa’s Slide Toward Disaster
Investing in Africa becomes attractive
The next steps for Africa to meet its potential. By Kofi Annan
Letter to Barack Obama from a Swaziland jail cell
Two African Leaders Skip Obama Summit to Deal With Ebola
US to send 50 experts to fight Ebola
World Turns Its Attention to West African Ebola Crisis
African troops deployed to contain potentially ‘catastrophic’ Ebola outbreak
22 killed in Tripoli clashes
Royal Navy evacuates Britons from Libya amid fierce fighting
Tunisia closes door on Libya’s displaced
Ansar al Sharia ally a key figure in Benghazi security failures
7 reasons Central Africa has become most deadly region on the continent – worse than the Horn
Limits to supporting security sector interventions in the DRC
Cameroon moves to step up fight against Boko Haram
Africa’s Top Ten Environmental Disasters
Today’s News
Late to the party, Obama seeks bigger U.S. Africa role
Ask Major-General Wayne W. Grigsby Jr., the top U.S. military officer in Africa, how he thinks U.S. and European-backed African troops are faring in their war on Islamist militants in Somalia, and his answer comes back smartly: “Pretty darn good!”. But when “son of Africa” U.S. President Barack Obama hosts 50 African leaders in Washington this week, the admiration may be less than mutual. Many Africans feel America is lagging behind China and others in its engagement with their continent. The Aug. 4-6 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, billed by U.S. officials as a first-of-its-kind event, looks like a belated imitation of Africa gatherings hosted in recent years by China, India, Japan and the continent’s former colonial master Europe. The world’s richest nation has been slow coming to the party of an economically rising Africa, long dismissed as a hopeless morass of poverty and war, but now offering investors a huge market for everything from banking and retail to mobile phones. Reuters
The First US Africa Summit: More than a Birthday Party for President Obama
This is best demonstrated by no threat of an African boycott despite Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe not being invited because of US sanctions on him. Earlier this year, a fourth EU-Africa summit in Brussels attracted 41 heads of state or government but only after a waiver of the EU travel ban on Mugabe was extracted. African leaders feel a trip to Washington is too important to let Robert Mugabe become a spoiler and Harare itself has been surprisingly quiet over this. It seems that despite Europe’s importance as an aid giver, African leaders extract pleasure at irritating Europe’s ex-colonial powers such as Britain but do not want to risk their relationship with the US. The Washington-based business lobby the Corporate Council on Africa feared that the lack of one-to-one audiences with President Obama would dampen attendance. But African leaders are flocking to Washington to attend this summit and even paying their own way because they want to and not because President Obama’s birthday happens to also fall on 4 August, the day the summit starts. Clearly a summit with the US has strong attraction – helped by the Obama magic. Chatham House
US strategy in Africa reflects lessons learned in Iraq, Afghanistan
More than three years after killing Osama bin Laden and claiming that the core of al-Qaida had been decimated, the Obama administration is waging a protracted war with his disciples across north and sub-Saharan Africa. The enemy isn’t a nation or an alliance, but a diverse, mobile and adaptive collection of groups loosely united by the goal of overthrowing the region’s governments and replacing them with strict Islamic rule. Militants returning to the continent after fighting in the Middle East are linking up with local groups and attacking governments in the continent already struggling to control their territories, says retired U.S. Army Gen. Carter Ham, former head of the U.S. Africa Command. Blomberg News on Stars and Stripes
Africa summit brings leaders with close U.S. military relations to Washington
When a cargo plane carrying U.S. troops made an emergency landing in July on a Ugandan highway, it snarled traffic, drew crowds and caused a sheepish-looking Marine Corps colonel to apologize on local television. But it also highlighted the U.S. military’s quiet expansion in Africa, seven years after it started a new command run by a four-star general to oversee military operations across the continent. U.S. Africa Command, now led by Army Gen. David M. Rodriguez, was established in 2007 and was billed by U.S. defense officials as a good way to coordinate growing relationships with friendly African militaries. Its scope has widened to include drone operations from remote bases, task forces that can respond quickly in times of crisis, and involvement in operations such as the hunt for central African warlord Joseph Kony and the search for more than 200 girls who were kidnapped this year in Nigeria by the militant group Boko Haram. The Washinngton Post
US-Africa summit: What does Obama hope to achieve?
As President Barack Obama hosts the first-ever US Africa summit, which has seen invitations being issued to 50 African leaders, BBC Africa’s Alexis Akwagyiram considers what the US hopes to achieve from the gathering. Micheal Kimbi Tchenga is excited about the future. The young civil servant from Limbe in Cameroon is in Washington for an address by President Obama. Mr Tchenga, who has spent the last few months in the US participating in a fellowship programme aimed at nurturing the next generation of African leaders, is in a reflective mood. “When we came here we discovered that the perception people had of Africa was one of a dark place – a jungle where people are at war and diseases decimate people living in shacks,” he says. BBC
What Obama’s Washington summit means for Uhuru and other African leaders
[...] The guest list is long and impressive. In total, invitations have been extended to 50 countries, including Angola, Kenya, Libya, Nigeria, Senegal, and Zambia. The chair of the African Union, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, is also expected to be in attendance. But what will it mean for US-Africa relations and US-Kenya relations in particular? The Summit is quite a statement. The meeting is the first of its kind, and the largest event that any American president has held with African heads of state. African leaders will not just meet President Obama, but will also have an opportunity to engage with Cabinet members, business executives, members of Congress and representatives of civil society. The schedule is frantic. Between Monday and Wednesday there will be 25 different sessions on everything from wildlife trafficking to food security. Daily Nation
Civil Society Calls on Summit to Focus on Governance, Rule of Law
The civil society campaign in the run-up to next week’s United States (US)-Africa Leadership summit, called We Are Africa, certainly has a headline-grabbing name. And so it should, to stand any chance of being heard in what is fast becoming an overwhelming stream of appeals, side events and social media activity in the lead-up to the first-ever summit of its kind between Africa and the US. Everyone seems to want a part of the action as the African heads of state, who were invited by President Barack Obama, attend the summit from 4 to 6 August. One can rightly ask: who can claim to speak on behalf of Africa? The 40-odd heads of state who are expected to make the trip to Washington next week? The young Africans invited by Obama for a study programme and a town hall discussion on Monday as part of the Young African Leadership Initiative? Or will it be the CEOs coming to talk shop at the myriad trade and investment side-events? To date, most of the focus in the run-up to the summit has been on business, and perhaps correctly so. Africa needs the renewal of the much-talked-about African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA). allAfrica
2-Billions of dollars in deals and funding to be announced at Africa summit
The United States will announce nearly $1 billion in business deals, increase funding for peacekeeping and commit billions of dollars to expanding food and power programs in Africa during a summit this week, U.S. and development officials say. U.S. officials said the Aug. 4-6 summit in Washington of nearly 50 African leaders hopes to showcase U.S. interest in the fast-growing region through a series of government-private partnership deals to boost trade and investment. The spread of the deadly Ebola virus in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone is also a reminder of the vast development needs that persist in some of the region’s poorest countries, despite rapid their rapid economic growth and investment. Reuters
US to hold mini-summit on S. Sudan alongside Africa meet in Washington
he United States is trying to organise a mini-summit on South Sudan on the sidelines of the US Africa Summit this week in the hope of finding a solution to the Sudan crisis that has persisted since last year. Diplomatic sources said Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia would be key players in the meeting, where leaders of the three countries are expected to provide a regional solution to the standoff. “Our leaders need to agree on key drivers in terms of the agreement reached in Addis Ababa,” reliable sources said a day after a meeting between Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta, Yoweri Museveni, Prime Minister Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and South Sudan President Salva Kiir at State House Nairobi. The leaders were meeting in Nairobi to have a common position on the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport Corridor (Lapsset) to be presented to investors during the US Africa summit this week. East African
Opinion: Africa’s Slide Toward Disaster
A specter is haunting Africa — the specter of impunity. Many countries the United States considers allies are in the grip of corrupt, repressive tyrants; others are mired in endless conflict. As Washington prepares to host the first-ever U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit next week, American policy makers must acknowledge their contributions to this dismal situation. By lavishing billions of dollars in military and development aid on African states while failing to promote justice, democracy and the rule of law, American policies have fostered a culture of abuse and rebellion. This must change before the continent is so steeped in blood that there’s no way back. The summit seeks to highlight Africa’s development successes and promote trade and investment on a continent rich in oil and natural resources. Justice and the rule of law aren’t on the agenda. But they should be, unless American C.E.O.s want to see their investments evaporate. The New York Times
Investing in Africa becomes attractive
As Africa’s economies gain momentum, democratic governments take hold and the continent’s young population grows wealthier, investing there is becoming both easier and more attractive to international investors. That narrative is one President Obama promotes this week as he convenes the largest gathering ever of African government officials in Washington, D.C., in an effort to bolster the U.S. relationship with one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. An all-day event Tuesday will focus specifically on business and investing opportunities. Insurance and infrastructure represent some of the best investing opportunities as companies expand to meet the growing demand of countries that are becoming wealthier and more educated, says Ryan Hoover, founder of InvestinginAfrica.net. “There’s huge demand for energy, roads and water,” he says.”Any companies that have exposure to building or owning or operating power plants are seeing huge gains.” USA Today
The next steps for Africa to meet its potential. By Kofi Annan
[...] With seven of the world’s fastest-growing economies on the continent , and a rapidly rising middle-class , the emphasis of U.S. relations with Africa has shifted decisively to investment opportunities and partnership. The United States, of course, enjoys a special place in the imaginations of Africans — something that was reinforced by the election of President Obama. Young people continue, as I did when I came to study here many years ago, to look to the United States for inspiration, viewing this country as a place of economic opportunity built on a platform of democracy, human rights and religious tolerance. America’s achievements resonate across all of Africa, where people also seek ways to improve life for their families. They aspire to choose — and reject — their leaders at the ballot box, to create courts that deliver impartial justice, to speak their minds without fear and to enjoy a free press that helps hold governments to account. But for many of them, these goals remain out of reach. The Washington Post
Letter to Barack Obama from a Swaziland jail cell
Human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko has been imprisoned for criticising Swaziland’s judicial system. He writes to the US president, who he cites as his inspiration, asking for help ahead of a summit of African leaders at the White House [...] Appeal for support from the American government and the great people of the United States of America 1. Mr President, greetings from jail cell No D4 of His Majesty’s Correctional Institution (Sidvwashini prison) in Mbabane. I do hope that my letter finds you in great health. 2. Christo Brand, Nelson Mandela’s jailor in Robben Island and Pollsmoor prisons, quotes you when you say: on behalf of our family, we’re deeply humbled to stand where men of much courage faced down injustice and refused to yield. The world is grateful for the heroes of Robben Island, who remind us that no shackles or cells can match the strength of the human spirit. The Guardian
Two African Leaders Skip Obama Summit to Deal With Ebola
International health officials attribute 729 deaths to the virus as of July 27 in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today warned against non-essential travel to West Africa, and the World Health Organization is intensifying efforts to stem Ebola’s spread. Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma has canceled his trip to Washington, according to the website of the West African nation’s presidential office. The medical aid group Medicins Sans Frontieres says Sierra Leone has become the epicenter of the worst outbreak of the disease on record. Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who has also dropped plans to attend the Washington event, has closed schools and markets, and quarantined some areas to contain the epidemic. Travel for government officials will be restricted to the vice president and ministers attending the Africa summit, she said in a speech broadcast nationwide yesterday. Bloomberg
US to send 50 experts to fight Ebola
The US has announced plans to send at least 50 public health experts to West Africa to help fight the worst-ever outbreak of Ebola. A senior US health official said the outbreak was out of control but insisted it could be stopped. Ebola has claimed 728 lives in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone this year. The current mortality rate is about 55%. Meanwhile, an American doctor infected with the virus is improving in hospital after returning to the US from Liberia. Dr Kent Brantly arrived at a military base in Georgia on Saturday before being driven to Emory University Hospital. BBC
World Turns Its Attention to West African Ebola Crisis
A virus that likely jumped from monkeys to hunters in rural West Africa last spring has now exceeded the ability of three nations there to control it, and threatens to become a global crisis. Share Share on emailEmail More » On Friday, the head of the World Health Organization delivered a speech to the presidents of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Cote d’Ivoire to outline actions their nations must take to contain the largest-ever ebola outbreak. The WHO announced a $100 million pledge to send more medical staff to West Africa to stem the crisis. [...] “This outbreak is moving faster than our efforts to control it,” Dr. Margaret Chan WHO Director General said in a Friday speech posted online. “If the situation continues to deteriorate, the consequences can be catastrophic in terms of lost lives but also severe socioeconomic disruption and a high risk of spread to other countries.” Chan scheduled an WHO Emergency Committee meeting for next Wednesday and Thursday in Geneva, that “must mark a turning point in the outbreak response.” National Geographic
African troops deployed to contain potentially ‘catastrophic’ Ebola outbreak
The spread of the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa is outpacing efforts to contain it. African leaders have agreed on tougher measures to stop the disease, while the US is preparing facilities to treat its two infected citizens. “This outbreak is moving faster than our efforts to control it,” WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said Friday, addressing the presidents of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Côte d’Ivoire at a summit in the capital of Guinea, Conakry. She warned that a failure to contain the epidemic would result in “catastrophic” consequences in terms of a huge death toll and economic disruption. “The presidents recognize the serious nature of the Ebola outbreak in their countries,” Chan said after the meeting. “They are determined to take extraordinary measures to stop Ebola in their countries.” The leaders promised to deploy additional security forces to isolate the regions most affected by the disease, ban transportation and impose strict controls in international airports. RT.com
22 killed in Tripoli clashes
Clashes in Libya’s capital Tripoli killed 22 people and injured 72 others Saturday, the interim Libyan government said early Sunday. “Heavily armed groups continued striking vital locations and civilians. The total casualties in the capital on Saturday were 22 dead and 72 wounded. Many families have been displaced inside and outside Libya,” the government said in a statement on its website. The government stressed that it is pursuing all mediation efforts in order to stop these attacks, according to the statement. Globalpost
Royal Navy evacuates Britons from Libya amid fierce fighting
British nationals stranded in Libya amid fierce fighting have been evacuated from Tripoli by a Royal Navy ship taking them to safety in Malta. The Ministry of Defence said that HMS Enterprise, a survey ship on a routine deployment in the Mediterranean, was diverted to waters off the Libyan capital to collect an unspecified number of British nationals. The evacuees, believed to number around 100, were taken to HMS Enterprise in smaller boats. The operation was launched after the Foreign Office announced it was temporarily closing its embassy and other consular operations in Libya following increasingly brutal battles between various militia groups fighting for control of Tripoli’s airport, which saw 22 people killed on Saturday.” The Guardian
Tunisia closes door on Libya’s displaced
[...] Reaching Tunisia is now almost impossible, after the country sealed its main border crossing with Libya on Friday, after thousands of stranded Egyptians and other foreign nationals stormed across the border after being barred from entering the country. Earlier in the week, two Egyptian migrant workers fleeing Libya were reportedly killed by Libyan security forces while trying to enter Tunisia, the local Mosaique Radio reported on Thursday afternoon. However, Tunisia briefly reopened the border crossing on Saturday, allowing some 200 people fleeing the unrest to enter its territory a day after clashes prompted its closure. Tunisia’s Foreign Minister Mongi Hamdi said on Wednesday that the “country’s economic situation is precarious, and we cannot cope with hundreds of thousands of refugees,” adding that the government “will close the border if the national interest requires it”. Al Jazeera
Ansar al Sharia ally a key figure in Benghazi security failures
A key figure in the security failures surrounding the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya is fighting alongside members of Ansar al Sharia, which is one of the terrorist groups responsible for the assault on the US mission and annex that night. Wissam Bin Hamid’s name has surfaced time and again in the investigation into the Benghazi attack. He admittedly met with American officials in Benghazi just days before the assault to discuss security, and he reportedly refused to provide assistance once the attack was underway. The post-revolution Libyan government also worked with Bin Hamid and his Libya Shield militia, which was supposedly one of the strongest “security” forces inside Benghazi. But in recent days Bin Hamid has been pictured with Ansar al Sharia’s leader, as well as the group’s fighters, in Benghazi. The pictures show Bin Hamid and Ansar al Sharia overrunning a Libyan special forces base and capturing a large amount of weaponry. Weekly Standard
7 reasons Central Africa has become most deadly region on the continent – worse than the Horn
IN THREE short years since 2010, the wider Central Africa – which includes the Sahel – has become Africa’s security underbelly, depicting tendencies and potential that is worse than the Horn. Hitherto, the Horn had held the mantle, characterised by weak and collapsed states (Somalia), giving rise to a potential Islamic state under the leadership of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) and later, the vanguard taken up by the youths, al-Shabaab who became central to the widespread piracy and the kidnapping of foreign nationals. Major food and famine were witnessed in Ethiopia; in 1994 there was genocide in Rwanda; protracted fighting in Northern Uganda with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA); there was war in Sudan, and as South Sudan moved toward secession, in the Darfur. Recently the newly independent South Sudan itself fell into murderous violence again. While most of the conflict dynamics in East Africa and the Horn have been stabilised under various conflict mechanism interventions, including peacekeeping, the same is not true in the Central African and Sahelian region. Africa’s first narco state. Mail and Guardian
Limits to supporting security sector interventions in the DRC
Since 2003, the international community has invested considerable resources in keeping the peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Many interventions were focused on supporting security sector reform (SSR) and on the stabilisation of the volatile ‘militia belt’ in the eastern DRC, but these only achieved limited impact and the security context remains volatile. To explain why international efforts did not bring about the expected changes, the authors examine issues such as the peculiar relationship between the armed forces and local communities, and the neopatrimonial incentives of the Congolese elite. A largely technical approach that ignored the bigger political picture underscores the failure to fundamentally change the DRC’s security context. The defeat of the M23 rebellion in 2013 was a rare success, but it now threatens to take away the necessary pressure for meaningful reform. ISS
Cameroon moves to step up fight against Boko Haram
Following a series of cross-border incursions and kidnappings, President Paul Biya said Saturday he was also sending more troops and military supplies to the area. The announcement comes ahead of a key US-Africa summit hosted by US President Barack Obama in Washington where the fight against terrorism is expected to top the agenda. “In the last few weeks our forces have made important advances against Boko Haram, but it is a long fight,” Biya told reporters. “We are dealing with a lawless enemy, which attacks in the night, who cut the throats of their victims.” Times Live
Africa’s Top Ten Environmental Disasters
Whereas a few African countries have been able to plan for the negative impacts of climate change, such as the Seychelles’ precise National Climate Change Strategy, or reverse the effects of bad environmental practices such as the brilliant reforestation programs in Rwanda, which currently have a growth rate of 21% coverage, not all African nations are doing so well. A lack of good environmental management, policy formation and national awareness has led to some shocking scenarios across the continent. Here we take a look at the top ten environmental disasters that are happening, or waiting to happen. Each leaves behind devastating human and environmental consequences in its wake. Mail and Guardian