In my last analysis post, I advocated for the United States to allow ourselves into a less restrictive relationship with Nigeria, selling weapons to the country that would enable them to better combat terrorism. Now I’m advocating for another group to let bygones be bygones. In the past, Amnesty International has issued damning reports of human rights violations by the… Read more »
The G20 finance ministers met last week in Germany to discuss critical challenges facing the global economy, from climate change to migration to humanitarian emergencies like the unfolding famine in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. I left the discussions encouraged by the shared commitment to deal with these key issues. I shared how the World Bank Group… Read more »
A new Islamic State affiliate is gaining strength in sub-Saharan Africa as part of efforts by the Syrian-based Islamist terror group to take over large parts of the continent. A relatively new group known as the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara has stepped up terrorist attacks in the swath of north Africa known as the Sahel. The Sahel is… Read more »
A human rights advocacy group, Save Humanity Advocacy Centre, has issued a seven-days ultimatum to Amnesty International (AI) for allegedly fuelling the survival of Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria through what it described as undermining of the country’s security agencies through negative reports and emboldening the terror group. Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Sunday, Executive Secretary of the… Read more »
The people and governments of countries like Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Afghanistan would be wishing they have the good fortunes of Nigeria. That fortune is for their countries to survive peacefully long enough to get rid of the catalyst of the disaster that befell them. Take away the catalyst and the situation doesn’t get aggravated. Leave it in place and… Read more »
Roughly a month ago, Donald Trump spoke with the presidents of Nigeria and South Africa. Of the two meetings, the one with Nigerian leader Muhammadu Buhari is the more important, as it pertained to improving U.S. cooperation with Nigeria in combating terror in the region, specifically the Nigerian-based group Boko Haram. The U.S. refused to sell weapons to Nigeria under the… Read more »
In 2016, real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to have been the weakest since the 2008/9 global financial crisis. This was largely because of the weak performance in its two largest economies – South Africa and Nigeria – which together make up about half of sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP. Although oil and mining economies were hurt… Read more »
IN THE mid-2000s Playpumps International, a charity, hit on a photogenic way of providing clean water to African villages: a pump powered by children playing on a merry-go-round. Donors and celebrities pledged more than $16m. But the system was costlier than alternatives, and needed so much “playing” that it started to look like thinly disguised child labour. It became a… Read more »
The commander of the United States Africa Command — which oversees military operations across Africa — has told VOA that the only way to peace in Libya is by bringing together rival governments. General Thomas Waldhauser made the remarks at the recent Munich Security Conference, ahead of Operation Flintlock, a joint military exercise being hosted by seven African nations. Libya’s… Read more »
In his first call with sub Saharan African leaders on Feb. 13, US president Donald Trump chose to dial up two of the continent’s embattled presidents—Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari and South Africa’s Jacob Zuma. Both men, presiding over the continent’s largest economies, have faced public dissent in the past week. Across major cities in Nigeria, protests were held decrying difficult living… Read more »