Members Only Energy Opportunities in Mozambique
Mozambique is a big investment opportunity for energy companies, but concerns over organized crime, corruption, and targeted kidnapping remain, along with a somewhat shaky political […] More
Latest Africa Briefs
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Members Only Eritrea: A Potential U.S. Counterterror Partner
Instability and terrorism in the Horn of Africa, along with a massive conflict on the other side of the Red Sea in Yemen, threaten U.S. […] More
Members Only Shift in U.S. Policy on Eritrea Unclear
International sanctions and poor relations with neighbors have left Eritrea largely isolated in East Africa. Relations between the U.S. and Eritrea are tense, partially due […] More
Members Only Is a Better Relationship with Eritrea Possible?
The U.S. and Eritrea do not have strong bilateral relations. Ever since UN sanctions were imposed in 2009 and again in 2013, doing business in […] More
Members Only Conditions in the Sahel Benefit Al Qaeda
The Cipher Brief sat down with Dalia Ghanem-Yazbeck, non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center, to discuss the growing threat of al Qaeda and […] More
Members Only Mali’s Instability: Advantage, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’s (AQIM) propensity for kidnapping was back on display earlier this week, as al Qaeda’s North African branch released a […] More
Members Only Mali’s Persistent Jihadist Problem
Four years ago, French forces intervened in Mali, successfully averting an al Qaeda-backed thrust toward the capital of Bamako. The French operation went a long […] More
Members Only AQIM Ten Years On
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’s (AQIM) emergence ten years ago this month was a Hail Mary. In 2004, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika had orchestrated […] More
Members Only Jammeh to Cede Power, Leave The Gambia
Yahya Jammeh – who ruled The Gambia for more than 22 years – is stepping down and leaving the country the internationally recognized new President […] More
Members Only Military Intervention in The Gambia Now More Likely
The Gambia’s Supreme Court was supposed to hold a hearing on a petition to annul the December presidential election, brought by the country’s current President […] More
Members Only A Pariah State in West Africa
After more than two decades in power, Gambian President Yahya Jammeh lost the December election to his opponent, Adama Barrow. However, Jammeh now says he […] More
Members Only Boko Haram Frees 21 Chibok Schoolgirls
Boko Haram militants have released 21 missing schoolgirls, who were kidnapped from Chibok more than two years ago, to Nigerian authorities as part of a […] More
Members Only UN Official Warns of "Extremely Fragile" Situation in DRC
The UN’s top diplomat in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) warned of an “extremely fragile” political situation in the country. Maman Sidikou, head […] More
Members Only The DRC: Strong Grip on Power, Weak Handle on Governance
Late on Sunday, Bruno Tshibala, the Deputy Secretary and spokesman of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)’s largest opposition party, the Union for Democracy […] More
Members Only Changing the Political Calculus
African leaders have tried many different ways to evade term limits in recent years. Usually these take a form of reinterpreting when an incumbent’s first […] More
Members Only Exacerbating an Already Difficult Situation
With the recent announcement that presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will be postponed until at least 2018, tensions have been rising […] More
Members Only Growing Instability in Africa’s Top Two Oil Producers
Africa’s long-time, largest oil producer is wavering. For six months in a row (March-August), Nigeria landed in the number two spot of the continent’s largest […] More
Members Only Nigeria: Militancy is Devastating for Oil Production
Nigeria remains one of Africa’s largest oil producers, but for the past six months, it has been surpassed by the continent’s other major producer, Angola. […] More
Members Only Angola: An Economy in Crisis
Angolans head to the polls in less than a year’s time with the result a foregone conclusion. Angola’s People Movement for the Liberation of Angola […] More
Members Only Al Shabaab: A Persistent Threat
With al Shabaab orchestrating deadly attacks on a near-weekly basis, the terrorist group continues to pose a significant threat to regional stability in the Horn […] More
Members Only Limited Options
The Cipher brief spoke with Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, CEO of Valens Global and a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, about the growing […] More
Members Only Flexing Some Muscle
Having carried out several attacks in the last couple of months, al Shabaab remains a “very high” threat to security in Somalia and surrounding countries, […] More
Members Only South Africa: ANC Losing Its Grip on Power
The political party almost synonymous with anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, the African National Congress (ANC), is losing its grip on power. At the same time, […] More
Members Only Urban-Rural Divide
The political party associated with anti-apartheid leader and former South African President Nelson Mandela – the African National Congress (ANC) – may, for the first […] More