ISS, Institute for Security Studies
Peace agreement pledges transitional justice for Ethiopia
9th November 2022 On 2 November, the Federal Government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front signed an agreement in Pretoria to end the two-year... →
China vs the West: a contest that will hurt Africa’s future
7th November 2022 A new long-term scenario analysis confirms that China will overtake the United States (US) as the most powerful country in the world by... →
Will we hear Africa’s youth at COP27?
3rd November 2022 Africa faces a trio of issues that are accelerating youth migration – the youth ‘population bulge’, high unemployment and mounting climate impacts.... →
South Africa must rethink its community safety system
3rd November 2022 Community Police Forums (CPFs) were foundational to South Africa’s 1990s transition to democracy. When first established, they provided a bridge... →
Can the East African Community stabilise eastern DRC?
1st November 2022 As clashes escalated between the rebel March 23 Movement (M23) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) armed forces in North Kivu, the... →
As terrorists claim new ground, an African strategy is vital
31st October 2022 As Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda leaders have been targeted and eliminated internationally, the terrorist groups have expanded and consolidated... →
What do protests say about UN peacekeeping in Africa?
28th October 2022 In the past few months, two United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions in Africa have encountered violent protests from the local populations... →
Prosecution reforms sharpen SA’s anti-corruption drive
27th October 2022 South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa recently set out several government responses to the more than 350 recommendations made by the Zondo state... →
Kidnapping for ransom on the rise in North Cameroon
26th October 2022 Since 2013, communities in Cameroon’s Far North Region have suffered attacks from the violent extremist group Boko Haram. The divisions of... →
The curious case of Zimbabwe sanctions
25th October 2022 The Southern African Development Community (SADC) designated 25 October as a day for solidarity against sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the... →
A new chapter in India-Africa relations?
24th October 2022 The size and health of India’s US$3.5 trillion economy have made the country a force to be reckoned with in global affairs. It has surpassed the... →
Tshisekedi needs to clean up his inner circle
21st October 2022 President Félix Tshisekedi this week waxed lyrical about the opportunities his country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), offered to... →
Another bailout won’t solve Ghana’s economic crisis
21st October 2022 Ghana’s economic woes continue as the country seeks International Monetary Fund (IMF) support for the 17th time. The bailout was necessary after... →
Countdown to Africa’s Climate COP
20th October 2022 The Africa Climate COP is around the corner. The 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate... →
Digital industrial hubs are key to Africa’s economic transformation
18th October 2022 Digital innovation enables transparency in public services and new opportunities in commerce, health, education and agriculture. But Africa lags... →
Reform in Burundi deepens ruling party divisions
17th October 2022 At the beginning of September, an audio recording emerged in Burundi allegedly featuring President Évariste Ndayishimiye accusing unnamed political... →
Security priorities for Burkina Faso’s new transition
13th October 2022 On 30 September, disgruntled army officers staged a coup that toppled Burkina Faso’s transitional military leader Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri... →
Weaponised drones – the latest tech threat to reach Africa
11th October 2022 Drones have for some time been used by regular armed forces on Africa’s battlefields, such as in Ethiopia and Mali. But now they’re increasingly... →
Terrorists and poachers take aim at the Congo Basin’s guardians
10th October 2022 Globally, over 1 000 park rangers have been killed over the last decade. According to the World Wildlife Fund, more than 100 died on the job in... →
SADR grows theoretically stronger but diplomatically weaker
10th October 2022 The Western Sahara has been reduced to a political football in Africa in a grim game between Morocco and the Polisario. Morocco aggressively claims... →
Careful balance needed to advance humanitarian action while countering terror
7th October 2022 In July 2022, South Africa’s Police Minister Bheki Cele introduced a draft bill to update the country’s existing counter-terrorism law – the... →
Can external mediation break Sudan’s political stalemate?
5th October 2022 October marks the first anniversary of Sudan’s second military coup, which removed the transitional government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and... →
Mozambique’s people should come before resources
4th October 2022 The discovery of large gas deposits in the Rovuma Basin off the coast of northern Mozambique in 2011 made Mozambicans dream of prosperity. They... →
Youth are vital for Sudan’s post-coup stability
3rd October 2022 Sudanese youth drove the demonstrations and uprising that toppled former president Omar al-Bashir’s nearly 30-year-long rule. They were... →
Russia’s war in Ukraine revives calls for Security Council expansion
3rd October 2022 Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine has revived the perennial debate about the need to reform the United Nations (UN) Security Council, including... →
Lesotho reforms hang in the balance ahead of elections
29th September 2022 Lesotho citizens are going to the polls on 7 October amid uncertainty over the future of much-needed reforms that were declared null and void at... →
Africa – where is the good news?
28th September 2022 A sombre mood has dominated the discourse around Africa this year. At a recent investor roundtable in London, there was a sheepish silence when... →
East Africa and the Horn light the way for climate migrants
28th September 2022 Regional cooperation and free movement are critical for handling climate-linked migration and displacement but are vastly underused. East Africa... →
Smugglers carve a niche in Africa’s rare rosewood
26th September 2022 African rosewood (mukula) is the world’s most trafficked endangered timber, fuelling a US$26-billion market for Ming dynasty-styled furniture and... →
Can Africa outdo its election riggers?
26th September 2022 Can the political opposition win elections even when the incumbent government is determined to remain in power at all costs? This is a challenge... →
Should SA municipalities get greater policing powers?
22nd September 2022 With murder and other crimes on the rise in South Africa, better responses to violence and crime are urgently needed. Cape Town Mayor Geordin... →
Hunger grips Lake Chad Basin in the face of terrorism
19th September 2022 Despite years of humanitarian assistance, hunger and malnutrition in the Lake Chad Basin have reached alarming levels this year. Underpinning the... →
Terrorists’ use of tech in West Africa must be contained
16th September 2022 When al-Shabaab attacked the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya in 2013, the group live-blogged the terrifying event on Twitter, taunting the... →
The AU prepares to wield the stick with more rigorous sanctions
15th September 2022 The African Union (AU) decided in May this year to activate its Peace and Security Council (PSC) sanctions committee. Although established in 2009,... →
Does Africa gain from the WTO’s landmark fishing subsidies deal?
13th September 2022 After 21 years of talks, an agreement has been reached that prohibits harmful fishing subsidies – a leading factor in the plunder of global fish... →
Africa should consider criminalising ecocide
12th September 2022 Environmental crime is growing about two to three times faster than the global economy. It is particularly devastating in Africa, where natural... →
Time for Africa strategies on the big powers?
9th September 2022 Relations between Africa and the West have always been fraught – complicated by colonialism, slavery, the Cold War and now immigration and Russia’s... →
The many roots of Mozambique’s deadly insurgency
8th September 2022 Conflict erupted in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province just a few years after some of Africa’s biggest gas reserves were discovered in the... →
Just who is stirring up disinformation in Africa?
7th September 2022 As digital access deepens across Africa, there’s growing evidence of external players weaponising social media platforms to achieve geopolitical... →
Industries can prosper in conflict-affected Lake Chad Basin
5th September 2022 Protracted conflicts cause far-reaching damage to the social, economic and political affairs of affected areas. They create a negative reinforcing... →
UNITA shakes the foundations of MPLA rule in Angola
2nd September 2022 The near defeat of the ruling People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in last week’s general legislative elections has created hope... →