Institute for Security Studies
Elections and instability as Africa enters 2021
By: ISS, Institute for Security Studies 13th January 2021 No fewer than 10 presidential elections are planned for 2021 – in Benin, Cape Verde, Chad, The Gambia, São Tomé and Príncipe, Somalia, South Sudan,... →
Boko Haram blocks Lake Chad trade routes
By: ISS, Institute for Security Studies 11th January 2021 The Boko Haram insurgency has had devastating consequences on Lake Chad boat transporters, a socio-economic group that has been the locomotive of... →
Is the ‘Silk Road’ unravelling?
By: ISS, Institute for Security Studies 8th January 2021 Chinese President Xi Jinping’s gigantic signature project, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), is showing symptoms of stalling. Warning bells are... →
The reality of the AU’s response to crises
By: ISS, Institute for Security Studies 7th January 2021 The African Union Peace and Security Council’s (PSC) response to emerging crises in 2020 was marginal. This is primarily because the AU’s ability... →
The white pipe keeps burning
By: ISS, Institute for Security Studies 6th January 2021 On 14 September 2020, South Africa’s Hawks swooped down on a drug trafficking network operating from a luxury estate in Ballito north of Durban on... →
Africa’s free trade agreement: great expectations, tough questions
By: ISS, Institute for Security Studies 5th January 2021 The start of trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement on 1 January 2021 marks the dawn of a new era in Africa’s... →
Is Bobi Wine singing Museveni’s swansong?
By: ISS, Institute for Security Studies 11th December 2020 When he took office in 1986, President Yoweri Museveni said Africa’s problem was leaders who cling to power. Prophetic, ironic words as it turns... →
Niger’s elections are unlikely to break the political deadlock
By: ISS, Institute for Security Studies 11th December 2020 On 13 and 27 December, some 7.4-million Nigeriens vote in the country’s local, legislative and presidential elections. The polls could mark the... →
Inside the illegal trade in West Africa’s cultural heritage
By: ISS, Institute for Security Studies 9th December 2020 It was late summer 2019 when Bourama (not his real name) answered his phone. He was near Mopti, in central Mali, he told us, and was in the midst... →
Free trade deal could boost African manufacturing
By: ISS, Institute for Security Studies 8th December 2020 Industrialisation has become one of the most talked about issues among African policymakers. A vibrant manufacturing sector is crucial to... →