AfricaSource

Factionalism in South Africa’s ANC Fuels Violent Protests

By Chloë McGrath

On June 20, violent protests broke out in Tshwane, the metropolitan municipality encompassing South Africa’s executive capital, Pretoria. The death toll associated with the chaos that ensued cost five people their lives. While violent protests are not an unusual occurrence in the embattled democracy, last week’s events are particularly significant. With just six weeks to […]

A Frightening Flare-up on the Ethiopia/Eritrea Border, and Another Resounding Silence from Washington

By Bronwyn Bruton

According to Eritrean officials, in the early hours of Sunday, June 12, Ethiopian forces launched an unprovoked assault over the Eritrean border at the town of Tsorana. Heavy fighting lasted throughout the day and continued after dark, when the Eritrean forces managed to launch a counter-offensive that ended the assault. Near midnight on June 12, […]

Sudan Still a “State Sponsor of Terrorism”?

By J. Peter Pham

The Secretary of State is required by law to provide the Congress with an annual “full and complete report” on terrorism. The Country Reports on Terrorism covering 2015 was released last week and makes for some interesting reading, its conclusions eliciting reactions ranging from alarm to bemusement to, quite simply, befuddlement. An example of the latter […]

Uganda’s Radical Refugee Approach

By Julian Wyss

Earlier this month, Kenya drew international condemnation by announcing the closure of Dadaab refugee complex and the repatriation of its 330,000 mostly Somali residents by November of this year. It’s not the first time Kenya has threatened to close the camp, but the political leadership is likely emboldened by the European Union’s plans to limit […]

America’s Friend in North Africa Deserves Better

By J. Peter Pham

It is written in the Book of Proverbs that “Faithful are the wounds of a friend.” In other words, a true friend will tell another unpleasant truths, conveying things the other may not want to hear, but doing so for the sake of the other’s own good, which is valued more than even the friendship itself. However, […]

No ‘Silver Bullet’ for Kenya’s Security

By Kelsey Lilley and Julian Wyss

On May 6, the Kenyan government announced that it would cease hosting the estimated 600,000 refugees that currently call Kenya home. Days later, the government scaled back its initial threat, focusing instead on northeastern Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp, the world’s largest and home to 350,000 Somali refugees and their progeny. Despite providing little evidence, the […]

Obama’s ‘Commercial Diplomacy’ in Africa

By Kelsey Lilley and Stephanie Sparrow

Barack Obama’s historic election as President of the United States in 2008 was the first time an American of African descent had ever held the United States’ highest position. Because of the President’s Kenyan roots, many Africans were particularly excited for what they hoped would be the start of a new era in relations between […]

“Made in Africa”

By Julian Wyss and Erina Iwami

African economies currently face a double threat. First, commodity prices are at their lowest in decades, which has already caused a 16 percent drop in sub-Saharan Africa’s terms of trade (the ratio of export prices to import prices). Second, responding to its own slowing growth, China has scaled back its investment on the continent. As […]

Gambella Attack Exposes Ethnic Tensions between Ethiopia, South Sudan

On Friday, April 15, South Sudanese raiders crossed the border into Ethiopia to attack thirteen villages in the country’s Gambella region. Violence and carnage ensued, and the assailants escaped with 108 women and children and nearly 2,000 stolen cattle, according to Ethiopian government estimates. On Monday, the government announced that the death toll rose to […]

Urban Africa’s Big Chance

By Kelsey Lilley and Stephanie Sparrow

In popular imagination of Africa, the continent is more famous for its savannahs than its skyscrapers. Sub-Saharan Africa’s total urbanized population is just 37 percent, compared to nearly 75 percent of European Union citizens who live in cities. Africa’s rural population has always been larger than its urban population. But that is changing, and in […]