Africa Center Commentary & Analysis

Ethiopia: End game?

By Bronwyn Bruton

Update: On February 15, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn resigned following months of sustained protests and pressure from the country’s aggrieved and marginalized ethnic groups. The country’s ruling party, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), now faces a crisis of leadership as it determines Ethiopia’s next prime minister. This author predicted the imminent ouster […]

The post Zuma economic bump will be brief

By Aubrey Hruby

Since Jacob Zuma took office in May 2009, South Africa’s economy has been a story of low-to-no growth, flagrant corruption, and extreme inequality. Indeed, his erratic policies have twice spiraled the economy into recession (in 2009 and 2017), resulting in significant slashes to the country’s credit rating and an overall downgrade of the country’s brand. […]

Total Recall: South Africa’s President Zuma Told to Quit. Will He?

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Will he go? That’s the big question on the minds of South Africans this week as their president, Jacob Zuma, was asked to step down by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party’s National Executive Committee (NEC). The NEC’s decision followed a marathon thirteen-hour meeting on February 12 to decide the fate of Zuma, who […]

Ethiopian dam stokes regional tensions

Over Egypt’s vocal dissent, Ethiopia is forging ahead with final construction on its ambitious Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Nile River, the lifeblood of nearly 500 million Africans. As the region’s population is expected to double to a whopping one billion people over the next three decades, the dam will become more of […]

South Sudan arms embargo ‘weakens’ Salva Kiir

The US arms embargo on South Sudan not only sends a strong signal to South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, but ultimately “weakens his ability to hold on to power by force,” according to the Atlantic Council’s J. Peter Pham.

Aubrey Hruby testifies before the US International Trade Commission

By Aubrey Hruby

On Tuesday, January 23rd, Africa Center Senior Fellow Aubrey Hruby testified on US-Africa trade and investment before the US International Trade Commission hearing on US Trade and Investment with Sub-Saharan Africa: Recent Developments, #332-564. Distinguished members of the committee, Ambassadors, and fellow witnesses: I would like to begin by thanking you, not only for the […]

EEAS managing director for Africa discusses EU-Africa policy

By Africa Center

On Thursday, January 18, the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center hosted Amb. Koen Vervaeke, managing director for Africa at the European External Action Service, for a roundtable to discuss relations between the European Union (EU) and Africa in the wake of the fifth Africa-EU Summit, which took place last November in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Dr. J. […]

Briefing by the former executive president of the Coordination of Azawad Movements

By Africa Center

On Thursday, January 11, the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center hosted Mr. Bilal ag Acherif, former executive president of the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA), for a private roundtable discussion on the status of the Azawad movement, the role of state and non-state actors in security affairs across the Sahel, and his hopes for the peace […]

Attack on Peacekeepers in DRC Indicates Increasing Extremist Activity

The attack on United Nations peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by lesser-known violent extremists called the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) indicates that the group poses a more serious threat than previously believed as it continues to ratchet up its activity in region, capitalizing on the persistent political instability in the DRC, […]

Africa’s political fault-lines: As Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis trends toward intensifying rhetoric and violence, how long can the movement last?

By Alexandra Fairbend

Cameroon’s crisis, which pits a marginalized group of English-speakers against the Francophone majority, has taken a dangerous turn. The conflict has its roots in the colonial era, when British and French territories were awkwardly combined to form modern-day Cameroon. Anglophones have wanted autonomy for decades, but in the past year, they have mounted a full-throated […]