Africa Center Commentary & Analysis

‘The Struggle Continues’: A Conversation on Zimbabwe with David Coltart

By Africa Center

On Tuesday, April 26, the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center hosted Senator David Coltart, Zimbabwean human rights activist and former Minister of Education, for a discussion on Zimbabwe. Africa Center Deputy Director Bronwyn Bruton welcomed attendees to the event, which took place on Capitol Hill. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce provided opening remarks, in […]

“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 […]

Update on Recent Developments in the DRC

By Africa Center

On Thursday, April 21, the Africa Center hosted Richard Gittleman, President and Executive Director of United for Africa’s Democratic Future, for a luncheon roundtable on recent developments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham welcomed participants and set the stage for the discussion, explaining that presidential elections in […]

South Sudan: Paging Dr. Riek

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Vice President’s absence from Juba speaks to a lack of trust in President Salva Kiir, says Atlantic Council’s J. Peter Pham Riek Machar’s failure to return to Juba this week to take up his duties as Vice President of South Sudan has been met with statements of dismay from the international community, but his no-show […]

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 […]

Harnessing Africa’s Demographic Dividend

By Julian Wyss and Erina Iwami

As the global downturn in commodity prices and the decreasing demand and investment from China begin to stymie Africa’s historical drivers of economic growth, one of the continent’s largest potential assets—its workforce—is taking off. Africa’s high fertility rates are leading to a demographic shift that will have profound consequences for the region’s long-term economic outlook.

Briefing by Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations Toby Lanzer

By Africa Center

On Friday, April 15, the Africa Center hosted Toby Lanzer, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel, for a luncheon roundtable on peace and security in the Sahel region.

Millions in Nigeria are Starving, Warns UN Official

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Boko Haram insurgency seen as main factor in humanitarian crisis Millions of people are starving in northeastern Nigeria and efforts to reach out to Boko Haram—the Islamist militant group directly responsible for their plight—to ensure a space to deliver humanitarian aid have been met by silence, a senior United Nations official said on April 15. […]

Africa’s ‘Perfect Storm’

By Kelsey Lilley

Opportunity seen to embrace reforms in period of slow growth A combination of rapidly declining commodity prices and an economic downturn in the world’s emerging markets has created a “perfect storm” of economic troubles for African countries, said panelists at an event hosted by the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center on April 14. J. Peter Pham, […]