Africa Center Commentary & Analysis

Through high-level relationships and a track record of well-respected analysis, the Africa Center speaks directly to the stakeholders who matter, shaping policy on the foremost issues of this dynamic continent.

Argentine flagship vessel ARA Libertad, which was seized by Ghanaian authorities in October 2012 amid a dispute over defaulted government bonds. REUTERS/Enrique Marcarian

AfricaSource

Jun 20, 2014

Two Years after Ghana Judge, US Supreme Court Rules against Argentina

By Kelsey Lilley

Earlier this week, Argentine stocks plummeted after the US Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from the Argentine government in an epic court battle with angry investors. The case pitted Argentina against US-based investors, both big and small, who lost fortunes during the South American country’s 2001-2002 economic implosion when it defaulted on its […]

Latin America

Event Recap

Jun 20, 2014

A Conversation with Nigerien Prime Minister Brigi Rafini

By The Atlantic Council

The Atlantic Council’s Africa Center hosted a conversation with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Niger, H.E. Brigi Rafini. Also in attendance was H.E. Maman Sidikou, ambassador of the Republic of Niger to the United States. Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham moderated the not-for-attribution session, which focused on economic, security, and development priorities […]

Economy & Business Sahel

Event Recap

Jun 20, 2014

Challenges and Opportunities in Africa: A Discussion with African Military Officers

By The Atlantic Council

The Atlantic Council’s Africa Center hosted a seminar for senior military officers from nine African countries, organized in partnership with the National Defense University’s Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies (NESA). Titled “Challenges and Opportunities: Africa,” the seminar featured presentations by Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham and Deputy Director Bronwyn Bruton, followed […]

Event Recap

Jun 13, 2014

Transition Seminar for The Hon. Helen La Lime

By The Atlantic Council

The Atlantic Council’s Africa Center hosted a transition seminar for the Hon. Helen La Lime, the recently confirmed US ambassador to the Republic of Angola. The not-for-attribution session was moderated by Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham and Atlantic Council Treasurer and Executive Committee Board Director Brian C. McK. Henderson. Guests included representatives from private […]

AfricaSource

Jun 12, 2014

Nigeria’s Boko Haram: More virulent, more capable, ‘closer to a classic guerrilla insurgency’

By AfricaSource

Nigeria’s Boko Haram militant movement has grown increasingly virulent since 2009, a change visible in the group’s capacity, tactics and ideology, according to J. Peter Pham, director of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council. Pham testified before the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations on June 11, nearly […]

Conflict Extremism

In the News

Jun 11, 2014

Pham Testifies on the Ongoing Struggle Against Boko Haram

By J. Peter Pham

Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham testified before the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on the ongoing struggle against Boko Haram:

Nigeria

Event Recap

Jun 5, 2014

Discussion with the Burkinabé minister of human rights and civil promotion

By Africa Center

In 2012, the West African nation of Burkina Faso created a Ministry for Human Rights and Civic Promotion to promote physical security, economic prosperity, and access to health and education for all Burkinabé citizens. Since its inception, the ministry has actively promoted gender equity, a focus that is consistent with Ouagadougou’s priorities: a 2009 law […]

Africa Civil Society

New Atlanticist

Jun 3, 2014

Nigeria’s Missing Daughters: What a Hashtag Might Do

By Justine Jablonska and James Rupert

On the night of April 14, 2014, armed men of Nigeria’s puritanical Boko Haram movement drove cargo trucks across the arid scrubland of northeast Nigeria, rumbling up an unlit, dirt road in the town of Chibok. They stopped at the Government Girls’ Secondary School. Shouting in the dark, they ordered the more than 200 boarding […]

Africa Nigeria
Creative Commons

AfricaSource

May 30, 2014

High Hopes for a More Robust American Role in Africa

By Atlantic Council

If one country has benefited from American and European neglected of Africa over the past decade or so, it has been China. In the absence of significant American and European investment on the African continent, particularly below the Sahara, China’s trade with the area increased, between 2001 and 2011, from $20 billion to $120 billion.

Africa China

AfricaSource

May 29, 2014

Bronwyn Bruton on Boko Haram

By Bronwyn Bruton

On April 14, 2014, more than 200 female students were kidnapped from a school in Nigeria. In May, news of that kidnapping went viral. In a series of videos, Deputy Director Bronwyn Bruton discusses why the social media response to the event has been so huge, its short- and long-term implications, as well as the […]

Conflict Extremism