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.

New Atlanticist

Aug 6, 2018

20 Years After the Embassy Bombings: The Long War in Africa

By J. Peter Pham

It has been twenty years since that morning of August 7, 1998, when suicide bombers detonated, almost simultaneously, trucks laden with explosives outside the United States embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The attacks, the first claimed by al-Qaeda against US targets, left 224 people dead, including a dozen Americans, and around […]

East Africa

New Atlanticist

Aug 3, 2018

Uncertainty and a Need for Leadership After Zimbabwe’s Election

By David Wemer

After days of uncertainty, protests, and violence following Zimbabwe’s July 30 presidential and parliamentary elections, “everyone has got to take deep breath,” Dr. J Peter Pham, the Atlantic Council’s Vice President for Research and Regional Initiatives and the Director of the Council’s Africa Center said. In the early hours of August 3, the Zimbabwe Electoral […]

South & Central Africa

AfricaSource

Jul 30, 2018

Why Mali’s election matters

By J. Peter Pham

While the July 30, 2018, general election in Zimbabwe—the first in almost four decades where longtime ruler Robert Mugabe won’t be on the ballot—has been attracting a great deal more attention, the presidential election in Mali one day earlier matters just as much and, arguably, is even more important to the security and geopolitical interests […]

Africa Elections

New Atlanticist

Jul 25, 2018

Zimbabwe at an Inflection Point

By Ashish Kumar Sen

On July 30, for the first time in more than thirty years, Zimbabweans will vote in a presidential election in which one name will be conspicuously absent from the ballot: Robert Mugabe. Mugabe stepped down in the face of pressure from the military, his party, and the Zimbabwean people on November 21, 2017, even as […]

South & Central Africa

Event Recap

Jul 19, 2018

Nigerian information minster discusses US-Nigeria relations, Boko Haram

By Africa Center

On Thursday, July 19, the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center hosted a roundtable discussion with the Minister of Information and Culture of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, H.E. Alhaji Lai Mohammed. In his remarks, Lai Mohammed discussed Nigeria’s relationship with the United States and President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent visit to Washington – the first Sub-Saharan African […]

Africa English

Event Recap

Jul 18, 2018

Celebrating the 60th anniversary of MASHAV

By Africa Center

In celebration of the 60th anniversary of MASHAV–Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation–the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center, in partnership with the Embassy of Israel to the United States, hosted an event on US-Israeli development cooperation on Wednesday, July 18. The conversation focused especially on the “trilateral” efforts by the two countries in Africa as well […]

Africa Economy & Business

New Atlanticist

Jul 17, 2018

Reflecting on Mandela’s centenary

By J. Peter Pham

Mandela’s life underscored, however, that it is not enough to be a visionary: to make dreams a reality requires pragmatism.

South Africa

AfricaSource

Jul 16, 2018

Below the surface, a game changer in Congolese politics

By Pierre Englebert

“Shikata,” or “remain seated” in Swahili, claim the posters on Congolese President Joseph Kabila’s effigy in the streets of Lubumbashi. But while everyone’s attention is focused on the regime’s contortions to stay in power, despite constitutional impediments to doing so and deep domestic discontent, the 2015 break-up of Congo’s existing provinces has upended politics below […]

Africa Corruption

Event Recap

Jul 13, 2018

South African trade minister advocates for Africa’s greater role in the global economy

By Africa Center

Davies discussed ways in which South Africa is looking to accelerate economic growth, trade, and investment on the African continent.

Africa Economy & Business

AfricaSource

Jul 12, 2018

Why Djibouti is the loser of the Horn of Africa’s new peace

By Kelsey Lilley

At the least, this tectonic shift will reduce the revenues available to President Ismail Omar Guelleh, in power since 1999, and undermine his ironclad grip on the country.

East Africa English
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