Crisis in the Sahel: Overview

AfricaSource
Mar 27, 2025

Prioritizing access to critical minerals will require prioritizing Africa

By
Benjamin Mossberg

Access to critical minerals is an urgent national security issue. The United States must view investments in African energy, mineral, and mining—key to securing this access—with similar importance.

Africa
Energy & Environment

Crisis in the Sahel: Overview

AfricaSource
Mar 21, 2025

In the scramble for Africa’s critical minerals, the West must not abandon the ESG agenda

By
Zainab Usman and Rama Yade

As this race for minerals and metals critical for the energy transition heats up, both companies and governments must not abandon environmental, social, and governance principles in Africa.

Africa
Energy & Environment

Crisis in the Sahel: Overview

AfricaSource
Mar 20, 2025

If the international community wants to curb fossil fuel emissions, it must make Africa a serious clean energy offer

By
Neil Ford

Before the international community asks African countries to leave undeveloped fossil fuel resources in the ground, it must make them an offer of clean energy financing—one substantial enough to fund Africa’s current and future appetite for electricity.

Africa
Energy & Environment

Programs

The Atlantic Council’s Africa Center promotes dynamic geopolitical partnerships with African states and helps redirect US and European policy priorities toward strengthening security and bolstering economic growth and prosperity on the continent.

EXPLORE THE PROGRAM

African creatives spotlight series

Meet the creatives redefining narratives about Africa and proving why investing in local talent matters.

Explore the series

Crisis in the Sahel: Overview

African creatives
Aug 29, 2024

ESPN Host and two-time WNBA All-Star Chiney Ogwumike champions African diaspora engagement through sports and media 

Ogwumike is a Nigerian-American powerhouse redefining the intersection of sports and media and highlighting the important role of the diaspora in shaping the future of the African continent.

Read More

Crisis in the Sahel: Overview

African creatives
Jun 7, 2024

Cultural curator Abdul Karim Abdullah elevates African culture from the Bronx to Ghana 

By
Africa Center

As founder and chief executive officer of AfroFuture Fest and Culture Management Group, Abdul Karim Abdullah is creating opportunities for the diaspora to celebrate African culture at a festival in West Africa.

Africa
Economy & Business

Crisis in the Sahel: Overview

African creatives
May 1, 2024

Creative visionary Elroy Fillis-Bell showcases the impact of dance across the continent 

By
Africa Center

Joburg Ballet Chief Executive Officer Elroy Fillis-Bell is an advocate for the arts and believes that dance provides a unique way for communities to engage

Africa
Economy & Business

Content

New Atlanticist

May 22, 2013

Crisis in the Sahel: Overview

By Rudolph Atallah

North Africa and the intertwined Sahel, from Egypt to Mauritania, is a region that has undergone profound and destabilizing political and social change in the last several years, especially since the “Arab Spring” of 2011. Nascent political systems, newly empowered non-state actors, and underlying structural problems in the region contribute to an increasingly volatile mix, […]

National Security North Africa

New Atlanticist

Apr 25, 2013

Africa’s Global Advantage

By Adrienne Chuck

Last week, finance ministers and central bankers from around the world gathered in Washington for the World Bank and International Monetary Fund semi-annual spring meetings to promote sustainable and equitable growth. Six years after the beginning of the global financial crisis, prospects for a strong recovery are still not optimistic; conversations for the most part […]

Africa Economy & Business

Event Recap

Apr 22, 2013

Somaliland’s Achievement in a Fragile Region

The Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center hosted a speech today by His Excellency Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo, president of the Republic of Somaliland.

East Africa

Congressional Relations

Apr 17, 2013

Former French Prime Minister François Fillon, Senator Chris Coons discuss threats in Northwest Africa in Capitol Hill briefing

By Africa Center

The Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center organized a briefing on Capitol Hill on “Collective Security Threats in North and West Africa” featuring a keynote presentation by former French Prime Minister François Fillon and remarks by Senator Chris Coons, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs. Also participating in the event, […]

Conflict Extremism

Event Recap

Apr 2, 2013

The African state and the failure of US counterterrorism initiatives in Africa

By Africa Center

The Michael S. Ansari Africa Center hosted a luncheon presentation by Hussein Solomon, senior professor in the department of political science at the University of the Free State in South Africa, on “The African State and the Failure of US Counterterrorism Initiatives in Africa.” Drawing upon his recent research on Mali, Nigeria, and Somalia, among […]

Sahel Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Mar 25, 2013

What Xi Sees in Africa

By Peter Pham

Just days after completing his ascent by adding the state presidency to his posts as Communist Party general secretary and Central Military Commission chairman, Xi Jinping has embarked on his first trip overseas as China’s top leader, a journey that includes a week in Africa, with stops in Tanzania, South Africa, and the Republic of […]

Africa China

External

Mar 18, 2013

IntelBrief: Implications of the Kenyan Elections

By Bronwyn Bruton

In the latest in the series of “IntelBriefs” on African security issues being produced by the Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center in partnership with the Soufan Group, an international strategic consultancy, Ansari Center Deputy Director Bronwyn Bruton argues that while International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted Uhuru Kenyatta has secured a presidential victory in […]

East Africa

New Atlanticist

Mar 4, 2013

Handicapping the Kenyan Election

By Bronwyn Bruton

As Kenyans go to the polls, observers are bracing for a replay of the country’s horrific 2007 presidential elections, which produced a wave of ethnic violence that killed more than a thousand people and displaced over a half a million.

East Africa Elections
French Mirage over north africa 2

New Atlanticist

Mar 4, 2013

Toward Stability in Mali

By Dustin Dehez

The current crisis in Mali came largely as a shock to the international community. Yet, with the conflict having gone from local insurgency to full scale war and back, plenty of analyses have begun to formulate an early consensus among analysts: the conflict, it is argued, is a direct result of the 2011 civil war […]

Politics & Diplomacy Sahel

New Atlanticist

Feb 25, 2013

Niger needs more than drones

By J. Peter Pham

President Barack Obama informed Congressional leaders on Friday that approximately one hundred American military personnel have been deployed to Niger to “provide support for intelligence collection and . . . facilitate intelligence sharing with French forces conducting operations in Mali, and with other partners” fighting al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and its allies. While […]

National Security Sahel
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Experts

Fellow

Rabah Arezki

Distinguished Fellow

Freedom and Prosperity Center

Africa Economy & Business

Fellow

Peter Mandaville

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Freedom and Prosperity Center

Civil Society Freedom and Prosperity

Fellow

Sudeep Kanungo

Nonresident Senior Fellow

GeoTech Center

Africa Energy & Environment

European Leadership Accelerator Participant

Pauline Deschryver

Senior Manager, DTEK Group

Millennium Leadership Program

Africa Central Europe

European Leadership Accelerator Participant

Kipkorir Koskei

2025 European Leadership Accelerator participant

Millennium Leadership Program

Africa Energy Markets & Governance

Fellow

Temidayo Oniosun

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Africa Center

Africa Space
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