North and West Africa

Who are the winners and losers of Africa’s new free trade agreement?

By Abdoul Salam Bello and Jonathan Gass

Last month, the leaders of forty-four African nations signed a framework agreement to form a continental free-trade zone that will encompass a billion people and up to $3 trillion of cumulative GDP. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) would be the largest free trade agreement since the founding of the World Trade Organization over […]

Malian officials discuss the security situation in the Sahel

By Africa Center

On Monday, March 5, the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center hosted a roundtable with Brigadier General Oumar Dao, military chief of staff to the President of the Republic of Mali, and the Honorable Karim Keïta, chairman of the National Commission for Defense, Security, and Civil Protection of the National Assembly of the Republic of Mali. Dr. […]

President of Ghana discusses US relations with his country

By Africa Center

On Friday, March 2, 2018, the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center hosted a luncheon in honor of His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana. Atlantic Council Vice President and Africa Center Director Dr. J. Peter Pham introduced the president and welcomed participants. In his remarks, President Akufo-Addo highlighted the common bonds […]

Boko Haram’s latest version relies on its old terror toolkit in Nigeria

By Rachel Ansley

More than ninety missing school girls in Nigeria—thought to have been abducted by Boko Haram—show that while the militants may have largely been defeated militarily, Boko Haram remains alive and well in Nigeria, according to an Atlantic Council analyst.

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 […]

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 […]