ISS, Institute for Security Studies
Despite the hazards, Ghana’s illicit waste trade is booming
7th February 2024 Illicit waste trafficking generates around US$10-billion to US$12-billion worldwide every year, according to the Financial Action Task Force. Ghana... →
DRC misses another opportunity to build a democracy
7th February 2024 Following President Félix Tshisekedi’s contested victory in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) December 2023 elections, democracy hangs... →
Does Ethiopia’s transitional justice amount to quasi-compliance?
5th February 2024 Ethiopia’s post-2018 transitional justice process has been referred to as ‘quasi-compliance’ – aimed more at appeasing international demands for... →
Morocco outmanoeuvres SA at the UN Human Rights Council
5th February 2024 No one in South Africa was more delighted than International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor when the national soccer team Bafana... →
Africa’s oceans could pay dearly for the Red Sea Crisis
2nd February 2024 The Red Sea crisis has become a pressing concern largely due to its disruption of global trade. However, it also has far-reaching environmental... →
Does Africa’s Peace and Security Council need stronger members?
31st January 2024 At the upcoming African Union (AU) summit from 15-19 February, 10 new countries will take their seats on the Peace and Security Council (PSC) for... →
Northern Kenya’s disarmament dilemma
30th January 2024 Banditry and the proliferation of illegal small arms are critical drivers of insecurity in Kenya’s North Rift Region. Survey-derived baselines... →
Blinken’s Africa trip loops in new Atlantic Ocean partners
26th January 2024 United States (US) Secretary of State Antony Blinken has taken time off from his hectic shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East to visit four African... →
Looser gun laws could deepen Nigeria’s security crisis
26th January 2024 Despite Nigeria’s strict gun ownership laws, the country remains the region’s largest illicit small arms market, adding to the nation’s dire... →
South Africa’s ICJ case has already altered its foreign policy space
26th January 2024 South Africa’s decision to take Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on charges of genocide has elicited polarised global responses.... →
Intelligence-led investigations can curb Ethiopia’s kidnappings
24th January 2024 Kidnapping and extortion are on the rise in Ethiopia, with cases even reported beyond the country’s borders. Ethiopian Electric Power announced in... →
Africa needs a stronger voice on resolving the Red Sea crisis
23rd January 2024 The Red Sea crisis is now a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) priority, with three meetings held this year already. Following several months... →
Election rigging claims spark turbulence in Comoros
19th January 2024 Africa’s 2024 election season – comprising 19 presidential and general polls – got off to an unpromising and alarming start this week. After... →
Flawed elections and poor governance underlie Africa’s backsliding
19th January 2024 How do we explain the developmental and governance reversals now haunting Africa? Reasons for the apparent collapse of security are complex, but... →
Can South Sudan meet its election deadline this time?
18th January 2024 In August 2022, South Sudan’s transitional government extended its term to February 2025, with elections planned for December 2024. The extension... →
Kenya and Ethiopia could show the way on migration governance
16th January 2024 Migration governance in Kenya and Ethiopia has significant implications for regional stability and human rights in the Horn of Africa and in each... →
After a glimmer of hope, Sudan’s peace effort fades
12th January 2024 With the world’s attention focused on wars in Israel, Gaza and Ukraine, the devastating civil war that erupted in Sudan in April 2023 has largely... →
African countries should not entertain taking forcibly displaced Palestinians
11th January 2024 In early January, media reports claimed Israel was in talks with ‘Congo’ about ‘voluntary migration plans’ for Palestinians from Gaza. The original... →
Scrap metal smuggling could cripple East Africa’s infrastructure
10th January 2024 On 11 January 2022, Nairobi was plunged into darkness after Kenya Power lost supply along the Kiambere-Embakasi high voltage transmission power... →
India eyes Africa in its quest for superpower status
9th January 2024 India is rapidly forging an important role in the new global order as a bridge between the global north and south. Leveraging its economic muscle... →
Foreign criminals go for gold in Nigeria
8th January 2024 Nigeria’s mining sector is diverse in mineral resources that make a significant contribution to the nation’s gross domestic product. The country is... →
Fairer global tax won’t be enough to cure Africa’s chronic capital deficit
8th January 2024 On 22 November 2023, a coalition of 125 mostly developing countries led by Nigeria won an important United Nations (UN) General Assembly vote on... →
Positive outlook for Morocco’s development prospects
8th January 2024 North Africa and the Sahel have generally been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Coups last year rocked Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso,... →
The African Union’s fight for relevance in 2024
8th January 2024 The African Union (AU) isn’t living up to expectations – and member states are partly to blame, according to AU Commission (AUC) Chairperson Moussa... →
Inconsistencies are costing the AU Mission in Somalia
18th December 2023 In September, a call was made for a technical pause to the African troop drawdown from Somalia, following the initial withdrawal of 2 000 troops in... →
Challenges loom before DRC voting day
18th December 2023 The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) fourth election on 20 December will occur against a protracted conflict shaping the nation’s political... →
Nigeria’s military mistakes cost the country its civilians
13th December 2023 Last week’s accidental bombing of Tudun Biri in Kaduna State by the Nigerian Army’s drone unit is the country’s most devastating military mishap in... →
Ransom kidnappings challenge North Cameroon
12th December 2023 In just three years (2015–18), kidnappers in North Cameroon collected ransom money of around €3 million (CFAF 2 billion), according to Garoua... →
Ukraine’s ‘low return’ on its African investment
8th December 2023 Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was being rather undemocratic – by his admission – when he told visiting African journalists last month... →
Africa must stand together to end Ethiopia's conflict
7th December 2023 Ethiopia's Amhara region has been the epicentre of political violence and armed conflict, with Fano ethnic militias clashing with the federal... →
Can Chad’s constitutional referendum still be saved?
7th December 2023 Following President Idriss Déby Itno’s death in May 2021, Chad entered a transition led by his son, General Mahamat Idriss Déby. The transition... →
High Seas Treaty: Africa's role in saving the world's blue lungs
6th December 2023 The High Seas Treaty – officially known as the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Treaty – must be signed and ratified by 20 September 2025.... →
Are ZANU-PF’s high-risk strategies paying off?
6th December 2023 As Zimbabwe moves from its discredited August harmonised elections, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) government wants... →
Pilot Zambian debt relief collapses
1st December 2023 Zambia’s imploding deals for debt relief from its many creditors have plunged the country’s fragile economic recovery into uncertainty. It also... →
Nigeria’s foreign minister has his work cut out
30th November 2023 Nigeria’s new Minister of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar is leading the country’s foreign relations in the face of significant... →
Tackling several forms of violence together delivers results
28th November 2023 Levels of interpersonal violence remain pervasive and unyielding in South Africa. While a small number of the more extreme cases make headline... →
Europe’s migration deals in the Sahel must be revised
27th November 2023 This year, a complex mix of insecurity, poverty and misgovernance has seen instability soar in the Sahel. Among the immediate effects is a rise in... →
Can revised AU policy give youth an active peacebuilding role?
24th November 2023 Despite the African Union’s (AU) various youth inclusion initiatives, practical and meaningful youth participation in peace and security remains a... →
The Loss and Damage Fund must deliver at COP28
24th November 2023 One of the most celebrated outcomes of the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheik was the agreement to establish a... →
First Saudi-Africa summit: off to a rocky start?
22nd November 2023 On 10 November, the maiden Saudi Arabia-Africa summit was hosted in Riyadh – the latest in a growing list of ‘Africa+1’ summits. The gathering... →
Cellphone theft: another indicator of South Africa’s policing gaps
21st November 2023 After a robbery in August, the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police arrested a suspect in possession of 153 stolen iPhones. Private security tracked... →
