Chad: UN boosts efforts to tackle food insecurity

Nigeria: Hillary Clinton seeks Nigeria trial for Jos massacres

Sudan: US eases Sudan web sanctions

Nigeria: The fresh offensive against polio

Africa: Countries need to rebuild crisis defences, IMF says

Togo: Presidential vote a setback for African democracy

DR Congo: Army kills protected species

Somalia: Brought to U.S., man is charged with aiding Somali terrorists

Nigeria: Massacre victims buried in mass grave

DR Congo: UN backs new DRC offensive

Africa: US Firm urges affordable internet access for East Africa

DR Congo: Abusive Congolese colonel got aid

Kenya: Legislator says regional countries are concerned about tensions in Sudan

South Africa: ‘To be good, you have to be bad’

Nigeria: Tackle extremists in Nigeria, U.S. Envoy

Today’s News

Chad: UN boosts efforts to tackle food insecurity

United Nations agencies are ramping up efforts to assist around 2 million Chadians who will require food aid this year because of poor rainfall and lean harvests, the world body said today.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34007&Cr=chad&Cr1=

Nigeria: Hillary Clinton seeks Nigeria trial for Jos massacres

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged Nigeria to arrest and try those responsible for killing hundreds of people near the city of Jos. The massacre is seen as revenge for a previous round of killings in January.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8557072.stm

Sudan: US eases Sudan web sanctions

The US treasury department has eased sanctions on Iran, Cuba and Sudan to help further the use of web services and support opposition groups. US technology firms will now be allowed to export online services such as instant messaging and social networks.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8556341.stm

Nigeria: The fresh offensive against polio

Beginning from Saturday March 6, Nigeria joined 19 countries in West and Central Africa in a campaign to immunize over 85 million children under five years old against polio. The four-day exercise ends today.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201003090013.html

Africa: Countries need to rebuild crisis defences, IMF says

With its economies recovering, Africa needs to start rebuilding reserves and thinking about tightening spending to build defences against future crises, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Monday.

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE6270CD20100308

Togo: Presidential vote a setback for African democracy

Togo’s presidential vote is the latest in a string of disputed elections in Africa which risk undermining the trend of the last decade for political power to come through the ballot box.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Togo+vote+setback+African+democracy/2660830/story.html

DR Congo: Army kills protected species

Troops killed seven hippopotamuses, four elephants and six monkeys, including two chimpanzees, last month in a national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), an environmental group said on Monday.

http://www.news24.com/Content/Africa/News/965/612d922a89b64e508bc6e89eecd77537/08-03-2010-06-23/DRC_army_kills_protected_species

Somalia: Brought to U.S., man is charged with aiding Somali terrorists

A man has been brought to the United States from Nigeria to face charges that he provided money to a Somali terrorist group — and that he received military training from that group.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/nyregion/09indict.html

Nigeria: Massacre victims buried in mass grave

The victims of Sunday’s sectarian massacres were buried in mass graves in central Nigeria on Monday as survivors told horrific stories of Christian villagers being trapped in nets and hacked to death by Muslim herdsmen.

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/mar/08/world/la-fg-nigeria-violence9-2010mar09

DR Congo: UN backs new DRC offensive

A joint UN-Congolese operation against a Rwandan Hutu rebel group is under way in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, just weeks after the anti-rebel military campaign was suspended amid allegations of rampant rights abuses.

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/africa/UN-Backs-New-DRC-Offensive–86921042.html

Africa: US Firm urges affordable internet access for East Africa

A U.S.-based organization that promotes the use of the Internet is urging leaders in east Africa to make the Internet accessible and affordable to all of their citizens. The leaders are gathering in Nairobi for a regional summit due to begin Tuesday.

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/africa/US-Firm-Urges-Affordable-Internet-Access-for-East-Africa-86899697.html

DR Congo: Abusive Congolese colonel got aid

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in eastern Congo provided food, fuel and logistical support to a Congolese colonel overseeing soldiers accused of gang rapes, massacres and other abuses, months after U.N. human rights investigators included him on a list of the army’s most abusive commanders and in further internal warnings.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/09/AR2010030900279.html

Kenya: Legislator says regional countries are concerned about tensions in Sudan

The chairman of Kenya’s parliamentary committee on foreign affairs says a summit of heads of states of the Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) scheduled to begin Tuesday will review Sudan’s 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/africa/Kenyan-Legislator-Says-Regional-Countries-Are-Concerned-About-Tensions-in-Sudan–87001327.html

South Africa: ‘To be good, you have to be bad’

Justice Malala in his Monday Morning Matters’ column (Zuma sells his soul for Mugabe), I find him wanting on some facts, but I am more interested in his take on indigenisation policy enacted in the previous week by the President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe.

http://www.news24.com/Content/MyNews24/YourStory/1162/43069cd088e04204b4bbbe4454f7924b/09-03-2010-11-25/To_be_good,_you_have_to_be_bad

Nigeria: Tackle extremists in Nigeria, U.S. Envoy

United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Ms. Robin Rene Sanders, has called on Nigerian authorities to take decisive steps to address extremists from outside the country, who according to her, have footholds in Nigeria.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201003090388.html

Good overview of the breadth of current security challenges and flashpoints on a sub-region by sub-region basis. Thoughtful, informative, balanced, accessible, and policy relevant. [PDF]

Developing Concepts of Security in Africa. By Eboe Hutchful. United Nations Office at Geneva and the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of the Armed Forces, 2004.

An overview of the dichotomy between state security and regime security in African states.

Africa: Many Hills to Climb. By Michelle Sieff. World Policy Institute, 2008.

The author makes thoughtful predictions on what Africa will look like in 25 years, with attention paid to security, al Qaeda, democracy, and economics. [PDF]

Colonel Xavier Collignon, Senior French Representative to the Africa Center, discusses Africa security issues with West Point cadets.

Colonel Xavier Collignon, Senior French Representative to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies was a guest speaker at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, on Feb. 24, 2010.  Speaking to 230 fourth, third, second and first- class cadets during four instruction periods, Colonel Collignon discussed Africa security matters.

A graduate of the French Military Academy of St. Cyr, Colonel Collignon said the West Point cadets he addressed are learning French and that it was a welcomed opportunity for him to talk to them about Africa, a continent where some of them may serve after graduating.  

A 25-year veteran of the Marines, Colonel Collignon’s Africa experience is extensive, ranging from academic periods to combat missions, in addition to cooperation with African militaries.  His military service has led him to Africa numerous times, including operations inside Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gabon, the Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, and most recently Chad.

Colonel Collignon said he will be exploring with Africa Center and West Point officials additional ways to work with cadets, such as hosting those who are likely to go to Africa as interns and to inform them about current security issues.  Other initiatives might include offering help to cadets who are currently doing research about Africa and extending outreach to those studying Portuguese to discuss Lusophone Africa matters with Colonel António Pinheiro, Senior Portuguese Representative to the Africa Center.  

The Africa Center is one of five U.S. Department of Defense regional centers that provide strategic-level education to international civilian and military personnel through a combination of multi-week courses, short-term conferences, seminars and workshops and outreach. Visit www.africacenter.org for more information about the Africa Center and its programs.

Africa’s intra-state conflicts and their cross-border consequences continue to hobble development of social anchors that are critical to state stability. These social and development hurdles are hindering Africa’s ability to establish secure, democratic, and economically prosperous states. At bottom, “the challenge facing Sub-Saharan Africa is not State building as many analysts believe. The immediate challenge most of Africa faces is society building.” more

Ambassador Thomas C. Krajeski, NDU Senior Vice President, welcomes the course participants to Washington, D.C.

Opening remarks by Ambassador William M. Bellamy (retired), Africa Center Director

The four-week program, which continues through Mar. 26, will focus on enhancing professionalism, ethics and leadership in African militaries. The officers will examine Africa’s contemporary and emerging security threats and analyze civil-military relations on the continent to determine the role and place of professional military officers in advancing national security in democratizing states.

In his opening remarks, Ambassador William M. Bellamy (retired), Africa Center Director, said, “I do not need to tell this audience of African military officers that very few of the security threats facing African states today can be resolved by military means alone. All elements of national power must be harnessed to deal with the multiple sources of insecurity that exist in most African states today.”

“The most successful leaders, military and civilian,” he continued, “will be those who recognize this requirement and are able to bring whole-of-government approaches to bear on the security problems they face.”

Watch the video of Ambassador William M. Bellamy’ opening remarks

Ambassador Thomas C. Krajeski, NDU Senior Vice President, welcomed the course participants to Washington, D.C. He cited what President Barack Obama said about a year ago when he opened the newest building at NDU: “It falls to institutions like this and individuals like you—and he would have included you within this group as well—to help us understand the world as it is, to develop the capacity that we need to confront emerging danger, and to active purpose and pragmatism to turn this moment of peril into one of promise. That is how we will find new pathways to peace and prosperity. That is the work we must do.”

Watch the video of Ambassador Thomas C. Krajeski’ speech

Brigadier General Dominique Djindéré, Chief of Defense Staff, Burkina Faso and keynote speaker at the opening session of the course, spoke about Africa’s security challenges and the importance of senior military leadership in the region. Explaining that the challenges facing Africa’s defense and security sector are numerous and originate from both within and outside the sector itself, he said, “In both cases, the nature and the quality of the command and leadership exercised by the senior officers constituting the entire chain of command, in their mission to establish a ‘new military governance,’ are what determines the ability to effectively address those challenges.”

“In any given country, however,” General Djindéré stressed, “the expression of a strong political will and respect for the rules of democratic governance by all the socio-political stakeholders of that country are the true catalysts that will make it possible to attain that level of effectiveness.”

In closing, General Djindéré reminded the African officers in the audience that “you must be the catalysts for creating defense and security forces that are in perfect harmony with the changes and obligations of democracy and progress so ardently desired for the African continent.”

Click to Read General Djindéré’s Speech

Pointing out that the course is accredited, with eligible officers receiving three semester hours of graduate-level credit, Monde Muyangwa, Ph.D., the Africa Center’s Academic Dean, said, “The accreditation of our Next Generation of African Military Leaders Course further establishes the Africa Center as a solid academic institution focusing on strategic-level African security and policy issues.”

The officers attending the course, mostly majors and lieutenant colonels, were selected by their countries to attend the course because of their command experience or staff responsibilities as well as their recognized leadership potential.

The course has been offered at least once a year since 2005. The program is devoted to leadership and ethics in the context of issues ranging from developing and implementing a national security strategy and aligning resources to national security goals to civil-military relations, security and democracy.

Other sessions will be devoted to military, human rights and humanitarian law, conflict management and peace support operations, counter-terrorism in Africa, and security sector reform.

Complementing the rigorous classroom work taught by African, American and European experts, the African officers will also travel to the Army War College at Carlisle, Pa.; Quantico Marine Corps Base; the Pentagon; State Department and Congress to learn more about effective civil-military cooperation, good governance and democratization.

The International Alumni Chapter is the first of its kind. Unlike the 23 ACSS national chapters that comprise members from a single country, the International Alumni Chapter is a diverse group of international members from the diplomatic community, African Union, United Nations, non-governmental organizations, retired Government of Ethiopia officials, and other civilian experts and scholars who have participated in Africa Center programs and who are currently assigned in Addis Ababa.

The International Alumni Chapter, with its 31 founding members, aims to strengthen relations among countries and to facilitate professional dialogue among chapter members.

Africa Center Director Ambassador William M. Bellamy (ret.) was on hand at the opening ceremony to congratulate chapter members on the launch of their chapter and to present to them their official charter. Also making remarks were Dr. Tulinabo Mushingi, Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy to Ethiopia, and Yemane Kidane, Chair of the International Alumni Chapter.

The Africa Center’s Community Chapter Program, begun in 2003, has steadily grown in response to requests by Africa Center program participants, to include high-ranking government and civil society leaders and experts, who have called for the establishment of such chapters to continue the dialogue and increase understanding about contemporary African security issues.

Following the opening ceremony, chapter members and invited guests devoted the balance of the day to a Topical Outreach Program (TOPS) that delved into the issues of U.S. sanctions in Somalia and post-conflict reconstruction in Africa.

Ms. Kristen Hecht, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes Policy Advisor to U.S. Africa Command, discussed U.S. sanctions in Somalia. Colonel Xavier Collignon, Africa Center Senior French Representative, spoke about post-conflict reconstruction.

View photos from this event