Mapping a Surge of Disinformation in Africa
Disinformation campaigns seeking to manipulate African information systems have surged nearly fourfold since 2022, triggering destabilizing and antidemocratic consequences.
Red Sea and Western Indian Ocean Attacks Expose Africa’s Maritime Vulnerability
Missile and armed drone strikes by Houthi militias and hijackings by Somali pirates have destabilized maritime shipping from the Red Sea to the Western Indian Ocean, impacting security and trade for all of Africa.
Topic in Focus
Africa’s Crisis of Coups
Africa’s spate of military coups is a direct challenge to civilian led democratic governance. Building on long legacies of military government, the coups reflect African militaries’ attempt to reassert their perceived entitlement to rule.
Africa’s 2024 Elections: Challenges and Opportunities to Regain Democratic Momentum
Africa’s multifaceted 2024 electoral docket provides opportunities to strengthen multipartyism, transition back to constitutionalism following coups, and rebuff perfunctory exercises.
African Migration Trends to Watch in 2024
Structural factors continue to drive higher levels of migration within and out of Africa. While this represents a vital source of labor for host countries, irregular migration continues to pose extraordinary risks.
Topic in Focus: Identity Conflict
In Sudan, amidst the civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that began in Khartoum in April 2023, RSF and allied militias have systematically attacked ethnic Masalit communities in El Geneina in West Darfur, on the border with Chad. Thousands of people have been killed, raped, and tortured for being Masalit and nearly 300,000 have fled to makeshift camps Chad. RSF forces, then known as the Janjaweed, were previously implicated in mass atrocities in Darfur.
Sahelian militant Islamist groups are threatening border areas of littoral states where grievances held by pastoralist communities may provide an entry point for extremist interests. As part of their escalation in the Sahel, these militant groups have been particularly effective at recruiting young, Muslim (often Fulani) livestock herders by playing on their grievances. As the security response to this threat ramps up, the ability of governments in the littoral countries to avoid the mistakes of their counterparts in Mali and Burkina Faso will be critical.