Africa

A looming crisis of succession in several African countries indicates a troubling persistence of ego-driven political paternalism.

Democratic transition in Africa offers much to celebrate. For one thing, support for democratic principles, especially among young people, remains robust. Contra creeping anti-democratic sentiment across the West (for instance, research by UK-based think tank Onward found that “60% of 18- to 24-year-olds agree that having a strong leader who does not have to bother with parliament or elections is a good way to run the country, more than double the number in 2017”), a high percentage of young Africans continue to express strong support for core democratic values, including freedom of belief and universal suffrage.

In the hunger map of present day world, Somalia is probably the most seriously affected country of the 21st century. Somalia is reported by the UN to have lost 260,000 lives in and around 2011 to hunger and famine deaths, one of the very few countries in the world to have such a high number of recorded hunger deaths in recent times, despite having a population of only around 17 million or so. Today, just a decade or so later, the country is probably in an even worse situation.

The UK, Côte d’Ivoire and other nations plan to pull their troops out of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, clouding its future as it undergoes internal review. In this Q&A, Crisis Group experts discuss the mission’s challenges and scenarios for what could come next.

Boko Haram militants killed at least 10 Chadian soldiers in an attack on a military unit in Lake Chad province near the Nigerian border on Tuesday, Chad’s government said in a statement.

The unit had been dispatched as a precursor to setting up an army post on the island of Bouka-Toullorom, between the villages of Ngouboua and Kaiga, where Boko Haram has carried out several offensives in recent years.

Mali’s junta announced on Monday a ban on the activities of NGOs funded or supported by France, including humanitarian groups, amid a worsening row between Paris and Bamako.

The West African nation’s interim Prime Minister Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga justified the move in a statement on social media, calling it a response to France’s recent halt to development aid for Mali.

Libya continues to backslide to the brink of renewed civil conflict as various political leaders seek to obstruct U.N. efforts to forge a unified political structure and hold national elections.

The United Nations envoy to Libya has warned that continued stalemate could raise the possibility of a partition.

Une “dizaine de militaires” ont été tués mardi par des jihadistes qui ont attaqué un poste de l’armée dans l’ouest du Tchad, a annoncé à l’AFP le porte-parole de la présidence.