Category: Op-eds

It was not long ago that central Africa was mired in its "first world war" that led to 5.4 million deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Slowly and painstakingly, conflict-affected areas have started to recover. But peace is fragile, and a reversion to widespread violence is never a far-off prospect ...

« Nous avons évité des massacres de masse, permis un processus de réconciliation intercommunautaire, la reconstitution de l’Etat centrafricain (…) », déclarait le ministre français de la défense, Jean-Yves le Drian en annonçant le succès et la fin de l’opération militaire française, Sangaris, en République Centrafricaine. C’était en octobre dernier et avec ce retrait, l’opération a emporté avec elle l’attention internationale, replongeant la Centrafrique dans l’abime de l’oubli ...

Almost a year ago, the UK government convened a global summit to commit to fighting corruption. The final communiqué from the governments involved summed up their historic intentions: “We want to send a clear signal to the corrupt that they will face consequences internationally. We want to make it harder for them to travel and do business in our countries.” ...

At fifteen minutes to midnight on New Year’s Eve, early fireworks went off in the Democratic Republic of Congo. These weren’t to celebrate another new year, but rather the signing of an agreement that, if implemented, paves the way for the country’s first ever peaceful, democratic transition of power ...

On January 13, citing progress on a series of policy benchmarks, Washington eased sanctions on Sudan even though the atrocities that had originally prompted them—the bombing of civilians, raiding of villages, denial of food aid, and possible use of chemical weapons—remain a central part of Khartoum’s strategy against civilian populations in Darfur and other conflict-torn regions of Sudan ...

Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir scored a major victory this past week in removing another layer of his international isolation. The Obama administration issued an Executive Order that would revoke most sanctions on Sudan in six months, provided that the Trump administration certifies continued progress on areas of policy concern. At the same time, President Obama issued a general license that eases nearly all existing sanctions effective immediately, which his administration argues would provide incentives to the Bashir regime to move forward ...

“Because of the nature of the dictatorship we are under, you are forced to embrace the use of social media, ...It’s not secure to try and use the tactics used in the ‘90s — demonstrations openly or on a daily basis — because we can never match the current government when it comes to violence. So we have resorted to a peaceful, constitutional revolution, which we are precipitating through the use of social media.” That was a Zimbabwean activist by the name of Mlambo, speaking to a correspondent of National Public Radio on October 21, 2016 ...

The world’s newest country, South Sudan, could have been holding its first free elections in 2017. Instead, it faces another year of strife. In the latest phase of the cyclical conflict that has plagued its people for decades, tens of thousands have died, 5m people face hunger or starvation and 1m have become refugees. Yet cleverer global action—especially involving Western banks—can stop the rot ...

On November 13 the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed entitled "How Dodd-Frank Led to More Mayhem in Africa." The Enough Project responded, addressing some of the shortcomings of the author's arguments ...

Alors que Bruxelles s’apprête à recevoir jeudi 17 novembre une nouvelle conférence des bailleurs de fonds sur la République centrafricaine, de profondes incertitudes demeurent quant aux garanties offertes par le président Faustin-Archange Touadéra pour restaurer la paix ...