According to press reports, Ethiopia is currently going through a very severe drought, and is in dire need of international food assistance to make up for failed crops.
Ethiopia has a history of famine situations due to drought. During every drought year, the international community has been supportive with shipments of food relief. Since the year 2002, Ethiopia has been coping nicely with dry weather. The construction of new roads has allowed the movement of food crops from wet regions to dry regions, thereby making it unnecessary to call for international aid. In view of the improved transportation situation, the fact that food aid is needed in the year 2015 indicates that the drought situation must be truly severe. In short, the entire country must be having a rain deficit and not just certain regions as in the past.
Read MoreThe United States is warning African leaders not to change their constitutions to eliminate two-term limits for heads of state. It is not apparent that they are taking the warnings seriously.
Many African heads of state are subject to constitutional two-term limits, similar to the situation in the United States. As they approach the end of their mandates, a number of leaders want to change their national constitutions to eliminate the two-term limit so that they can continue to run for election and remain in power indefinitely.
Read MoreMo Ibrahim, the Sudanese billionaire who keeps track of the state of governance in Africa, has issued his annual report. He continues to report very little progress in democracy in most African countries.
Ibrahim’s gloomy outlook for African democracy is particularly relevant this year and next because of the large number of elections that are scheduled. Unfortunately, in many of the elections, incumbent heads of state are attempting to revise their constitutions that limit presidential mandates to two terms. Needless to say, these actions are causing major unhappiness among the populations.
Read MoreFORMER PRESIDENT BLAISE COMPAORE IS UNDOUBTEDLY BEHIND IT
The elite Burkina Faso military unit that was formerly the Presidential Guard has executed a coup d’état. The transitional regime that came to power in October 2014 after the hasty departure of former President Blaise Compaoré, has been overthrown. The new head of state is General Gilbert Diendiere, the former Chief of Staff of the army under Compaoré. Both the United Nations and the African Union have condemned the military takeover.
The interim regime was in the process of organizing new elections. The political party of former President Blaise Compaoré was declared ineligible to participate in the election along with anyone who had been associated with Compaoré’s rule. It was probably this decision that precipitated the coup.
Read MoreAfter many months of negative economic results, South Africa can use some good news. The announcement August 30 of the inauguration of the nation’s first new power plant in twenty years is significant for South Africa’s anemic economic health.
ESKOM, the state owned electric utility, has been suffering from poor management and poor planning for over a decade. As a result, the expansion of electric power has not met the growing needs of both industrial and household users. Unprecedented rolling power outages have become the norm. New industrial investments have been discouraged because of the power deficit. The decline of ESKOM has done significant damage to the overall economy.
Read MoreAFRICA TO ENJOY TEN MORE YEARS OF AGOA
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) will be extended for an additional ten years. President Obama signed the legislation into law on June 29, 2015.
AGOA became operational for the first time at the beginning of 2001. President Clinton signed the legislation toward the end of his second term, but the program began during the Republican administration of George W. Bush.
Read MoreNigerian President-elect Buhari will be inaugurated at the end of May 2015. He has constituted a transitional task force to develop priorities for his first year in office. One of his top priorities is to diminish corruption. One of the most significant sources of diverted revenue is the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The NNPC is the government’s own oil and gas entity. It receives all of the revenue from oil, gas and LNG sales, as well as oil, gas and LNG royalties. It is from these revenues that money belonging to the people of Nigeria is diverted from the rightful owner. What is to be done?
Read MoreTHE AFTERMATH OF THE NIGERIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
AND NOW THE HARD PART
Most Nigerians are euphoric over the results of the presidential election that took place on Saturday, March 28, 2015. The election was conducted honestly. The state-by-state count was free and fair. And most surprising of all, the incumbent, President Goodluck Jonathan, conceded defeat even before the final count was completed. In a country where every election since 1999 was rigged, the May 28 event constituted nothing short of a revolution.
Civilian rule returned in 1999 after two decades of military dictatorship. It is impossible to say that the return of civilian rule, within democratic institutions, resulted in good governance. On the contrary, Nigerian politicians in power reached new heights of corruption and dysfunctional government between 1999 and 2015. The new President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, is facing an overwhelming challenge to clean things up and reform the entire governmental and military management system.
Read MorePRESSURE THE UNITED STATES TO ALLOW THE UN TO LIFT SANCTIONS ON ERITREA IMMEDIATELY.
Normalization with Eritrea has become more important than ever before. US national security interests in Yemen and the Arabian Peninsula are at stake.
Back in December 2013, I wrote an article for “African Arguments” that called for the international community to “bring the State of Eritrea in from the cold.” I argued that UN sanctions should be lifted, and that Eritrea and Ethiopia need to be reconciled for the economic benefit of both nations.
Read MoreThe internal power struggle in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is entering a crucial stage.
The regime of President Joseph Kabila has become significantly weakened between the middle of the year 2014 and the early days of February 2015.
The Congolese constitution stipulates that an elected president can serve a maximum of two five-year terms. President Kabila is now in his second term that will end in November 2016 when a national election is scheduled. During the second half of 2014, President Kabila’s majority coalition engaged in extensive calls for the constitution to be amended in order to allow for a third term.
Read MoreA political upheaval in the Republic of Burkina Faso during a three-day period, October 29-31, 2014, resulted in the premature departure of President Blaise Compaore who had been head of state since 1987. What triggered the mass movement of over a hundred thousand protesters in the streets of the capital city Ouagadougou was Compaore’s attempt to amend the constitution to eliminate the two-term limit on the presidential mandate. He wanted to run for a third term, and the population was fed up with his long misrule. The mob burned down the parliament to prevent the enactment of the constitutional change, and then forced the President to flee for his life in a French military helicopter. It was notable that the Burkina military, especially the elite presidential guard, did not defend the president against the protesters.
Read MoreBurkina Faso President Blaise Compaore has departed for good. He was ex-filtrated from Ouagadougou by French security to Yamassoukrou, Côte d’Ivoire. According to press reports, he is now in Morocco.
After a consultation among political opposition, the military, and civil society, the people of Burkina have decided on a transitional government. The transitional president is Michel Kafando, a distinguished retired diplomat. The prime minister will be Lt. Colonel Isaac Zida, the second in command of the presidential guard.
Read MoreREGIME CHANGE IN BURKINA FASO: State Department: Please do not designate the change as a “military coup”.
Massive demonstrations in Ouagadougou, the capital city of the West African Republic of Burkina Faso on October 30, 2014, resulted in the resignation of President Blaise Compaore. As of November 1, Compaore was in Côte d’Ivoire where he has been granted asylum.
Simultaneously with Compaore’s resignation and flight, the Burkinabe Army announced that it was taking power for a transitional period, with the promise that they will relinquish power after a democratic election for a new head of state.
Read MoreNigeria’s presidential election in February 2015 will be of historic significance.
Nigeria’s next presidential election will be held during February 2015. It is essential for political and public order that all Nigerians see the election as being “free and fair.”
After many years of dictatorial military rule, Nigeria entered a new era of multiparty democracy in 1999. The “Peoples Democratic Party” emerged from the 1999 election as the dominant political power throughout Nigeria. Subsequent elections in 2003, 2007, and 2011 were all viewed as being deeply flawed by both international and domestic observers. The PDP party utilized its control over national resources to bribe the voters and rig the elections in a variety of ways. While the PDP party was popular in all regions of Nigeria, except the southwest, rigging was considered necessary in order to make sure the party continued to control power. Control over power, of course, means control over the oil resource.
Read MoreHave you seen the most recent YouTube videos uploaded by Boko Haram? Correct me if I am fantasizing, but they appear to have military tanks and armored personnel carriers. When I did my US Army service, I was in the 2nd Armored Division. I commanded both armored infantry and tank platoons. Operating those machines require training. My questions are: “Where did these rag tag terrorists obtain their equipment? Who trained them to use it?"
Read MoreThere was an important new development in Somalia on September 1, 2014. The supreme commander of al-Shebab, Ahmed Godane Brawa, was killed by an American air strike while he was in his motorcade not far from the group’s key strong point in Brawa.
Godane was a total tyrant and megalomaniac. Not only did he assassinate suspected opposition within the movement, he got rid of his closest associates. He also gave the movement an external focus, preferring to do terrorist attacks outside of Somalia in order to enhance his reputation in the international “Jihadist” movement. The majority of al-Shebab militants want to work within Somalia in order to establish their “Sharia” state there first.
Read MoreOnly three years old, the independent nation of South Sudan is in the midst of a catastrophic humanitarian disaster. Hundreds of thousands of people have become internal refugees. Thousands of others have perished in ethnic cleansing attacks against innocent men, women and children living their normal lives in their villages. There are new reports of several thousand-child soldiers who may be fighting in the ranks of ethnic militias.
The international community, especially the United States, is taking the problem very seriously. Peace talks between the South Sudanese Government, and the main rebel group led by former Vice President Riak Machar, have been going on in Ethiopia for several months under the auspices of the African Union. US diplomats have been doing a full court press trying to bring about a cease-fire and reconciliation. Secretary Kerry has personally gone to the Ethiopian capital Addis Abeba to persuade the warring parties to reach at least a temporary agreement. Despite several cease-fire agreements over the past few months, nothing has changed on the ground in South Sudan, and innocent civilians continue to die in vain.
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