What will be the trajectory of the group over the next year? What’s driving their successes and what will constrain the group’s activities? What is the issue? Despite the Buhari administration’s 2015 claim that Boko Haram was “technically defeated,” the group’s activities remained steady over the past six years. Deaths and incidents are down from their high in 2014 but incidents linked to the group remain an almost daily occurrence, averaging over 227 events each year since…

But Is There Really Such A Thing? What happened? What could have been Benin’s first female presidential candidate, the leader of the opposition party Les Democrates, Reckya Madougou, was arrested earlier this month (3MAR21) and charged with financing terrorism. …

​The Usually Peaceful Country Has Been Rocked By a Week of Violent Protests What Happened? Hundreds of supporters of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko clashed with police last Wednesday (3MAR21) while the former presidential candidate was heading to court to face a rape charge. The government blamed Sonko for the clashes, charged him with disturbing the public order and had him arrested. His arrest sparked more…

Is Nigeria a failed state? The NY Times reported another kidnapping in northern Nigeria this past Friday. Armed men abducted 317 girls from the Government Girls Secondary School in Jangebe, in Zamfara state. One police officer was killed during the attack. This is the second mass abduction in as many…

It’s easy to forget the world is still connected. But we ignore it at our own peril — The last US president called the countries of Africa (and elsewhere) “shitholes” and questioned their contribution to American society-despite having never visited the continent. This year the US will face a number of domestic issues — rising long-term unemployment, an economic recession, rising debt, a polarized and dysfunctional political system…

France Looks for an Exit from the Sahel Ahead of the Presidential Election What happened After eight years of operations in the Sahel region, politicians in France are looking for an exit strategy. President Emmanuel Macron is set to announce the withdrawal of 600 troops in February, who were only deployed last…