Strategic Thinking on East Africa

People demonstrate in Bujumbura against a decision by Burundi’s ruling party to nominate President Pierre Nkurunziza to run for a third term (April 2015). Photo: Desire Nimubona/IRIN 22 March 2016 – A climate for inclusive dialogue is urgently required to eradicate the polarization and fragmentation of Burundian society, resulting from the increasing poverty and ongoing political […]

Read the full story

Eritea is considered to be one of the most secretive states in the world. But in a bid to rehabilitate its repressive image, the country has recently begun opening up to journalists. FRANCE 24 reports on the mass exodus of Eritreans every month. It’s a country so secretive it’s been dubbed the “North Korea of […]

Read the full story

While thousands of people wait for food supplies, water and healthcare, aid trucks face difficulties accessing various parts of the country. Waiting and hoping: People in need for food air-drops in Thonyor, South Sudan The United Nations (UN) has accused South Sudan’s government as well as forces loyal to Riek Machar to have blocked trucks […]

Read the full story

South African leader says Burundi agreed to allow pan-African body to send human rights and military monitors. Burundi’s leader Pierre Nkurunziza triggered the crisis when he announced a bid for a third term [Evrard Ngendakumana/Reuters] The African Union (AU) will send 200 human rights and military monitors to Burundi, South Africa’s president said, after a […]

Read the full story

From Egypt Daily News Egypt is not worried about GERD, and is using any means available to reach an agreement, says FM Ahmed Abbas   Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry said the Ethiopian president affirmed his country’s commitment to the declaration of principles for on the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), previously signed by the […]

Read the full story

Foreign Policy BY PAUL MCLEARY Not content to build new military airstrips on a string of artificial islands in the South China Sea, Beijing is branching out even further, having just secured basing rights next door to Washington’s most important drone base in Africa. The eastern African nation of Djibouti has long been a critical component […]

Read the full story

The African Union’s (AU’s) counter-terrorism policy isn’t working. Looking back at 2015 and the many terrorist incidents that punctuated news headlines in Africa, it is difficult to escape this conclusion. There was the attack by al-Shabaab gunmen on Garissa University in Kenya in April, which killed 148 people – mostly students. There was the Boko Haram […]

Read the full story

Twenty-one year old Lim Bol Thong from South Sudan is on a quest to instill hope in children from his country living in the Kule refugee camp in Ethiopia. He is one of the almost 2.3 million people displaced since South Sudan ‘s civil war broke in December 2013, with more than 10,000 people killed. […]

Read the full story

by Dr. Jaïr van der Lijn Executive Summary Although a peace agreement that includes important steps to build a stable and peaceful South Sudan was signed in 2015, the future of the country remains highly uncertain. Violent confrontations and human rights abuses continue and frequently it appears that parties have more faith in victory after […]

Read the full story

Tom Bundervoet That the first decade of the 2000s was Africa’s most economically successful period since the beginning of official statistics has been amply voiced. Between 2000 and 2010, sub-Saharan Africa (developing only) grew at over 5 percent per year, large enough to produce real gains even in the face of sustained population growth (of […]

Read the full story