Fireworks display in Kenya's capital Nairobi.
Happy New Year guys!
The beautiful continent of Africa experienced challenges and setbacks in 2017. It was a year that saw multiple terrorist attacks that claimed thousands of lives. Terror attacks occurred in Nigeria, Egypt, Somalia, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Mali, Libya, Chad, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and Niger. Islamic extremist militants whose goal is the establishment of an Islamic state in Africa have increased their attacks with ferocity. Boko Haram in the west, Al Shabaab in the East and the Islamic State in the north are the biggest players and it is unfortunate that the global war on terror has moved to the African continent.
Boko Haram militants in Nigeria
In 2018 African leaders under the leadership of the African Union need to address this issue that is critical to national and international security. There needs to be joint cooperation between member states that involves intelligence gathering and sharing and establishment of regional forces to degrade and destroy these extremist groups. There also needs to be an increased investment in the youth so that they are not radicalized by these groups.
2017 was also the year when secession debates intensified. In Nigeria calls for a separate South-eastern state called Biafra evoking memories of the 1967 civil war that killed around 1 million people.
Nigerian citizens calling for the creation of Biafra state in southern Nigeria
In Cameroon, dozens of people have been killed in the English speaking southern region in protests. The residents there accuse the francophone government of marginalization and discrimination. The incumbent president Paul Biya has been in power since 1982 and is one of the longest-serving presidents in Africa.
Cameroonian protesters in New York calling for secession in Anglophone Cameroon
The African Union's policy on secession has generally been one of opposition. Khabela Matlosa, the Director for political affairs at the African Union Commission in an interview with CGTN Africa stated that the issue of secession needs to be addressed with utmost caution. He is of the opinion that the issue requires serious and genuine dialogue and mediation of all stakeholders as the answer to this issue.
In 2018 we expect these calls to grow louder and if not addressed, an escalation of violence in several marginalized areas in Africa.
2017 was also the year when the world finally awakened to the cruel realities of African migrants who want to seek a better life in Europe.Thousands of Africans from Eritrea, Nigeria, Gambia, Senegal risk their lives by trekking across the Sahara and sail on unsafe boats across the Mediterranean on their quest to Europe in search of better job opportunities. The world also witnessed the unimaginable cruelties meted by militants in Libya when it was discovered that there is an active slave market in Libya. Human and sex traffickers were selling young men and women.
African migrants crammed into a bpat pff Libya
A vice that the world had thought that they had eradicated. Who is to blame? European countries that paid off the militants so that Africans don't reach their coasts? or African leaders who have destroyed their countries and diminished the youth's chances of social mobility? Or is it the US fault for leading a campaign to ouster Muammar Gaddafi in Libya in 2011 that led to a breakdown in society? 2018 will see increased pressure by the international community to address the fundamental problems that lead to thousands of people giving up on their respective countries and seeking better fortunes abroad.
On the Democratic scene, there was progress . Places like the Gambia, Zimbabwe saw their leaders who had held power for so long, fall from grace and hounded out of their offices. In Angola, President Dos Santos stepped down after decades of leadership. Rwanda and Kenya also had elections which saw the incumbents winning. However, there have been setbacks. President Joseph Kabila refused to step down and has delayed elections for over a year now. In Kenya, there were months of political uncertainty as the incumbent, President Uhuru Kenyatta, fended off a challenge by Raila Odinga. It took two supreme court decisions and two elections to finally decide on a winner.
In 2018 there will be more tension in Togo where the Gnassingbe family has ruled the country since independence.
In South Africa, it is to be seen whether President Jacob Zuma will see through his presidential term or be forced out due to the corruption allegations against him.
Lastly,2018 will see more countries adopting policies that encourage integration. Already a number of countries like Rwanda, Mauritius, Ghana, and Kenya have already implemented the policy of visa on arrival. Kenya has even taken further steps which will allow citizens of the East African Community member states to live, work, study and buy property like Kenyans. Transnational mega infrastructure projects are being constructed such as the Standard Gauge Railway that will connect East African capitals to the LAPPSET project that aims to lay pipelines and roads in Eastern Africa.
2018 will be the year of the African youth. Their dynamism, entrepreneurial spirit, creativity and aspirations will be the catalyst for change that our continent desperately needs. We here at the Briefing Room will strive to engage and inform our audience of the opportunities and developments that will occur in the coming year.