From Nigeria to Libya: Linked through Migration and Armed Conflict
Release Date: 02/29/2024
Emergency Response Rooms: Sudan’s humanitarian lifeline
Africa Aware
Since the war in Sudan began in 2023, grassroots, volunteer-led mutual aid groups – the Emergency Rooms (ERRs) – have delivered vital humanitarian assistance and played a key role in safeguarding civilian life across the country in the face of the devastating conflict. The work of the ERRs is grounded in the Sudanese tradition of ‘nafeer’, an Arabic word meaning collective action. Less documented is the critical role Sudanese women play in responding to humanitarian needs arising from the conflict. They are at the forefront of providing medical assistance and psychosocial...
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Can minerals buy peace in the DRC?
Africa Aware
As a key mediator in the ongoing conflict in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United States has brokered peace agreements backed by security guarantees and by the investment potential of the country’s vast mineral wealth. However, critics warn this “minerals for peace” approach risks overlooking unresolved issues – from the protection of minority rights to the limited role of the African Union, and fragile state-society relations in the DRC. In this episode, Christian-Géraud Neema and Joshua Walker join the Africa Programme’s Romane...
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Rebuilding regional order and security in West Africa
Africa Aware
The withdrawal of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger from ECOWAS early last year – and the subsequent formation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) – has posed a critical challenge for regional cooperation, particularly on security. According to the Global Terrorism Index, the Sahel is the “epicentre of terrorism” and rising insecurity is compounded by stalled progress on core issues including the right of hot pursuit, joint military operations, intelligence sharing and tackling illicit finance. Following a panel event on West African security with Ghana and Nigeria’s foreign...
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Africa’s digital future
Africa Aware
Africa's digital landscape is one of the most dynamic and rapidly evolving in the world. African states are not merely adopters of digital norms; they are shaping regulatory approaches in data protection and cybersecurity in addition to innovating mobile money ecosystems and digital health solutions among others. While innovation hubs are dotted across the continent, growth amongst African states and local communities remain uneven due to infrastructure gaps, broadband affordability, energy reliability and regulatory fragmentation. In this episode, Ambassador Philip Thigo and Hon....
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Can the African Union withstand fractures to multilateralism?
Africa Aware
Mahamoud Ali Youssouf and Amb. Selma Malika Haddadi assumed the leadership of the African Union (AU) at last year’s 38th Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly – ushering what many saw a moment of renewed hope and leadership reset. The AU, however, enters 2026 on uncertain ground. Conflicts are intensifying across several regions; while showing signs of resilience economic prospects remain fragile; and political settlements in a number of countries are under strain. All this is unfolding against the backdrop of shifting global priorities and waning international attention on...
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Financing Africa's development
Africa Aware
The IMF’s economic outlook for Africa in 2026 points to an average GDP growth rate of 4.3% – making it the fastest-growing region globally. In practice, however, per capita growth is far lower and various factors like persistent debt issues and a decline in official development assistance jeopardise this positive outlook. In this episode, guests Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi (African Center for Economic Transformation) and Admassu Tadesse (Trade and Development Bank) explore strategies to ensure sustained economic growth matching the promising outlook for the continent. They discuss untapped...
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Strengthening African-led peace and security initiatives
Africa Aware
Reflecting on research conducted as part of a joint Chatham House and UNDP research project on 'African Peace Processes: Lessons Learned', this episode examines what makes peace processes ‘stick’. Lisa Musumba is joined by project researchers Dr Abel Abate Demissie and Leonard Onyonyi to discuss the lessons learned from the Pretoria process linked to Ethiopia’s Tigray war and Burundi’s Arusha Accords. The episode closes with reflections from AU Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security, Ambassador Liberata Mulamula, from our conference in Addis Ababa on , exploring how African-led...
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Will elections in Tanzania bring change?
Africa Aware
Tanzania’s October 2025 election will mark President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s first as a presidential candidate, despite her holding office since 2021. A former vice-president, President Samia came to power following the sudden death of her predecessor, and is widely anticipated to win a new term for her CCM party – extending their unbroken rule in Tanzania since the country’s independence in 1961. Key questions surrounding the 2025 polls include the systematic exclusion of leading opposition candidates, tightened restrictions on media, increases in reported abductions and attacks on...
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Côte d'Ivoire elections: A conversation with Tidjane Thiam
Africa Aware
Côte d'Ivoire is widely regarded as a regional powerhouse amid increased political instability and fragmentation in West Africa. However, the country has also been marked by violent conflicts and repeated bouts of political crisis in recent history. With the October 2025 elections fast approaching, Côte d'Ivoire faces another decisive moment – President Alassane Ouattara has confirmed that he will seek a fourth term, while a slew of prominent opposition figures including former president, Laurent Gbagbo, Tidjane Thiam, Charles Blé Goudé, and Guillaume Soro, have been barred from...
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Strengthening Africa’s Health Security
Africa Aware
The public health systems in Africa are under growing pressure. The sharp 70% drop in official development assistance (ODA) risks weakening critical health programmes, while a rise in public health emergencies continues to stretch already fragile infrastructure. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) – the public health agency of the African Union – recognises that these are not isolated challenges. They present a fundamental threat to Africa’s political, social, and economic resilience, with far-reaching implications to global...
info_outlineTim Eaton and Leah de Haan (Chatham House Middle East and North Africa Programme) discuss their research on the transnational links between the movement of people and armed conflict – from Edo State in Nigeria, through Niger, to Libya.
This episode was produced with support from the Cross-Border Conflict Evidence, Policy, and Trends (XCEPT) research programme, funded by UK International Development.
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Stability at what cost? Smuggling-driven development in the Libyan city of Kufra
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