Pressenza published on 13 September 2026 an article titled "Geopolitics: Africa Deserves Its Own Position on Russia's Policy Agenda" by Kester Kenn Klomegah.
Russia's policy towards Africa lacks coordination and adequate information. This makes it even more important that Africa avoid the mistakes of its interaction with the former colonial powers and ensures that Russia treats African natural resources in a way that contributes to local manufacturing and processing of raw materials.
Reuters published on 18 September 2026 an article titled "US Gives UN More Time to End Support for Somalia Peacekeepers" by Faisal Ali and Ammu Kannampilly.
The United States has agreed to give the United Nations another year beginning in January 2027 to wind down its funding for the African Union peacekeeping operation in Somalia. The US had earlier said it would not support UN funding after the end of 2026.
Foreign Policy published on 15 September 2026 an article titled "How Al-Shabaab Beat the Peacekeepers" by Mohamed Gabode.
The author argues that after two decades of military intervention, largely financed by the United States, the al-Qaeda-affiliated organization al-Shabaab is arguably stronger than ever. As a result, the United States has announced it is ending financial support for the African Union peacekeeping mission.
The Hill published on 5 September 2026 an article titled "US Only Country to Oppose UN Resolution Correcting Africa's Size on World Maps" by Sarah Davis.
The United States was the only country that failed to support a global map produced by the United Nations that replaces the Mercator projection and depicts more accurately the actual size of continents. As a result, countries in the northern hemisphere, including the United States, are accurately shown as smaller and those near the equator are larger. The Mercator projection shrunk Africa to the size of Greenland, when Africa is actually fourteen times larger than Greenland.
The US representative at the United Nations defended the sole US negative vote by complaining that the new map "mocks the work and purpose of this institution." She described it as part of an "ideological agenda" that helps explain why the United Nations is losing its legitimacy.
Comment: The US is the odd country out in this sad saga. It seems to take the position let the facts be damned.
The International Crisis Group posted on 3 September 2026 a 32-minute podcast titled "Somalia's End-of-Year Cliffhanger" with Alan Boswell and Samira Gaid, analyst with a Mogadishu-based think tank.
As the United States steps up its air attacks on al-Shabaab in Somalia, it is opposing continued UN funding in support of the African Union mission there, apparently out of concern that the mission is not effective. Failure to fund the mission, however, could jeopardize efforts to defeat al-Shabaab. The situation is complicated by upcoming national elections, differences among Somali federal states, and numerous external actors.
The Global South Policy Hub, a Washington-based nonpartisan think tank, published on 17 August 2026 a paper titled "Aligning U.S. Critical Minerals Policy with Africa's Development Agenda" by Alaka Lugonzo.
Africa holds about 30 percent of the world's critical minerals that power renewable energy technology. Africa's critical mineral wealth is rapidly reshaping its relationship with the United States. The author argues that current US mineral partnerships remain heavily tilted toward securing supply chains rather than delivering shared economic benefits.
The United States has an opportunity to rethink its approach by moving away from extractive relationships toward transparent industrial partnerships along the lines of the African Union's African Green Mineral Strategy (AGMS). A more sustainable approach would align US strategic interests with Africa's development agenda.
Comment: While this is sound advice, China is a much larger importer of Africa's critical minerals than the United States. It would be useful if some organization, particularly one in Africa, could offer similar advice for Beijing.
AEIs Critical Threats Africa File posted on 27 August 2026 an article titled "Ethiopia" by Michael DeAngelo.
The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) has conducted numerous drone strikes targeting Mekele, the capital, and other parts of Tigray Region. There was large-scale fighting in Western Tigray on 1 August between the ENDF and the Tigray People's Liberation Front.
China Daily published on 20 August 2026 an article titled "Deeper China-Africa Media Relations Urged" by Zhao Jia.
The 7th Forum on China-Africa Media Cooperation brought together in Beijing about 400 government, media, diplomatic, business, and academic representatives from China and 45 African countries. Representatives reportedly urged China-Africa media cooperation to move beyond equipment support and program exchanges toward coproduction and two-way storytelling in order to help the African media better narrate their own stories and bring a wider African perspective to Chinese audiences.
The Congressional Research Service published on 6 August 2026 a paper titled "China-Sub-Saharan Africa Ties and U.S. Policy" by Nicolas Cook, Lauren Ploch Blanchard, and Michael D. Sutherland.
China presents its engagement in Africa as promoting mutually beneficial economic development without imposing political conditions. In practice, China seeks to use integrated multidimensional engagement to advance its broader global strategic goals of expanding its international influence, strengthening its access to natural resources, and challenging US global leadership.
Economic activity is a central pillar of China's activity in Africa. Beijing's policy banks and state-backed lenders have extended numerous loans to African governments and other actors, making China a key bilateral creditor on the continent. China engages in education and media cooperation, and provides development aid via grants and concessional loans, technical assistance, and humanitarian programs. Security cooperation between China and African countries has grown, especially over the last decade.
The International Crisis Group posted on 18 August 2026 an hour-long podcast titled "Sudan's Separation Fifteen Years Ago and Today's Disaster" with Alan Boswell, Alex de Waal, and Abdul Mohammed.
Alex de Waal and Abdul Mohammed review the background of South Sudan's independence from Sudan and the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki. They explained why negotiations ultimately failed to produce two viable states, and whether such coordinated high-level diplomacy is still possible in today's fragmented regional geopolitics.
Efforts to resolve the crises in Sudan and South Sudan today are experiencing greater involvement from the Gulf States and involve a larger number of competing actors. Mediation today is extremely difficult. The global environment is highly transactional. The situation also has the possibility of becoming a regional war. It is time for the African Union to step forward and play a stronger role in ending the conflicts.
The Institute for Security Studies published on 14 August 2026 a paper titled "US-China Rivalry Puts Africa's Climate Diplomacy to the Test" by Dhesigen Naidoo.
China has been a consistent signatory of the Paris Agreement while the Trump administration withdrew from it during both its first and second iterations.
The author argues that Africa must maintain a positive climate-action approach while navigating the American anti-climate stance. US support for fossil fuel-based development has gained momentum, slowing Africa's pathway to low carbon development.
AEIs Critical Threats Africa File posted on 13 August 2026 an article titled "Somalia--AUSSOM" by Michael DeAngelo.
The African Union Stabilization and Support Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) has begun an accelerated handoff of responsibility to the Somali National Army. AUSSOM's mission end date is December 2029, but the goal is to complete most of the handoff in 2028. Al-Shabaab will likely exploit any lapse in counterterrorism efforts that might result from this decision.
The Somali Media Network posted on 8 August 2026 a 42-minute podcast with me hosted by Ismail Gorse on the Horn of Africa.
This is a wide-ranging discussion of current issues in the Horn of Africa and US policy with a special focus on Somalia and Somaliland.
China-Africa Security Radar published on 3 August 2026 an article titled "Fragmented Leverage: Why African States Call for Collective Bargaining but Prefer Bilateralism in Critical Minerals Negotiations" by Paa Kwesi Wolseley Prah.
The author explains how China and the United States seek advantage with African countries in bilateral negotiations in their quest for critical minerals. China exploits bilateral negotiations through processing dominance and bundled infrastructure-mineral deals. The United States pursues selective frameworks and corridor diplomacy.
CNBC published on 17 July 2026 an article titled "Xi Pitches China as AI Partner to Developing World, Warns Against Risks and Security Overreach" by Lim Hui Jie.
China is reaching out to various blocs of nations in the Global South to build partnerships concerning AI. The blocs include ASEAN, African Union, League of Arab States, and the BRICS.
Aljazeera published on 17 July 2026 an article titled "China's Xi Jinping Launches New AI Alliance: What Is It?"
Beijing is casting itself as a leader of the global AI order, challenging the position of the United States. China announced last week a coalition of 29 nations called the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO) with a headquarters in Shanghai. Founding members include South Africa and Senegal.
In the meantime, Washington is retreating from global cyber and AI norms-setting processes and withdrawing its financial backing for cyber diplomacy more broadly.
Ethiopia's Capital published on 12 July 2026 an op-ed titled "A 105-year Journey of Struggle: The Code of China's Development and a New Chapter in China-Africa Cooperation" by Ambassador Jiang Feng, head of China's mission to the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The op-ed begins: "On July 1st, the Communist Party of China (CPC) marked the 105th anniversary of its founding. For the Chinese people, it is an important occasion to reflect on the nation's journey of struggle and achievement while looking ahead to the bright prospects. For our African friends who are interested in China's development, it also offers an important opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the key to China's development."
The op-ed continues to praise the progress made by the CPC and suggests that China's model of development offers lessons for African countries.
Comment: The Mission of China to the African Union website posted the same op-ed on 7 July. It is not clear if Capital published the op-ed because it considered the ambassador's remarks newsworthy or there was some other incentive.
The International Crisis Group posted on 10 July 2026 a 40-minute podcast titled "Is Ethiopia Sliding Toward a New Tigray War?" with Alan Boswell and Payton Knopf, Dialogue Advisory Group and former U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa.
They discuss the background and status of the Pretoria Agreement and the rising risk of renewed war in Ethiopia's Tigray Region. They look at how unresolved disputes over territory, Tigray's federal status, internal divisions, and worsening Ethiopia-Eritrea tensions could push the region back toward war. They also unpack why escalating regional dynamics, including the war in Sudan, could make a renewed conflict even more explosive, why full-scale war is not inevitable, and what practical off ramps still remain.
Fana Fact Check published on 7 July 2026 an article titled "AU, Russia Commitment to Deeper Partnership, Advance Africa-Led Solutions to Global Challenges."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf in Addis Ababa on 7 July. They expressed agreement on numerous mutual issues of concern and on many AU policies and goals.
Comment: There were no commitments of tangible Russian assistance to the African Union or the challenges it faces in Africa today.
China-Africa Security Radar published on 5 July 2026 a commentary titled "China, the United States, and Africa's Green Minerals Vision" by Paa Kwesi Wolseley Prah.
In 2025, the African Union adopted a continental policy framework called Africa Green Minerals Strategy (AGMS), which aims to turn Africa's critical and green minerals endowment into sustainable, value-adding industrialization that supports a just energy transition and regional supply chain integration.
China has the processing capacity, investment scale, implementation speed, and institutional flexibility to advance African industrialization--but its commercial incentives run directly against allowing Africa to independently climb the value chain.
The US offers somewhat more transparent financing structures, stronger governance standards, and procedural models that on paper seem to better protect African states from debt traps--but it lacks the industrial ecosystem and the genuine political will to support African manufacturing rather than African extraction for American consumption.
Higher Education Today posted about a month ago a 29-minute podcast titled "Culture and History of Somaliland" hosted by Steven Roy Goodman with Jama Musa Jama, Hargeisa Cultural Centre, and Lee Cassanelli, professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania.
This is a positive account filmed in Hargeisa of Somaliland's history and culture, interspersed with video clips of the country.
