Mali (and the Sahel): Not in DC? Summer Doldrums Inspired Observations

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African governance, Al-Qaeda in Africa, Andrew Lebovich, Dogon country, Hezbollah in Africa, IBK Mali, John Paden, Laurent Gbagbo, Mali, Mali elections, Peace Corps, Washingtonians to Maine

Despite having lived in a neighboring country for two years, I never got to Mali.  It was however quite popular with the Peace Corps volunteer travel circuit.  I recall the picturesque Dogon country being a particular allure.  Moving to the Sahel in 2008, it was very much a ‘backward’ region that garnered little attention in the US, Francophone/Anglophone divisions aside.

Today that has all changed.  Everyone and their mother had an opinion on the French intervention in Mali.  However, the elections that have restored Mali’s former ‘model democracy’ have come and gone, with scant attention from Washington.  Granted, there are many summer vacations to Maine and Massachusetts to be had, but to my knowledge, there were hardly any events on the elections.  The Zimbabwe elections, taking place the same week, got limited attention, but there was at least one major conference on them.  Conversely, the Kenyan elections in March received considerable attention in DC.

The lesson I take away from this is that if you are a dictator and want to avoid/lessen the wrath of the Western nations promoting a democracy and governance agenda, schedule your elections in July or August (are you listening Laurent Gbagbo?).

On a related matter, are there any significant Sahel experts in the DMV?  John Paden of George Mason comes to mind, but he is quite elderly and by some frames of analysis, northern Nigeria would not be counted as Sahelian (speaking of which there is quite a plethora of Nigerian experts in DC, with most focused on Abuja, the Niger Delta, and Lagos).  Terrorism and conflict has drawn a lot of folks to the Sahel, something that has been particularly visible to me as my return to the US coincided with a drastic deterioration in the region’s security situation.

While I am all for people being abreast of current events, one doesn’t particularly build up a strong reservoir of expertise if they just change directions with the wind (for the sake of controversy, Andrew Lebovich comes to mind here.  I’ll give a shout out to Alex Thurston for consistency).  Furthermore, many of these folks operate on a not very nuanced narrative set by outlets like The Atlantic and Foreign Policy.  I see few experts focusing on Hezbollah activities in coastal west Africa (or even the CAR) or studying Liberia for its Al-Qaeda connections.

Reagan Fascell Democracy Fellow Abdulrazaq Alkali on Nigerian Governance, Human Rights, and Culture

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Abdulrazaq Alkali, African youth, Dave Peterson NED, Goodluck Jonathan, Jerry Rawlings on Nigeria, Kano, National Endowment for Democracy Congo, Nigeria, Nigerian national unity, Occupy Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, Reagan Fascell Democracy Fellows, YOSPIS

Saturday afternoon I sat down with Abdulrazaq Alkali, a Reagan – Fascell Democracy Fellow of the National Endowment for Democracy.  Mr. Alkali gave me several hours of his time, you can also hear him speak on “Strengthening Youth Participation in Nigeria” at NED’s office this Wednesday.

It Might Be Morning in Liberia: Insights From Atlas Corps Fellow Janice Pratt

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Atlas Corps, Dream Big Foundation, Janice Pratt, Liberia Governance Commission, Liberia Vision 2030, Liberia youth, Mary Broh, Monrovia, PSI, Stella Marris Polytechnic, technology in Africa, women in Liberia, WorldWatch Institute, youth during Liberian war

As part of my recent pledge to diversify Africa in DC’s coverage this summer, I sat down with Janice C. Pratt an extremely energetic, focused, and determined young Liberian who has recently come to DC as an Atlas Corps Fellow.  Janice will be bringing her limitless energy as an Atlas Corps Fellow to Worldwatch Institute, which focuses on delivering innovative solution to intractable global environmental issues.

Although Janice just

Not in DC: Reconciliation & Reconstruction for the Ivory Coast

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African elections, Alassane Ouattara, Council on Foreign Relations, International Crisis Group, Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo

Gbagbo shortly after his arrest.

I had promised a post on the absence of the Ivory Coast from the African policy discourse in Washington DC over the weekend.  Fortunately, the snowquester  has allowed me to focus on this.  I returned to the US following two years in Francophone Africa days before the 2010 1^st round election in the Ivory Coast and moved to DC about a month after the contested 2^nd round election, where the Constitutional Court controversially threw out votes for the challenger, Alassane Ouattara, allowing the incumbent, Laurent Gbagbo, to claim victory.

However, most of the world lined up behind Ouattara; Angola (and to a lesser extent South Africa) being the most notable exception.  A few months later, Gbagbo was forcibly removed from power, largely due to French assistance.

It is parallels to this crisis in events of the past weeks that have drawn me back to the precarious situation in the Ivory Coast. 

Obama’s Africa Legacy – A Rebuttal to Todd Moss of CGD

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African Development, Center for Global Development, Energy Poverty Gap, Obama Africa Legacy, Todd Moss criticism

I made a critique of Todd Moss in passing this week, so I may as well continue the trend (I’ll blame Devex for putting him in my inbox).  Yesterday, Moss published a piece, “Three Reasons why Electricity Should be President Obama’s Legacy in Africa”, in the blog of his employer, the Center for Global Development.  The opening paragraph alludes to AGOA as being “something great” for Obama to model a signature achievement on.  I shared my not so rosy views on AGOA yesterday, so that instantly caught my attention (and cemented my confidence in my perceptions of Moss).  And of course Obama’s modest African engagement is striking, so any piece addressing that is of interest.

Having served in the Peace Corps for two years without electricity (in a Sahelian country that imports the vast majority of its power supply) and recently visited Liberia, a country that neither generates nor imports much electricity at all, I certainly agree with Moss’ general point that the lack of access to electricity is a huge issue with health and economic repercussions (I was fortunate to be able to cook with gas during my two years in Peace Corps and avoided noxious fumes from smoke).

However, the piece has a tone that I find highly unappealing.  A few reasons why: