Africa: Year in Review 2020 Publication date: January 12,1 2021 Table of Contents 5 A Letter from the Director, Dr. Monde Muyangwa U.S.-AFRICA RELATIONS 8 Time to Revamp—Not Revert—U.S. Diplomacy in Africa, Mr. Alan Boswell 9 Doomed Hope?, Mr. Nii Akuetteh Africa and the Biden Administration’s Summit for Democracy, 10 Mr. Judd Devermont 11 Getting U.S. Policy in Democratic Sync, Mr. Thomas P. Sheehy 12 When Elephants Fight the Grass is Trampled, Ms. Vivian Lowery Derryck GOVERNANCE AND LEADERSHIP 14 Key African Democratic Advances in 2020, Dr. Alex Vines 15 The Erosion of Term Limits in Africa Reflects Worrying Trend, Dr. Joseph Siegle The Changing Dynamics of Democratic Engagement in the Time of COVID-19, 16 Mr. Gregory Kearns 17 New Horizons for Niger, Dr. Sophia Moestrup 18 Somalia in 2020 and Beyond, Dr. Ladan Affi 19 Women Leaders Respond to COVID-19, Dr. Aili Tripp Evaluating COVID-19 in Africa: Responses, Effects, and Future Risks, 20 Ms. Fabiola Michele Lawson 2 Table of Contents 21 Youth Riots in Nigeria: Was it Predictable? Who is Next?, Dr. Adesoji Adelaja 22 #EndSARS and the Rise of Africa’s Activist Generation, Ms. K. Riva Levinson CONFLICT PREVENTION, PEACEBUILDING, AND SECURITY U.S. Army Remains Committed to African Security, Stability, 24 Major General Andrew Rohling 25 Strengthening Community-Centered Responses to Violent Extremism, Mr. Tony Carroll and Ms. Kristen O’Connell Bridges Over Troubled Waters: Women, Peacebuilding, and Water Diplomacy 26 in the East African Community, Dr. Marisa O. Ensor 27 ECOWAS’ Peace and Security Shattered by Unconstitutional Coups, Ms. Kamissa Camara The Coup in Mali and the Case for Privileging African Institutions, 28 Ambassador J. Peter Pham New Challenges to Thawing the Conflict in Western Sahara, 29 Ms. Hannah Akuiyibo 30 What the Crisis in Ethiopia Entails for Bordering States, Ms. Monique Walker TRADE, INVESTMENT, AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Africa’s Response in the Wake of the Pandemic: The Economy Versus 32 Lockdown, Mr. George Boateng and Ms. Beatrice Dankyi 33 African Countries Face a Debt Crisis, Mr. Ian Gorecki 3 Table of Contents 34 Africa’s Digital Journey—Interrupted, Not Halted, Ms. Viola A. Llewellyn Making Remote Work Work for Africa, with U.S. Collaboration, Ms. Liz Kitoyi 35 and Ms. Garnett Achieng’ Agricultural Productivity, Resilience, and Economic Transformation in 36 Sub-Saharan Africa, Dr. Adesoji Adelaja, Dr. Thomas S. Jayne, Dr. Louise Fox, and Dr. Keith Fuglie Sovereign Wealth Funds in Africa: Getting the Message and Aims Right, 37 Mr. Munashe Matambo and Dr. Adam Dixon AFRICA’S EVOLVING ROLE IN THE GLOBAL ARENA Making Multinational Corporations Respect Human Rights and the 39 Environment in Africa, Mr. Yusuf Kenan Küçük Turkey is Here to Stay Amid Challenges to its Ambitious Africa Strategy, 40 Dr. Elem Eyrice Tepeciklioglu Africa and COVID-19: Reflecting on Local African Knowledge and Agency, 41 Mr. Gregory Gondwe and Mr. Lawrence Kamanga Africa’s Youth Find Innovative Approaches to Combat COVID-19, 42 Ms. Gamuchirai Mhute The statements made and views expressed are solely those of the authors and do not represent the views or official positions of the Wilson Center. Cover image: Citizens in Madagascar receive COVID-19 testing from the World Bank and other organizations. Credit: World Bank / Henitsoa Rafalia. Source: https://www.flickr.com/ photos/worldbank/49834249446. License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/. Image on page 4: Protestors during an #ENDSARs protest. Credit: Becker1999/Flickr. Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/becker271/50531054661/. License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/. Image on page 5: Cover image: Nigerian youth protesting against police brutality in Ibadan, Nigeria on October 13, 2020. Credit: Femi Komolafe/Shutterstock. Source: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/13-october-2020-ibadanoyo-state- image-1834715263. 4 Africa: Year in Review 2020 A Letter from the Director Welcome to Africa: Year in Review 2020. For this special edition, marking our fifth year, we continue the tradition of asking policymakers, scholars, practitioners, and stakeholders what they considered to be the most meaningful and important developments in Africa and in U.S.-Africa relations in 2020. And what a year it was! Without doubt, the biggest story was the COVID-19 pandemic, with over nine of our contributors writing on the topic. Several authors examine the cross-cutting impact of the pandemic, exploring its intersection with trade and development, gender, security and peacebuilding, and the continent’s democratic trajectory. One essay reflects on the importance of prioritizing African knowledge and traditional medicine to address the continent’s health and development needs, while another examines what remote work means for Africa. Another contributor looks at how African women leaders mobilized around the COVID-19 crisis to call for the prioritization of women’s needs. Several authors highlight how the pandemic raised new challenges and exacerbated pre-existing ones, but also raised new opportunities for democratic governance in Africa. Five contributors focus on the state of U.S.-Africa relations in 2020. They reflect on the tone, tenor, and substance of U.S-Africa engagement during the Trump Administration and on the hopes, challenges, and opportunities for U.S.-Africa relations under the incoming Biden Administration. Authors highlight the need to re-establish the global standing of the U.S., to reset and revitalize U.S.-Africa relations, and to pay more attention to addressing the democracy recession, climate justice, and the late-in-2020 developments relating to Western Sahara. Security, political instability, and peacebuilding were top issues in 2020, with several conflicts intensifying or remaining unresolved, while violent extremism continued to wreak devastation and insecurity in various parts of the continent. One contributor discusses the importance of scaling up and strengthening community-centered responses to more effectively address violent extremism. Focusing on ECOWAS, two contributors focus on the important role played by African institutions in managing crises and promoting peace and security in West Africa in general, and Mali in particular. While lauding ECOWAS’s role, one contributor also makes the case for the African Union and United Nations to play a bigger role in maintaining peace and security in order to allow ECOWAS to focus more on much-needed trade and development. Still on the security front, the U.S. reorganized its security engagement with the continent by merging U.S. Army Europe and U.S. Army Africa into a single command in order to enhance collaboration and partnership with European and African partners, and to boost the capacities of African militaries. Another author focuses on the link between water, peace, and security in the East Africa Community, and the role that water management and water diplomacy can play in building peace and security in the region. Another key concern in 2020 was the recession in democratic governance globally, including in Africa. More than seven contributors analyze the state of democracy in Africa, with several identifying democratic backsliding 5 as a worrying trend. The erosion of term limits in several countries in Africa, including constitutional amendments in Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea, contested elections in Tanzania, and a military coup in Mali were all troubling developments. Along the same lines, another contributor examines Somalia’s upcoming presidential election and expresses concern regarding the potential for a non-peaceful transition of power. However, there were glimmers of hope amid this troubling democratic landscape. Almost a dozen African countries held presidential or general elections and took steps to consolidate democracy, as highlighted by peaceful transitions of power in Ghana and Niger, and the annulment of a flawed election in Malawi. The relationship between security forces and civilians in general or segments of societies came under intense scrutiny in 2020 as popular protests against police brutality and abuses emerged as a global issue. Africa was not spared, as highlighted by two authors who focus on the #EndSARS protests in Nigeria. On the economic development front, Africa’s debt crisis continued to escalate in 2020, made worse by the impacts of COVID-19. One author notes the disruption caused by the pandemic to Africa’s digital journey and progress, which also exposed and exacerbated the scale and scope of its digital divide. At the same time, and as noted by several authors, innovation gathered steam on the continent with plenty of potential for the digitization of African economies, which could be facilitated through an African digital game plan. Other contributors emphasize the need for strong leadership and innovation to avoid a potentially deep recession, the prioritization of agricultural productivity and resilience to spur Africa’s economic transformation, and purposeful adoption of sovereign wealth funds to foster sustainable development. Looking at Africa’s role in the global arena, one author focuses on how Africa, the host of many multinational corporations, could benefit from the growing push in Europe to hold multinational corporations accountable for safeguarding human rights and protecting the environment as part of their corporate social responsibility. Another contributor explores Turkey’s engagement with Africa in the year of COVID-19. The contributor notes that while Turkey’s strategic goals in Africa have not changed, as exemplified by its continued engagement in Libya, the country’s engagement with the continent was characterized by COVID-diplomacy, aimed at entrenching its image as a reliable partner in Africa’s time of need. The final submission in this year’s edition focuses on the innovations that have emerged from the continent, especially youth, in response to COVID-19. It is a powerful reminder that Africa’s most important resource is her people. We found this year’s special edition of Africa: Year in Review to be a particularly compelling read of perspectives and analyses, and thank all of the authors for their insightful contributions.