Author: James Okafor
James Okafor
James Okafor is a defence and security analyst with over 14 years of experience covering sub-Saharan Africa's military affairs, peacekeeping operations, and defence procurement. A former strategic communications consultant for regional security bodies, he has reported from conflict zones across the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, and the Great Lakes region. His analysis has been cited by think tanks including the African Centre for the Study of the United States (ACSUS) and various NATO-affiliated research institutions. James holds an MA in International Security Studies from the University of Pretoria and a BA in Political Science from the University of Lagos. He specialises in drone warfare, naval modernisation, arms trade dynamics, and the growing role of private military contractors on the African continent.
ADF STAFF As it seeks to expand its territory, the Sahelian terror organization Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin has launched violent attacks in the border areas of…
ADF STAFF A string of devastating attacks by Sahelian terror groups in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have shown Russian mercenaries’ inability to provide security. Now,…
ADF STAFF Piloting a drone, award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker Edem Srem flies high above polluted waterways in his native Ghana to show the scale of…
ADF STAFF Methamphetamine cooks supplied by Mexican drug cartels have been discovered working at several drug laboratories in Africa over the past two years. Several arrests,…
ADF STAFF Women living under the yoke of al-Shabaab terrorists suffer from abuse, coercion and severe social isolation. But a new report shows that they also…
Stretched thin by rising security demands, militaries across Central Africa have turned to local militias for help fighting insurgents. However, those relationships are fraught with their…
A group of Russian Wagner Group mercenaries have shifted their efforts to running a tramadol trafficking empire in the Central African Republic. Known as “poor man’s…
In a national address on June 12, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu praised security forces for the gains that they are making on the ground. Along with…
Beijing’s official stance of neutrality and nonintervention in the paramilitary M23’s rebellion against the Congolese government is increasingly being challenged by the reality on the ground:…
The terrorist attack in April that killed Mali’s defense minister in his home added fuel to the notion that Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin could one day…