Much was anticipated from his administration, especially with regard to working more closely with the African continent. But it was only in his second term beginning 2013 that he managed to focus on the African countries by initiating the US-Africa Leaders Summit in August 2014.

• Aakriti Sethi |
• October-December 2014 |
• Africa Trends

India's historic ties with Mozambique have got a boost in recent years with several high level visits from the country including that of Mozambican President in 2010 and the Mozambican Foreign Minister Oldemiro Baloi in November 2014. These visits are important in terms of India's growing interest in Mozambique's energy sector.

• Ruchita Beri |
• October-December 2014 |
• Africa Trends

Essentially local Islamist extremist groups such as the Boko Haram, which thrive on the domestic social and economic deprivations, seem to be moving towards collaboration with international Islamist groups. This phenomenon is not new, considering the links of Somali groups with the Al-Qaeda.

• Saurabh Mishra |
• October-December 2014 |
• Africa Trends

The aspirations of the youth who protested at the Tahrir Square, the next course of action for the Muslim Brotherhood, the participation of other Islamists in the forthcoming elections and the role of military in the Sisi regime are some of the important issues which need to be resolved for the stability of the country.

• Prasanta Kumar Pradhan |
• July-September 2014 |
• Africa Trends

The succession debate has haunted the ZANU PF right from its foundation in the 1950s. Given the fact that the leader of the party is well into his 90s, and oldage ailments are fast catching up with him, factionalism within the party has been the order of the day.

• Frederick Chakupa Sadomba |
• July-September 2014 |
• Africa Trends

It is believed that the current situation in West Africa is a result of the delayed response and assistance from the international community to the Ebola outbreak. However, there is evidence that some international organisations have been constantly working to contain the spread of the disease since its outbreak in March 2014.

• Kuhoo Saxena |
• July-September 2014 |
• Africa Trends

Containment of the terror threat in Sahel secures Europe, particularly its Southern parts; hence France has an interest in securing the region. However, France will not try to address the deep rooted political and socio-economic factors that are at the core of the Malian conflict as well as conflicts in other parts of Sahel.

• Nachiket Khadkiwala |
• April - June 2014 |
• Africa Trends

At the Malabo summit, the member states of the African Union seem to have set forth ambitious goals for pushing development, security and the integration agenda in the continent. Translation of these goals into reality will require coordination and cooperation by the African leaders and other stakeholders at a continental level.

• Ruchita Beri |
• April-June 2014 |
• Africa Trends

Indian communities in Africa constitute 12.37 per cent of the total strength of India Diaspora and they reside in 46 countries of Africa inhabiting all linguistic, cultural or geographical regions of the continent

• Rajneesh Kumar Gupta |
• April-June 2014 |
• Africa Trends

The UN resolution comes not a moment too soon but the actual deployment of troops is still a few months away as modalities about the troop contributing nations and funding are yet to be figured out. The crisis is of a disturbing magnitude but a swift and effective response may still pull the country back from the verge of complete collapse

• Divita Shandilya |
• January-March 2014 |
• Africa Trends