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Showing posts from April, 2025

THE WISDOM DROUGHT THE HIDDEN IRONY OF MODERN CORPORATE INTELLIGENCE

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  About the Author Jasmine Opperman is a world-renowned intelligence professional specialising in extremism and intelligence within the mining sector. She served for over 20 years in the South African intelligence services, rising to the position of Provincial Head of the Eastern Cape for the National Intelligence Agency (NIA). She is currently an advisor and senior intelligence analyst for both Fulcrum Analytics and the Fulcrum Intel Digest service.  We tend to think of intelligence failures as the domain of spies and secret agencies. But when a Fortune 500 company spends millions on market research and still fails to see a disruptive competitor coming, it is suffering from the exact same pathology: a wisdom drought. Executive Summary In an era defined by exponential data generation and complex transnational threats, such as Southern Africa's cross-border illicit mining syndicates, corporate survival demands a continuous, technology-augmented intelligence ecosystem. This pape...
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SAMIDRC Withdrawal from the DRC: A Turning Point for Regional Security in Southern Africa

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                                                                        Photo credit: SADC As a lead intelligence agency with decades of operations and research history in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and security architecture, we have closely observed the evolving situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The latest news of the SADC Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC) withdrawal is a watershed moment - not just for the DRC, but for regional stability as a whole and the future of collective security in Southern Africa. As violence rages on in eastern DRC, a highly organized web of armed groups, and rising geopolitical rivalries, this withdrawal holds significant implications for peacebuilding, regional cooperation, and the security landscape. In this critical analysis, we explore why t...
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Geo-Political Shocks and Your Business: How Intelligence Can Shield Your Supply Chain

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Photo credit: iStock In an era of accelerated global interconnectivity, supply chain resilience is today one of the most significant issues for contemporary businesses. Recent geopolitical disruptions - from the Red Sea shipping crisis, and Russia-Ukraine crisis to the increasingly heated China-West trade tensions - have exposed the vulnerability of international value chains. These are not random disruptions; they indicate the presence of a broader geopolitics that are more uncertain, complex, and volatile.   For companies that rely on the unimpeded and timely movement of goods, services, or even data across borders, today’s geopolitical climate poses a serious threat. What separates resilient businesses from those caught off guard is not their size or resources - but their foresight. And that foresight is built through a sustained, geopolitically informed awareness over time.   From Trade Wars to Transit Disruptions: A Fragile Landscape The sudden increase in sea t...
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Hearts and Minds: Al Shabaab's Propaganda Machine

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Authored by Cara Rau, Intelligence Analyst specialising in African Jihadism and Political Violence  Bottom Line Up Front  Al Shabaab has one of the most sophisticated, organised, and effective propaganda machines of all Jihadist groups. The group runs multiple news outlets across various platforms in multiple languages in order to both share news with their online supporters and to recruit new members. This report looks into recent activity by the group's producer of audio and visual content, Al Kataib Media Foundation and the Shahada News Agency, which is one of the most prolific online news sites to distribute Al Kataib content. Let us examine recent trends in content from the two sources to gain a deeper understanding of the ever-evolving media landscape of one of the most prominent Jihadist groups in Africa.  Al Shabaab Fighters. Source: Al Kataib Media Foundation Al Kataib Media Foundation Al Kataib Media Foundation regularly shares content about the group's military...
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