News That Matters To Africa©️
Quote of the Day:
“There is nothing noble in being superior to some other man. True nobility is being superior to your former self.”
Highlights:
Kenya puts Haiti police mission on hold
ANC predicted to lose parliamentary majority
Plight of lone child migrants stranded in Tunisia
African care workers trapped in UK.
Top News:
Eastern Africa
AU to support SADC troops in DRCongo
Kagame agrees to meet Tshisekedi over eastern DRCongo crisis
Ethiopia’s Tigray region is now peaceful, but extreme hunger afflicts its children
Federal gov’t, TPLF reaffirm commitment to Pretoria peace accord during AU-led meeting
Kenya puts Haiti police mission on old
Kenyan led Haiti mission in pre-deployment stage
Walking in Nairobi is not for the weak
Kenya denies role in abduction of South Sudan activist
US Sanctions money launderers connected to Al-Shabab
Sudanese army captures radio, TV headquarters after fierce battles
Ugandan court backs government’s refusal to register LGBT organisation
East Africa must prepare for more extreme rainfall during the short rainy season – new study
West Africa
Samuel Eto’o under fire as head of Cameroon’s football federation
Niger, 2024 growth champion: mirage or reality?
Nigerian army hunts for kidnapped students, parents seek answers
Idris Elba ‘reframing’ Africa with Sierra Leone smart city
Southern Africa
Survey: ANC may lose parliamentary majority in May vote
Ramaphosa slams rival’s plea for US election observers
Johannesburg dry taps blamed on heatwave
Zimbabwe, After Expelling U.S. Officials, Accuses Them of Promoting ‘Regime Change’
North Africa
Excitement and skepticism meet Algeria’s decision to import beef to meet demand during Ramadan
Detained, trafficked, exploited: the plight of lone child migrants stranded in Tunisia
Africa General
African Development Bank criticizes opaque loans tied to Africa’s natural
Care workers trapped in UK’s ‘modern slave trade’
Africans have become the solution to the UK’s elderly care crisis
What’s behind the worldwide shortage of cholera vaccines? For starters, they’re only made by one company
Why have thousands of Chinese workers left Africa over the past decade?
Corruption in African sports scuppers brilliant athletes
Africa’s high tolerance for other faiths
How Germany is handling human remains in museum collections
Video of the Day
Zambia rolls out new HIV prevention medicine.
Africa News Podcasts
How 2 Irish businessmen almost took Nigeria for $11 billion
I cycled across Africa for a place at my dream university.
(5) Articles on Analysis,Editorial & Opinion
Eastern Africa
DR CONGO
AU to support SADC troops in DRCongo
The AU Peace and Security Council on Saturday endorsed the deployment of foreign troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), overruling protestations from Rwanda, which saw support for them as a threat. The Southern African Development Community Mission (SAMIDRC) was deployed on December 15 last year. Following the endorsement, the AU Commission is required to provide necessary logistical and financial support to the mission. Rwanda had opposed support for the SADC mission in eastern DRC, claiming the force would exacerbate the conflict. Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta, in a letter to the AU Commission ahead of the AU Peace and Security Council meeting, said the force “cannot substitute for a political process that has been blocked by the government of DRC”. Rwanda had also written to the UN Security Council last month, voicing the same opposition. Kigali argues the troops are fueling an ethnic cleansing of Congolese Tutsis who have an ethnic link to those in Rwanda, by siding with perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Kagame agrees to meet Tshisekedi over eastern DRCongo crisis
Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame has agreed to meet with his Democratic Republic of the Congo counterpart Felix Tshisekedi to discuss the ongoing crisis in eastern Congo, the Angolan government has said. The agreement followed a meeting on Monday in Angola’s capital Luanda between Mr Kagame and Angolan President João Lourenço, the African Union’s (AU) mediator in the DRCongo crisis. “It was decided that President Kagame would agree to meet President Tshisekedi on a date to be indicated by the mediator,” Angola’s Foreign Minister Tete Antonio told the press after the meeting. Rwanda’s presidency said on X that the two leaders “agreed on key steps towards addressing the root causes of the conflict”. President Kagame’s trip to Angola follows a similar visit by Mr Tshisekedi to Luanda last month, during which it was announced that the DRCongo leader had agreed to meet with his Rwandan counterpart. But Mr Tshisekedi demanded the withdrawal of Rwandan troops from the Congolese territory before meeting President Kagame, the DRCongo presidency said.Fighting between M23 rebels and Congolese forces has flared in the DRCongo’s east, displacing more than 100,000 people in recent weeks, according to the UN. DRCongo has accused Rwanda of backing M23 rebels, an accusation that Kigali denies.
ETHIOPIA
The Tigray region is now peaceful, but extreme hunger afflicts its children
Tigray is now peaceful but war’s effects linger, compounded by drought and a level of aid mismanagement that caused the U.N. and the U.S. to temporarily suspend deliveries last year. Once-lush fields lie barren. Mothers, faces etched with worry, watch helplessly as their children weaken from malnutrition. Nearly 400 people died of starvation in Tigray and the neighboring Amhara region in the six months leading to January, the national ombudsman revealed in January, a rare admission of hunger-related deaths by a federal government. Most of those deaths were recorded in Tigray, home to 5.5 million people. Until the signing of a peace agreement in November 2022, the region was the scene of a deadly war between federal troops and forces loyal to the region’s now-ousted ruling party. But months after the end of the conflict, the U.N. and the U.S. halted food aid for Tigray because of a massive scheme by Ethiopian officials to steal humanitarian grain. An inadequate growing season followed. Persistent insecurity meant only 49% of Tigray’s farmland was planted during the main planting season last year, according to an assessment by U.N. agencies, NGOs and the regional authorities. The poor harvest prompted Tigray’s authorities to warn of an “unfolding famine” that could match the famine of 1984-5, which killed hundreds of thousands of people across northern Ethiopia, unless the aid response was scaled up.
Federal gov’t, TPLF reaffirm commitment to Pretoria peace accord during AU-led meeting
Following the convening of the First Strategic Review Meeting by the African Union in Addis Abeba on Monday, 11 March, 2024, the federal government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) have restated their “dedication to the implementation of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA),” which was signed in November 2022. The First Strategic Review on the Implementation of the CoHA took place yesterday at the AU premises in Addis Abeba. According to the AU’s Political Affairs Peace and Security Commission, the meeting aimed to “undertake strategic reflection and support critical aspects of the Ethiopian Peace Process, such as humanitarian support, DDR, rehabilitation and reconstruction.” The African Union said in a statement after the meeting that the two parties agreed “to hold multifaceted consultations to advance peace, security, and stability in the Tigray region” and “to consult regularly.” “They also decided to consult regularly and to convene in a similar format within the next few months.” While acknowledging “the progress made,” the parties identified “areas requiring additional joint efforts towards fully implementing the CoHA,” per the statement…The meeting brought together representatives from the Ethiopian federal government, the Interim Administration of Tigray/TPLF, and observers from the UN, EU, IGAD, United States, and the African Development Bank. It was facilitated by the AU High-Level Panel for the Ethiopian Peace Process.
KENYA
(Breaking News) Kenya puts Haiti police mission on hold
Kenya has decided to put on hold plans to send police to violence-wracked Haiti under a UN-backed multinational mission, a top official said Tuesday. The move came after Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry agreed to step aside as armed gangs have taken over much of the Caribbean nation. “There has been a fundamental change in circumstances as a result of the complete breakdown of law and order and the subsequent resignation of the PM of Haiti,” said Korir Sing’oei, principal secretary for foreign affairs. “Without a political administration in Haiti, there is no anchor on which a police deployment can rest, hence government will await the installation of a new constitutional authority in Haiti, before taking further decisions on the matter.” Sing’oei said however that Kenya remained committed to “providing leadership to the MSS,” referring to the Multinational Security Support mission that was approved by the UN Security Council in October last year. In recent weeks the crisis has grown even more violent, with bodies strewn across the streets, armed bandits looting basic infrastructure and fears rising of a famine.
*Earlier* Kenyan-led Haiti mission in pre-deployment stage – minister
The Kenyan government has vowed to go on with the deployment of hundreds of police officers to Haiti despite the escalating gang violence in the Caribbean country. Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki on Monday said the mission to send about 1,000 police officers to Haiti was in the pre-deployment stage. Mr Kindiki also said that laws and enforcement measures, like detention and arrests, have been finalised. The Kenyan government has addressed all issues raised in court that had blocked the deployment, the minister added. The exact date on which the officers will leave the country remains unknown. Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has resigned following weeks of mounting chaos by gangs demanding for his removal. Mr Henry has agreed to step down and make way for a transitional authority as his country wrestles with growing anarchy. He had been in Kenya to sign a deal on the deployment of an international security force to help tackle violence when a coalition of gangs attacked police stations and stormed two of Haiti’s largest prisons.
Nairobi residents say walking in town is not for the weak
The Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) is full to the brim – even spilling onto the roads. There are rivers of people at every turn. This – according to residents — makes walking on the streets of Nairobi a tedious and punishing hustle. That walking has been reduced to a push, push, kick and go affair most of the week. Many are resorting to using different routes to get home and to work — without having to pass through the CBD. Nairobi has a resident population of 4.4 million people. As the number keeps growing – the land, on which the Green City in the Sun sits, remains the same. Many say that the area south of Moi Avenue is a totally different world; more like a war zone. A battle ground pitting overzealous hawkers, matatu operates and their painted rides, loud music, Kanjos, pick pockets, mobile phone snatchers, idlers, cart pullers and Kenyans just trying to get home – or to work. Some of the most crowded roads in Nairobi include Ronald Ngala, Moi Avenue, Tom Mboya, Race course, River road and Luthuli avenue. Although residents have lauded the county government for its efforts to carpet pavements and walkways – the same have been taken over by hawkers – leaving no place for pedestrians to walk.
KENYA/SOUTH SUDAN
Kenya denies role in abduction of South Sudan activist
The Kenyan government on Tuesday refuted any involvement in the disappearance of South Sudan activist Moris Mabior, who vanished in the country in 2023. In legal documents submitted to the East African Court of Justice in Arusha, Tanzania, Kenya stated that Mabior “has never been a person of interest or under investigation by authorities.” Chief Inspector and Officer Commanding the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit in Nairobi Vitali Kibet, disclosed Kenya’s stance on the issue through an affidavit filed with the court. “Records at the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit show that the subject has never been arrested or investigated by the police,” Kibet said. Mabior, a vocal critic of the South Sudan government, reportedly disappeared after “armed individuals dressed in police attire” abducted him from his residence along Kangundo Road in Nairobi on February 4, 2023. His family claimed that a Kenyan officer from the unit named Ruto orchestrated the abduction. However, Inspector Kibet refuted the accusation, stating that no officer by that name was affiliated with the unit. The Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU) has filed a lawsuit against both Kenya and Sudan, accusing them of the purported arrest and detention of Mabior. The Attorney Generals of Sudan and Kenya are named as the first and second respondents in the case, respectively.
SOMALIA
US Sanctions money launderers connected to Al-Shabab
The U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned 16 entities and individuals Monday for their role in fundraising and money laundering for the terrorist group al-Shabab. Al-Shabab, which operates in Somalia, is an Islamist insurgency group with connections to al-Qaida. Those sanctioned in connection with them were operating throughout the Horn of Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Cyprus, according to a Treasury statement. Those sanctioned will have all U.S. assets frozen, and Americans will be barred from working with them. In 2022, similar sanctions were imposed by the United States on other individuals connected with al-Shabab. In January 2023, the Somali government said it had shut down the financial infrastructure that supported al-Shabab. At the time, Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre said his government had closed every known account connected with the militants. However, the group has continued to function by taking cash from businesses in government-controlled areas. Washington says al-Shabab brings in more than $100 million each year from their financial network and through extorting local businesses and people.
SUDAN
Sudanese army captures radio, TV headquarters after fierce battles
In a major development, the Sudanese army seized control of the national radio and television headquarters in Omdurman on Tuesday after intense clashes with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The capture comes after weeks of siege and follows the destruction of a large RSF force attempting to escape the besieged headquarters during the first hours of Tuesday. An army spokesperson’s statement described the operation as liberating the “memory and conscience of the Sudanese nation” from the RSF, which they called a “terrorist militia.” Footage released by pro-army social media channels showed soldiers taking control of the broadcasting facilities. This victory marks a significant development in the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF, a paramilitary group previously under army control. The RSF had held the radio and television headquarters since the conflict’s beginning, using it as a military base and detention centre. In recent months, the army intensified operations in Omdurman, gradually pushing the RSF out of key areas. The operations on the broadcasting centre involved heavy artillery, drones, and airstrikes.
UGANDA
Court backs government’s refusal to register LGBT organisation
A court on Tuesday dismissed a petition by an LGBT advocacy group seeking to compel the government to register it, a lawyer for the petitioner said. Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) first filed the suit in the country’s high court in 2015 after the government’s registrar of companies refused to list it – which would allow the organisation to operate legally – saying its name was “undesirable”. The case decided on Tuesday was an appeal of a lower court judgment from 2018 that had ruled against SMUG, one of Uganda’s most prominent LGBT rights organisations. “(The) court ruled that since the objectives of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) were actually to promote the rights and welfare of people whose conduct is criminalised under the laws of Uganda, then the registrar was right that the name was undesirable,” reported SMUG’s lawyer, Edward Ssemambo. The appellate court that issued the judgment is the same that acts as the constitutional court expected to soon rule on a challenge to Anti-Homosexuality Act, which carries the death penalty for certain same-sex acts and terms of imprisonment up to 20 years. A challenge to the law was argued before the court in December. LGBT rights activists say they expect a ruling soon. Ssemambo said Tuesday’s ruling was “not reassuring” as the forthcoming ruling on the anti-LGBT law approached, although he said that petition touched on wider political and economic issues that could weigh on the judges’ deliberations.
East Africa must prepare for more extreme rainfall during the short rainy season – new study
East Africa has recently had an unprecedented series of failed rains. But some rainy seasons are bringing the opposite: huge amounts of rainfall. In the last few months of 2023, the rainy season, known as the “short rains”, was much wetter than normal. It brought severe flooding to Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania. In Somalia, more than 2 million people were affected, with over 100 killed and 750,000 displaced from their homes. Tens of thousands of people in northern Kenya lost livestock, farmland and homes. The very wet short rainy seasons are linked to a climate event known as a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (known as the “IOD”). And climate model projections show an increasing trend of extreme Indian Ocean dipoles…Indeed, evidence from a recent assessment suggests that climate change-driven warming is highly likely responsible for increased rainfall totals. Policymakers need to plan for this. In the long term it is crucial to ensure that any new infrastructure is robust to withstand more frequent and heavier rains, and that government, development and humanitarian actors have the capacity to respond to the challenges. Better use of technology, such as innovations in disseminating satellite rainfall monitoring via mobile phones, can communicate immediate risk. New frontiers in AI-based weather prediction could improve the ability to anticipate localised rain storms, including initiatives focusing on eastern Africa specifically.
Western Africa
SIERRA LEONE
Idris Elba ‘reframing’ Africa with Sierra Leone smart city
Film star Idris Elba, who is leading the construction of a smart city in Sierra Leone, says he took on the project to change the stereotypical perception of Africa. Elba is building the eco-city on the rural Sherbro Island off the coast of West Africa along with Siaka Stevens, a grandson of Sierra Leone’s former president, who shared the same name.
They are partnering with the renewable energy company Octopus Energy Generation. The island city will have a wind and solar farm to provide power to residents. Currently, less than a third of homes in Sierra Leone have electricity.”Are we ever gonna make a profit? I don’t think so, but it is about being self-reliant, it’s about bringing an economy that feeds itself, that has growth potential,” Elba told the BBC Newsday programme. “I’m very keen to sort of reframe the way Africa is viewed. We often view the framing of Africa as an aid model and this opportunity is completely different,” he added.
CAMEROON
Samuel Eto’o under fire as head of Cameroon’s football federation
In Cameroon, no one is indifferent to Samuel Eto’o. The man who was one of the world’s best strikers in the 2000s, and who was elected president of the Cameroonian Football Federation (Fécafoot) for a four-year term on December 12, 2021, has been under fire for several weeks now. Eto’o’s election had raised a certain optimism in Cameroon, after years of chaotic management of a federation that had been placed under FIFA supervision on several occasions. On February 5, a few days after the Indomitable Lions were eliminated in the round of 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations in Côte d’Ivoire (0-2), the 43-year-old had initially submitted his resignation to the Fécafoot executive committee. However, “he can only do so before the general assembly that elected him,” Guibaï Gatama, a member of the executive committee suspended by his federation, told Agence France-Presse. “This resignation, even if it had been accepted by the committee, would not have been legal. It’s a trick,” the journalist said. But rather than this fake resignation, it is the investigation opened in August by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) into “alleged inappropriate behavior” and suspicions of match-fixing that is worrying Eto’o and his supporters. Since taking over from Seidou Mbombo Njoya at the head of Fécafoot, the former striker for Barcelona and Inter Milan has been quick to make enemies. His first 26 months as president have been littered with affairs and controversy.
NIGER
2024 growth champion: mirage or reality?
Recurring power cuts, falling purchasing power, food shortages: After seven months of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sanctions imposed after the July 26, 2023 coup, there’s nothing on the streets of the capital of Niamey to suggest that Niger could experience the continent’s highest growth rate in 2024. However, according to a March 1 report by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the country’s GDP could jump by 11.2% in 2024, following growth of 4.3% in 2023…the growth forecast should be treated with caution, warned economist Emilie Laffiteau, associate researcher at the Institute of International and Strategic Relations (IRIS). “Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world. It’s always easier to create a growth peak when you’re starting from a long way off,” she said. It’s important to look at whether the growth is due to a volume effect, in which case Niger has conquered new markets and is exporting more. Or if this rate is the consequence of a price effect. In the AfDB’s forecasts, these two effects compete with one other. While Niger’s crude oil export volumes are set to rise sharply with the completion of the pipeline, the global inflationary context since the outbreak of war in Ukraine has minimized this gain. According to various World Bank and ADB reports, for the growth forecast to become a lasting reality, the country needs to carry out structural reforms and turn more toward the manufacturing and services sectors.
NIGERIA
Army hunts for kidnapped students, parents seek answers
Nigerian soldiers were hunting for armed kidnappers who seized nearly 300 school pupils in Kaduna state last week, a security source said, as distraught parents sought answers on when they would be reunited with their children. The source said the army’s Kaduna-based One Division was leading the operation and “will soon have the bandits in their sights”. The soldiers were backed by the local police, intelligence agency and air force, as well as the Kaduna state vigilance service, a vigilante group that knows the local terrain, the source added. The mass kidnapping last Thursday, shattered the dusty town of Kuriga, 90 km from Kaduna state capital, with parents waiting for answers from authorities. Kidnappings at schools in Nigeria were first carried out by jihadist group Boko Haram…but the tactic has since been adopted by criminal gangs without any ideological affiliation seeking ransom payments, with authorities seemingly powerless to stop them. The kidnappings are tearing apart families and communities who have to pool their meagre savings to pay the ransoms, often forcing parents to sell their most prized possessions like land, cattle and grains to secure their children’s release. According to Lagos-based consultancy SBM Intelligence 4,500 people have been kidnapped throughout Nigeria since Bola Tinubu took office last May.
SENEGAL
All the candidates are ready to campaign for the presidential election except one, behind bars
After a final few hours of confusion over the election date, the political horizon suddenly cleared in Senegal on Thursday, March 7. The Constitutional Council, which had proposed the date of March 31 the previous evening, eventually agreed with the decree of President Macky Sall, calling the first round of the presidential election for Sunday, March 24. Incumbent Prime Minister Amadou Ba has already been replaced by Interior Minister Sidiki Kaba to focus on his strategy. 18 others are running for the first round of the election. They will have just 13 days to try and convince the electorate. The electoral code states that there should be 21 days of campaigning…But among all the parties in the race, one is in a unique situation. The Parti Africain Sénégalais pour le Travail, l’Ethique et la Fraternité (PASTEF), the government’s main opponent, still has its two leading figures in detention, charged with “calling for insurrection” and “undermining state security.” Ousmane Sonko, its leader disqualified for the presidential race after being convicted of defamation, has been in prison since late July 2023. His replacement candidate, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, has been in prison since April without trial. According to their lawyers, both should benefit from the general amnesty law controversially passed on the evening of March 6. This applies to all offenses or crimes committed between February 1, 2021, and February 25, 2024, whether tried or not, “relating to demonstrations or having political motivations.”
Senegal’s Presidential candidates start campaigns after protests over vote delay
Presidential candidates in Senegal kicked off their election campaigns Saturday, following weeks of violent protests across the African country after the vote was delayed. The 19 approved candidates vying for the top job now have a shorter period to rally supporters ahead of the March 24 election, expected to be the most tightly contested race since Senegal gained independence more than six decades ago. The recent violent protests also have raised concerns for a country that used to be seen as a beacon of democratic stability in West Africa, a region plagued by coups and insecurity. President Macky Sall, who is prevented from running because of term limits, postponed the election last month, just weeks before it was to take place on February 25. His announcement that the vote would instead be held 10 months from now plunged Senegal into chaos as opposition protests filled the streets. Alioune Tine, the founder of the Senegalese think tank Afrikajom Center, said that because of the delay, the candidates with the most financial resources will likely benefit from this shorter window. Most of the campaign ahead and the vote itself will take place during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The front-runners will likely be former Prime Minister Amadou Ba as the ruling party’s choice, and imprisoned Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a lesser-known candidate who gained popularity as the chief of the dissolved PASTEF party.
Southern Africa
SOUTH AFRICA
Survey: ANC may lose parliamentary majority in May vote
The ANC is likely to lose its parliamentary majority in May for the first time since Nelson Mandela led it to power at the fall of apartheid 30 years ago, a survey showed, opening up the prospect of coalition rule. South Africans go to polls on May 29 to elect a new National Assembly, which will then choose the next president. A survey of voter opinion in February by Johannesburg-based think tank The Brenthurst Foundation and the SABI Strategy Group estimated support for the ANC at 39%, down from 41% in October and 44% in November 2022. A result below 50% in May would mean the former liberation movement would be forced to enter into a coalition with smaller parties to govern the country, a far cry from its best-ever result in 2004 under Thabo Mbeki when it secured almost 70% of the vote. The ANC’s image has been tarnished in the past decade by economic stagnation, rising unemployment and repeated corruption scandals involving its top officials. Its current leader, President Cyril Ramaphosa, has tried to clean up the party’s reputation and revive the economy since replacing Jacob Zuma in 2018, but has struggled to make much headway. Rolling power cuts that have become part of daily life are symptomatic of the ANC’s lacklustre track record on service delivery. Ramaphosa said last month that the ANC would work to resolve the country’s challenges should it win decisively at the polls. Over three-quarters of the Brenthurst/SABI survey’s respondents said they would be happy with a coalition government. The survey showed support for the biggest opposition party the Democratic Alliance at 27%, up from 23% in October’s survey, while support for the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters party fell to 10% from 17% in October. Support for the newly-formed uMkhonto weSizwe party, which has been endorsed by Zuma, was seen at 13%.
Ramaphosa slams rival’s plea for US election observers
A political row has broken out in South Africa, after the main opposition party called for US observers to watch over the general election later this year. Writing to Washington’s top diplomat Anthony Blinken, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said having American election observers in place would “safeguard” South Africa “against any attempts to disrupt the democratic process”. Furious replies followed, with the president and other senior African National Congress (ANC) figures variously branding the DA’s letter “disingenuous”, “astounding”, and an an attempt to “hide” something. After 30 years in power, the ANC faces its toughest battle yet at the polls on 29 May. Falling support amid corruption and an economic crisis could leave them without a parliamentary majority for the first time since white-minority rule ended.
Johannesburg dry taps blamed on heatwave
Authorities in Johannesburg, South Africa’s commercial hub, have blamed the ongoing heatwave for the lack of water in some parts of the city for several weeks. The South African Weather Service on Monday issued a warning over excessively high temperatures, with the peak expected on Wednesday. The public water services provider says increased water consumption and lower reservoir levels are also fuelling the city’s ongoing water crisis. “The reduced flow into Johannesburg Water’s Linden 1 and Blairgowrie reservoirs is mainly due to the increase in demand caused by hot weather conditions as well as reservoirs being critically low to empty,” Johannesburg Water said on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday. The company also said that its bulk supplier, Rand Water, will reconfigure its systems to boost supplies. Water shortages are common in Johannesburg, and have triggered protests in the past. The current water crisis began late last year but has worsened in recent weeks.
ZIMBABWE
After expelling U.S. officials, Zimbabwe accuses them of promoting ‘Regime Change’
The government of the southern African nation of Zimbabwe detained, interrogated and deported officials and contractors working for the United States government last month, and this week accused them publicly of promoting “regime change” in their country. The incident is the latest in the Zimbabwean government’s aggressive efforts to thwart both domestic and international challenges to its authority. The incumbent government claimed victory in a chaotic election last year that several independent observer missions said lacked fairness and credibility. But it also points to a deeper tension over the United States’ proclaimed efforts to promote democracy around the globe. Some nations, including Zimbabwe, have accused America of meddling in their affairs and attempting to impose its values — as well as of hypocrisy, given the threats at home to its own democracy. Leaders in Zimbabwe have grown closer in recent years to both China and to Russia, and have supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Zimbabwe sits on a wealth of lithium, a critical component in electric vehicles. But most Zimbabweans struggle to get by, coping with triple-digit inflation that has made their currency practically worthless. Many workers — both laborers and educated professionals — have left the country. In a stern statement issued on Friday, Samantha Power, the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, said that Zimbabwe’s treatment of the officials was a betrayal of the country’s stated commitment to build a stronger democracy and re-engage with the West. “The people of Zimbabwe deserve better,” she said. But the Zimbabwean government fired back. George Charamba, a spokesman for President Emmerson Mnangagwa, said “If America thinks it has a holy mission to refashion the politics of this country after its own image of democracy, they are out for a very rude awakening.”
North Africa
ALGERIA
Excitement and skepticism meet decision to import beef to meet demand during Ramadan
Algeria is importing massive amounts of beef and lamb to confront an explosion in demand for meat expected throughout the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, hoping to stabilize prices as the country’s economy continues to struggle. The oil-rich North African nation is among countries working to import food and fuel, hoping to meet the requirements of Algerians preparing nightly feasts as their families break their sunrise-to-sunset fasts. For Algerians flocking to new imported meat stores staffed by butchers in white coats, the arrival of beef from as far away as Australia has raised both excitement and skepticism. By importing food products, Algeria hopes to avoid skyrocketing prices affecting those who can’t afford locally sourced red meat. Such inflation plagued the country as recently as last year when the onion supply couldn’t keep up with demand. Neighboring Tunisia plans to import bananas from Egypt while Mali plans to accept donated fuel from Russia. For Algeria, the decision to import 100,000 tons of red meat this Ramadan reverses a previous policy banning the import of the products. That policy was designed to help bolster domestic producers but has sparked pushback as the price of local meat spiked.
TUNISIA
Detained, trafficked, exploited: the plight of lone child migrants stranded in Tunisia
Almost 1,500 unaccompanied children are stuck in the country, where many report being separated from parents, while globally the number of minors making journeys alone is rising. Many had fled conflict in Sudan, Somalia, Syria and Eritrea. Between January and August 2023, 12% of arrivals by sea to Italy – a common destination for migrants in Tunisia – were unaccompanied children. The vast majority of the children experience one or more of arbitrary detention, trafficking, sexual violence and labour exploitation while they are travelling. John*, a community leader at a makeshift camp set up by migrants and refugees in Al Amra, says children are being separated from their parents by the police. “Their mums and dads go out to beg and then the police catch them and take them to Algeria.” Many arrived at the makeshift camp last summer after authorities expelled hundreds of sub-Saharan African people from the nearby coastal city of Sfax, , says John. Violence and racial tensions had flared in the city after the death of a Tunisian man in July 2023. While police maintain a constant presence around Al Amra, John says locals have donated food and water and, for the most part, tolerate them living there.
AFRICA – GENERAL NEWS
African Development Bank criticizes opaque loans tied to Africa’s natural
The head of the African Development Bank is calling for an end to loans given in exchange for the continent’s rich supplies of oil or critical minerals used in smartphones and electric car batteries, deals that have helped China gain control over mineral mining in places like Congo and have left some African countries in financial crisis. “They are just bad, first and foremost, because you can’t price the assets properly,” Akinwumi Adesina said last week. “If you have minerals or oil under the ground, how do you come up with a price for a long-term contract? It’s a challenge.” Linking future revenue from natural resource exports to loan paydowns is often touted as a way for recipients to get financing for infrastructure projects and for lenders to reduce the risk of not getting their money back. Adesina, whose Abidjan, Ivory Coast-based institution helps finance development in African countries, said these arrangements come with a litany of problems. He highlighted the uneven nature of the negotiations, with lenders typically holding the upper hand and dictating terms to cash-strapped African nations. This power imbalance, coupled with a lack of transparency and the potential for corruption, creates fertile ground for exploitation, Adesina said. “These are the reasons I say Africa should put an end to natural resource-backed loans,” Adesina said.
Care workers trapped in UK’s ‘modern slave trade’
Abena, a migrant worker from Southern Africa, was repeatedly raped by her manager at a care home in the United Kingdom but did not report him to the police for fear of losing her job and her visa. Bernice, from Jamaica, was sexually harassed by her landlord in the accommodation arranged by her employer, which sponsored her work in the UK. Then there’s Chidera, a live-in carer from Ghana, who once went nearly four months without a day off. After complaining to a manager, she was threatened with being dismissed and having her visa revoked. They are among dozens of migrant care workers who have travelled to the UK to fill vacancies, only to find themselves exploited and silenced. Their stories show that the people who make up a vital section of the UK’s social care workforce fear raising concerns about labour abuses, in large part because the visa system makes them dependent on their employer for their right to stay and work in the country. Any complaint, even if upheld, can start a ticking clock leaving them with barely two months to avoid the risk of deportation. Although some of these issues have been raised by campaign groups and in the media, one key factor that came up again and again has received less attention: that workers feel trapped in these situations because their visa arrangements penalise whistleblowing. Workers depend on their employer for the right to stay and work in the UK; losing their job for any reason means they have, at most, 60 days to find a new work sponsor or leave the UK once they are contacted by the home office. Some also live in housing provided by their employers, which they can lose if they leave their job or are dismissed. All of this leaves them at greater risk of exploitation.
Africans have become the solution to the UK’s elderly care crisis
The number of Africans entering Britain as care workers nearly trebled over the last year after visa rules were changed to tackle staff shortages exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit. It highlights the West’s growing reliance on migrants from the world’s youngest continent to care for its aging populations. Africans now make up the majority of foreigners given the right to work in Britain’s care system. Some 57,000 Africans entered the country on a Health and Care visa in 2023 — up from just over 20,000 in 2022 and more than half of the approximately 106,000 granted the right to travel to Britain for that work. The sharp increase in the number of Africans working in Britain’s care sector illustrates a clear demographic trend — the world’s fastest growing continent will increasingly make up the shortfall of workers in Western countries. That makes sense for a continent that is expected to make up a quarter of the world’s population by 2050.“We’re seeing absolute declines in the number of working age people in rich countries that we haven’t seen since the Black Death [of the 1300s],” Charles Kenny, an economist and senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for Global Development think tank, told me. He said that will create “a massive demand for workers from somewhere, and for Europe the obvious place is Africa.” The care visa trend highlights the extreme contrast between the youthfulness of African nations and the aging populations of advanced economies in the northern hemisphere. That gulf was crystalized during the pandemic.
What’s behind the worldwide shortage of cholera vaccines? For starters, they’re only made by one company
In February 2024 the World Health Organization announced southern Africa was suffering the deadliest regional outbreak of cholera in at least a decade. At the epicentre of the disaster were Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, where cholera cases surged more than four-fold between 2022 and 2023. Over 1,600 deaths were reported in the three countries. Already 2024 is threatening to be another devastating year for cholera in the region as warmer weather and unusually heavy rains and storms have fuelled the disease’s spread. Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi have reported more than 13,000 cases of the disease so far in 2024. Cholera bacteria are spread by eating or drinking food or water contaminated by the faeces of an infected person. Oral vaccines help contain outbreaks and limit the spread of the disease. But there is a worldwide shortage of the vaccines. From January 2023 to January 2024 there were urgent requests for 76 million doses of the oral cholera vaccine from 14 nations. Only 38 million doses were available. Stockpiles ran dry at the beginning of 2024. Vaccinologist Edina Amponsah-Dacosta was asked about the impact of the vaccine shortages and what is being done to secure stockpiles for future outbreaks on the continent.
Why have thousands of Chinese workers left Africa over the past decade?
Around two decades ago, former Chinese president Jiang Zemin’s push for businesses to “go out” saw thousands of mainland companies head to Africa in search of new markets and raw materials. With them, went thousands of Chinese migrant workers and by 2015 they numbered around 263,000 in Africa.But since that peak, the number of Chinese workers in Africa has plummeted as funding for infrastructure projects has dried up, a situation worsened by the coronavirus pandemic. By the end of 2021, the official number of Chinese workers in Africa was about 93,000, a fall of 64 per cent from 2015, according to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) working paper about China’s economic engagements with Africa published in February. In Algeria and Angola almost 90 per cent of the number of registered Chinese workers left. The paper did note, however, the real total may be slightly higher as those numbers did not include informal migrants such as private traders, investors and shopkeepers.
Corruption in African sports scuppers brilliant athletes
Kenyan athletes staged a protest at Nyayo stadium last week, delaying the selection trials for the All Africa track and field games. The Kenyan athletes, and many fans, were angry that national sports managers planned to take just one person per discipline in the competitions happening in Accra later this month. Kenya has historically taken three people per discipline. “We all know this script. They’ll keep the rest of the slots for their girlfriends and children,” said one Kenyan on social media. Another concluded: “Kenyan sports persons are world beaters; Kenyan sports managers are a world disgrace.” One does not have to look far to find other examples of incompetence, negligence or corruption. In one of the most egregious, in 2016, Kenya’s cabinet secretary for sports was charged with embezzling most of the $6-million that was budgeted for the country’s Olympic team. Together with the team’s chef de mission, they were found guilty and ordered to pay fines amounting to almost $1-million, a sentence that caused an uproar in Kenya. Both officials paid the fines – and presumably kept the change…The Uganda women’s netball team is all too familiar with that unfortunate script. They could be world beaters, yet are undermined by disgraceful officials. Ugandan and Kenyan sports officials are hardly the only ones mired in allegations of corruption, neglect and abuse. In the 2023 Women’s Football World Cup, Nigerian players threatened to boycott the games because of unpaid bonuses and allowances dating back several years. In some instances, corrupt officials are often doing a lot more harm than pocketing money. Last October, it was revealed that young boys in Gabonese football had been sexually assaulted by coaches, and other older men in sports, for decades. In 2019, Ghanaian journalist Ahmed Hussein Suale exposed widespread corruption within the national football federation, causing the federation to be dissolved. He was killed just months after the story was published.
Africa’s high tolerance for other faiths
Muslims and Christians in much of sub-Saharan Africa have a long history of religious tolerance. Sierra Leone in particular stands out as a positive example. Some 77% of people in Sierra Leone identify as Muslim and 22% as Christian. The two religions have a history of coexisting peacefully despite the 1991-2002 civil war that claimed an estimated 50,000 lives in the West African nation. Numerous studies found that Freetown’s residents had many “close social bonds” with people of other religions, something which is “quite extraordinary,” said doctoral researcher Julia Köbrich, who worked on the study. “People live in inter-religious families where maybe the father and the mother adhere to different religions. They have friends from various religions, often because they went to the same school and made friends there. But also in other places, there’s a lot of interreligious mixing.” Similar to Sierra Leone, many other nations in sub-Saharan Africa have a high degree of religious tolerance. This is perhaps contrary to expectations for what is a deeply religious, and religiously conservative, continent. Africa is one of the most religious places on earth, with 95% of people identifying with a religion, according to a 2020 Afrobarometer survey. More than half, or 56%, of the continent’s population are Christian, and one-third, or 34%, are Muslim. The two religions are distributed broadly along geographical lines, with Christians predominantly in the south of the continent and Muslims in the north. They meet in a wide swathe of countries that run in a line from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia in the west to Ethiopia and Eritrea in the east — with some nations heavily Muslim and others heavily Christian.
How Germany is handling human remains in museum collections
Some 17,000 human remains are said to be in the collections of German museums and universities. It’s often no longer clear how they ended up in Germany. Germany’s colonial power never reached the extent of countries such as France, Britain or the Netherlands, but its colonial rule was no less brutal. That’s evident in the numerous human remains dating from the colonial era that are still held in the collections of German museums and universities. Those remains are largely skulls and bones, many from the bodies of people who were executed. They were dismembered, cleaned, and sent back to Germany as trophies. Berlin’s university hospital, the Charité, has 106 such human remains in its depot. They came from people in Africa, Oceania, Asia and North America. As part of current provenance research, they’re being examined more closely and their origins are being documented. How did the items end up in Berlin? The German capital became a center of anthropological research at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, “simply because some of the craziest collectors worked here,” said Andreas Eckert, a professor of African Studies at Humboldt University. The scientists Rudolf Virchow and Felix von Luschan examined the remains in Berlin in order to draw conclusions in support of their so-called “racial science.” “There were order lists: If it was clear that someone was going to the region, for example to German South West Africa (now Namibia), they would receive an order,” says Eckert. These requirements were similar to a shopping list for the supermarket, including specific quantities. At the top of the list were skulls. “They were the most requested body parts,” he adds. That’s because the German scientists wanted to use comparisons of head size to prove their assertion that non-Europeans belonged to an inferior “race.” Africa, as well as other continents beyond Europe, was considered “terra nullius,” or no man’s land…Eckart is not alone in his assumption that many more human remains are held by German institutions. “It’s estimated there are some 20,000 bones,” he says. “In addition, there are those that have been buried over the years. So you can imagine that a vast quantity of bones were brought to Germany in relatively short span of time.”
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