News That Matters To Africa©️
Friday’s Focus Edition:
Light On News But Heavy On Analysis, Commentary and Opinion and ’Good News Africa’.
Quote of the Day:
“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.”
Highlights:
Kenya on ‘standby’ for Haiti
Secret document exposes UK role in Nkurumah coup
Safer citizens fighting in Israel will be arrested
Some African countries hit by major internet outages.
Top News:
Eastern Africa
Kenya fuel prices down by biggest margin since May 2020
UK to offer failed asylum seekers cash to relocate to Rwanda
Rwanda Opposition leader barred from Election over past convictions
Félicien Kabuga: The last judgement
Somalia secures $2bn debt relief from Paris Club
Somalia: Pirates demand ransom for Bangladeshi seamen
How Somalia-Turkey defense deal torpedoed a rival UAE agreement
New coalition in Sudan eyes political pact with military
$800m set aside to teach Ugandans Kiswahili
West Africa
Cameroon deems two opposition groups ‘illegal’, issues warning ahead 2025 election
Sonko Trial: Final words before the verdict
Top secret document exposes UK role in Ghana coup
Cocoa plants run out of beans as global chocolate crisis deepens
Nigeria reopens borders with Niger, lifts other sanctions
Nigerian kidnappers demand $620,000 for release of school hostages
Campaign for jailed Senegal election candidate Faye takes to the road
Major concerns facing Senegal ahead of presidential vote
Internet outage intensifies in West, Central Africa
Southern Africa
Mozambique: Severe storm may affect 525,000 people
Jacob Zuma’s MK – the political wildcard in South Africa’s election
SAfr citizens fighting in Israel will be arrested – minister
Abdullah Ibrahim (Dollar Brand): South Africa’s master pianist is going on a world tour at 90
Zimbabwe sect leader held after 251 children rescued from farm labour
North Africa
Egypt: Questionable amnesty deals for ISIS members, says HRW
European Commission accused of ‘bankrolling dictators’ after Tunisia deal
Africa-General
Biden Risks Another ‘Fatal Mistake’ in Red Sea
World oil demand grows amid Red Sea shipping disruptions: IEA
Good News Africa
(6) Articles and (2) Videos
Video of the Day
Turkey Faces Balancing Act With Somalia, Ethiopia
Jamal Benomar – BBC News interview
Africa News Podcast
(21) Articles on Analysis, Editorial & Opinion
Eastern Africa
KENYA
Fuel prices down by biggest margin since May 2020
A litre of super petrol has dropped below the Ksh200 mark in the Kenyan capital Nairobi for the first time since August as pump prices fall by up to Ksh7 per litre effective midnight, the biggest drop month-on-month. A litre of super petrol will retail at Ksh199.15 after a drop of Ksh7.21, while that of diesel will sell at Ksh190.38 a litre, a cut of Ksh5.09. A litre of kerosene will drop by the smallest margin of Ksh4.49 to retail at Ksh188.74 in the city. The price cuts contain in the latest pricing schedule that will be in force until April 14 are set to boost efforts of further slowing down the cost of living. The last time pump prices dropped by a big margin was in May 2020 when a litre of super petrol dropped from Ksh92.87 to Ksh83.33 while that of diesel dropped from Ksh97.56 to Ksh78.37. The latest price drops are set to further lower inflation which was recorded at 6.3 percent last month from 6.9 percent in January. The ongoing rally of the shilling against the dollar and the global drop in prices of refined fuel has handed Kenyans the biggest price month-on-month cuts in over three years.
Kenya on ‘standby’ as US raises funds for Haiti mission
Kenya has commissioned a Chinese state-owned company—the one behind the construction of the controversial nearly $5 billion railway from Nairobi to Mombasa—for another megaproject. China Road and Bridge is set to build a 60,000-seat stadium for Kenya’s hosting of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) soccer tournament. The stadium in the capital, Nairobi, will be known as Talanta Sports City when it is completed in December 2025. Talanta translates as “talent” in Swahili. In 2021, Kenya ended its contract with Afristar, which is owned by China Road and Bridge, to run the railway five years earlier than initially planned over ballooning costs. The move was expected to save the country more than $120 million in annual fees for a railway project that was mired in lawsuits, criminal investigations, and accusations that the deal unfairly increased Kenya’s debt burden since it was paid for through secretive Chinese loans. Chinese companies have built or renovated almost half of the stadiums hosting AFCON matches over the past 15 years, including the $260 million 60,000-seat Ouattara stadium used at this year’s tournament in Ivory Coast.
Why Kenya has not abolished the death penalty
In recent months, two African states have announced their intentions to abolish the death penalty – Zambia and the Central African Republic (CAR). In all, 22 member countries of the African Union (AU) have abolished the death penalty for all crimes, and one for ordinary crimes. In 2021, only four countries in the AU carried out executions: Botswana, Egypt, Somalia and South Sudan. 17 African countries are considered “de facto abolitionist” states, meaning that they have not carried out an execution in 10 years. These include Kenya, which retains the death penalty by hanging – a British colonial relic. This sentence can be handed down for the crimes of murder, other offences resulting in death, robbery not resulting in death and treason.
Kenya hasn’t carried out an execution since 1987, when two soldiers were executed for their role in the failed attempt to overthrow President Daniel Arap Moi in 1982. A recent study found that Kenyans’ knowledge of the death penalty is relatively limited. Just 66 percent of the public are aware that the country retains the death penalty. Only 21 percent know that no executions have taken place in 35 years. Most years, more than 100 people are sentenced to death, mostly for murder or robbery with violence. Another factor that may contribute to the government’s inertia is that the death row population is managed by regular mass commutations. Death sentences of 4,000 prisoners were commuted in 2009 under President Mwai Kibaki. And in 2016 another 2,747 under President Uhuru Kenyatta.
RWANDA
UK to offer failed asylum seekers cash to relocate to Rwanda
The British government is planning to pay asylum seekers up to £3,000 ($3,836) each to move to Rwanda under a voluntary plan to help clear the backlog of refugees who have had their applications to remain in the country rejected. The new agreement with Rwanda is separate from the government’s stalled plan to forcibly deport most asylum seekers to the country, which was last year ruled unlawful by the UK’s Supreme Court. Instead, it mirrors an existing government policy, where asylum seekers are offered financial assistance to leave the Britain for their home country, but under the new plan people will get the money if they agree to live in Rwanda. Kevin Hollinrake, a junior Business Minister, said on Wednesday the new policy was a good use of public money because it was cheaper than the cost of looking after people in Britain who had been denied asylum, but not yet removed. There are tens of thousands of asylum seekers in Britain who have been refused asylum, but they cannot be removed because the government is not allowed to return people to a war-torn country or one with a poor human rights record. Rwanda currently has the capacity to accept a few hundred asylum seekers a year from Britain, the British government has said, adding the capacity could be increased.
Rwanda Opposition leader barred from Election over past convictions
Rwandan court has found the opposition leader and dissident Victoire Ingabire ineligible to run in the July presidential election because of previous convictions for terrorism and genocide denial. A fierce critic of Rwanda’s long-ruling president, Paul Kagame, Ingabire spent eight years in prison before receiving a presidential pardon in 2018 that cut short her 15-year sentence. She had asked the Kigali high court to allow her to contest the 15 July polls despite a legal ban on convicted candidates who have been jailed for six months or longer…Ingabire regularly accuses the Rwandan leader of suppressing dissent and neglecting the poor…Numerous opposition politicians have disappeared or been killed in mysterious circumstances over the last few years.
Félicien Kabuga: The last judgement
Félicien Kabuga played the last of the great roles in the most litigated genocide in history: after having been the last of the great fugitives for a long time, he came to close the proceedings of the UN tribunal in charge of trying those responsible for the genocide of the Tutsis of Rwanda, perpetrated in 1994. The man who at one time had the reputation of being the richest man in Rwanda was already very old and ill. His trial opened in The Hague on 29 September 2022, and proceeded at a fatally slow pace, out of sight, towards an outcome that seemed increasingly uncertain. The former businessman was accused of having financed the Interahamwe militia as well as Radio-Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), a private station that called for murder during the massacres. He was charged with genocide, incitement to commit genocide and crimes against humanity. In the end, he would never be tried, the Appeals chamber having concluded in August 2023 that his state of health no longer permitted it, despite the attempts of the prosecutor and trial judges to hold the trial at all costs.
SUDAN
New coalition in Sudan eyes political pact with military
The newly formed National Forces Coordination (NFC), led by Sovereign Council Deputy Chairman Malik Agar, announced plans to sign a political declaration with the Sudanese military…On Wednesday, Lt Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the Sovereign Council and army commander-in-chief, met with Agar and other NFC leaders…NFC spokesperson Mustafa Tambour said they briefed al-Burhan about the coalition’s recent founding conference and its goals. [Tambour] declared that no political progress would occur until the “rebellious militia” is defeated…The NFC includes several signatories to the Juba Peace Agreement, political parties, civil society organizations, and various regional and political entities.
SOMALIA
Somalia secures $2bn debt relief from Paris Club
The Paris Club creditors on Wednesday agreed to cancel more than $2 billion of debt Somalia owed to its members in a bid to help it restore its debt sustainability.
The debt relief represents 99 percent of the credit Somalia owed to Paris Club members as of January 2023, according to a statement issued by the creditor group. Paris Club members is an informal group of creditor nations whose objective is to find workable solutions to payment problems faced by debtor nations. “Creditors welcomed and supported the commitment of Somalia to seek a treatment at least as favorable from all its other official bilateral and external commercial creditors,” read the statement. Reaching Completion Points means Somalia has implemented reforms agreed to when the country became eligible for debt relief and also fully normalised its relations with international financial institutions.
Pirates demand ransom for Bangladeshi seamen
Somali pirates who hijacked the ship MV Abdullah have threatened to start killing the Bangladeshi sailors held hostage unless they are paid a ransom. In a message sent to his wife, the vessel’s Chief Officer Atiq Ullah Khan said, “Pass on this message to everyone because they are taking away our mobiles. The final word is that, if they are not paid the money, they will start killing us one by one.” A similar audio message was sent by Chief Engineer Saiduzzaman to the ship’s owners. Relatives of the sailors gathered at the ship owners’ offices in Chattogram’s Agrabad. Jannatul Ferdous, the wife of a sailor on the vessel, said, “My husband, rank GS Nuruddin, called yesterday at 1:30pm saying that pirates were attacking them. We informed the office immediately. We spoke with him once during Asr. The last time we spoke was after iftar at 6:49pm. He video called me and was crying a lot. He said their situation was very bad. They were being taken to Somalia. He wanted to see our child and I arranged it.” KSRM Group spokesman Mizanul Islam said that “our first priority is to free the sailors. Then recover the ship intact.” Citing the experience of rescuing the MV Jahan Moni ship hijacked over a decade ago, the KSRM Group official said he was hopeful of safely rescuing the ship and the sailors.
How Somalia-Turkey defence deal torpedoed a rival UAE agreement
When the Somali cabinet approved a military cooperation deal with the United Arab Emirates in February 2023, there was an uproar in Mogadishu. Parliamentarians believed the agreement was contrary to Somali sovereignty. The most controversial part of the agreement, however, was the fact that it gave the UAE military total immunity, which angered Somalis. A year on, the Somali parliament is still yet to ratify the agreement to formally complete the constitutional procedure. In contrast, MPs swiftly approved a similar defence and commerce deal with Turkey over a few weeks last month…what really changed Mogadishu’s thinking on Turkey was Ethiopia’s developing ties with the breakaway Somaliland state earlier this year, which deeply concerned Mogadishu. In January, Ethiopia signed an agreement that grants it naval and commercial access to ports along Somaliland’s coast, in exchange for recognition of the region’s independence. Mogadishu declared the pact illegal. The defence deal with Turkey, whose contents are still kept confidential by the respective governments, reportedly mandates Ankara to protect Somali sea waters against infringements for the next 10 years. Some Ankara insiders say the deal is also backed by Qatar, the UAE’s Gulf rival.
UGANDA
$800m set aside to teach Ugandans Kiswahili
The Ugandan government has allocated $800m (£625m) to promote and teach the Kiswahili language in the country, as part of efforts to foster regional integration. Civil servants including doctors, nurses and border workers will be given priority in the yet to be unveiled Kiswahili training programme. As part of the efforts to popularise the language in the country, all senior government officials, including cabinet ministers and judges, were taking compulsory weekly lessons. In July 2022, the Uganda government approved the adoption of Kiswahili as an official language and directed that it be made a compulsory subject in primary and secondary schools. But the language is currently taught in a few secondary schools in the country. About 200 million people speak Kiswahili in the world and in 2021, the language received its biggest boost when the UN designated 7 July as World Kiswahili Language Day. It is also the official language of the East African regional bloc, the EAC. In 2019, Kiswahili became the only African language to be recognised by the Southern African Development Community (Sadc). There are also efforts to introduce it in classrooms across South Africa and Botswana.
Western Africa
CAMEROON
Govt deems two opposition groups ‘illegal’, issues warning ahead 2025 election
The Cameroonian government has described two political groups seeking to create opposition coalitions as illegal. A statement from the Territorial Administration Minister Paul Atanga Nji on Tuesday named “The Political Alliance for Change (APC) and the Alliance for Political Transition in Cameroon (ATP) and described them as not political parties under the law..Led by former deputy Jean Michel Nintcheu, the APC was set up in December at a congress of the leading opposition Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon (MRC), which backed Maurice Kamto for president in the 2018 ballot…International NGOs accuse the regime of President Paul Biya, who has ruled with for more than 41 years, of systematically suppressing opposition.
GHANA
Top secret document exposes UK role in Ghana coup
Britain’s Foreign Office engaged in “covert attacks” against the government of Ghana’s president Kwame Nkrumah, a recently declassified file reveals. The objective was to create “an atmosphere” in which Nkrumah “could be overthrown and replaced by a more Western-oriented government”, the file shows. This policy was supported by officials in both Conservative and Labour governments alike. Marked “Top Secret”, the report was written on 6 May 1966 by the Foreign Office’s Cold War covert propaganda unit, known as the Information Research Department (IRD). Nkrumah, a socialist and anti-imperialist revolutionary, was overthrown in a coup on 24 February 1966 by high-ranking elements of Ghana’s military and police. The coup took place while Nkrumah was traveling to Hanoi to discuss proposals for ending the war in Vietnam. General Joseph Arthur Ankrah, deemed by British officials to be “nice but stupid”, replaced Nkrumah as head of the Ghanaian government. The document, entitled “IRD operations against Nkrumah’s government”, is the most explicit proof to emerge so far of the UK pursuing regime change against Nkrumah. Written by Sir John Ure, a career British diplomat who worked for the IRD for three years, the six-page report explains the IRD’s objectives in Ghana and the types of actions it took to help facilitate the coup. Ure wrote: “The African, Editorial and Special Operations Sections of IRD have, throughout, worked in very close liaison over our treatment of Nkrumah’s Ghana; this treatment has aimed at contributing to the creation of an atmosphere in which Nkrumah could be overthrown and replaced by a more Western-oriented government.” Ure concludes on a note which is as chilling as it is succinct: “Now that this objective has been realized, our efforts are being directed at ensuring that the lesson of Nkrumah’s flirtation with Communism is not lost on other Africans”.
IVORY COAST/GHANA
Cocoa plants run out of beans as global chocolate crisis deepens
Major African cocoa plants in Ivory Coast and Ghana have stopped or cut processing because they cannot afford to buy beans, four trading sources said, meaning chocolate prices around the world are likely to soar. Chocolate-makers have already increased prices to consumers, after three years of poor cocoa harvests, with a fourth expected, in the two countries that produce nearly 60% of the world’s cocoa. Cocoa prices have more than doubled over the last year, scaling numerous all-time highs. The price rally has derailed a long-established mechanism for global cocoa trade, through which farmers sell beans to local dealers who sell them on to processing plants or global traders. Those traders then sell beans or cocoa products – butter, powder and cocoa liquor – to global chocolate giants such as Nestle, Hershey and Mondelez. In normal times, the market is heavily regulated – traders and processors purchase beans from local dealers up to a year in advance at pre-agreed prices. Local regulators then set lower farmgate prices that farmers can charge for beans. However, in times of shortage like this year, the system breaks down – local dealers often pay farmers a premium to the farmgate price to secure beans. The dealers then sell the beans on the spot market at higher prices instead of delivering them at pre-agreed prices. As global traders rush to purchase those beans at any price to meet their obligations with the chocolate firms, local processors are often left short of beans.
NIGERIA/NIGER
Nigeria reopens borders with Niger, lifts other sanctions
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has ordered the lifting of all sanctions imposed on neighbouring Niger following the coup there. Mr Tinubu gave the order on Wednesday following a decision by ECOWAS leaders to lift all sanctions on Niger, Mali and Guinea, three West African countries currently led by putschists…All Niger assets frozen by the ECOWAS Central Bank will also be lifted based on the presidential order. PREMIUM TIMES reported how Nigeria, in compliance with an ECOWAS resolution, imposed the sanctions on Niger following the coup last July that led to the ouster of President Mohamed Bazoum.
GAMBIA
Sonko Trial: Final words before the verdict
The former interior minister of the Gambia under Yahya Jammeh’s dictatorship, Ousman Sonko, has been on trial in Switzerland, for a number of serious crimes committed in his country. Last week, the Federal Criminal Court of Bellinzona heard the final pleas in the Swiss trial of the former Gambian minister. Sonko’s lawyer asked for his acquittal and compensation amounting to almost a million Swiss Francs – which is almost an equivalent amount in dollars. The public prosecutor and the plaintiffs’ lawyers were given the floor to react afterwards. The plaintiffs’ lawyers all maintained that Sonko was not in the dark about the crimes perpetrated under his responsibility. In closing remarks, the defence pleaded that the prosecution did not bring proof of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population in The Gambia, as described in the indictment. “What a blind person can see but the defendant refuses to admit is that he was one of the central figures in the state apparatus of Jammeh’s regime of torture and terror,” retorted public prosecutor, Sabrina Beyeler. A lawyer for three other plaintiffs also refuted the defence’s statement that the victims are not part of the civilian population because they were coup plotters. When Sonko was finally given the floor, he first expressed his disappointment with the court for “refusing” to provide him with translation from German, the language in which the final pleas were expressed, to English. He started to say that he could not comment on the pleadings because he did not know what was said against him, due to the lack of translation. He however told the court he noticed that the complainants amended their earlier statements. “There is an African dictum that says: ‘justice is not justice if in your journey to seek justice you kill an innocent person as a way for you to get to the person that actually hurt you’,” the former interior minister added – referring to disposed former President Yahya Jammeh. “For seven years, I have experienced hatred, contempt and lies from your criminal prosecution authorities. After seven years in pre-trial detention in Switzerland, I have the impression that your judicial system is based on arbitrariness, and systematically condemns foreigners.“ Parties now await the verdict, the date of which is as yet unknown.
NIGERIA
Kidnappers demand $620,000 for release of school hostages
Gunmen who kidnapped 286 students and staff from a school in Northern Nigeria last week have demanded a total of 1 billion naira ($620,432) for their release, said a spokesman for the families of the hostages and a local councillor. The school children, some older students and members of the school staff were abducted on March 7 in the town of Kuriga, in Nigeria’s Northwestern Kaduna State, in the first mass kidnapping in the country since 2021. “They gave an ultimatum to pay the ransom within 20 days, effective from the date of the kidnap. They said they will kill all the students and the staff if the ransom demand is not met.” The country’s Information Minister Mohammed Idris told reporters that President Tinubu’s position on the kidnappings in Kuriga was that security forces should secure the hostages’ release without any payment to the kidnappers. Under Tinubu’s predecessor, legislation was introduced imposing jail time for anyone found paying a ransom to free a hostage as kidnappings in Nigeria became ever more frequent. The ransom demand for the Kuriga students and school staff amounts to more than $2,000 per hostage, or more than the annual per capita income in Nigeria, according to International Monetary Fund data.
SENEGAL
Campaign for jailed Senegal election candidate Faye takes to the road
Backers of detained opposition presidential candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye are taking his campaign to the streets of Senegal with posters and bracelets, drumming up support in the hope he will be released before the vote. Faye was relatively unknown within Senegal’s tumultuous political scene until popular firebrand opposition leader Ousmane Sonko backed his candidacy for the March 24 vote. Sonko, who enjoys widespread support among Senegal’s jobless youths, is also in detention and disqualified from the race over a defamation conviction. Sonko denies any wrongdoing. Faye, who is facing charges including defamation and contempt of court, remains eligible because there has been no ruling yet against him. There are no public opinion polls in Senegal, but Faye is seen as a strong contender among the 19 candidates vying for the presidency – with the campaign condensed into a little over two weeks after uncertainty of the date of the vote was settled by a court ruling after widespread protests. High-profile politicians, including former prime minister Aminata Toure, who had a public falling out with outgoing President Macky Sall and left the ruling coalition last year, have thrown their support behind Faye. Supporters with bright bracelets and campaign posters bearing the images of both Faye and Sonko have joined the campaign caravan crisscrossing the country.
Major concerns facing Senegal ahead of presidential vote
For the first time in Senegal’s history, the incumbent president is not on the ballot. His hand-picked successor, Prime Minister Amadou Ba, who was relieved of his duties on Wednesday ahead of the campaigning, is among 19 candidates cleared by Senegal’s constitutional council to run. To avoid a runoff, a candidate must secure over 50% of the vote. Campaigning is likely to start in the coming days.
Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Ivory Coast and South Africa hit by major internet outages
Major internet disruption has been reported in various countries across Africa. Outages have been reported in countries including South Africa, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Ghana and Burkina Faso. The cause of the cable failures is not immediately clear. Internet connectivity in the Ivory Coast was down to around just 4% on Thursday morning, according to Netblocks, which tracks cybersecurity and internet connectivity. Liberia at one point dropped to 17% while Benin was at 14% and Ghana 25%, Netblocks said. In South Africa, Vodacom said that “customers are currently experiencing intermittent connectivity issues due to multiple undersea cable failures”. A fault has also been reported on the MainOne cable system which serves Nigeria’s commercial hub, Lagos. International bank transfers are also reported to be affected while there are limited international voice calls. The Liberia Telecommunications Authority said it was caused by an incident involving the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine communications cable in Ivory Coast. In Ghana, the National Communications Authority (NCA) reported that multiple undersea cable disruptions were responsible for the outage.
Southern Africa
MOZAMBIQUE
Severe storm may affect 525,000 people
The severe tropical storm “Filipo’, which is expected to hit southern Mozambique over the next 72 hours, could affect at least 525,000 people, according to the country’s relief agency, the National Disaster Management Institute (INGD). It is feared that the storm may hit 856 schools and 145 health facilities in Inhambane, Gaza, and Maputo city and province. According to INGD spokesperson Paulo Tomás, the phenomenon entered the Mozambique Channel on Sunday night, on a course that would take it to Maputo, Gaza, Inhambane and part of the central province of Sofala. The National Meteorology Institute (INAM) is predicting strong winds that could reach 90 to 120 kilometers per hour, which may agitate the state of the sea, generating waves up to six metres high and rainfall of between 100 and 200 millimeters in 24 hours, with flooding expected in some areas…the rain may flood 120,000 hectares of agricultural land in the southern region, and damage bridges and access roads. For this reason, the Technical Council for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (CTGRD), has activated the provincial Emergency Operation Centers (COE) and the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Committees. It also decided to pre-position search and rescue resources and teams in Inhambane, Gaza and Sofala uhprovince, as well as emergency kits to support vulnerable communities.
SOUTH AFRICA
Jacob Zuma’s MK – the political wildcard in South Africa’s election
Despite being a disgraced former president who was sent to jail, Jacob Zuma is turning out to be the political wildcard in South Africa’s election campaign. This follows his dramatic decision to ditch the governing African National Congress (ANC) for the newly formed party uMkhonto we Sizwe, meaning Spear of the Nation. The 81-year-old is leading its campaign in the 29 May general election, urging people to turn their backs on the ANC led by his successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa. The two most recent opinion polls suggest that Mr Zuma’s party – known by the acronym MK – is making a huge impact, gaining around 13% of the national vote and 25% in the former president’s political heartland of KwaZulu-Natal. The MK party is hoping to hold the balance of power, especially as various opinion polls suggest that the ANC could lose its outright majority in the national parliament for the first time since it was elected at the end of white-minority rule three decades ago. At first, the ANC ignored the formation of the MK party but after Mr Zuma threw his weight behind it in December, the party launched legal action in the electoral court to deregister it and prevent it from running. It also wants the High Court to bar it from using the name MK, arguing that the ANC has copyright over it. Another dispute is raging over whether Mr Zuma is eligible to serve as a lawmaker as he was convicted of contempt of court, and sentenced to 15 months in prison in 2021, for refusing to co-operate with a judge-led inquiry into corruption during his nine-year presidency. Mr Zuma is also facing 16 charges of corruption over a multi-billion dollar arms deal.
SAfr citizens fighting in Israel will be arrested – minister
South Africa’s Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor has said that its citizens who have been fighting in Gaza with the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) will be arrested on their return to the country. “I have already issued a statement alerting those who are South African and are fighting… We are ready. When you come home, we are going to arrest you,” she is quoted as telling a Palestinian solidarity event earlier this week. It is not clear how many people this could affect. South Africa had already warned last year that its citizens that they may be liable to prosecution if they fought with the IDF. The Haaretz newspaper on Wednesday quoted a military statement saying that the “IDF is working to provide a response to possible security and legal risks when soldiers travel abroad. The IDF is monitoring the issue on an ongoing basis, in coordination and cooperation with the relevant government ministries.” South Africa has been at the forefront of the diplomatic opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza, which was sparked by the killing of more than 1,200 people and kidnapping of more than 200 others in October. It launched a case at the International Court of Justice to consider whether Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
ZAMBIA
How this Zambian writer makes her choices on languages, culture, and place
Zambian writer Mubanga Kalimamukwento was named this year’s winner of the Drue Heinz Literature Prize for her forthcoming debut collection of stories, Obligations to the Wounded, the first African to scoop the award…Semafor: How relevant was it to anchor the anthology on Zambian languages, culture, and place? Mubanga Kalimamukwento: Nothing prepared me for how much I would re-fall in love with my languages when I left Zambia a few years ago. It wasn’t a conscious decision; it’s just that when I am writing Zambian women, I think a lot about how they would talk depending on where they are. There are things I don’t ever say in English. They are only their true selves in their mother tongue. As for place and culture, well, I was born and raised in Zambia–the places and culture I write about are the ones I observed around me.
Abdullah Ibrahim: South Africa’s master pianist is going on a world tour at 90
Abdullah Ibrahim, South Africa’s most distinguished pianist, was born on 9 October 1934 in Cape Town. This year marks not only his 90th birthday but also the start of a world tour. Ibrahim is the finest jazz pianist-composer that South Africa has ever produced – even in such a jazz-rich country. He is the country’s equivalent of the US jazz star Duke Ellington, because his legacy lies not only in his live performances or multiple recordings but also in his large number of compositions. He was brought up going by the name Dollar Brand and was shaped by his conversion to Islam in 1968, which is when he took the name Abdullah Ibrahim, and by his practice of martial arts and zen (a form of Buddhism). He was influenced by the Christian hymns played by his mother and other music he heard at the African Methodist Episcopal Church, which included gospel and African-American spirituals. Ibrahim has written great tunes but it is his harmonies, textures, colours, rhythms, phrasing and pianistic flow that make his compositions outstanding. Dollar Brand and his wife Sathima Bea Benjamin went into exile in 1962, at first in Zurich. While he was there, Duke Ellington heard him play in 1963 and immediately produced the album Duke Ellington presents The Dollar Brand Trio. In 1965 the couple moved to New York, which was their home for many years with only occasional trips back to South Africa. And in 1994 he performed, memorably, at Mandela’s presidential inauguration. His 2024 tour looks punishing, but he is taking plenty of breaks in between concerts in Italy, South Africa, Germany and the US. Abdullah Ibrahim ends his world tour in Bavaria, where the final concerts are scheduled to be given immediately after he turns 90, on 9 October.
ZIMBABWE
Sect leader held after 251 children rescued from farm labour
A Zimbabwean sect leader and “self-styled prophet” appeared in court on Thursday charged with child abuse after police raided his farm and rescued more than 200 children doing physical labour, police said. The children “were subjected to abuse as cheap labour, doing manual work in the name of being taught life skills”, a police statement said. Police found 251 children on the farm who were not attending school, most of whom did not have birth certificates. They also found 16 graves, including seven for infants, all which were unregistered, the statement said. Ishmael Chokurongerwa, 56, described by police as a self-styled prophet, was arrested this week along with seven of his church members following a raid on their farm in Nyabira, about 30 km (18 miles) west of the capital, Harare. Video from the raid showed dozens of women and children dressed in white sitting under a tree and singing. Some were later taken away in buses escorted by police cars. Zimbabwe is a majority Christian country where apostolic sects are common. Chokurongerwa, also known as Madzibaba Ishmael, was identified in the police statement as a leader in the Johane Masowe or “white garment” church. Its followers have previously been accused of abuse of women and children and are known for practising child marriages.
North Africa
EGYPT
Questionable Amnesty Deals For ISIS Members, Says HRW
The Egyptian authorities appear to have made opaque amnesty deals in recent years with suspected members of the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) affiliate in Egypt’s North Sinai without making the criteria public, Human Rights Watch and the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights said. Evidence gathered by the two organizations and public statements by officials indicate that the authorities have granted some members of the ISIS affiliate Wilayat Sina’ (Sinai Province) amnesties for laying down their arms and turning themselves in. However, the authorities have not clarified whether they have a plan for prosecuting those suspected of serious abuses such as mass civilian killings and extrajudicial executions. Amnesties for members of armed groups who lay down their arms should never include those who intentionally carried out grave crimes such as targeting or deliberately killing civilians,” said Ahmed Salem, executive director of the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights. “Egyptian authorities should develop a national strategy for Wilayat Sina’ prosecutions, ensuring that those with direct responsibility for serious crimes do not enjoy impunity.” Since 2020, the Egyptian authorities have been encouraging members of Wilayat Sina’ to surrender under security initiatives facilitated by North Sinai local clan leaders, based on media and human rights reports. Wilayat Sina’ is a relatively small group that that has targeted the Egyptian military, other government forces, and civilians since 2013. The group pledged allegiance to ISIS in 2014. The armed conflict has gradually de-escalated as Wilayat Sina’ lost most of its strongholds in 2020 and appears to have been near completely eradicated by the end of 2022, according to media reports, residents’ accounts, and official statements. But the military, police, army-aligned militias, and Wilayat Sina’ have committed serious violations of international humanitarian law that in many cases may have amounted to war crimes.
TUNISIA
European Commission accused of ‘bankrolling dictators’ after Tunisia deal
The European Commission has been accused of “bankrolling dictators” by senior MEPs who have claimed that the €150m it gave to Tunisia last year in a migration and development deal has ended up directly in the president’s hands. A group of MEPs on the human rights, justice and foreign affairs committees at the European parliament launched a scathing attack on the executive in Brussels, expressing anxiety over reports that the commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, was about to seal a similar deal with Egypt. The Greek migration minister, Dimitris Kairidis, confirmed late on Wednesday that a joint declaration between the EU and Egypt had been agreed and would be formally unveiled when von der Leyen and the leaders of Greece, Italy and Belgium visit Cairo on Sunday. The MEPs have accused the commission of refusing to answer questions on the deal with Tunisia and worry that it is looking at a series of “ad hoc” deals with other African countries without regard to democracy and rule of law in those countries. “It seems that we are bankrolling dictators across the region. And that is not the Europe that we want to see. That is not the place which the EU should be holding in the world,” said the French MEP Mounir Satouri, a member of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee. At a press conference in Strasbourg, he claimed the money – pledged to Tunisia last year as part of a wider pact aimed at curbing a surge in migration to Italy and people-smuggling – had been diverted, saying that the €150m was supposed to have been invested directly in an EU-agreed project but instead had been “transferred to the president directly”. A spokesperson for the EU commission said MEPs were entitled to express their views but that it was better to build partnerships to improve democracy and human rights than to “break off relations” and see the situation deteriorate.
AFRICA – GENERAL NEWS
*Biden Risks Another ‘Fatal Mistake’ in Red Sea*
The U.S. and its allies are making a costly mistake in their response to Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, the United Nations’ former special envoy for Yemen has said, as the rebel group meets the Western bombing campaign with yet more strikes. Jamal Benomar, who was the UN’s representative in Yemen from 2011 to 2015 and was involved in talks to end the country’s devastating civil war, told Newsweek that only a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip can stem near-daily maritime attacks…the Houthis are clearly committed to the campaign and have been increasing its tempo and scope. “Their area of operations is more widespread, the weapons they use are more sophisticated, and new weapons are being used, and they’ve increased the number of attacks,” Benomar said. “I think the U.S. and U.K. are at a loss of what to do. Because their stated objective—which is to degrade the Houthis so that they will not be able to threaten any ship in the Red Sea—that didn’t work. They couldn’t achieve that objective. The Houthis are much more belligerent, much more aggressive, much more determined to continue.”Benomar said the solution lays with Israel, and “ending the massacres in Gaza and ending the war in Gaza. What is needed is a permanent ceasefire. If that happens, the situation in the Red Sea will come to an end.”
World oil demand grows amid Red Sea shipping disruptions: IEA
Global oil demand is forecast to grow more than expected due to a brighter US economic outlook and rising fuel needs of ships rerouted away from the Red Sea, the International Energy Agency said Thursday. Commercial ships have been taking longer and costlier journeys around the southern tip of Africa to avoid attacks by Yemen’s Huthi rebels in the Red Sea, a vital international trade route. The IEA said world oil demand growth is now forecast to increase by 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) this year, 110,000 bpd higher than in its previous monthly market report. “Disruptions to international trade routes in the wake of turmoil in the Red Sea are lengthening shipping distances and leading to faster vessel speeds, increasing bunker demand,” the IEA said, using a term for the fuel needs of ships. Global demand is also driven by the “comparatively buoyant economy” of the United States where oil consumption is gaining momentum on rising petrochemical operations, the IEA added. The annual growth in demand, however, remains sharply lower than in 2023, when it reached 2.3 million bpd, on the back of energy efficiency gains and the use of electric vehicles, the Paris-based agency said. Total demand is forecast to reach 103.2 million bpd in 2024 compared to 101.8 million bpd last year.
Foresight Africa 2024 – Brooking Institute’s ‘Top priorities and recommendations’ for Africa in the year ahead
Essays and viewpoints from Africans in positions of trust and responsibility in multilateral and regional organizations, policymakers, finance ministers, central bank governors, private sector leaders, heads of foundations and civil society organizations, youths, and scholars from think tanks and academia, among others.
GOOD NEWS AFRICA
Africa
‘Historic Milestone’ As Child Mortality Hits Record Low of 4.9 Million in 2022
The fight against child mortality has reached an historic milestone the UN announced on Wednesday with latest estimates revealing the number of children dying prematurely before their fifth birthday fell to 4.9 million in 2022.
Figures released by the UN Interagency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME) reveal the global under-five mortality rate has declined by 51 per cent since 2000. Some countries such as Cambodia, Malawi, Mongolia and Rwanda reduced under-five mortality rate by over 75 per cent over the time period. Despite these gains, the report noted there is still a long way to go to end all preventable child and teen deaths, as millions continue to die from treatable causes, including preterm birth complications, pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria. The UN IGME was formed in 2004 to share data and enhance methods for child mortality estimates, tracking progress made towards child survival goals. It is led by UNICEF and comprises the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank Group and the Population Division at the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). The majority of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia, highlighting regional disparities in access to quality healthcare. The report also noted that economic instability, conflicts, climate change and the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic are continuing to undermine progress and exacerbate existing disparities in mortality rates. Improving access to quality health services and saving children’s lives from preventable deaths requires investment in education, jobs and decent working conditions for health workers to deliver primary health care, including community health workers.
Africa brought good news stories to WEF Davos 2024
Wednesday 17 January dawned over the World Economic Forum in Davos in Switzerland, with the news of even more tension in the Middle East. As speaker after keynote speaker yesterday spoke of ideological conflict and ensuing economic crisis, the only positive news seemed to be coming out of Africa. Delegates at a panel discussion heard the exciting development that the manner in which business is done in Africa, will change dramatically this year. More than half of African nations will use the rules of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) this year as the region moves closer to fully integrating into a single market. Of the 47 countries that have ratified the AfCFTA agreement, 31 will join the trade initiative, up from seven that joined in 2023. AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene said at a presentation at Davos. The new system was put on trial last year and tested on processed agricultural products, manufactured goods and services.
The 3 Best African climate good news stories from 2023
2023 was one of the hottest year ever recorded. And climate change is to blame for one-quarter of the global population being exposed to dangerous levels of extreme heat.We need signs that countries are taking steps to address this. Specifically, we need climate action that helps us adapt and that cuts greenhouse gas emissions, if we want to minimize the escalating losses and damages from climate change. Over the last year, there were three developments across Africa which highlight a mix of progress, priorities and potential pitfalls. 1)Kenya pushed for a new climate finance strategy. At the Africa Climate Summit, Kenya’s president William Ruto made a big announcement that could boost global investment in Africa’s renewable energy. Ruto highlighted the need for more favorable climate finance which would enable African countries to transition to a green industrialization that accelerates uptake of solar and wind power and development of mineral resources that support this transition. 2) More carbon offsets and the introduction of Africa’s new carbon markets. This year, there’s been a lot of new interest in Africa’s carbon markets and a growing sentiment that Africa cannot be “nature-rich but cash-poor”. A carbon market is a system designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by allowing companies and countries to compensate for their carbon emissions by financing projects that reduce emissions or remove CO₂ from the atmosphere somewhere else. Africa has a potentially enormous and untapped carbon market due to its size, biodiversity and range of ecosystems. If used well, funds could help countries to adapt to climate change and protect their biodiversity. 3)Five years in the making, South Africa has finally passed its landmark Climate Change Bill. The bill aims to enable the development of an effective climate change response and a long-term transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy. This is an important step for Africa’s highest emitter of greenhouse gas as it joins 19 other African countries with dedicated climate change laws. Notably, the bill treats climate change adaptation and mitigation as equally important. It provides for substantially scaled up support for adaptation to climate change across all levels. It also gives support to a just energy transition away from coal and towards renewable energy sources.
World’s loneliest lion’ returns to Africa after years alone in Zoo
The ‘world’s loneliest lion’ has returned to his natural habitat after he was abandoned in a private zoo in Armenia for five years. 15-year-old lion Ruben was part of a pride living in the now-closed zoo, but while all the other lions were relocated, Ruben was left behind in a tiny concrete cell for five long years.Now, Ruben has made a 5,200-mile journey to Africa where he took his first steps out of his travel crate into the home of his ancestors. The epic journey was organized by Animals Defenders International (ADI) and Qatar Airways Cargo. Ruben is now being rehabilitated at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary in Free State, South Africa. “Lions are the most sociable of the big cats, living in family prides in the wild,” said ADI President Jan Creamer. “Seeing him walk on grass for the first time, hearing the voices of his own kind, with the African sun on his back, brought us all to tears.” Ruben’s resilience has stunned everyone at the sanctuary. After not hearing other lions for years, Ruben has already started to get his roar back, his morning calls getting steadily louder as he regains his confidence.
How luxury African fashion has wowed Europe’s catwalks
Having personally witnessed the lack of Xhosa-inspired high-end clothing companies, Laduma Ngxokolo began to develop MaXhosa Africa – a designer brand dominated by knitwear and colourful Xhosa patterns. Since then, MaXhosa has been endorsed by Beyoncé, worn by US musician Alicia Keys, featured in Vogue and will be presenting a new collection at Paris Fashion Week on Sunday. And Ngxokolo’s not alone – in recent years several African luxury designers have burst onto the global fashion scene. 3 South Africans – Thebe Magugu, Lukhanyo Mdingi and Sindiso Khumalo – have bagged the prestigious LVMH Prize for emerging talent. Alongside MaXhosa, brands from Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon have been launching new collections at the industry’s “big four” fashion weeks – Paris, Milan, London and New York. After his show in Paris, ballet dancer-turned-designer Imane Ayissi said “there’s been a “noticeable increase” in African showing at Europe’s fashion weeks. “Six years ago, there were no designers from Africa in official Western fashion weeks,” he says.
In good news for elephants, Africa’s largest savanna elephant population is stable
Results from the region’s first-ever transboundary aerial survey.
Seven aircraft surveyed over 40,000 miles of southern Africa’s Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) to estimate the number and distribution of Africa’s largest savanna elephant population. This first-ever synchronized transboundary survey took two months, from August to October 2022, to cover what equates to nearly twice the circumference of the globe. The results were just published and found an overall stable and slightly increased population of 227,900 elephants in the region. The last survey of KAZA’s elephant population was back in 2014 and 2015, which estimated around 217,000 elephants. However, unlike the latest survey, this one was based on compiling results from separate country surveys. Not only was the entire elephant range in KAZA not covered, but the surveys were conducted during different periods of time, meaning certain elephant herds were likely counted twice, or not at all. The KAZA Elephant Survey was the first time that all five KAZA partner states—Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe—collaboratively undertook a standardized survey of the entire elephant population in this landscape in a single coordinated exercise.
African airlines mark fourth safe year in 2023
African airlines recorded one of their safest years during 2023, registering no fatal accident for the fourth year in a row.
According to the International Air Transport Association (Iata) aviation safety review for 2023, which was released this week, African airlines have not suffered a single passenger jet aircraft losses or fatal accidents since 2020. Last year was also the fifth instance of Africa reporting zero fatal accidents involving turboprop aircraft in the past nine years. Aviation places its highest priority on safety and that shows in the 2023 performance. Jet operations saw no hull losses or fatalities. Last year also saw the lowest fatality risk and ‘all accident’ rate on record.
What makes Africa the battleground between global powers
- 17% of the worlds population
- 9.6% of the global oil output
- 90% of the worlds platinum supply
- 90% of the worlds cobalt supply
- 50% of the worlds gold supply
- 2/3 of the worlds manganese supply
- 35% of the worlds uranium
- 75% of the worlds Colton supply
- 54 Votes at the UN General Assembly
Kenya
Kibaki’s letter gave birth to Kenya’s famed Silicon Savannah
President Mwai Kibaki and Minister Mutahi Kagwe revolutionized Kenya’s communications, bringing affordable broadband internet and sparking a digital transformation. The journey to that phone call had begun at an insurance industry dinner two years earlier, in early 2006, at the Panari Hotel in Nairobi. Then, Mr Kagwe was the guest of honour. After his speech, a journalist had asked him to state the one thing he hoped to achieve at the ICT ministry. He told the journalist that he wanted Kenyans to communicate easily and cheaply with the world. At the time it cost Sh35 per minute to make a phone call within the Safaricom network during peak hours and up to Sh50 per minute to other networks. These high costs made Kenyans wait until off-peak hours to make cheaper calls, which often clogged the Safaricom network in the evening, rendering it impossible for anyone to get through. Internet connections, on the other hand, were a nightmare. The whole country relied on satellites to access the internet. Satellites, however, transmitted data at a glacial pace and were unreliable. To add salt to injury, the cost of a satellite link was exorbitant. For Mr Kagwe to make it possible for Kenyans to communicate easily and cheaply with the world, there was only one thing to do; abandon satellites and join the global fibre-optic network.
The Samburu warriors regenerating a Kenyan wilderness
The creation of a wildlife reserve with an Indigenous community in one part of Kenya has paid dividends, for animals and people alike. In the 1960s and 70s, a severe ivory poaching crisis wiped out the elephant and rhino populations of the region. By 1985, there wasn’t a single elephant recorded in the Mathews Range.
Elephants are ecosystem engineers, and their extinction prompted other wildlife populations to plummet. Slowly, the grasslands that the semi-nomadic pastoralists depended on to graze their cattle began to disappear under scrub…Things began to change when a conservancy was proposed for the region. The plan was to create a wildlife reserve with Samburu communities, who would help protect species while generating an income through ecotourism. In 1995, the Namunyak Wildlife Conservancy came into being, across 850,000 acres of wilderness. By 2013, the safari camps were bringing in 18m Kenyan shillings (£175,000) a year for the community, which was spent on education, health and development. Through conserving wildlife, peace and prosperity slowly grew in the region. Today, the population of elephants is back up to 6,000, and giraffes, leopards, cheetahs, buffalo and impala are all steadily increasing too.
Nigeria
The climate cafe helping eco-anxious Africans find hope amid the heat
Sharp increases in heat and flooding have found Nigeria at the forefront of the climate crisis – and yet only three in 10 Nigerians have heard of it. More than a dozen people are gathered at the office of SustyVibes, an NGO founded by 31-year-old Nigerian activist Jennifer Uchendu, that is on a mission to make sustainability cool and relatable in Africa. The January launched climate cafe is one of a just a few across the continent – the first emerged in east Africa and more have popped up recently in Nigeria’s west African neighbour Benin. The cafe is one strand of SustyVibes new initiative, The Eco-Anxiety Africa Project (TEAP). In Nigeria, TEAP and its cafe are stepping into the vacuum at the intersection of climate and mental health in Africa. According to a 2022 survey by Afrobarometer, only three in 10 Nigerians had heard of the climate crisis, even though most recognise that weather conditions have become harsher to the point of making their environment – at times – uninhabitable. “There is a narrative in Africa that issues around climate change are not something the average person is interested in,” said Uchendu. “But when you look at the impacts of climate change, the people it affects most intensely are poor people.” SustyVibes works across the breadth of Nigerian society, from its Sustyschools project, a climate outreach that is targeted at secondary schools, to Susty on the Streets, which involves street clean-ups and kerbside advocacy. It also hosts training sessions for African mental health professionals, exploring the link between the climate crisis and mental wellbeing, and offers free climate-aware psychotherapy to members of the SustyVibes community.
Tinubu inaugurates largest tomato factory
President Bola Tinubu officially inaugurated the GB Foods Tomato Processing Company in Ngaski, Kebbi State. This event marked a significant milestone in Nigeria’s agricultural sector, with the factory being hailed as the largest of its kind in Africa. Tinubu’s administration has expressed a strong commitment to enhancing the agricultural sector by creating a conducive environment for private investors. Tinubu’s remarks presented by a Minister, underscored the factory’s potential to revolutionize tomato processing in the continent, urging investors worldwide to consider Nigeria as a prime location for agricultural investments. Abubakar Kyari’s declaration of the GB tomato factory as the “largest in Africa” is not just a testament to its size but also to its potential impact on Nigeria’s economy and agricultural landscape. The factory’s establishment is aligned with Tinubu’s eight-point agenda to stimulate economic growth through agriculture. Confidence in Nigeria under Tinubu’s leadership was echoed by Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, who called on foreign investors to emulate GB Foods’ long-term commitment to investing in Nigeria…The inauguration of the GB Foods Tomato Processing Company is more than just the opening of a new facility; it is a strategic move that aligns with the government’s broader vision for agricultural development and economic growth. By leveraging private investment in agriculture, Nigeria aims to reduce dependency on oil, diversify its economy, and achieve food security.
The school Nollywood built: How new Nigerian filmmakers got their groove on
In November 2020 while the COVID-19 pandemic was strangling creative endeavours across the planet, veteran Nigerian filmmaker Steve Gukas announced a new venture. Called First Features, it launched a search for 12 disciples, or first-time directors, to elevate storytelling standards in Nollywood, the world’s second largest film industry by volume. For decades, Nigeria’s bustling industry has been known for its scrappy, do-it-yourself resourcefulness. Local and foreign supporters and critics were united in pointing out that the industry was held up for years by bootstrapping directors and amateur producers shooting cheap, straight-to-video films using the most basic of resources since the ’90s. Today’s Nollywood is a multibillion-dollar behemoth, but for all its real or perceived success, structural challenges remain. With little by way of government support or training infrastructure, budding filmmakers often struggle to get their start…First Features is the first phase of an initiative that identifies 12 young directors and provides training, mentorship, funding and distribution support for their debut feature films. Faculty members were found in Nigeria, Los Angeles, London and Johannesburg. Directors were paired with writers and the trainees were invited to a boot camp and masterclass sessions for six months in 2021 to develop their respective projects. The boot camp was held in Abuja, and while directors were physically present, some of the facilitators delivered classes virtually. The first film from the project to see the light of day, the romantic comedy Cake, was released in theaters in 2022. Subsequent entries like Love and Life, and It Blooms in June, directed by Korede Azeez, went straight to Amazon Prime Video. For the directors, the experience has been life-changing.
Rwanda
One woman’s mission to find the light in Rwanda’s darkest hour
As a child, Jo Ingabire Moys survived the Rwandan genocide that decimated her family. It made the Love ndon-based filmmaker determined to root out hate speech, reconnect with her history, and tell untold stories from one of history’s bleakest chapters. Not until she was 25 did Jo Ingabire Moys feel ready to return to Rwanda. She came in search of answers. She always felt close to her homeland. The food, the language, the culture: reminders of her roots were never far away. So, too, the memory of the genocide…At the time of her visit to Rwanda, Moys was working for a London-based entertainment channel, Shorts TV, and always dreamed of making her own. She came across the story of Zura Karuhimbi, a traditional healer from Rwanda’s rural Ruhango district. Her reputation as a shaman, managed to shelter over 100 Tutsi from attack by men with machetes intent on genocide. Her reputation for magical powers engendered fear in the marauding armed groups. In Karuhimbi’s story, Moys found the necessary inspiration to write and make a film. Released under the title ‘BAZIGAGA’ (the fictional name given to Karuhimbi’s character), Moys’ 25-minute short is everything a big-screen drama should be: beautifully shot, tightly scripted, and superbly acted. Moys chose to film exclusively in the country’s native language of Kinyarwanda, with a Rwandan cast. Equally, her strong female protagonist counters the filmic trope about war-torn Africa which sees women as “just victims” and nothing more. It has already won awards internationally, and been shortlisted for a BAFTA.
South Africa
KZN villagers get new bridges to cross dangerous rivers safely
Villagers in eMakhabeleni, outside Kranskop in Mvoti, KwaZulu-Natal, no longer have to worry about getting to school and work in town by wading through overflowing rivers during the rainy season. On Tuesday, Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Sihle Zikalala officially handed over four bridges in the area. In April 2022, GroundUp wrote about how the villagers were cut off from Kranskop town when the Dimane River was flowing, and children could not get to school. Siphiwe Ngidi said, “For years, families had to carry coffins across the river because vehicles couldn’t cross. I am happy that is all behind us.” A primary school governing body member, Sakhile Masikane, said, “Children were missing school when the river was full and some even missed their exams.”
South Africa’s ‘black mermaid’ is changing ocean narratives
Why do so many people regard the sea as a ‘white space’? The first black freediving instructor in South Africa is on a mission to change ideas around who belongs in the water. When Zandile Ndhlovu started scuba diving in her native South Africa, she was the only black person on the boat. Beneath the surface of the ocean she had discovered the place where she felt most herself – “an incredible world filled with wonder” – but it was seen by her fellow black Africans as a “white space”. Through her work, she is determined to change the narrative of who belongs in the water, and has launched the Black Mermaid Foundation to tackle what she sees as the main barriers to entry. In South Africa, from when you’re young, you’re told endless stories about why you shouldn’t be in the sea,” she says. She believes it’s also a legacy of apartheid when black South Africans were “forcibly removed from their ocean-facing homes”…Money also keeps many Africans from accessing the water. “Proximity doesn’t equate to access, and the ocean requires even more resources.”To this end, through her foundation she takes small groups of children from Soweto to spend a day at the ocean. “The kids are all terrified when we get into the water, it’s a wild terror. I feel there’s a healing that needs to happen,” she says. “That’s why I enjoy teaching – to see the fear leave their eyes, and the wonder fill their bodies, and this relationship with the ocean being built. It all happens over a span of hours.”
The search to find a hero from 1975
The Nasson family continue a decades-long search to find the man who gave their matriarch a second chance at life after saving her from drowning. 48 years ago over the Easter Weekend, Crystal Nasson was a 12-year-old young lady with her whole future ahead of her. On a family outing to the Silver Stream Lagoon, Crystal had gone to swim and had accidentally drifted out towards the ocean. A young man in his 20s swam out to help her when nobody else could reach her and changed the course of her life forever! Over the past 5 decades, the Nasson family have searched for this man, so Crystal could share the life she has lived thanks to his efforts…”All we know about this man is that he was a visitor to Cape Town, and he could be from Jhb or Kimberly or surrounds, and that he was from a place that had no ocean. He would be about 70ish or there about.” Crystal’s daughter Aybra is hoping that by a small chance, the man’s children or grandchildren will have also grown up with the stories of how he saved a young lady back in his youth. Crystal, who is now 61 years old, when asked what she would say to the man if they were ever reunited, shared that she would want to thank him for the beautiful life that he gifted to her and that she celebrates his actions every chance she can.
Households Are Watching the Sun Set on Loadshedding!
As loadshedding increases year-on-year, South African households are making the switch from the conventional electricity supply to installing alternatives in their homes. Solar power is a fast-growing industry that gives South Africans the chance to sustain themselves when times get a little dark. 2023 was by far, the darkest year since the start of loadshedding, with a total of 332 days of loadshedding, up from 205 days in 2022, according to EskomSePush. As the market expands, more options are available, and solar is, by far, a popular alternative. There are so many options available for every South African budget, from solar charging lights to the full household package. With that also comes alternative and more affordable plans that help South Africans finally find their solar freedom. Living in a beautifully sunny country has its perks and makes solar a viable option. And the added benefit is that because so many households and businesses are moving away from being reliant on the grid, South Africa is well on its way to cutting greenhouse gas emissions, according to Bloomberg. While promises of the end of loadshedding are plenty, South Africans truly have the power to end it within their own homes.
Príncipe: an island paradise off the west coast of Africa
Uninhabited until the Portuguese arrived in 1471, the equatorial African island of Príncipe has a dark history as a slaving hub and a “place of exile for the desperados of Portuguese society: convicts, heretics and outcasts”. Today, it is “poor but paradisiacal”, its verdant forests home to as many endemic species as the Galápagos, and its golden beaches free of tourist crowds. Just 19 miles long and four miles wide, it lies 150 miles off the coast of West Africa, and is the smaller and wilder partner in the independent nation of São Tomé and Príncipe. The jungle has reclaimed some of the island’s roças, or agricultural estates – “self-contained universes with hospitals, nurseries, lodgings and railway terminals”. Most atmospheric is the ruined Ribeira Izé, the island’s first settlement, ruled over in the 19th century by Maria Correia, a mestiza (mixed-race) woman who owned hundreds of slaves. Others have been sensitively restored as hotels. At Roça Sundy, the astronomer Arthur Eddington made the observations that proved Einstein’s theory of general relativity in 1919. Today, locals still gather “to shoot the breeze” on its grassy square, and the mansion where guests stay is “an elegant time warp of slow-whirring ceiling fans and hardwood floors”. The island’s capital, Santo António, has nine “noteworthy” restaurants, some merely shacks but all “serving great food cooked by formidable doyens”. And there’s much to do elsewhere, including forest hikes, boat trips to “remote and sensational” beaches, visits to “healers, medicine men and rum-shack entrepreneurs”, and snorkelling in the “cinematic” Bay of Needles.
Uganda
Former Ugandan sex worker helping others
The fight against HIV in Uganda seems to be moving in the right direction. Nationally infections have dropped to 5 per cent, down from 30 per cent three decades ago, attributed mainly to better education and prevention methods like increased HIV testing and treatment. But among sex workers, the rate remains worryingly high, with just over one in three women in the profession believed to have HIV. In Kampala’s slums, where many of them live and work, one woman is doing all she can to improve the situation. Deborah Nakatudde is a former sex worker who understands the trade, having been drawn into it at just 15 years old. She lived in Bwaise, one of the biggest slums in Kampala, and where sex trade is common. In 2008, a sexual and reproductive health organisation chose her as a peer educator for women in the slum. But after the project closed, Nakatudde felt there was an urgent need to continue the work. She started her own organisation, Saving Lives Under Marginalisation (SLUM), which spearheads campaigns against sexually transmitted diseases among sex workers in Kampala’s slums. Nakatudde works with public health facilities in Kampala to have HIV testing and treatment for sex workers. She says she reaches over 350 sex workers every year with her prevention messages. Uganda has seen a 77 per cent drop in that transmission between 2010 and 2020. The country has set an ambitious target of achieving zero HIV mother-to-child transmission by 2030.
UNDP Resident Representative in Rwanda
The first UNversation interview with UNDP’s Maxwell Gomera in Kigali.
DigiCow app modernizes Kenyan farming
Kenyan Peninah Njeri saw the struggles faced by local dairy farmers. So she created a digital platform to access information and other resources. DigiCow is changing how local farmers make critical decisions about their herd and how they collaborate with the supply side of the industry.
Opinion & Features: Combining forces for a new phase of AI for development: Africa and beyond
Kenyan women bid for success in public procurement
Researchers in South Africa champion a device for AI-powered air-quality monitoring
Doubling down on malnutrition
Medicinal plants help keep children healthy in South Africa: 61 species were recorded
Mallik Ambar: The Ethiopian Slave Who Became A Deccan Kingmaker
VIDEO(S) OF THE DAY
Turkey Faces Balancing Act With Somalia, Ethiopia
Turkey’s new naval agreement with Somalia places the Turkish navy in a strategically vital region, underlining Ankara’s growing naval ambitions. However, analysts warn that the agreement threatens to escalate current tensions with Somalia’s neighbor Ethiopia.
Jamal Benomar – BBC News Channel interview
Chair, Intl Centre for Dialogue Initiative & fmr U.N. UnderSecretary General
Fertile Deception – Part 1
For nearly two years, a troubling scheme has been unfolding in the heart of Kenya’s agricultural landscape. Unbeknownst to many farmers, what they believed to be subsidized fertilizer was, in fact, nothing more than ordinary sand cleverly disguised and sold at inflated prices. Our investigative team embarked on an undercover operation, delving deep into the intricate web of mining, packaging, and widespread distribution of this counterfeit product throughout the nation. In this expose’, we unveil the shocking truth behind this deceptive practice.
AFRICA NEWS PODCASTS
Kenya and the Chaos in Haiti
In this episode of The Horn, Diego Da Rin, Crisis Group’s Haiti expert, and Murithi Mutiga, Crisis Group’s Africa Director, talk about the latest surge in gang violence in Haiti, which has put the state on the brink of collapse, and the potential of an international mission led by Kenya to restore security. They assess the political risks involved for Nairobi in sending police forces to Haiti and how gangs in the country might react to such a deployment.
AFRICA – ANALYSIS, EDITORIAL/OPINION
Fintech is sold as the answer to Africa’s problems, but digital money services have downsides which media often overlook
Will ‘Sahelexit’ encourage more coups among ECOWAS members?
Military juntas from across the Sahel have threatened to pull out of The Economic Community of West African States. This raises questions about regional stability and the stated aims of returning to civilian rule.
Credible elections are needed to avert future coups
Can institutional gender policies advance women to academic leadership positions in Africa?
Corrupt, brutal and unprofessional? Africa-wide survey of police finds diverging patterns
Colonial statues in Africa have been removed, returned and torn down again – why it’s such a complex history
Realizing Africa’s demographic dividend: A call to action
The future of African trade in the AfCFTA era
Modernizing AGOA for the 21st century
BRICS Under Russian Chairship
How Effective Is International Aid And Assistance?
The Guardian Editorial on Africa’s homophobic legislation: western influences are encouraging hatred
ETHOPIA
UN Commission Asked To Focus On ‘Horrific Violence’ Against Women In Tigray War
KENYA
Kenya’s ‘Hustler Man’ Vs. Burkina Faso’s ‘Upright Man‘
The differences in the performance of the “Hustler Man” in Kenya and the “Upright Man” in Burkina Faso is a function of genuine belief in transformational leadership, on the one hand, and mere self-serving populist political propaganda on the other.
EGYPT
Why Egypt’s improved economic outlook is mostly down to luck, not skill
Egypt’s strategic position in the Middle East, its political importance to the US – and proximity to rich neighbors – has allowed it to secure much-needed financial resources.
LIBYA
What The World Continues To Get Wrong About Libya
MALAWI
Uncovering Alliance One’s Tax Practices in Malawi: Where Do the Profits Go?
Despite generating substantial revenue in Malawi, US multinational Alliance One reportedly evaded corporate income tax in 2020, according to a leaked document from the nation’s tax authority.
NIGERIA
Lagos bans single-use plastics – why I think Nigeria should have taxed them instead
NIGER
Transition in Niger: avoiding the dangers of stagnation
With ECOWAS sanctions lifted, the military authorities must rapidly set the course for Niger to return to civilian rule.
SOMALIA
Lessons from the Missed Opportunity in Puntland’s Polls
SOUTH SUDAN
UNMISS is crucial to free and fair elections in South Sudan
ZAMBIA
Blue economies could take Zambia from landlocked to ‘land-linked’
There is immense potential for Zambia’s maritime ambitions to bolster the country’s sustainable development.
The Africa Edition ©️ 
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