News That Matters To Africa©️
QUOTE OF THE DAY
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HIGHLIGHTS
Kenya investigates crash that killed military chief
US to withdraw military personnel from Niger
Ramaphosa tells ANC it needs 14 million votes to win
58 killed in CAR as boat capsizes
Foreign disinformation manipulates African elections.
TOP NEWS
Eastern Africa
Ramaphosa preaches peace in DRC before SAfr polls
DR Congo should file complaint against Rwanda with ICJ says Belgium
Ethiopia: Mogadishu objections to Somaliland deal a “hiccup”
Kenya investigates crash that killed military chief
Kenya politics influences choice of new EAC boss
Rwanda’s rebirth – a nation of unity emerges from shadow of genocide
Turkiye to drill for oil off Somali coast next year
South Sudan Kiir’s tough choices ahead of December polls
BNP Paribas must face lawsuit over Sudanese genocide, US judge rules
UN: Sudan’s horrific war is being fueled by weapons from foreign supporters of rival generals
West Africa
Cameroon aid workers freed after 100 days in captivity in Nigeria
US to withdraw military personnel from Niger
Nigerian Mega pastor pushing anti-vaccine conspiracy theories
New Senegal president, new cabinet, same limits on women
Togo constitutional changes spark calls for protests
The Sahel is becoming a drug smuggling corridor, UN warns
Southern Africa
How South Africa’s Zuma turned on his allies and became a surprise election foe
Ramaphosa tells ANC it needs 14 million votes to win elections outright
60th Anniversary: Mandela’s ‘I am prepared to die’ speech at Rivona trials
UAE mining giant eyes majority stake in Zambian mine
North Africa
Algeria’s first KFC experiences a hectic opening
Central Africa
Chad air force chief orders US to halt activities at airbase
58 killed in CAR as boat capsizes
AFRICA GENERAL
VIDEO OF THE DAY
(16) ARTICLES ON ANALYSIS, EDITORIAL & OPINION
Eastern Africa
DR CONGO
Ramaphosa preaches peace in eastern DRC before SAfr polls
President Ramaphosa is now preaching a search for peace through political and diplomatic negotiations in the war between M23 rebels and DRC. At home, he faces a crucial election next month that will test the ability of the ruling African National Congress’s stranglehold on power. Yet his country is also leading the Southern African Development Community Mission in Congo (SAMIDRC), deployed in the east of the DRC to combat rebel groups, principally the M23. While in Kigali to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, Ramaphosa spoke of the virtue of political dialogue in the Great Lakes conflict, a possible change of tack that may reflect the realities on the ground. That came as a surprise to many in the DRC…Attempts to reactivate the peace talks are currently without any convincing results.
DR Congo should file complaint against Rwanda with ICJ says Belgium
DR Congo should file a complaint with the International Court of Justice over Rwanda’s failure to respect its border, Belgium’s ambassador to Congo said on Friday at a meeting to assess the deepening crisis in eastern Congo. Congo has been struggling to push back M23 rebels since they launched a comeback offensive in the already restive east in 2022. The fighting has displaced 738,000 more people in the first three months of this year alone, according to the U.N. aid agency OCHA. At a meeting of foreign envoys in the eastern city of Goma, Belgian ambassador Roxane de Bilderling said more should be done to hold Rwanda to account. Rwanda’s army has previously accused Congo of arming and fighting alongside another rebel group, the Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). The conflict is part of the long fallout from the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The M23 group is ethnic Tutsi-led, while the FDLR is composed of ethnic Hutus. Asked about de Bilderling’s comment, Rwanda government spokesperson Yolande Makolo told Reuters: “DRC should take Belgium to ICJ.”
ETHIOPIA
Mogadishu objections to Somaliland deal a “hiccup”
Ethiopia remains steadfast in its commitment to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with Somaliland and the recent furor in Mogadishu over the deal is nothing more than a temporary setback, according to Abdulaziz Ahmed Adem (Amb.), chief advisor to the National Intelligence and Security Service and an advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Abdulaziz said the Ethiopian government remains committed to the MoU. He argues that Ethiopian access to sea outlets can facilitate mutual growth with Somalia, which boasts a coastline stretching over 3,000 kilometers. Abdulaziz characterized Mogadishu’s vehement objections to the port deal with Somaliland as a “hiccup,” suggesting it is an attempt to divert attention from Somalia’s internal political challenges. He said Ethiopia would proceed with the deal as part of its commitment to regional integration. The MoU, signed on January 1, 2024, between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somaliland President Muse Bihi has sparked considerable regional and international debate. Abiy Ahmed has previously emphasized the critical nature of sea access for Ethiopia, a stance that has heightened tensions across the Horn of Africa.
KENYA
Kenya investigates crash that killed military chief
Kenya’s government has sent a team to investigate the helicopter crash that killed military chief Gen Francis Ogolla and nine others. It was not immediately clear what caused the crash. Gen Ogolla was among 12 occupants of the military aircraft that went down on Thursday afternoon shortly after take off in the north-west of the country. The bodies of those who died were flown to Nairobi and the two survivors are being treated in hospital. The four-star general will be buried on Sunday at his home in western Siaya county, his family has said. Gen Ogolla was appointed Kenya’s Chief of Defence Forces in April last year. In an interview last May, Mr Ruto said he appointed Gen Ogolla as the army chief “against the advice of many people”. The president said Gen Ogolla was among a group who tried to influence the 2022 presidential election results. The officers had travelled to Kenya’s North Rift region, which has been plagued by banditry. They were on a mission to reopen some of the schools closed following bandit attacks. They had also visited military officers deployed to stabilise the region. In June 2021 at least 10 soldiers were killed when their helicopter crashed while landing near the capital, Nairobi.
Local politics influences choice of new EAC boss
Local politics could have influenced Kenya’s last-minute change of its nominee for the Secretary-General of the East African Community, who was due for swearing-in last week. On Monday, Kenya replaced Caroline Mwende Mueke, its initial nominee for the post, with Veronica Mueni Nduva, the Principal Secretary for Performance and Delivery Management in the Ministry of Public Service, who is now awaiting swearing-in by the Summit after the Council of ministers adopted her nomination on April 16. This chain of events was triggered by the recall on March 8 of Peter Mathuki, who was besieged by legislators over accountability claims at the Secretariat. But the recall was criticised as unprocedural and against the EAC Treaty…In an interview this week, Cabinet Secretary for EAC Peninah Malonza, while noting that it is the prerogative of the President to appoint whomever he wanted, conceded that local politics may just have influenced the final choice. It is believed that she had a hand in the decision. The trio of Mathuki, Mueke and Nduva come from the Kamba community in the lower eastern region of Kenya. Ms Malonza is one of the two ministers from the region.
RWANDA
Rwanda’s rebirth – a nation of unity emerges from shadow of genocide
On April 7, 1994, Rwanda plunged into darkness as nearly 1 million Rwandans, predominantly Tutsis, fell victim to brutality in three months. Hutu militias unleashed a wave of terror, perpetrating beatings, torture, rape, and murder against Tutsi civilians, including numerous women and children. The genocide, tearing apart communities of Hutus and Tutsis who shared the same language and religion, found its roots in the colonial policies of Western powers. The seeds of division were sown through the colonial scheme of “divide and rule.” With a stable political landscape, sound security and a commitment to transparent governance, Rwanda has achieved remarkable economic and social development in recent years. According to the World Bank, Rwanda’s economy has registered remarkable growth, with an average annual rate of 7.2 percent and a corresponding rise in GDP per capita by 5 percent between 2009 and 2019. Kigali received the UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour award in 2008, becoming the first African city to earn the prize. “After the devastation of 1994, Rwanda faced a crossroads,” observed Jean-Baptiste Gasominari, a Rwandan political analyst. “Yet, through deliberate choices of reconciliation, reconstruction, and national renewal, Rwanda has emerged as a shining example of resilience and progress.”
SOMALIA
Turkiye to drill for oil off Somali coast next year
Turkiye hopes to conduct a deep-sea oil drilling operation off the Somali coast in 2025, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said in an interview. Turkiye and Somalia signed an offshore oil and natural gas cooperation deal last month, further strengthening ties after agreeing a defence deal this year. According to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, bilateral trade volume with Somalia reached $187.3 million in 2018 and $250.85 million in 2019. The total value of Turkish investments in Somalia has reached $100 million, while Mogadishu International Airport and Mogadishu Sea Port are both run by Turkish companies in Somalia.
SOUTH SUDAN
Kiir’s tough choices ahead of December polls
As clock ticks to December election, South Sudan has three choices, none of which can end the conflict: Holding them outside the 2018 peace agreement or coming up with a new deal that legally cements the polls. The chairperson of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), Gen (rtd) Charles Gituai says the South Sudan authorities have to either hold elections according to the 2018 or renegotiate a new deal that would allow them to hold elections outside the agreement. Failure to do this would mean that the transitional government will have no legitimacy after February 2025, the end of the transitional arrangement. JMEC is the watchdog that monitors the implementation process on behalf of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad). Gen Gituai notes that for elections to be held under the 2018 agreement, the transitional government must expedite implementation of five critical issues, or else the elections would be null and void.
SUDAN
BNP Paribas must face lawsuit over Sudanese genocide, US judge rules
BNP Paribas was ordered by a US judge on Thursday to face a lawsuit accusing the French bank of helping Sudan’s government commit genocide between 1997 and 2011 by providing banking services that violated American sanctions. US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan found “too many facts” showing a relationship between BNP Paribas’ financing and human rights abuses perpetrated by the government.
He called it premature to decide whether it was reasonable to hold the bank responsible for causing some of those abuses, which according to the plaintiffs included murder, mass rape and torture, or whether it could have foreseen them. The proposed class action was brought by US residents who had fled non-Arab indigenous black African communities in South Sudan, Darfur, and the Nuba Mountains in central Sudan. They are seeking unspecified damages.
UN: Sudan’s horrific war is being fueled by weapons from foreign supporters of rival generals
The year-old war in Sudan between rival generals vying for power has sparked “a crisis of epic proportions” fueled by weapons from foreign supporters who continue to flout U.N. sanctions aimed at helping end the conflict, the U.N. political chief said Friday. “This is illegal, it is immoral, and it must stop,” Undersecretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo told the U.N. Security Council. DiCarlo painted a dire picture of the war’s impact — over 14,000 dead, tens of thousands wounded, looming famine with 25 million people in need of life-saving assistance, and over 8.6 million forced to flee their homes. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, chair of the African Union panel on Sudan and high representative for its Silence the Guns in Africa initiative, called external interference “a major factor compounding both the efforts to negotiate a cease-fire and to stop the war. As a matter of fact, external support in terms of supply of war materiel and other needs has been the main reason why this war has lasted so long,” Chambas said. “It is the elephant in the room.” Neither DiCarlo nor Chambas named any of the foreign supporters.
West Africa
CAMEROON
Cameroon aid workers freed after 100 days in captivity in Nigeria
Three Cameroonian aid workers with a French NGO who were kidnapped in the country’s jihadist-hit north were freed in Nigeria Friday after 100 days in captivity, their organization told AFP. The two men and a woman “were freed this evening near Maiduguri” in northeastern Nigeria, around 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the Cameroonian border, said Olivier Routeau, head of operations at Première Urgence Internationale (PUI). “It is a little early to say they are in good health, but they are safe and sound, shaken, but we are reassured about their physical integrity,” he added. “They were smiling in the photos we were sent.” All three were kidnapped on January 10 in the village of Yeme in Cameroon’s Far North region, where they were working on food security and the fight against malnutrition, PUI said at the time. Cameroon’s northern tip and northeastern Nigeria have been the scene of violence involving the Boko Haram jihadist group and its bitter rivals, Islamic State West Africa Province.
NIGER
US to withdraw military personnel from Niger
The United States will withdraw its troops from Niger, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday, adding an agreement was reached between U.S Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and Niger’s leadership. There were a little over 1,000 U.S. troops in Niger as of last year, where the U.S. military operated out of two bases, including a drone base known as Air Base 201 built near Agadez in central Niger at a cost of more than $100 million…the new authorities in Niger joined juntas in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso in ending military deals with one-time Western allies, quitting the regional political and economic bloc ECOWAS and fostering closer ties with Russia. The New York Times earlier on Friday reported more than 1,000 American military personnel will leave Niger in the coming months. Last month, Niger’s ruling junta said it revoked with immediate effect a military accord that allowed the personnel and civilian staff from the U.S. Department of Defense on its soil. Hundreds took to the streets of Niger’s capital last week to demand the departure of U.S. troops, after the ruling junta further shifted its strategy by ending the military accord with the United States and welcoming Russian military instructors.
NIGERIA
Mega pastor pushing anti-vaccine conspiracy theories
61 years old Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, is one of Africa’s best-known evangelical preachers. A media investigation reviewed dozens of his sermons from 2023 and 2024 and found that he has been spreading anti-vaccine messages to his followers, specifically targeting the new malaria vaccine as it is being distributed in African countries. Malaria is a huge problem in Africa. About 95% of malaria-related deaths occurred on the continent in 2022, with children under five accounting for around 80% of the deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The announcement last year of the rollout of a vaccine against malaria – after decades of trying – was hailed by experts as a major achievement that could save tens of thousands of lives. According to the UN children’s agency, Unicef, successful pilot vaccine campaigns since 2019 in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi caused a 13% drop in the deaths of children of eligible age. But medical experts fear the influential pastor’s far-reaching sermons might negatively affect vaccine take-up in Africa. In August last year, he warned in a sermon of “an evil agenda that has been long in the making”. He then spread a conspiracy theory popular in the anti-vaccine community – that vaccines are a way of “depopulating the world”. Pastor Oyakhilome was featured in Forbes magazine as one of Nigeria’s richest pastors with an estimated net worth of $30m to $50m (£24m to £40m). Pastor Oyakhilome is no stranger to anti-vaccine disinformation. Recently he has also targeted the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, meant to protect women against cervical cancer. “They have something else up their sleeve. It’s not about cancer,” he said during a service aired on 2 September 2023. Nigeria began the mass vaccination campaign for girls in October 2023 in a bid to drastically reduce cervical cancer rates.
SENEGAL
New president, new cabinet, same limits on women
Senegal provided democracy in Africa with a much-needed shot in the arm when opposition leader Bassirou Diomaye Faye defeated Amadou Ba, the ruling party’s candidate, winning 54% in the first round of voting on 24 March. Faye won despite having been imprisoned just weeks before the polls by a government that seemed determined to use intimidation to retain power. But, after the celebration comes the hard task of governing, and for many of the country’s women, euphoria is turning into concern. The cabinet selected by Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko — who was the main opposition leader but supported Faye’s candidacy after he himself was barred from running — includes only four women out of 25 ministers. This is similar to previous governments, but Faye and Sonko campaigned on a change agenda. Women expected an improvement in their access to decision-making bodies. If the absence of women ministers is worrying, so too is the deletion of the words “women’’ and “child protection” from the name of the “ministry of women, family and child protection”. It has become the “ministry of family and children”. Aby Sène, a Senegalese public scholar working at Clemson University in South Carolina, believes the new government has taken a step backwards in terms of women’s equality and political power. “You cannot tell me that they couldn’t find more women qualified to serve in the government,” she says. “Especially for their very first cabinet of ministers.”
TOGO
Constitutional changes spark calls for protests
In a statement, the Dynamique Pour la Majorité du Peuple (DMP) opposition coalition and other signatories on Saturday renewed their calls for widespread popular protests a day after lawmakers approved constitutional changes likely to extend the 19-year rule of President Faure Gnassingbe. “What happened at the National Assembly yesterday (Friday) is a coup d’etat,” they said in the statement that reiterated calls for the population to mobilise against the changes. “Large-scale action will be organised over the next few days to say ‘no’ to this constitution,” they said. In Friday’s vote, lawmakers unanimously approved an amended charter under which the president will no longer be elected by universal suffrage, but by members of parliament. The changes do not take into account time already spent in office, so could enable Gnassingbe to stay in power until 2033 if he is re-elected in 2025, a highly likely scenario as his party controls the parliament in Togo, where Gnassingbe’s father and predecessor Gnassingbe Eyadema seized power via a coup in 1967. The changes do not take into account time already spent in office, so could enable Gnassingbe to stay in power until 2033 if he is re-elected in 2025, a highly likely scenario as his party controls the parliament in Togo, where Gnassingbe’s father and predecessor Gnassingbe Eyadema seized power via a coup in 1967.
The Sahel is becoming a drug smuggling corridor, UN warns
Drug seizures soared in the West African Sahel region according to figures released Friday in a new U.N. report, indicating the conflict-ridden region is becoming an influential route for drug trafficking. In 2022, 1,466 kilograms, (3,232 pounds), of cocaine were seized in Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso and Niger compared to an average of 13 kilograms (28.7 pounds) between 2013 and 2020 , said the report from the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. Cocaine is the most seized drug in the Sahel after cannabis resin, the report said. The analysis comes as Senegal, which borders on the Sahel, announced Sunday a record-breaking cocaine seizure of 1,137 kilograms – the most ever intercepted on land and valued at $146 million – near an artisanal mine in the east of the country. Incidents like this are becoming more common in the region: In one incident last year in December, the Senegalese navy seized a total of 3 tons of cocaine at sea. The location of the Sahel, lying south of the Sahara desert and running from the Atlantic to the Arabian Ocean, makes it a natural transit point for the increasing amount of cocaine produced in South America and destined for Europe.
Southern Africa
SOUTH AFRICA
How Zuma turned on his allies and became a surprise election foe
South Africa faces an unusual national election this year, its seventh vote since transitioning from white minority rule to a democracy 30 years ago. Polls and analysts warn that for the first time, the ruling African National Congress party that has comfortably held power since Nelson Mandela became the country’s first Black president in 1994 might receive less than 50% of votes. One big reason is Jacob Zuma, the former president and ANC leader who stepped down in disgrace in 2018 amid a swirl of corruption allegations but has emerged in recent months with a new political party. It intends to be a major election player as the former president seeks revenge against former longtime allies. What you need to know about the 82-year-old Zuma’s return to the political ring and how it might play a significant election role.
Ramaphosa tells ANC it needs 14 million votes to win elections outright
ANC has marshalled all its ministers — presumably using government resources — to start “aggressively communicating its success stories” through advertising in the next critical campaigning weeks ahead of the 29 May national elections. In a leaked recording of the national executive committee (NEC) meeting which took place last week, ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa said the party would need to get 14 million votes for a clear victory. “In order for us to win, it’s no longer getting 10 million votes that (we) used to do in the past. Now we’ve got to get 13 to 14 million votes in order to be assured of a clear victory. So there’s much work to be done and if there’s the leadership that can do it, it’s this leadership,” Ramaphosa said…Ramaphosa, who initially chaired the meeting, said he was concerned that some within the NEC had not met their commitments towards campaigning for an outright majority. “So comrades this is a call to action. This is also saying that if we don’t meet our obligations, it’s going to go beyond just a call from the president or the deputy president or whoever. It’s going to be consequential and we don’t want that, we want every one of us to commit,” Ramaphosa added.
60th Anniversary: Mandela’s ‘I am prepared to die’ speech at Rivona trial
“During my lifetime, I have dedicated my life to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against Black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal for which I hope to live for and to see realised. But, my Lord, if it needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” Sixty years ago during the Rivonia Trial in South Africa, Nelson Mandela delivered one of the most famous speeches of the 20th century. He expected to be sentenced to death but instead lived to see his dream ‘of a democratic and free society’ realised. The Rivonia Trial – in which Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki and seven other anti-apartheid activists were charged with sabotage – was the third and final time Mandela would stand accused in an apartheid court. From 1956 to 1961, he had been involved in the Treason Trial, a long-running embarrassment for the apartheid government, which would ultimately see all 156 of the accused acquitted because the state failed to prove they had committed treason. And in 1962, he had been charged with leaving the country illegally and leading Black workers in a strike…On February 11, 1990, Mandela was released from prison. From the balcony of Cape Town City Hall, he addressed his supporters for the first time since Rivonia. He opened his speech by saying: “I stand here before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people. Your tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here today. I, therefore, place the remaining years of my life in your hands.”
ZAMBIA
UAE mining giant eyes majority stake in Vedanta’s Zambian mines
The mining investment arm of Abu Dhabi’s most valuable company has offered to buy a majority stake in Vedanta Resources’ Zambian copper assets, in its drive to build an African copper mining empire. The unit of International Holding Company recently made an offer of more than $1 billion to buy a 51% stake in Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) from Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta. The unit is racing to broaden its burgeoning copper mining business in Zambia after buying a 51% stake in Mopani Copper Mines in a deal worth $1.1 billion. IRH said last month it planned to bid for a stake owned by EMR Capital in Lubambe Copper Mine, which is also for sale. The deals spree is part of a push by oil-rich United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia to secure critical metal supplies from Africa, a move that could also help them participate in the transition to green energy…Vedanta recently regained control of the assets after protracted legal battles, including international arbitration, with the previous Zambian government which seized the copper mines and smelting plant after accusing the company of failing to invest in expanding copper production.
NORTH AFRICA
ALGERIA
Algeria’s first KFC experiences a hectic opening
The first KFC restaurant in Algeria, inaugurated with great fanfare on Sunday, April 14, sparked a heated debate on social media on its opening day. While a crowd of fried chicken lovers crowded the counter, pro-Palestinian activists gathered outside the building to call for a boycott of the chain, accused of supporting Israel. Closed for two days, the fast-food restaurant eventually reopened, but no longer displays its famous logo. The authorities, who do not tolerate street demonstrations, ruthlessly dispersed the rally. Some sources suggest the protest was orchestrated by a small pro-power Islamist party, the El-Bina Movement, led by Abdelkader Bengrina – who has not claimed responsibility for the protest. “I don’t know if this is the case, but the demonstration was made up of around 40 women in hijabs, supported by a few men,” said a witness. The arrival of KFC in Algeria – one of the few African countries without an international restaurant chain – was announced as early as June 2023. Authorized to set up, the company even launched a recruitment campaign on social media. At the time, the objections expressed online were not political. But the violence of the Israeli response in Gaza turned KFC’s arrival into a casus belli…
CENTRAL AFRICA
CHAD
Air force chief orders US to halt activities at airbase
In the letter dated April 4 to Chad’s minister of armed forces, Air Force Chief of Staff Idriss Amine Ahmed said he had told the U.S. defence attache to halt U.S. activities at the Adji Kossei Air Base after “Americans” had failed to provide documents justifying their presence there. Agreements on support for logistics and personnel did not suffice, Ahmed wrote in the letter. “We ask you… to inform the Americans that we have made this decision,” he said. The United States has less than 100 rotational troops in Chad, focused on planning tasks for the region, a U.S. official said. Interim President Mahamat Idriss Deby is running for election next month, making Chad the first of West and Central Africa’s military-ruled countries to organise a vote. Opposition groups have flagged concerns about its credibility. Former colonial power France still has 1,000 troops and war planes based in Chad. It has become all the more central to Western security strategy in the region since neighbouring Niger kicked out French troops after its junta seized power in a coup last year, following similar moves by military-led Mali and Burkina Faso. The U.S. official said it would not be ideal if they had to leave Chad but it would be far easier than a move out of Niger.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REP.
58 killed as boat capsizes
At least 58 people have died in the Central African Republic after the overcrowded ferry carrying them capsized, say officials. Most of the 300 people on board were on their way to a funeral on Friday when the vessel sank.
It happened on the Mpoko river near the capital, Bangui. Footage of the accident on social media shows people falling or jumping into the water trying to reach the banks of the river. Boat disasters are not uncommon in the Central African Republic. “What just happened was terrifying,” a witness told French-language broadcaster RFI. “I know a family who’ve lost seven relatives in this tragedy.” Speaking to local station Radio Guira on Saturday, civil protection head Thomas Djimasse said rescuers retrieved “58 lifeless bodies” from the water, but added “we don’t know the total number of people who are underwater”. Dozens of survivors are reported to be receiving treatment in hospitals in Bangui.
Going back to fix the CAR
More than a million people, including children, have fled their homes in the volatile Central Africa Republic to Cameroon. Not all have given up hope. Inside a bus with a group of nearly 300 refugees who have chosen to return to their homeland, secondary school student Abdel Aziz is among those being voluntarily repatriated. He and his mother fled the fighting in CAR five years ago; Aziz’s father is believed dead. Despite the country’s turmoil, 16-year-old Aziz is determined to return home. He wants to continue his schooling and be part of the solution to the crisis afflicting his country. Central African Republic has been engulfed in conflict since 2013, when an alliance of predominantly Muslim rebels, known as Seleka, forced President Francois Bozize from office. The Seleka rebels unleashed violence upon Christians, leading Christian youths to organize themselves into a militia known as the anti-Balaka. Despite the eventual ousting of the Seleka faction, a cycle of tit-for-tat violence persists between the two groups. Meanwhile, the central government grapples with asserting its influence beyond the capital, Bangui. The situation has improved “in some areas in early 2024,” finds a recent UNICEF report As a result of the volatile security situation, one in five of the country’s 5.5 million population are displaced within and across CAR’s borders. In addition to the more than 500,000 internally displaced, some 725,000 people are seeking refuge in neighboring countries, with around 300,000 in Cameroon.
AFRICA – GENERAL NEWS
Sub-Saharan Africa incomes falling further behind rest of world, IMF says
Incomes in Sub-Saharan Africa are falling further behind the rest of the world amid a “tepid” economic recovery, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday, warning of risks from geopolitics, domestic instability and climate change. The IMF earlier this week said the region’s economy would grow 3.8 percent this year, up from 3.4 percent in 2023, as it begins to emerge from four years of shocks, from the Covid-19 pandemic to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising global interest rates. “When accounting for population growth, the income gap with the rest of the world is widening,” the fund said in its biannual Regional Economic Outlook report, launched during its Spring Meetings this week in Washington. It noted that other developing countries saw real income per person more than triple since 2000, while they grew 75 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa and 35 percent in developed countries.
What Africa should push for in Bretton Woods debt review
One of the highlights of the just concluded International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, DC, was the announcement that the two Bretton Woods lenders are working to review the DSA framework for low-income countries within the next two years. The DSA framework for low-income countries was conceived in 2005 when the executive boards of the IMF and the World Bank’s concessional arm, the International Development Association, agreed to adopt it as a tool that would help guide the borrowing decisions of low-income economies based on their funding needs and with due regard to their ability to comfortably service obligations. Coming at a time when Ghana, Zambia and Ethiopia have defaulted and are chasing what has emerged to be extremely elusive and arduous restructuring engagements with their creditors, the prospect of reviewing the DSA for low-income countries is a welcome development.
Are African elections manipulated by foreign disinformation campaigns?
2024 is touted as the biggest election year in history. More than 80 national elections are scheduled to take place, affecting 52% of the global population. Furthermore, in a recent survey by Ipsos, 87% of respondents from 16 of these countries expressed concern that disinformation could affect election results, with social media identified as the leading source of disinformation. A recent study by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS), Mapping a Surge of Disinformation in Africa, has found that disinformation campaigns to manipulate African information systems have surged nearly four-fold since 2022. The study identified 15 North African Campaigns, 33 East African Campaigns, 25 Southern African Campaigns, 21 Central African Campaigns, and 72 West African Campaigns. The study also identified 23 trans-African campaigns linked primarily to the Kremlin and, to a lesser extent, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The 23 campaigns identified are sponsored by a range of actors, including Kremlin-linked actors, CCP-linked actors, other (unidentified) foreign actors, Militant Islamist group actors, Military actors (includes juntas), domestic political actors, and other (undetermined actors)…it is clear that a significant proportion of the African electorate will make political choices based on information consumed on social media. Indeed, African elections have proved to be prime fodder for disinformation and influence campaigns. Deploying mercenary disinfo-ops teams, one Israeli group, “Team Jorge” has reportedly carried out disinformation campaigns influencing over 20 African elections since 2015.
UN rights chief urges states to act on slavery reparations
The United Nations human rights chief, Volker Turk, called for countries to take concrete steps on reparations for people of African descent at a U.N. meeting on Friday, adding his voice to calls for justice for slavery atrocities. Support is building among Africa and Caribbean nations for the creation of a tribunal to address reparations, which might include financial payments and other amends, for crimes dating back to the transatlantic trade of enslaved people. While the idea of paying reparations has gained traction, it remains divisive and has not been accepted by most former colonial powers. The Netherlands has apologised for its role in the transatlantic slave trade and plans a 200 million euro fund to address that past. A British Foreign Office spokesperson acknowledged the country’s role in transatlantic slavery but said there was no plan to pay reparations, saying the focus should be on learning the lessons from history and on “today’s challenges”. The Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (PFPAD), which has no powers of enforcement but makes recommendations to other U.N. bodies, announced its conclusions on Friday. It reiterated a 2023 call to set up a slavery tribunal, adding this time that it should be sought via the U.N.’s policy-making organ, the General Assembly.
A revolution in helping Africa’s poor: Cash with no strings attached
A constellation of new homes is the product of a pioneering program that is Africa’s largest cash giveaway as measured by amount per person. It is part of a project that aims to revolutionize the way that aid is given to the poor: in a lump sum of cash with no strings attached. The program is run by GiveDirectly, an organization founded by graduates of MIT and Harvard who work with prominent economists to identify the most efficient ways to reduce poverty. Donors include Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes and the founders of the graphic design tool Canva. Lump sums are the most efficient way to give cash, according to a study of GiveDirectly programs released in December that compared the impact of three methods: in small transfers over 12 years; in small transfers over two years; or in a lump sum. Two years in, recipients of the lump sum have spent more money on health care, and more of their children have scored better on school exams, according to the study by MIT economics professor Abhijit Banerjee and others, including two GiveDirectly directors. The lump-sum recipients were also more likely to start a business and to make more money from their business. Two decades ago, microfinance was the darling of the aid world. But it attracted predatory lenders and locked recipients into cycles of debt, and recent research has cast doubt over its long-term impact. Traditionally, aid agencies distributed items such as food, livestock and laptops, but a frequent mismatch between donations and need meant items were often sold, stolen, broken or wasted, various studies found. So donors are increasingly moving to cash. Studies have repeatedly shown that cash is the most efficient form of aid when markets are functioning. New technology like mobile money makes it easy to send cash directly to the world’s poorest.
4 disqualified from Beijing race after 3 let Chinese runner pass
The top finishers in the Beijing Half Marathon have been disqualified after three runners from Africa appeared to step aside to let a Chinese competitor win the race on Sunday. The four runners approached the finish line close together, as they had been for much of the race. But then three of the runners appeared to move aside and gesture for the fourth, He Jie of China, to pass them. He won the race, and the three other runners, Willy Mnangat and Robert Keter of Kenya, and Dejene Hailu of Ethiopia, took the next three places. Footage of the finish caused a stir and led many inside and outside China to wonder why the three other runners had seemingly given He the victory. All four runners have now been disqualified. During the last two kilometers of the race, three of the pacemakers “actively slowed down,” the investigation concluded, leading He to win the men’s race. A committee formed to investigate the incident said in the statement issued by the race organizers that it would “withdraw their trophies, medals and bonuses.” The committee apologized and said that it would “learn lessons” from the episode.
VIDEO OF THE DAY
Nigerian chess player breaks world record
Nigerian chess champion Tunde Onakoya has set a new Guinness World Record after playing the game non-stop for more than 58 hours in New York’s Times Square. The marathon effort aims to raise $1 million for children’s education across Africa.
AFRICA – ANALYSIS, EDITORIAL/OPINION
Escalation of Middle East hostilities will have ripple effects for Africa
Africa could be drawn into proxy battles that have domino effects on security, foreign investment and trade relationships.
Is social media weakening Africa’s democracy?
BRICS must learn very quickly that ‘to dare is to do’
China and America woo African space agencies in the new space race
Black hair: our past, present and future
Africa’s wildebeest: those that can’t migrate are becoming genetically weaker
Ethiopia
Ethiopia commemorated 50 years since the February revolution with many of its demands unmet
Fano’s fight: Why the world must listen and act
Kenya
Israel-Iran war has Kenya in the spotlight, may be good for the Horn
Namibia
When Namibia stands up to Germany, then Gaza has revolutionized the Global South
Nigeria
Dangote refinery project, a testament to state failure in Nigeria
Africa’s strategic sectors, such as the energy sector, should not be left under the total control of private interests
Nigeria’s cybercrime reforms leave journalists at risk
Somalia
Somalia’s EAC contribution depends on cutting organised crime
East African Community member states must support Somalia’s efforts to curb destabilising criminal markets.
South Africa
The Constitutional Court at 30: Successes and failure
South Sudan
Can dialogue rescue South Sudan from a perpetual transition?
As in 2022, elections could again be postponed. What should the proposed dialogue do differently to break the cycle?
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe’s new ZiG doomed by overall lack of transparency
Economic mismanagement has stripped citizens’ trust in the government and threatens the new currency’s viability.
The Africa Edition ©️ 
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