News That Matters To Africa©️
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HIGHLIGHTS
Kenya’s Deputy President has Impeachment worries
Senegal vows ‘corruption’ probe of former government
17 killed in mass shootings at two SAfr homes
Suez Canal revenues down $6b
Francophone African leaders financed French elections.
TOP NEWS
Eastern Africa
Diego Garcia: The BBC gains access to the island
‘Djibouti president is well’: Finance minister
Power starved DRC mining firms turn to imports
DRC overtakes Kenya, Uganda as Tanzania’s leading export market
Kenya’s DP expected to fightback, if impeachment succeeds
British army to investigate conduct of troops in Kenya amid rape and murder claims
Toiling on a Kenyan flower farm to send fresh roses to Europe
Rwanda battles SA and Morocco for Grand Prix
At least 6 killed by bomb blasts in Somalia
The real reason Egypt is arming Somalia
Op-ed: Somalia, Egypt should now dial down on their angry rhetoric
Irony of US-UAE defence pact in face of Sudan war
Famine is ravaging Sudan – but help can’t get there
Uganda’s Bobi Wine declares he will run for president in 2026
Uganda’s Karuma power plant goes live after 11 years
World Bank says it aims to protect projects in Uganda from anti-LGBT law
West Africa
Gambian Remittances from Europe is a lifeline for families but the sacrifices take a toll
Video: Ghanaians tricked into leaving Africa to fight Russia’s war
Nigeria braces for fresh protests on October 1
Senegal PM vows ‘corruption’ probe into former government
Senegal’s M’Bow, 103, dies; First African to head UNESCO
Southern Africa
Lobito Corridor at centre of Biden’s agenda in Angola visit
17 killed in mass shootings at two SAfr homes
Video: SAfr cracks down on illegal immigration
OpEd: Mysterious South African cave painting may have been inspired by fossils
North Africa
Algeria reimposes visas on Moroccans, accusing it of ‘Zionist espionage’
Egypt’s Sisi: Suez Canal revenue down by $6b
Civil society groups call for release of top Egyptian activist
Libya’s reconstruction of Derna
Tunisia assembly votes to strip court of electoral authority
AFRICA-GENERAL NEWS
EASTERN AFRICA
DIEGO GARCIA
The BBC gains access to the island
Diego Garcia, a remote island in the Indian Ocean, is a paradise of lush vegetation and white-sand beaches, surrounded by crystal blue waters. But this is no tourist destination. It is strictly out of bounds to most civilians – the site of a highly secretive UK-US military base shrouded for decades in rumour and mystery. The island, which is administered from London, is at the centre of a long-running territorial dispute between the UK and Mauritius, and negotiations have ramped up in recent weeks. For months, the BBC had fought for access to the island – the largest of the Chagos Archipelago. They wanted to cover a historic court case being held over the treatment of Sri Lankan Tamils, the first people ever to file asylum claims on the island, who have been stranded there for three years. Complex legal battles have been waged over their fate and a judgement will soon determine if they have been unlawfully detained. Up until this point, the story could only be covered remotely. UK government lawyers brought a legal challenge to try to block the BBC from attending the hearing, and even when permission was granted following a ruling by the territory’s Supreme Court, the US later objected, saying it would not provide food, transport or accommodation to all those attempting to reach the island for the case – including the judge and barristers. Notes exchanged between the two governments this summer, and leaked to media, suggested both were extremely concerned about admitting any media to Diego Garcia. Agreements signed in 1966 leased the island to the US for 50 years initially, with a possible extension for a further 20 years. The arrangement was rolled over and is set to expire in 2036. While the territory is administered from London, most personnel and resources there are under the control of the US.
DJIBOUTI
’President is well’: Finance minister
Djibouti’s finance minister has dispelled rumours about the health of President Ismail Omar Guelleh. The President of Djibouti Ismail Omar Guelleh is “doing very well” healthwise, the country’s Finance Minister Ilyas Moussa Dawaleh has said. On Saturday, there were claims, whose sources were unclear, that President Guelleh had been flown to French capital Paris for treatment. The reports added that the 76-year-old head of state was in critical condition over a heart-related issue. “Sorry haters, President @IsmailOguelleh is doing well, very well indeed,” Finance Minister Dawaleh said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday…Guelleh has been the president of Djibouti since 1999. He won his fifth term in April 2021, getting over 97% of the vote in an election that was boycotted by the opposition.
DR CONGO
Power-starved DRC mining firms turn to imports
Mining firms in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been forced to import electricity from as far afield as Kenya and Ethiopia amid a biting supply, ironic for a country that could potentially power most of Africa were its hydropower capacity harnessed. Yet electricity supply in the DRC has been a real headache for years, with the mining sector experiencing a deficit of between 500MW and 1,000MW, according to figures from the Chamber of Mines, a body of the Congo Business Federation (FEC). For years, both industry and households have struggled to meet their electricity needs, and now energy-insecure companies have started importing electricity or using other sources of energy to keep production going. This week, the main mining firm Gécamines, its subsidiaries and the national electricity company, Societe Nationale d’Electricite (SNEL), held a working framework to “create a synergy of forces and intelligence” on how to deal with the problem. They said this would help reflect “appropriate solutions to respond to a structural problem that is undermining two sectors of economic growth in the Democratic Republic of Congo.” In addition to the limited production of electricity, the mining industry is still hampered by another problem: frequent power cuts…Faced with a severe shortage of electricity, the DRC is now importing power from other countries. Teddy Lwamba, the Minister for Water Resources and Electricity, said the imports will cost $8 billion in the long run.
DRC overtakes Kenya, Uganda as Tanzania’s leading export market
Share of Dar’s exports to DRC rises to 4.4 percent as that of Kenya and Uganda reels from trade wars. Tanzania is now exporting more of its goods to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) compared to the traditional markets of Kenya and Uganda, highlighting the changing trade dynamics occasioned by new entrants into the EAC bloc and persistent trade wars over tariff and non-tariff barriers (NTBs). Latest data by the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) reveals that Kinshasa has overtaken Nairobi and Kampala as leading export destinations for Tanzania. DRC and Somalia joined the EAC in 2022 and 2024 respectively bringing the bloc’s membership to eight. Others are Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. BoT through its latest annual report (2022/2023 fiscal year) shows that in the last three fiscal years (2020/2021-2022/2023) the share of Tanzania’s exports to DRC increased to 4.4 percent from 3.7 percent while that to Kenya and Uganda declined to 4.1 percent from 4.7 percent and 4.6 percent respectively…Tanzania’s exports of goods to EAC countries mainly comprised cereals, particularly rice and maize, iron and steel, fertilisers and cement, while major imports included iron and steel, soap and detergents, pharmaceutical products, and food and beverages for household consumption, largely sugar and sugar confectionery
ETHIOPIA
OpEd: Egypt’s fears about Ethiopia’s mega-dam haven’t come to pass: moving on from historical concerns would benefit the whole region
KENYA
Deputy President expected to fightback, if impeachment succeeds
Barring a late intervention by President Ruto, an impeachment motion against Deputy President (DP) Rigathi Gachagua could be introduced in Parliament in the coming days, after an MP said this week, he had secured enough signatures endorsing the ouster bid. The MPs pushing for Mr Gachagua’s impeachment accuse him of, among others, promoting ethnically divisive politics, undermining the president and having had a role in the anti-government uprising between June and July that saw Parliament overrun. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has recommended the prosecution of four of the DP’s associates, including two Nairobi MPs, with charges related to the uprising, which initially broke out as street protests against tax hikes. In a statement Thursday, Mr Gachagua dismissed the DCI investigation of his staff and allies as politically instigated, saying it was part of the plot to have him impeached. To remove the DP from office, at least two-thirds of members in each of the two houses of Parliament — National Assembly and Senate – will be required to vote for the impeachment motion. The last time a Kenyan vice president was ousted in similar circumstances was in 1989 when an MP brought a vote of no confidence in the then holder of the office, Dr Josephat Karanja, for allegedly undermining then President Daniel arap Moi…Unlike the diplomatic Dr Karanja who left with barely a whimper 35 years ago, the abrasive Gachagua is widely expected to mount a political and legal fightback, in the event the impeachment succeeds.
British army to investigate conduct of troops in Kenya amid rape and murder claims
The army is to launch an inquiry into the behaviour of British troops posted to a military base in Kenya, after multiple allegations of serious abuses committed by soldiers, including rape and murder. The inquiry is to examine the conduct of military personnel posted to the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK). It is where the soldier alleged to have murdered a Kenyan woman, Agnes Wanjiru, was posted at the time of her death in 2012. An ITV Exposure documentary, which aired on Sunday, returned to Nanyuki, close to the base, and found that allegations of abuse were still emerging. British soldiers were alleged to have regularly paid for sex with local women, and to have raped multiple women as well as girls as young as 13. An MoD spokesperson said: “The defence secretary has discussed with the chief of the general staff these alarming allegations of unacceptable behaviour by service personnel deployed to Kenya. Since 2022, Wanjiru’s sister, Rose, and her lawyers Leigh Day have been urging the MOD to properly investigate her death. Reacting to news of the inquiry, Wanjiru’s niece, Esther Njoki, said: “All we want as a family is closure, but we will not get this without answers and without steps being taken to make sure what happened to Agnes never happens again.
Toiling on a Kenyan flower farm to send fresh roses to Europe
On a moonless night in the Kenyan lakeside town of Naivasha, Anne sits inside a makeshift, two-room house, exhausted after a gruelling shift picking and sorting roses. Anne (not her real name) is a single mother and one of thousands of the predominantly female workers in Kenya’s flower industry, harvesting and categorising blooms in one of the many greenhouse complexes around the edge of the picturesque Lake Naivasha, about 90km (56 miles) north-west of the capital, Nairobi. Inside endless rows of the temperature-controlled greenhouses the size of tennis courts, workers like Anne harvest a huge variety of flowers that grow profusely in the rich Kenyan soil. There are carnations, chrysanthemums, and an abundance of roses in almost every hue. The majority of these blooms are destined for Europe. Anne has spent over 15 years working in Kenya’s burgeoning flower industry, one of the largest employers in the country. Estimates suggest it employs more than 150,000 people and earns the country around $1bn (£760m) annually in foreign exchange. Despite dedicating her working life to the industry, she says her monthly pay of just over $100 has barely changed in years. It is not enough to contend with the worsening cost-of-living crisis in Kenya, which has pushed up the prices of essential household goods such as maize, wheat, rice and sugar. At the end of each month, Anne does not have enough to eat and often has to skip meals…The flower company gave her stringent daily targets, which the managers pressured the workers to meet.
“We had to grade 3,700 stems a day,” she says. Anne feels these targets were unrealistic, but she says workers like her had no choice but to deliver, or the farm managers would sanction them. If she missed her daily target, she had to write a statement to her manager explaining the reasons for falling short. Anne worries about other ways in which her work on the flower farm may harm her health – for example, the unfamiliar chemicals she was asked to use to spray the roses…without being given protective gear.
RWANDA
Rwanda battles SA and Morocco for Grand Prix
Rwanda’s splash entry into the fight to host a Formula 1 event has opened a three-horse race to bring the first Grand Prix chapter on the African continent since 1993, but with all contenders – including South Africa and Morocco which have hosted the event before – not guaranteed a soon-to-be host status. With no event currently held on the continent, it is understood that Rwanda jumped into the fray to take full advantage, after learning last year that South Africa – which was poised to be included in the 2024 calendar – was reportedly frozen out over its alleged support for Russia in the war against Ukraine. Kigali then came up with a quick plan whose details remain under wraps, but it includes a galaxy of A-listers like Western politicians, sports icons, and lobbyists to headline the bid; it drew proposed spending on the commercial and hosting rights, architectural designs of a circuit site near the upcoming Bugesera airport…Last month, media reports quoted Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali saying Rwanda was a contender for a hosting slot, as it had a “serious” bid and “presented a good plan” over which the parties would meet “at the end of September”. Sports commentators argue that for Rwanda to beat the competition and take the Grand Prix to the “City of a Thousand Hills” would be a major coup – a big win for East Africa’s growing Formula 1 fanbase, but also an indicator that Kigali has attained the undeniable status and power of global sporting events.
SOMALIA
At least 6 killed by bomb blasts in Somalia
At least six people were killed and 10 injured on Saturday by bomb explosions in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu and a town in the country’s Middle Shabelle region, police and witnesses said. It was not immediately clear who had carried out the attacks, although Islamist militant group al Shabaab frequently orchestrates bombings and gun attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere in the Horn of Africa country. The blast in Mogadishu involved a bomb-rigged car that was parked on a road near the National Theatre in Mogadishu, about one kilometre away from the president’s office. It detonated, killing five people and injuring seven, reported a policeman at the scene, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the press. The casualty figures were confirmed by another policeman in the area. In a separate incident, a bomb planted in a livestock market in Jowhar city in Somalia’s Middle Shabelle region killed one person and injured three other civilians, Jowhar police commander told a press conference.
The real reason Egypt is arming Somalia
Somalia is turning into an open canvas for the longstanding Egypt-Ethiopia feud. For long, the two countries bickered over whether the dam on the Blue Nile that Ethiopia was putting up should be controlled to ensure sufficient water reaches Cairo, but Ethiopia went on to fill the dam, forcing Cairo to quit any talks over the issue. Now experts contend the Nile question is a factor but is not central to the recent events in Somalia, where Egypt has been delivering arms and strengthening cooperation with Mogadishu, much to the annoyance of Addis Ababa. Ethiopia first touched off the spark of tensions with Somalia when it signed a controversial memorandum with Somaliland… claimed it was meant to grant Ethiopia some coastal territory in Somaliland for a naval base in exchange for recognition of independence. That MOU added to the Nile question, bringing together Ethiopia, Egypt and Somalia, each with its interests at stake. Dr Rashid Abdi, an analyst on the Horn of Africa, argued that Egypt and Ethiopia have been on a collision course since last year, meaning the MoU was not the cause of the recent escalations. “In December, Egypt declared talks over GERD (Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam) ‘dead’. In January 2024, (it) formally withdrew from GERD talks. Somaliland MoU is not primary cause of current Horn tensions. It is simply a catalyst,” he wrote on X. According to the Horntalk, a bulletin by the Africa Policy Institute in collaboration with the Council on Kenya-Somalia Relations, a new lobby seeking to boost the ties between the two countries, three key factors are pushing Egypt into Somalia: Ethiopia’s search for sea access and how it could affect Egypt’s economic certainty in the Suez Canal, Cairo’s continued lobbying for allies in the Nile Basin and the Horn of Africa, and Somalia’s own vulnerability from weak institutions and the threat of violent extremists.
OpEd: Somalia, Egypt should now dial down on their angry rhetoric
SUDAN
Irony of US-UAE defence pact in face of Sudan war
This week, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan made his first-ever visit to the White House, where he and his host President Joe Biden announced that Abu Dhabi would be Washington’s Major Defence Partner, joining India. The two sides are targeting strategic investments globally, a dispatch said, “to ensure reliable access to critical infrastructure including, ports, mines, and logistics hubs through the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company, Abu Dhabi Ports, and DP World.” Some of these companies have been exploring the Eastern African shores, including Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia and Sudan. But the UAE is also accused of fomenting trouble in the very region. In Sudan specifically, Abu Dhabi has fought back claims of arming the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), one of the sides in the war that began in April 2023. After Wednesday’s elevation to a Major Defence Partner, some critics argued the US had provided the UAE with a shield to avoid accountability in Sudan…Although it has often fought back the accusations, a New York Times report last week provided the latest evidence that Abu Dhabi had used an import meant for humanitarian delivery to launch drones to survey the areas of the war, and using the cover of the Red Crescent signs to deliver the advanced military weaponry.
Famine is ravaging Sudan – but help can’t get there
More than half the people in this nation of 50 million are suffering from severe hunger. Hundreds are estimated to be dying from starvation and hunger-related disease each day. But life-saving international aid – cooking oil, salt, grain, lentils and more – is unable to reach millions of people who desperately need it. The sprawling displaced persons camp in Boram county, in the state of South Kordofan, home to an estimated 50,000 people, is in an area run by local rebels who hold about half the state. The Sudanese army won’t let most food aid cross the lines of control into the area, aid officials say. So, every day after dawn, emaciated women from the camp make a two-hour trek to a forest to pick leaves off bushes. On a recent outing, several ate the leaves raw, to dull their hunger. Back at the camp, the women cooked the leaves, boiling them in a pot of water sprinkled with tamarind seeds to blunt the bitter taste. For the women and the thousands of others in the camp, the barely edible mush is a daily staple. It isn’t enough. Some have starved to death, camp medics say.
Editorial: The Observer view on Sudan – decisive action is needed to avert catastrophe, but where is the will?
UGANDA
Bobi Wine declares he will run for president in 2026
Uganda’s Bobi Wine has declared that he will run for president in the January 12, 2026 elections. The 42-year-old, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, made the revelation in an interview with Uganda’s Monitor newspaper published on Sunday. In the last election in 2021, President Yoweri Museveni of the National Resistance Movement party (NRM) got over 58% of the vote, while Wine of the National Unity Platform party (NUP), got over 35% of the vote. On September 12, President Museveni, who got about 6 million votes in the 2021 election, alleged that Bobi Wine’s party, which secured about 3.6 million votes in the poll, “cheated by one million votes.” Museveni accuses Wine’s party of rigging The president said he had the “facts” and NUP could sue him if the party felt it had been “falsely accused.” According to Museveni, the alleged rigging occurred in places where electronic voting system failed. Bobi Wine’s party however denied Museveni’s allegations. The leader of opposition in Uganda’s parliament Joel Ssenyonyi, who is a member of the National Unity Platform party, said President Museveni was worried at how young people “embraced” NUP.
Karuma power plant goes live after 11 years
After 11 years under construction, Uganda’s flagship hydropower project, Karuma, was finally commissioned on Thursday, marking an end to a long, winding journey littered with technical defects, fights between the government and the contractor as well as other non-engineering challenges. Construction of the tunnel-design power station, an interconnection station, and high-voltage transmission lines was launched in December 2013, for $1.688 billion, of which $1.435 billion is a loan from the China Exim Bank, while the remainder was funded by the Uganda government’s energy fund. Generating 600MW at peak, Karuma now takes Uganda’s installed capacity to just over 2,000MW – up from 380MW in 2005 – generated from an energy mix of hydro, solar and thermal, the bulk of which is hydroelectricity…Initially expected to be delivered in the contract period of 60 months, the project faced significant technical challenges within the first two years, with the engineer discovering cracks in the in the spillway concrete works, prompting Chinese contractor Sinohydro Corporation to halt construction works for weeks. But Karuma would suffer a series of more delays even after the pandemic-related travel bans were lifted in October 2021, as it emerged that the power plant had non-conformities of the electrical-mechanical systems, which Sinohydro started working on in March 2022, and were a point of contention between the government and the Chinese firm.
World Bank says it aims to protect projects in Uganda from anti-LGBT law
The World Bank said it is rolling out measures to ensure the recipients of lending to Uganda are not discriminated against by a tough anti-gay law. A World Bank spokesperson said the measures, which include an independent monitoring mechanism to ensure compliance, would apply to ongoing and new projects. Uganda, a mostly conservative country, enacted the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) in May last year, drawing widespread condemnation from the West and sanctions from the United States. Under the law, same-sex intercourse is punishable by life in prison while those who commit so-called aggravated homosexuality receive the death penalty. The bank suspended all new lending to Uganda last year after finding that the law contradicts its values. The World Bank is one of Uganda’s biggest funders, especially of critical infrastructure such as roads and energy. The funding suspension was seen as a significant blow to its finances. “We will not propose any new public financing for Uganda to our board until we are satisfied that… mitigation measures are in place,” the bank said. LGBT activists had asked the bank to keep the ban on funding as long as the law remains in force, they said in a statement this week.
WEST AFRICA
GAMBIA
Remittances from Europe is a lifeline for families but the sacrifices take a toll
Gambians abroad send hundreds of millions of dollars a year in remittances, according to the World Bank. The remittances account for a fourth of the tiny country’s economy — the highest such proportion on the African continent. Even as European countries increase their efforts to keep migrants out, Gambians and other West Africans keep risking the dangerous route, known locally as “the backway,” in unsafe boats across the Atlantic Ocean — or trek hundreds of miles across the Sahara Desert and then cross the Mediterranean Sea. Almost 10% of Gambia’s population of 2.7 million has left the country, most of them young men from rural areas. The money they send is an economic lifeline for their families but their absence weighs heavily on their communities. Life is increasingly difficult in village of where villagers for centuries grew rice, maize, millet and peanuts to make a living. But ravages of climate change and outdated farming practices have made their traditional lifestyle unsustainable. Moustapha Sabally, deputy chief of Kiang Central province, said the rains have become unpredictable for farming, which is still done by hand and without tractors. Few young men are around to do that work, he said, and estimated that about 70% of them left the province for the capital, Banjul, or for Europe. That leaves women and older people who struggle with the long and laborious work on the land, forcing the community to depend on remittances, Sabally said. Without the remittances, “life would be very difficult,” he said.
GHANA
Video: Tricked into leaving Africa to fight Russia’s war
A group of Ghanaians who say they were duped into fighting for Russia in the Ukraine war are now pleading for help. The young men say they signed up for jobs in security and agriculture but ended up on the frontline of the conflict instead. High unemployment has made Africa fertile ground for unscrupulous overseas recruiters.
NIGERIA
Nigeria braces for fresh protests on October 1
A section of Nigerians have declared their intention to hold protests on Tuesday, October 1, when the West African nation will be celebrating its 64th independence anniversary. The protest organisers say the demonstrations, dubbed #FearlessOctober1, will be held across the country to push for the reinstatement of fuel subsidy, and also address other public concerns. Juwon Sanyaolu, the national coordinator of a Nigerian youth movement, said on Sunday that police have been informed about the planned protests as required by law. Nigeria is currently grappling with a cost of living crisis wrought by inflation, a relatively weak naira, and removal of fuel subsidy. President Bola Tinubu has urged Nigerians to be patient with his administration’s economic policies, saying they will soon bear fruit. According to the United Nations, at least 25 million Nigerians face a hunger crisis. Insecurity also remains a major challenge for the government of President Tinubu, with kidnap-for-ransom and insurgent attacks increasing in prevalence.
SENEGAL
PM vows ‘corruption’ probe into former government
Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko vowed investigations into what he termed “widespread corruption” under the previous administration, accusing it of having fiddled its financial figures. “The policy of unbridled indebtedness [under former president Macky Sall] has led to the use of resources that is not transparent and that is conducive to widespread corruption,” he told journalists, denouncing the “embezzlement of public funds en masse.” Sonko and President Bassirou Diomaye Faye swept to power in March on a pledge of radical change in the West African nation. The pair ran on a ticket of social justice, sovereignty and leftist pan-Africanism – raising hopes in the country battling a high cost of living and widespread unemployment. After being sworn in in April, Faye requested that Sonko conduct a thorough review of the country’s financial situation, with the stock-take’s conclusions shared on Thursday. “We had no idea that things were so catastrophic,” Sonko said, accusing the former authorities of having lied and falsified figures, particularly with international partners. Also speaking at the press conference, Justice Minister Ousmane Diagne said the actions appeared to be “criminal in nature, which the competent judicial authorities will have to determine by means of investigations that they deem appropriate”.
Amadou Mahtar M’Bow, 103, dies; First African to head UNESCO
Amadou Mahtar M’Bow, a Senegalese civil servant and politician who became the first Black African to head a major international organization when he was elected director general of UNESCO — but whose contested tenure there led the United States and Britain to pull out — died on Tuesday in Dakar, Senegal. He was 103. Mr. M’Bow, a rare survivor among the continent’s first generation of independence leaders, had served as Senegal’s education and culture minister when he rose to the top post at UNESCO in 1974. Over the next 13 years he turned the agency into a spearhead for grievances in the developing world and the Soviet bloc, mainly over Western cultural dominance. His resistance to Western influences, as well as accusations of misspending and nepotism, contributed to decisions by President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to pull their countries out of UNESCO in disgust, the U.S. in 1984 and Britain in 1985. Britain rejoined in 1997, the United States in 2003. Criticism of Mr. M’Bow centered on his promotion of what came to be known as a “new world information order,” a vague body of recommendations that many in the West regarded as a threat to freedom of the press, while its advocates saw it as an attempt to break the perceived Western monopoly on the reporting and dissemination of news…Mr. M’Bow was still defending his call for press controls nearly 40 years later. “If you go to any African country, you’ll get news produced by the North,” he said in a long interview published as a book in 2021, “including news that concerns us, and that the North distributes according to its own interests.” On Mr. M’Bow’s death, UNESCO saluted his memory, In 1976, the agency noted, he helped establish the World Heritage Convention, which seeks to identify and protect global natural and cultural landmarks. In Senegal, Mr. M’Bow was regarded as a national hero and a wise elder.
SOUTHERN AFRICA
ANGOLA
Lobito Corridor at centre of Biden’s agenda in Angola visit
President Joe Biden announced last week a visit to Africa in October, his first as US president and certainly his last, as he will not be defending his seat in the November’s elections. When he hosted Kenya’s President William Ruto in May, he indicated that he would visit the continent starting in January 2025, but political events in Washington have changed that plan. Angola, where he will be visiting, is getting a big stage to market itself as a thriving democracy in the face of an onslaught by activists over its human rights record…But Angola isn’t a bad place in Washington’s eyes. It has identified Luanda as a key pillar of the Lobito Corridor, a multibillion-dollar infrastructure project that the US and its allies want to use to compete with China for minerals in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. The White House referred to the project in a dispatch about the visit due on October 13-15, and also alluded to issues of democracy. Biden and Lourenço, it said, will discuss increased collaboration on shared priorities, including bolstering our economic partnerships…The civil society in Angola could use a meeting with President Biden to see if he can personally encourage President Lourenço to promote improvements in democracy and human rights, said Mr José Gama, a political commentator. Despite this, Angolan diplomats have reason to rub their palms in glee. This will be Biden’s first visit to Africa as US President and the first-ever by an American leader to Angola since independence from Portugal in 1975. The visit comes at a time when Angola is preparing to host the US-Africa Business Summit mid next year, which is expected to bring together more than 1,500 delegates, heads of state and government, and other world leaders. According to commentators in Luanda, this signals growing US interest in Angola and a certain advantage over China and Russia. Angola is China’s biggest debtor in Africa, and Russia was the country’s largest arms supplier during the civil war and the bastion for training its top army generals.
SOUTH AFRICA
17 killed in mass shootings at two homes
Seventeen people were killed in mass shootings at two homes in a village in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province and police said on Saturday they had launched a manhunt for the suspects. South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world, with about 20,000 murders recorded every year out of a population of over 60 million. Police said in a statement that the shootings occurred in two separate homes in the village of Lusikisiki and that in total, 15 women and two men had been killed. “In one house 13 people were killed, which included 12 women and one man. In another homestead, four people were also killed,” the South African Police Service said. The motive for the attacks was not known but police said they had begun a manhunt for the shooters.
Video: Crack down on illegal immigration
The newly formed South African government is getting tough on illegal immigration. Government agencies are cracking down on restaurants and foreign-owned businesses. Immigrant groups worry the crackdown could fuel anti-immigrant sentiment in the country.
OpEd: Mysterious South African cave painting may have been inspired by fossils
NORTH AFRICA
ALGERIA
Algeria reimposes visas on Moroccans, accusing it of ‘Zionist espionage’
Algeria announced on Thursday it will reestablish visa requirements for Moroccan nationals effective immediately, accusing its North African neighbour of deploying “Zionist intelligence agents”. In a statement, the Algerian foreign ministry accused Morocco of taking advantage of the visa exemption arrangement to “engage in various actions detrimental to the stability of Algeria and its national security”. The ministry cited: “The large-scale organisation of organised crime networks, drug and human trafficking, smuggling, illegal immigration and acts of espionage, as well as the deployment of Zionist intelligence agents, holders of Moroccan passports, to freely access the national territory.” Algiers’ decision comes after several people, including four Moroccans, were arrested in the city of Tlemcen, in western Algeria, early in September over accusations of being part of “a spy network” aimed at “undermining Algerian security and administrative institutions”. The decision puts an end to nearly two decades of free movement between the two countries, even though the borders have been closed since 1994.
EGYPT
Suez Canal revenue down by $6b
Egypt has lost $6 billion in Suez Canal revenue due to escalating geopolitical tensions in the region, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Sunday. Speaking during a police graduation ceremony, Sisi said revenue of the international waterway had plummeted by 50 to 60% over the past eight months. “We are keen on managing our affairs in a way that preserves our country and maintains stability in the region as much as possible, without getting involved in events that could affect security,” Sisi stressed. The Egyptian leader warned that the current regional tensions could lead to an expansion of the conflict. Regional tensions have escalated over Israel’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 41,600 people, mostly women and children, following a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. The Suez Canal, a vital artery for global trade, is the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia. It is one of Egypt’s main sources of foreign currency.
Civil society groups call for release of top Egyptian activist
Egyptian and international civil society groups on Thursday called for the release of the country’s most prominent activist, Alaa Abd el-Fattah, after his lawyer indicated that he would remain in detention until 2027. Egyptian-British software developer and blogger Abd el-Fattah had hoped to be freed on Sunday, when he will have been imprisoned for five years since his latest detention in 2019. In 2021 he was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of spreading false news after sharing a social media post, but Abd el-Fattah’s lawyer said this month that authorities were not planning to include his period of pretrial detention as counting towards his release. A coalition of 59 Egyptian and international civil society groups said in a joint statement that failing to release Abd el-Fattah on Sept. 29 would violate Egypt’s code of criminal procedure. Authorities have not commented on the release date and did not respond to a request for comment. Abd el-Fattah’s mother Laila Soueif said she was planning to visit her son on Sunday in a monthly visit, and that on the previous visit “he was acting like he will be released”…Abd el-Fattah rose to prominence during the 2011 Arab Spring uprising in which former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak was overthrown. He has been imprisoned almost continuously since 2014, becoming a symbol of tens of thousands of people who rights groups say have been jailed in a crackdown that has targeted dissidents from across the political spectrum.
LIBYA
The reconstruction of Derna: ‘A windfall for the Haftar clan’
A year ago, the city was ravaged by deadly floods. Today, authorities in the east of the country have highlighted reconstruction that has been carried out, taking care not to detail the cost. On the night of September 10-11, 2023, the bursting of two dams filled with a record amount of water spilled by Storm Daniel devastated part of this city of some 100,000 inhabitants, leaving at least 5,923 dead, according to the latest figures from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). In reality, there is still no definitive death toll, with thousands of people still unaccounted for. Here and there, across the maze of streets, new buildings are springing up, in addition to the restoration of buildings affected by the floods. Straddling the dry riverbed, a gaping hole divides the city, and two bridges will soon be completed to prevent residents from plunging back into the middle of this trauma every day. A huge portrait of Marshal Khalifa Haftar, head of the self-proclaimed “Libyan National Army” (LNA), which controls the eastern and southern parts of Libya, hangs from scaffolding at the foot of one of the bridges. Saddam, Belgacem, Khalid, and al-Sadiq, the sons of Haftar, have complete authority over the reconstruction efforts. This includes an “open-ended budget” and “the legal power to expropriate properties at will,” according to Faraj Ali al-Amari, a former advisor on technical affairs and reconstruction to the Presidential Council and a member of the Public Projects Authority’s board.
TUNISIA
Tunisia assembly votes to strip court of electoral authority
Tunisia’s parliament approved a law stripping the Administrative Court of its authority to adjudicate electoral disputes on Friday, nine days before the presidential election and fuelling opposition fears of a rigged result aimed at keeping President Kais Saied in power. The Administrative Court is widely seen as the North African country’s last independent judicial body, after Saied dissolved the Supreme Judicial Council and dismissed dozens of judges in 2022. Out of a total 161 lawmakers, 116 voted for the major amendment to the electoral law. The current parliament assembly was elected in 2022 on an 11% voter turnout after Saied dissolved the previous parliament in what the opposition has described as a coup. As a large police contingent erected iron barriers to block access to parliament, dozens of protesters held placards saying “Assassination of Democracy” and “Rigged election”. Some protesters chanted, “Dictator Saied … your turn has come!” The Administrative Court this month ordered the electoral commission to reinstate disqualified presidential candidates, saying the legitimacy of the Oct. 6 election was in question. But the commission defied the court and has allowed only two candidates to run against Saied. Lawmakers said they had proposed the bill because they believed the Administrative Court was no longer neutral and could annul the election and plunge Tunisia into chaos and a constitutional vacuum. Critics argue that Saied is using the electoral commission and the judiciary to secure victory by stifling competition and intimidating rivals.
AFRICA-GENERAL NEWS
Francophone African leaders financed French elections
For four decades Robert Bourgi was at the centre of it all. Born in Senegal in 1945 to Lebanese Shiite parents, he rose to become a confidant of a generation of African leaders – from Omar Bongo in Gabon to Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo-Brazzaville and Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso. And in Paris, he inherited the mantle of the legendary Jacques Foccart – the Gaullist who oversaw the post-colonial Françafrique system, with its arrangements of influence and protection, markets, materials, muscle… and money. From the early years after World War Two – during which it had been a centre of activism in favour of France’s post-war leader Charles de Gaulle – Africa and its former French colonies had been a source of financing for all French political parties. By the 1980s, when Bourgi came onto the scene, it was routine. Bourgi says that he himself never imported the bags of cash. “The procedure was simple. When there was an election approaching, Chirac made it clear that I should deliver a message in various African capitals,” he said in an interview in Le Figaro newspaper this week. “The [African] heads of state then sent an emissary to my office in Paris with a large sum. Several million in francs or dollars.” In each of the 1995 and 2002 presidential elections – both won by Chirac – he says around $10m (£7.5m) was given by African leaders…The system was so widespread that it gave rise to a verb cadeauter – from the French cadeau, meaning ‘a present’.
Stolen childhood: How millions in Africa are forced to grow up too soon
The number of children in Africa experiencing the pangs of “stolen childhood”, is rising to the detriment of societal stability. The logic of making children aged 5 to 16 toil in workshops or fields was once standard, at least until the end of the 18th century, particularly in the West. To ensure that all the world’s children can enjoy their childhood and have access to education and better care, the UN General Assembly established the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in 1946. Dr Comlan Kouassi, a psychologist practising in Benin’s Cotonou, flags the issue of stolen childhood as a societal anomaly that has a profound impact on the mental development of future adults. “When we are children, it’s the time to have fun, to be dependent on adults. We also need to train and prepare ourselves for adult life. But in many African countries, many children have to work to support themselves,” he says. Some children even have to work to provide for their parents, missing out on what is supposed to be a carefree childhood. “They are compelled to live as adults. I would term this phenomenon ‘child parenting’. Despite being children, they have to seek their daily sustenance,” says Dr Kouassi…Ratified by almost every country in 2002, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child guarantees children seven fundamental rights. Signatory countries must ensure that every child has a family (biological or otherwise), an education, affection, shelter, leisure, and care. Unfortunately, most of this is still wishful thinking.
The African trio vying to boss the Commonwealth
Twenty four years since the Nigerian Chief Emeka Anyaoku had the honour, it’s Africa’s turn to once again produce the next secretary general of the Commonwealth in October, according to the rotational rooster of its secretariat. The three contenders for the prestigious position are Mamadou Tangara, current foreign affairs minister of The Gambia, Ghanaian lawyer and diplomat Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey and Senator Joshua Setipa of Lesotho, who still works at the Commonwealth Secretariat. The Commonwealth’s 56 members will vote for one from among the trio to replace outgoing secretary general Patricia Scotland at the next Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa between 21-27 October, 2024. Exactly one month before the seminal event, the stakes could never be higher as Ghana and her smaller African rivals Gambia and Lesotho go on the hunt for that ringing endorsement to lead this organisational relic owing its existence to Britain’s troubling colonial legacy but somehow still defying earlier scrutinies predicting its eventual demise. The winner would bask in the honour and prestige reserved for leading a body which has grown from a moribund club of former British colonies into a bloc which in recent years had managed to bring into its fold other nations without any colonial baggage linked to Britain.
UN security council: African countries face hurdles and dangers in getting permanent seats
Video: What does the new UN ‘Pact for the Future’ mean for Africa?
World leaders have adopted a “Pact for the Future” to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The pact is action-oriented and Africa could benefit directly.
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