News That Matters To Africa©️
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I am still at State House and I am going to be in the process of packing up, I have discussed it with the President-elect. I’m still not sure where I am going to stay, but I’m not worried about it…” – Mokaweetsi Masisi after peacefully conceding Botswana’s national election
HIGHLIGHTS
No war to access sea, says Ethiopia
Minors included in Nigeria’s ‘treason trial’
Botswana ruling party booted out
France confesses to murder of Algerian independence hero
Chad denies killing civilians in air strikes
US’s election impact on Africa
UN says one journalist killed every 4 days.
TOP NEWS
Eastern Africa
No war to access sea, says Ethiopia prime minister
Healing the scars of Tigray’s war
Ethiopia bans imports of gas-powered private vehicles
Kenya’s new deputy president sworn in after legal challenges
Who is Kenya’s new deputy president?
Mauritius blocks social media until after election
A commander swapped sides in Sudan’s civil war. His community paid in blood.
14 killed, 34 injured as lightning strikes Ugandan refugee church
Uganda’s contentious coffee bill explained
West Africa
Ghana’s gold boon is environmentally unfriendly
Ivory Coast’s Ouattara takes up 3rd Sub-Saharan Africa seat on IMF board
Mali: Interview of the jihadist leader Hamadoun Koufa
Niger disputes French firm’s uranium move
Nigeria charges 76, including minors, with treason after August protests
Britain’s Conservative Party elects new leader with Nigerian roots
Southern Africa
After 60 yrs Botswana ruling party is out
Mozambique election result death toll rises as protesters rage
Prince of Wales’ environmental roadshow to arrive in South Africa
OpEd: Journalism is bleeding. The wound must be staunched
North Africa
France admits to killing Algerian independence hero in 1957
Algeria marks 70th anniversary of start of revolt against French rule
Egypt: German ship carrying explosives to Israel docks in Alexandria
5 family members forcibly disappeared’ in Egypt six months ago
Libya mass grave yields 27 more bodies in Tripoli
Italy’s Eni and BP resume onshore drilling in Libya after 10-year hiatus
Morocco to try activist who alleged it spied on France
Tunisian security forces accused of abusing migrating women
UN extends mandate for UN peacekeepers in Western Sahara
Central Africa
Chad denies killing civilians in air strikes against militants
AFRICA-GENERAL NEWS
THE WEEK AHEAD
EASTERN AFRICA
ETHIOPIA
PM: No war to access sea
As the dispute between Somalia and Ethiopia over sea access escalates, Ethiopia’s prime minister on Thursday said his country was seeking access to the Red Sea “through peaceful means.” Speaking at the parliament where he was questioned by lawmakers, Abiy Ahmed said Ethiopia has a “clear stance” on the issue. “Let the world hear today, Ethiopia maintains a clear national interest — it needs Red Sea access through peaceful means,” he said. “If we do not succeed, our children will,” Abiy added. Somalia and Ethiopia have been involved in a heated diplomatic dispute since Addis Ababa in January signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the self-proclaimed independent republic of Somaliland, a move Somalia sees as infringing on its sovereignty. Ethiopia and Somaliland defended the MOU which, if implemented, would give Somaliland recognition from landlocked Ethiopia in return for the leasing of about 20 kilometers of seafront, according to Somaliland officials. Abiy told MPs that Ethiopia did not have any agenda in Somalia other than access to the sea. “Ethiopia is a country which has the second-largest Somali population in the world next to Somalia. They are our brothers,” he said. Ethiopia has several thousand troops in Somalia helping its government in its struggle against Islamist extremists. Somalia on Tuesday expelled an Ethiopian diplomat, accusing him of engaging in “activities incompatible with his diplomatic role.”
Healing the scars of Tigray’s war
Between 2020 and 2022, a civil conflict devastated the region. Ethiopia’s federal government in Addis Ababa squared off against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the ruling party in the region since 1975. The war, which claimed some 600,000 lives and displaced more than 3 million people according to estimates, also involved armed militias from the neighbouring Amhara region and the Eritrean army, which fought alongside Addis Ababa. Two years on, survivors of 2020-2022 conflict hope fragile peace prevails. Although there are no extensive studies yet, preliminary research indicates that 44 percent of civilian casualties in the war died from wounds due to lack of medical care, while the other 56 percent survived but were left with disabilities. In Mekelle, which is the main urban centre of northern Ethiopia, normal life appears to have resumed. People crowd the streets, cafes and markets – even as the trauma and wounds of the war remain. Across the region though, a sense of uncertainty still lingers. Despite the progress made since the signing of the peace deal, many disputes and unresolved issues remain. Key among them is the disarmament and demobilisation of over 200,000 TPLF soldiers, and the movement’s official reinstatement as a political party by the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE). The trauma of war, and in particular the widespread human rights violations and sexual violence on thousands of people revealed by several reports, have left deep scars on the population. Additionally, there are still dozens of camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) around major urban centres such as Axum, Adwa, and Mekelle itself. According to the UN, there are still about 950,000 IDPs in the region, and in the northwest they mostly live crammed inside old or abandoned school buildings.
Imports of gas-powered private vehicles banned
As the price of fuel soared in Ethiopia earlier this year, Awgachew Seleshi decided to buy an electric car. That aligned with the government’s new efforts to phase out gas-powered vehicles. But months later, he’s questioning whether it was the right decision. He faces a range of issues, from the erratic supply of electricity in Addis Ababa, the capital, to the scarcity of spare parts. Seleshi’s troubles point to wider challenges for Ethiopia. In January, the East African country became the first in the world to ban the importation of non-electric private vehicles. Authorities have claimed some success in enforcing the ban on non-electric vehicles entering Ethiopia, and more than 100,000 electric cars are now being imported into the country each month. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said the Grand Renaissance Dam will start generating more than 5,000 megawatts of electric power within a year. Authorities say such capacity would support the transition to electric vehicles. For, now, many in Addis Ababa are doubtful the country can achieve its ambitious goals for electric vehicles without further needed infrastructure and services.
KENYA
New deputy president sworn in after legal challenges
Kenya’s new Deputy President Kithure Kindiki was sworn in on Friday after a court lifted orders barring his inauguration following weeks of legal challenges by his predecessor, who was impeached by parliament last month. The Senate voted to remove Rigathi Gachagua, the previous deputy president, from office in October on charges including gross violation of the constitution and stirring ethnic hatred – accusations that he rejects and has dismissed as politically motivated. Kenya’s High Court had put Kindiki’s inauguration on hold after Gachagua and his supporters filed over 30 court challenges to prevent his dismissal and replacement. But the stay order was lifted on Thursday, with judges saying that the deputy president position should not remain vacant according to the constitution. Gachagua’s legal battles extended months of political turbulence in the country, East Africa’s largest economy, that began with nationwide protests against unpopular tax hikes in June. The political realignment also sidelined Gachagua, who during Ruto’s election campaign helped secure a large block of votes from the populous Mount Kenya region. Speaking after Kindiki’s swearing-in, Ruto told his new deputy to “serve the people of Kenya equally, those who voted for us and those who did not vote for us. The government of Kenya equally belongs to all the people.” Kindiki was a leading contender to be Ruto’s running mate during the 2022 election and was appointed interior minister shortly after the president took office in September that year.
Who is Kenya’s new deputy president?
Kithure Kindiki a 52-year-old former law professor, has been serving as President William Ruto’s interior minister for the last two years. The president hopes that Kindiki’s accession to deputy president will put to an end a febrile chapter in Kenya’s political history. In his speech at the ceremony in the capital, Nairobi, Kindiki termed his predecessor’s impeachment a “testament to the maturity of our democracy and a testament that our institutions work.I will be loyal and faithful to you,” Kindiki pledged to Ruto. Kindiki is, like Gachagua, from the Mount Kenya region and will be able to shore up the president’s support in that area in the wake of the impeachment. He has vast experience in public policy, governance, public administration, law-making, constitutional affairs and giving legal advice at various levels. He began his political career in March 2013 when he was elected senator for Tharaka-Nithi county and served as the Senate majority leader for five years. Re-elected in 2017, he went on to serve as the chamber’s deputy speaker until 2020 when he was sacked in a purge of Ruto’s allies. When Ruto won the 2022 presidential election, he appointed Kindiki to his first cabinet. In 2022, there were some who thought Kindiki would be named as Ruto’s deputy, but Gachagua clinched the position as he brought with him considerable influence and wealth.
Analysis: President Ruto touched the mountain … … and showed that ethnicity really is losing its shine in Kenyan political organising
MAURITIUS
Social media blocked until after election
Mauritius’ communications regulator ordered all internet service providers to suspend access to social media platforms on Friday until Nov. 11, a day after the upcoming general election, in a move the opposition said was a ruse to avoid defeat at the polls. The island nation has been hit by a wiretapping scandal in which some 20 conversations involving politicians, police, lawyers, journalists and members of civil society have been leaked on social media since mid-October, according to media watchdog Reporters Without Borders. The Information and Communication Technologies Authority said it was imposing a temporary ban on social media platforms in response to “illegal postings”. The Prime Minister’s office said the restriction was necessary to preserve the national security and integrity of the country, following the publication of “certain” audio clips. “A crisis committee is currently meeting to contain the existing risks as soon as possible,” the office of Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth said in a statement. But the opposition said the ban was a political manoeuvre to avoid defeat in the Nov. 10 election, with Jugnauth looking to extend his rule and hold onto the parliamentary majority enjoyed by his Militant Socialist Movement party. “The outgoing government knows quite well that it’s heading towards a defeat. As such it is using all means to stay in power,” said Navin Ramgoolam, leader of the Alliance for Change party and Jugnauth’s main challenger.
SUDAN
UN chief condemns Sudan’s RSF, Britain to push for Security Council action
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned on Friday reported attacks on civilians by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces as Britain said it would push for a U.N. Security Council resolution on the more than 18-month long conflict. War erupted in mid-April 2023 from a power struggle between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, and triggered the world’s largest displacement crisis. The current war has produced waves of ethnically driven violence blamed largely on the RSF. The RSF has allegedly killed at least 124 people in a village in El Gezira State last month, activists said, in one of the conflict’s deadliest incidents. The RSF has accused the army of arming civilians in Gezira. The RSF has previously denied harming civilians in Sudan and attributed the activity to rogue actors. Guterres was appalled by “reports of large numbers of civilians being killed, detained and displaced, acts of sexual violence against women and girls, the looting of homes and markets and the burning of farms,” said a U.N. spokesperson. Britain, which assumed the presidency on Friday of the Security Council for November, said the 15-member body would meet on Sudan on Nov. 12 to discuss “scaling up aid delivery and ensuring greater protection of civilians by all sides.”
A commander swapped sides in Sudan’s civil war. His community paid in blood
The first harrowing accounts are trickling out about a series of punitive raids over the last week of October on villages in Sudan’s southern Gezira state, from survivors who had to trudge days through the scorching desert to reach help. Even by the standards of Sudan’s 17-month civil war, the scorched-earth attacks in Gezira stand out for their brutality. Victims say that’s the point: They were meant as collective punishment by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for the defection of their state commander, Abu Aqla Keikel, to the Sudanese military on Oct. 20. The RSF did not respond to requests for comment. Military supporters announced the defection and published photos of Keikel, a powerful leader in his Shukria tribe, online but did not give details on his current whereabouts. Haitham al-Sharif, spokesman for the Al-Jazirah Conference, a civil society group monitoring the violence, reported that the RSF had overrun 30 villages, killing and detaining men, raping dozens of women, and burning crops. He said more than 300 people were killed in the village of Tamboul, and 124 in the village of Sariha.
UGANDA
14 killed, 34 injured as lightning strikes Ugandan refugee church
Fourteen people were killed and 34 others injured after lightning struck a church located at the Palabek refugee camp in Uganda’s northern district of Lamwo on Saturday, police said. “The incident happened during a prayer service at a church in Zone 8, Block 2. in Palabek settlement camp,” the spokesman said in a Sunday post on X. “The victims, yet to be identified, had gathered for prayers when the rain started around 5:00 p.m., and the lightning thunder struck (sic) at 5:30 p.m.” Lightning strikes are common in western Uganda; in June, a similar incident at a school in the northern Nebbi District left 77 pupils injured; and in August 2020, 10 children were killed by lightning in the north-western Arua city while sheltering in a hut.
Uganda’s contentious coffee bill explained
A contentious coffee bill in Uganda that seeks to dissolve the country’s coffee regulator has faced widespread opposition from farmers. The bill proposes that the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), which has operated for over 30 years, be dissolved and its functions performed by a department within agriculture ministry. Members of parliament, especially those in the opposition, have opposed the bill, saying dissolution of UCDA would risk the future of Uganda’s coffee production. The East African nation is the second-largest exporter of coffee in Africa, behind Ethiopia, earning, in 2022, $813 million against Ethiopia’s $1.5 billion. The coffee sector employs about 5 million people in Uganda, with over 1.8 million households growing the crop. People who — directly or indirectly — benefit from the coffee industry in Uganda are approximately 12 million, a figure suggesting how important coffee is to the country of over 45 million people. And now, an amendment bill is proposing that the sector’s regulator, UCDA, be dissolved, and its functions taken over by a department within the agriculture ministry in efforts to save costs within government.
WEST AFRICA
GHANA
The gold boon is environmentally unfriendly
Water from a polluted river in Ghana was so thick and discoloured that an artist was able to use it as paint to depict the environmental devastation caused by the illegal gold mining that has spread like wildfire in the resource-rich West African state. Mercury is increasingly being used to extract gold by miners digging on a massive scale in forests and farms, degrading land and polluting rivers to such an extent that the charity WaterAid has called it “ecocide”. “I could actually paint with the water. It was so bad,” said Israel Derrick Apeti, better known as Enil Art. “Galamsey”, is the term used by locals to describe the illegal mining taking place at thousands of sites around the country – including the forested regions famous for their cocoa farms, as well as their vast gold deposits. The West African state is the world’s sixth-biggest gold exporter, and the second-biggest cocoa exporter. Demonstrators recently took to the streets of Accra to demand that the government take action to end the illegal mining. The police responded by detaining dozens of protesters accused of holding an illegal gathering. They were later released as anger grew over the arrests. The hashtags #stopgalamseynow and #freethecitizens were used to galvanise young people across Ghana and the diaspora, particularly in Canada and the UK, to voice their concerns. Communities along the river – one of the biggest in Ghana – lamented to Apeti that the water was “once so clean that you could see the fish and crocodiles that lived in it”, but it had been transformed “into a yellowish-brown body of water”.
IVORY COAST
Ouattara takes up third Sub-Saharan Africa seat on IMF executive board
Ivory Coast’s Wautabouna Ouattara has become the third director for Sub-Saharan Africa on the International Monetary Fund’s executive board as the lender of last resort boosts the region’s voice in its policy making processes. The new position on the executive board, which oversees the day-to-day business of the fund, brings the total number of executive board members to 25. “The addition of a third African chair to our Board reflects the continent’s tremendous progress in developing its human and economic potential,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement on Friday. The formal ascension of an extra representative for the region to the board followed an election, the IMF said. It is its first expansion since 1992, when two posts were created for the former Soviet Union countries after the break-up of the Soviet bloc. Africa’s 54 countries, the biggest bloc by number of countries among the IMF’s 191 members, hosts 18% of the world’s population but only holds 6.5% of IMF voting rights. Sub-Saharan Africa’s voting share accounts for around half of that.
MALI
Interview of the jihadist leader Hamadoun Koufa
Interviewed on October 23 in Arabic by journalist Wassim Nasr, the leader of Katiba Macina, the first Malian jihadist force, outlines the war he has been waging for nearly ten years in the central Niger Delta: allies, enemies, targets, means. To decipher the sometimes allusive language of the emir from the Fulani community, Mondafrique called on researcher Boubacar Ba, from the Center for Analysis on Governance and Security in the Sahel, an excellent expert on regional security dynamics. The latter listened to the interview in its audio version in Fulfulde, the Fulani language, translated from Arabic by Hamadoun Koufa’s spokesperson , Mahmoud Barry.
NIGER
Niger disputes French firm’s uranium move
Niger’s government is disputing a decision by French nuclear fuel firm Orano to halt uranium production, according to a document from a state partner in the venture. Orano announced last month that it was stopping production as of Thursday, owing to what it termed increasingly difficult operating conditions in the country and financial issues. Nigerien state company Sopamin is a shareholder with Orano, which holds a majority stake in Somair, the last site that the French group was still operating in the country prior to Thursday. The French lamented the withdrawal by the authorities in June of a permit for one of the largest uranium deposits in the world, Imouraren, and the impossibility of exporting the raw material with Niger’s border with Benin closed for what Niamey says are security reasons. “Despite its status as a co-shareholder, Sopamin was not consulted on this serious decision” to halt production, the company, which has operated for half a century in the country’s north, said in a document dated Thursday. The Nigerien firm complained that the decision “lacks transparency” and “violates a number of principles and practices essential to governance and commitments between stakeholders.”
NIGERIA
76, including minors, charged with treason after August protests
Nigeria charged 76 people, including 30 minors, with treason and inciting a military coup after they took part in deadly August protests against economic hardship, court documents showed on Friday. Protesters in August demonstrated in Abuja, the commercial capital Lagos and several other cities to show discontent with economic reforms that have led to rampant inflation and inflicted increasing hardship on ordinary Nigerians. President Bola Tinubu has vowed to pursue the changes which he says are needed to keep the country afloat. Amnesty International said at least 13 people died during clashes with security forces on the first day of protests. A rights group said the minors have been held since August by the Nigerian police after participating in protests against worsening insecurity and deprivation in the country.
Britain’s Conservative Party elects new leader with Nigerian roots
Britain’s Conservative Party on Saturday elected Kemi Badenoch as its new leader as it tries to rebound from a crushing election defeat in July that ended its 14 years in power. She defeated fellow right winger, Robert Jenrick, in a vote of the almost 100,000 members of the right-of-centre party, becoming the first Black woman to head a major British political party. Badenoch, who was born in London of Nigerian parents and spent most of her childhood in Africa, replaces former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The 44-year-old former software engineer depicts herself as a disruptor, arguing for a low-tax and free-market economy. As the sixth Tory leader in less than nine years, she faces the challenge of uniting the party and has pledged to lead it through a period of renewal. Badenoch said her first responsibility was to hold Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government to account. “Our second is no less important. It is to prepare over the course of the next few years for government,” she said.
SOUTHERN AFRICA
BOTSWANA
Voters kick out ruling party of nearly six decades
Botswana’s voters delivered a shock defeat to the party that has ruled them for nearly six decades, registering their anger over economic stagnation linked to a decline in the diamond trade by handing victory to opposition presidential candidate Duma Boko. The 54-year-old, of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) coalition, will replace President Mokgweetsi Masisi, who on Friday conceded defeat after his Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) lost by a landslide for the first time in 58 years. Analysts blamed mounting economic grievances, particularly among young people, for the downfall of the BDP, which has governed the southern African state of around 2.5 million people since independence from Britain in 1966. Local newspaper Mmegi showed that based on results from 58 of 61 constituencies, the UDC had won 35 seats in parliament, four more than it needed for a majority. The largest party chooses the president. The BDP was in last place out of four parties, with only four seats. The UDC, by contrast, put forward ambitious policy proposals. It pledged to more than double the minimum wage, improve social services and create a more independent judiciary, among other measures.The BDP was the second long-ruling party in southern Africa to lose its majority at the polls this year, after South Africa’s African National Congress failed to win more than half of votes for the first time in 30 years. Neighbouring Namibia will hold elections later this month in which the ruling SWAPO party, which has governed since 1990, is also expected to face a stiff challenge.
MOZAMBIQUE
Death toll rises as protesters rage against Mozambique election result
Silvio Jeremias was on his way home from his job at a petrol station on the night of 25 October, in Mozambique’s capital Maputo, when he and his friends happened upon a group of protesters demonstrating against that day’s election results. At the protest, one of many across the country, the police fired live bullets and Jeremias, who had a two-year-old daughter, was shot dead. Jeremias is one of at least 11 people killed by security forces during protests against the election results across the country on 24 and 25 October, while 50 received serious gunshot wounds, according to Human Rights Watch. Police said they only shot live bullets in the air to disperse crowds. Angela Uaela, a police spokesperson, said that one woman was killed and five people injured by “stray bullets”, when police tried to prevent supporters of opposition party Podemos from snatching a gun from them. Mozambique is one of the world’s poorest countries and its young population – the average age is less than 18 – is turning against Frelimo, which has governed for almost five decades. Its main opponent in last month’s election was Venâncio Mondlane, a former forestry engineer and banker who captured the imaginations of many younger voters. Podemos claimed it won 53% of the vote and 138 seats in parliament. It has submitted 300 kg worth of documents in support of a 100-page legal challenge to the election results. The official election commission, however, said Frelimo had increased its representation in the 250-seat parliament by 11 MPs to 195, while Podemos won 31.
SOUTH AFRICA
Prince of Wales’ environmental roadshow to arrive next week
Prince William’s roadshow for environmental innovation will arrive in South Africa next week as he announces the winners of his annual Earthshot Prize, aimed at finding new ways to combat climate change and other threats to the planet’s air, water and wildlife. William will travel to Cape Town for a series of events culminating in the awards ceremony two days later. The event marks the first time the 1 million pound ($1.2 million) prizes have been announced in Africa, following ceremonies in Britain, the U.S. and Singapore during the competition’s first three years. William created the prize in 2020 to encourage inventors and entrepreneurs to develop technologies to combat global warming and mitigate its impact. Taking the awards ceremony to Africa, a continent with which the prince has longstanding links, gives him a chance to learn more about the innovation that is taking place there, Kensington Palace said in a statement. Among the finalists for this year’s prizes are a Kenyan company that makes solar energy systems for homes that aren’t connected to the energy grid, a Ghanaian organization that teaches people how to recycle and reuse waste instead of burning it, and a Kenyan firm that makes small solar-powered refrigeration units to help farmers and fisherman get their goods to market before they spoil.
OpEd: Journalism is bleeding. The wound must be staunched
NORTH AFRICA
ALGERIA
France admits to killing independence hero Ben M’hidi in 1957
President Emmanuel Macron has finally acknowledged that Larbi Ben M’hidi, a key figure in Algeria’s War of Independence against France, had been killed by French soldiers after his arrest in 1957, the French presidency said. “He recognised today that Larbi Ben M’hidi, a national hero for Algeria… was killed by French soldiers,” the presidency said on Friday on the 70th anniversary of the revolt that sparked the war, in a new gesture of reconciliation by Macron towards the former colony. France’s more than a century-long colonisation of Algeria and the viciously fought 1954-62 war of in dependence have left deep scars on both sides. In recent years, Macron has made several gestures towards reconciliation while stopping short of issuing any apology for French imperialism. Ben M’hidi was one of six founding members of the National Liberation Front (FLN) that launched the revolt against French rule that led to the war. The presidency said that according to the official version, Ben M’hidi after his arrest in February 1957 attempted to commit suicide and died during his transfer to the hospital. But it said he had in fact been killed by soldiers under the command of General Paul Aussaresses, who admitted to this at the beginning of the 2000s.
Algeria marks 70th anniversary of start of revolt against French rule
A military parade was held in Algiers on Friday to mark 70 years since the start of the Algerian revolution. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune took part in the parade, saluting to cheering crowds from a tank before presiding over the ceremony. On November 1, 1954, Algeria’s National Liberation Front attacked French targets in Algeria, setting off the Algerian War which led to the country’s independence from France. The country officially declared independence on July 5, 1962, after a brutal seven-year war that ended 132 years of colonial rule. The war, which Algerian officials say killed around 1.5 million people, remains a point of tension in relations between Algeria and France.
EGYPT
German ship carrying explosives to Israel docks in Alexandria say rights groups
A German-flagged ship carrying explosive materials intended for the Israeli army docked in Egypt’s Alexandria this week and its contents have been unloaded at an Egyptian military pier, after being rejected by several countries, according to open source maritime data and rights groups. German human rights lawyers said that the MV Kathrin is carrying eight shipping containers holding 150,000 kg of RDX explosives for Israeli Military Industries, the munitions production arm of Israel’s largest military company Elbit Systems. The Portuguese foreign minister in September said he received information from the ship’s owner that half of the cargo was dual-use material destined for an Israeli arms company. According to ship-tracking website Marine Traffic and financial data firm LSEG Data & Analytics, the MV Kathrin docked in Alexandria port and was to depart on 5 November. The Egyptian army issued a vague statement denying military assistance to Israel, but did not clarify or specifically deny reports that MV Kathrin is docked in Alexandria Port or that its cargo has been unloaded there. Amnesty International called for the vessel’s cargo to be blocked from reaching Israel. “The deadly cargo believed to be on board the MV Kathrin must not reach Israel as there is a clear risk that such cargo would contribute to the commission of war crimes against Palestinian civilians,” said Amnesty International’s Hussein Baoumi.
Egypt denies assisting Israel’s military operations amid reports about explosives shipment
Egypt on Thursday denied it assisted Israeli military operations after media reports that an Egyptian port received a shipment of explosives bound for an Israeli defense contractor. “The Egyptian Armed Forces categorically deny what has been circulated on social media and suspicious accounts and what is being promoted about assisting Israel in its military operations in general and in detail,” the army said in a statement. The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) data and vessel-tracking website Marine Traffic showed the MV Kathrin docked in Egypt’s port at Alexandria on Monday 28 October. The Egyptian ministry of transport explained later on Thursday that the ship docked in Alexandria to unload a shipment for Egypt’s ministry of military production, adding that the ship submitted an official request to leave to Turkey. The MV Kathrin was denied entry at several African and Mediterranean ports, including in Angola, Slovenia, Montenegro and Malta, because of the explosives bound for Israel, according to the European Legal Support Center (ELSC). It said Portuguese authorities recently required the ship to switch from a Portuguese flag to a German flag before it could continue.
5 family members ‘forcibly disappeared’ six months ago
Five members of the same family have been forcibly disappeared for six months by Egyptian security forces, rights groups say. According to the Egyptian Network for Human Rights (ENHR) and the Stop Enforced Disappearances campaign, Nasser Abdel Moneim Abdel Naseem and four of his family members, including his wife and daughter, have been missing since being arbitrarily detained in Cairo and Alexandria in May. The groups have demanded that the authorities reveal their whereabouts. Naseem, 62, was detained at his workplace in Cairo on 27 May. His wife, Amal Abdel Salam Ibrahim Hassan, their daughter Reham Nasser Abdel Moneim and two other family members, including Hassan’s sister Ghada Abdel Salam Ibrahim, were arrested on the same day in Alexandria. “I don’t know why they would arrest the whole family,” Ahmed Attar, executive director of ENHR, told Middle East Eye. Attar also suggested that Ibrahim’s arrest could be due to her posting about Palestine on her social media pages, adding that the last post on Ibrahim’s Facebook page was about Palestine.
LIBYA
Mass grave yields 27 more bodies in Tripoli in past 2 days
The number of bodies found in a mass grave from 2011 in Libya’s capital Tripoli, has risen to 73, according to local sources. A statement by the government’s Search and Identification of Missing Persons Authority has said excavation and search operations are ongoing in the Bir al-Esta area of Tajoura, where the mass grave dates back to 2011. The statement noted that, in the past 48 hours, teams have recovered 27 additional bodies from the grave, bringing the total exhumed to 73. On Nov. 1, the authority announced that 46 bodies had already been exhumed from the mass grave in the Bi’r al-Esta area. The Arab Spring, which began in Tunisia, spread to Libya in February 2011. Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, who had ruled the country for 42 years, opened fire with live ammunition on demonstrators. During events in Benghazi and Tripoli, dozens of civilians lost their lives. Shortly before Gaddafi fled Tripoli for his hometown of Sirte, intense clashes broke out between regime forces and opposition fighters.
Italy’s Eni and BP resume onshore drilling in Libya after 10-year hiatus
Italian energy company Eni and British oil giant BP have resumed exploration in Libya after onshore drilling was halted in 2014, Libya’s national oil corporation (NOC) said. NOC also said in a statement that Eni had started drilling in an area of the Ghadames Basin. It noted that the well A1-96/3 is the first contractual obligation in Area B in the Ghadames Basin, in accordance with the Type IV Contracting Agreement of 2007. Eni operates the area in partnership with BP and the Libyan Investment Company.
MOROCCO
Kingdom to try activist who alleged it spied on France
A Moroccan human rights activist will go on trial charged with spreading fake news, offending institutions and false reporting after accusing the kingdom of using migration and espionage to pressure France, a Casablanca prosecutor said on Friday. Fouad Abdelmoumni was arrested for interrogation by police before being released on Friday. Abdelmoumni’s remarks on social media “undermine the interests of the Kingdom and some of its institutions and transgresses freedom of speech, while including elements that constitute legally punishable crimes,” a spokesman for the prosecutor told reporters in Casablanca. His trial will start on December 2, a judicial source said. During a state visit by French President Emmanuel Macron this week, Abdelmoumni wrote on Facebook — without offering evidence — that Morocco was using migration, security intelligence and espionage to pressure France. Macron carried out his Oct 28-30 visit as the two countries turn the page on years of diplomatic tensions, with migration and espionage among issues that have strained ties. “Charging him for peacefully expressing his views would be a blatant violation of his right to free speech under international law,” Human Rights Watch said of Abdelmoumni.
TUNISIA
’We were all raped’: Tunisian security forces accused of abusing migrating women
Rape, violence, kidnapping and extreme precariousness: these are the abuses people in transit in Tunisia to reach Europe are subject to amid increasingly difficult living conditions in the North African country. In its October report “Torture Roads, mapping of violations suffered by people on the move in Tunisia”, the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) noted “the emergence of a series of alarming new practices.” “The period November 2023-April 2024 saw a worrying increase in cases of sexual violence suffered by people on the move in Tunisia, committed with complicity of agents of the Tunisian security forces, or directly induced by the policy of forced displacement and deportation of vulnerable people,” the report stated.
WESTERN SAHARA
UN extends mandate for UN peacekeepers in Western Sahara
The U.N. Security Council voted to extend the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping force in the Western Sahara for another year Thursday with Algeria refusing to vote in protest at the resolution’s failure to include a reference to monitoring human rights in the disputed north African territory. The vote was 12 countries in favor, Russia and Mozambique abstaining, and Al geria, which supports the Polisario Front, one of the parties to the nearly 50-year dispute, not voting. Morocco annexed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony in 1975, sparking a conflict with the Algerian-backed pro-independence Polisario Front. The region is believed to have considerable offshore oil deposits and mineral resources and is slightly larger than the United Kingdom. The U.N. brokered a 1991 cease-fire and established a peacekeeping mission to monitor the truce and help prepare a referendum on the territory’s future. Disagreements over who is eligible to vote have prevented the referendum from taking place, and Morocco insists it will now only support autonomy for the Western Sahara. Algeria’s U.N. Ambassador Amar Bendjama tried unsuccessfully to get two amendments inserted into the U.S.-drafted resolution, and lashed out at the United States for reportedly not including its requests including for the U.N. mission known as MINURSO to monitor human rights in Western Sahara in the resolution.
CENTRAL AFRICA
CHAD
Gov’t denies killing civilians in air strikes against militants
Chad’s government has “firmly” rejected reports that its army struck civilians in an operation against militants, which local sources told AFP had killed scores of fishermen in neighbouring Nigeria. In response to a Boko Haram attack on a Chadian military base that killed at least 40 last week, Chad’s army on Wednesday launched an airstrike pummelling Tilma island in the Kukawa district on the Nigerian side of Lake Chad. That hit and killed fishermen tending to their catch, fishermen and a militia group said – accusations Chad rejects. “Chad firmly denies recent reports of attacks allegedly carried out by the Chadian army against civilians, in particular fishermen in the Lake Chad region,” government spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah said in a statement. “The operations carried out so far have targeted well-identified groups,” he said. The government spokesman insisted Chad’s army operations were “organised and disciplined, and scrupulously careful never to target civilians” But speaking on condition of anonymity, a Chadian general staff officer confirmed the strikes and raised the possibility the army made a mistake. Babakura Kolo, a militia leader in Nigeria, echoed those concerns. Fisherman Sallau Arzika, who escaped the airstrike and made it back to the garrison town of Monguno, also said “the fighter jet encircled Tilma before beginning to drop bombs while people ran in all directions for cover”. Chad’s government denounced the accusations as “false allegations” designed to “sow confusion and destabilise public opinion”.
AFRICA-GENERAL NEWS
The Harris vs Trump Election Impact On Africa
What US election results could mean for Africa
Whoever U.S. voters choose as their next president — former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris — the election has global implications, with the probability it will affect other economies, foreign conflicts and personal freedoms, analysts report. South African independent political analyst Asanda Ngoasheng said “I hope that as Americans vote, they’re aware that whatever decision they make, it’s going to determine the future of not only America but the rest of the world…“The abortion issue is a particularly divisive topic for U.S. Republicans and Democrats. While the United States is the largest funder of global reproductive health programs, Trump slashed that funding during his presidency by extending a policy that barred U.S. aid from going to any organization that supported abortion. Trade is another key area in which analysts think Harris and Trump would differ, given Trump’s “America first” policy. African governments hope that next year the U.S. will renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act, a Clinton-era policy that gives countries duty-free access to the U.S. market. Other analysts said they believe general U.S. policy toward Africa won’t differ radically regardless of who wins. They said that while Africa was often neglected in terms of U.S. foreign policy, that has shifted in recent years amid renewed competition with Russia and China on the resource-rich continent. Moscow has strengthened military ties with many African governments, while U.S. troops have been kicked out of Niger and Chad. Beijing, meanwhile, is Africa’s largest trade partner and has been building infrastructure throughout the continent.
America Votes: What it means for Africa
It’s America’s election, but it matters for the whole world. Africa has been neglected by recent administrations; the last presidential visit was in 2015, though Biden is due to visit Angola in December. How will the next president handle this large and diverse continent? Will trade and infrastructure be prioritized, or will African nations merely be a pawn in Chinese-American competition? As part of a special election series, “America Votes: What It Means for the World,” Ravi Agrawal is joined by two Africa experts: Martin Kimani, a former Kenyan ambassador to the United Nations, and Zainab Usman, the director of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Africa Program.
Report: An election of global consequence
The Global Impact of the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election: A Report of the CSIS Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department
OpEd: Africa needs a true, progressive partner in the White House
OpEd: US ‘bonfire’ elections an opportunity for African development
The message is that, no matter who wins, we could be witnessing the blowing up of the facade of Western democracy. A Trump administration will be brazen and open in its view that the world needs the US but not the other way around. If there is a Harris victory, her administration might not be as openly belligerent as Trump’s but it could prove to be as damaging. Whatever the outcome of the elections in the US, the rest of the world can just hopes a good showing by 3rd-party candidate Stein.
In Lebanon, the war plunges vulnerable migrants into terror
Migrants from the Philippines, Sri Lanka, South Sudan and Sierra Leone have been forced to flee their homes in exposed areas or abandoned by their employers. They have few options for finding shelter or leaving Lebanon. Children’s cries echoed from the floors above St. Joseph’s Church in Beirut’s Achrafieh neighborhood. In one room, mattresses were set out on the floor. The building, which belongs to the Jesuits, has become a refuge for migrants trapped by the Israeli offensive launched on Lebanon on September 23, following a year of low-intensity warfare on the border between Hezbollah and the Israeli army. Some 160,000 migrants, 65% of them women, were counted in Lebanon in 2023 by the United Nations International Organization for Migration. They lived either in the homes of their employers, in a system of dependency known as kafala, or on their own in poor neighborhoods, often having lost their legal status. The heavily shelled suburbs of Beirut’s southern suburbs – a vast residential area and Hezbollah stronghold – provided inexpensive housing before the war. Some of these foreign workers have been forced to flee their homes in exposed areas or have been abandoned by their employers.
Türkiye reaffirms its commitment to strengthening partnerships with Africa
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has reiterated his country’s commitment to fostering robust partnership with African nations. He was speaking at the third Türkiye-Africa Partnership Ministerial Review Conference in the East African country of Djibouti on Sunday. He acknowledged Africa’s youthful population, vast resources, and burgeoning markets, which he noted are positioning the continent for a “greater role” in the 21st century. However, he also highlighted the complex challenges Africa faces, including “terrorism, inequality, adverse effects of climate change, under development and irregular migration.” Fidan emphasised Ankara’s dedication to “African solutions to African problems,” affirming Türkiye’s alignment with the union’s principles and Agenda 2063, which aims for comprehensive development across the continent. Addressing security concerns, Fidan emphasised Türkiye’s support for African nations in combating terrorism and stabilising regions affected by conflicts.
Young African voters sour on the parties that ushered in liberation
The resounding defeat this past week of the only political party that has governed Botswana since it gained independence 58 years ago sent tremors across the African continent. A spirited young population has over the past year disrupted old-guard liberation parties that had been relying on their credentials from the days of fighting colonialism to stay in power. Many young Africans say they care less about how much a politician suffered fighting colonizers, and more about whether those politicians are stealing public money, providing jobs and respecting basic freedoms, like free speech…the African National Congress, which had governed since apartheid fell and democracy took hold in 1994, plummeted below 50 percent in national elections for the first time. The Botswana Democratic Party, which had governed the southern African nation since it gained independence from Britain in 1966, went from winning two-thirds of the seats in Parliament five years ago to coming in last among the four parties that competed in Wednesday’s elections. These trends give Namibia’s governing party, the South West Africa People’s Organization, reason to worry. The former liberation movement, better known as SWAPO, faces an election in late November…
Is Africa better off without the IMF?
For decades, African countries have placed their hopes of economic recovery in the International Monetary Fund (IMF). But there has been little progress. So, is the continent better off without the IMF? Are there any other alternatives to helping African countries strengthen their economies without debts?
UNITED NATIONS
One journalist killed every four days in 2022-23, most cases unpunished
The killing of journalists worldwide surged in 2022-23 compared with the previous two years, with a majority of cases unsolved, the United Nations has said. On average, one journalist was killed every four days, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said in a report released on Saturday. At 162 deaths, the number of journalists killed while working leaped 38 percent, the report found, calling the increase “alarming”. The largest number of killings was in Latin America and the Caribbean, at 61 over the two years, while the least deadly global region for journalists was North America and Western Europe with six killings. For the first time since 2017, a majority of journalists were killed in conflict zones in 2023, with 44 deaths accounting for 59 percent of the year’s total – a shift from a years-long decline in conflict-related fatalities. During the 2022-23 period, local journalists m ade up 86 percent of those killed while covering conflicts, the report said.In 2023, Palestine recorded the highest number of cases, with 24 journalists dying in the line of work. While the report does not include deaths in 2024, since October last year the number of journalists killed in Gaza, Israel and Lebanon has jumped to more than 135, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Journalists have faced unprecedented danger while covering Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
THIS WEEK AHEAD
Nov. 4 — South African commercial property group Redefine Properties will report annual results for the year ended Aug. 31, 2024.
Nov. 4 -6 — Africa Energy Expo will take place in Kigali, Rwanda.
Nov. 4-6 — The Africa Venture Philanthropy Alliance conference will take place in Nairobi with over 350 social investors collaborating to increase the flow of impact capital in Africa.
Nov. 4-8 — The African Energy Week will bring together oil ministers and company executives to Cape Town.
Nov. 7 — Kenya’s largest telecom Safaricom will release its half-year financial results.
Nov. 8 — Nigeria’s Federal High Court in Abuja will begin a trial for 10 protesters who face charges of treason and conspiring to incite the military to mutiny in early August.
Nov. 10 — Mauritius will hold its 12th general election since independence, with just over a million registered voters expected to cast votes. Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth is hoping to secure a parliamentary majority and get another five years in office. The nation’s communications regulator on Friday ordered all internet service providers to suspend access to social media platforms until Nov. 11, a day after the elections.
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