News That Matters To Africa©️
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“War does not determine who is right, only who is left.”
HIGHLIGHTS
Mauritius poll clouded by phone-tapping scandal
New insurgent group kills 15 in northwest Nigeria
Mozambique’s post-election upheaval continues
Algeria denies having imposed sanctions on France
Thousands of Chadian livestock drown
Impact of Trump election win in Africa.
TOP NEWS
Eastern Africa
Comoros police arrest suspect over capsized migrant boat
US ‘gravely concerned’ by ceasefire violations in DR Congo
DR Congo opposition, civil society dig in as Tshisekedi plots constitution change
Video: Dozens in Kenya killed, abducted since protests
Mauritius votes in poll clouded by phone-tapping scandal
Is Mauritius’ Agalega island a confidential spy station?
Rwanda delivers humanitarian aid for Gaza
Somalia insists Ethiopia not be part of new AU mission
US cancels $1.1 billion Somalia debt
Somaliland polls: Voters to chooses president on Wednesday
OpEd: Strategic policy; why USA should recognise Somaliland
OpEd: America’s “One Somalia” Policy is a Gift to China
Nearly 380,000 people displaced by South Sudan floods
Dozens die of mysterious illness in besieged Sudan town
UN sanctions 2 generals from Sudan’s paramilitary force for key roles in war against the military
Sudan envoy: UAE fuelling conflict in Sudan
West Africa
Massive sex tape leak could be a ploy for power
Ghana raises cocoa farmgate price again
Nigeria rights body finds ‘no evidence’ military conducted secret mass abortions
New insurgent group kills 15 in northwest Nigeria, residents say
Southern Africa
Botswana swears in Duma Boko as new president
Botswana to legalise undocumented Zimbabweans – president
Three killed, 66 injured in Mozambique Opposition protest
South Africa partially reopens border after Mozambique vote sparks concern
Gas may dash Big Oil’s Namibian dreams
South Africa’s EFF rocked by high-profile defections
UN should be reformed, ‘especially the Security Council,’ says former South African FM
North Africa
Algeria denies having imposed sanctions on France
Algeria’s female gold medalist files legal complaint against French media
Egyptian political prisoner dies of medical negligence
Doctor given life sentence in Egypt faces deportation from Morocco
Libya reinstates morality police
Morocco: What do limitations on preaching about Gaza war reveal?
Central Africa
Chad: Tens of thousands of livestock drowned in floods
Chad hosts over 680,000 Sudanese refugees
AFRICA-GENERAL NEWS
EASTERN AFRICA
COMOROS
Comoros police arrest suspect over capsized migrant boat
Authorities in Comoros have arrested a suspected people-smuggler in connection with an incident in which traffickers deliberately capsized a boat last week, killing at least 25 people on board, the coastguard said on Friday. The boat overturned in the night of Oct. 30, during the 70 km (43 mile) journey from the Comorian island of Anjouan to Mayotte, a French overseas department in the Indian Ocean, said Fahmy Husny El-nassib, the head of the Comorian coastguard. It was not immediately clear why the traffickers had capsized the boat, though El-nassib said the vessel had suffered engine trouble. “The prosecutor of Mutsamudu (the largest city on Anjouan) informed me yesterday that one of the smugglers had indeed been arrested,” said El-nassib. A security source said the arrested man was thought to be the head of a smuggler network and the owner of the boat. The United Nations’ migration agency previously reported that the incident had occurred on the night of Nov. 1. In the last few decades thousands of people have attempted to make the crossing to Mayotte, which has a higher standard of living and access to the French welfare system.
DR CONGO
US ‘gravely concerned’ by ceasefire violations
The United States is “gravely concerned” by ceasefire violations in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo by M23 rebels, the State Department said. “M23 must immediately cease hostilities and withdraw from its positions in Walikale territory, North Kivu Province,” department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement, reiterating a call for Rwanda to immediately withdraw all Rwanda Defense Force personnel and equipment from Congo, including its surface-to-air missile systems. The Tutsi-led M23 group has been waging a renewed insurgency in the central African country’s east since 2022. Congo and the United Nations accuse neighbouring Rwanda of backing the group with its own troops and weapons. Rwanda denies this.
Opposition, civil society dig in as Tshisekedi plots constitution change
Congolese political and civil society leaders Saturday announced an alliance to rally against constitutional changes they are meant to ensure President Felix Tshisekedi keeps power indefinitely. Named ‘National Awakening’, the coalition will hold its first meeting in mid-December to pay tribute to the 2005 referendum which gave birth to the 2006 constitution. They called attempts by Tshisekedi’s ruling coalition to change the constitution ‘high treason’. Tshisekedi has called the current text outdated and ripe for reform. The law limits presidential mandates to two. Members of Tshisekedi’s party say that the current constitution was written from a position of weakness because the country was embroiled in a war.
KENYA
Dozens killed, abducted since protests
MAURITIUS
Nation votes in poll clouded by phone-tapping scandal
Mauritius was voting Sunday in a close-fought parliamentary election, with police at polling stations as the opposition warned of the risk of fraud in one of Africa’s most stable and prosperous democracies. But Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth’s hopes of an easy re-election were dealt a blow when secretly recorded phone calls of politicians, diplomats and journalists began to be leaked online last month. In response to the wire-tapping scandal, the authorities announced a social media ban until after the election, before making an embarrassing climbdown in the face of opposition and media outrage. The move nevertheless added to concerns that Mauritius’ much-vaunted democracy and civil liberties were being gradually eroded. The battle for control of the 70-seat National Assembly is between two main blocs — Jugnauth’s Militant Socialist Movement and its allies, which currently enjoy a majority, and the Alliance of Change led by former prime minister Navin Ramgoolam. Just over one million people registered to vote in the country’s 12th election since independence from Britain in 1968. A total of 891 candidates are bidding for 62 seats, with the remaining eight allocated under what is dubbed the “best loser” system. Leadership of the island nation has rotated between just three families since independence. Jugnauth, 62, inherited the premiership from his father when he died in 2017, before his alliance won at the 2019 election, securing 42 seats. Ramgoolam, 77, is also the son of the country’s first leader. ‘
Is Agalega island a confidential spy station?
Until recently, just 350 people lived on Agalega, fishing and growing coconuts. But in 2015, Mauritius signed a deal enabling India to build a vast 3,000m runway and a big new jetty there, as part of the two countries’ deepening collaboration on maritime security. However some Agalegans fear this could grow into a fully-fledged military presence. Agalega – two small islands covering 25 sq km, in the south-west Indian Ocean – would be an ideal location for India to monitor marine traffic. And a comparison of satellite images from 2019 with others taken in July this year shows how much has changed. A carpet of palm trees has made way for the runway, which stretches along the spine of the north island. Two 60m-wide buildings can be seen sitting on a tarmac apron, at least one of which could be a hangar to accommodate the Indian navy’s P-8I aircraft, modified to hunt and potentially attack submarines, and to monitor maritime communications. It’s no secret, though, that India and its Western allies are concerned about China’s increasing presence in the Indian Ocean…construction work on Agalega has troubled some islanders. A number of areas, including some of the island’s palm-fringed white-sand beaches, have already been cordoned off, islanders say. A number of Agalega’s residents are from families scarred by eviction from the Chagos Islands, 2,000km to the east, after the UK government declared them in 1965 to be British territory and granted the US permission to build a communications station on the largest island, Diego Garcia. This gradually became a fully-fledged military base. Mauritius denies suggestions that Agalega hosts a military base, saying that the national police are still in full control, but…acknowledges that India will assist in the “maintenance and operation” of the new facilities, which were built at Indian expense.
RWANDA
Kigali delivers humanitarian aid for Gaza
Rwanda, on Thursday, delivered a shipment of humanitarian assistance destined for war-torn Gaza, the government announced, Anadolu Agency reports. The aid items including foodstuff, medicines and medical consumables were delivered in partnership with Jordan, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry. “The donation in support of ongoing international relief efforts was received by the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation in Amman, and consists of 19 tons of food, including fortified for children, medicines and medical consumables,” it said. The statement added that Rwanda supports an end to the conflict and protection of the lives of civilians. Israel has carried out a devastating offensive on Gaza since a Hamas attack on 7 October, 2023, killing more than 43,000 people and rendering the enclave almost uninhabitable. Food and other aid are severely limited.’
SOMALIA
Somalia insists Ethiopia not be part of new AU mission 8
A senior Somali official insisted Saturday that Ethiopia will not participate in a new African Union peacekeeping mission starting in January. The two nations remain deadlocked over a Memorandum of Understanding that Ethiopia signed with the breakaway region, Somaliland, earlier this year. “I can say that Ethiopia is the only government we know of so far that will not participate in the new AU mission because it has violated our sovereignty and national unity,” Somalia Defense Minister Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur said Saturday in a government-run television interview. For 17 years, the African Union mission helped Somalia combat al-Shabab, a violent extremist organization that threatened to overthrow the government and impose a strict interpretation of Islamic law. The nation is preparing for a third peace support operation, set to begin January 1, 2025, when a new mission, the African Union Support Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), replaces ATMIS. According to a United Nations report in August, ATMIS has been drawing down troops from about 20,000 to less than 13,000. The new mission is expected to number at least 12,000. AUSSOM is scheduled to operate until the end of 2028. It is not the first time Somalia has rejected the involvement of Ethiopian troops in a peacekeeping mission in the country. Analysts say Somalia’s repeated demands that Ethiopia withdraw from the MoU have fallen on deaf ears, which further alienates Somalia.
US cancels $1.1 billion Somalia debt
Somalia has announced that more than $1.1bn (£860m) of outstanding loans will be cancelled by the US, a sum representing about a quarter of the country’s remaining debt. The announcement is the latest in a series of agreements in which Somalia’s creditors have committed to forgiving its debt obligations. Most of Somalia’s debt had built up during the era of Siad Barre’s military dictatorship, which collapsed in the early 1990s and triggered a ruinous three-decade civil war. Somalia’s president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, said the country had been “suffocating under the huge weight of unsustainable debt” as interest payments that could not be paid accrued “during the painful, prolonged period of state collapse”. The US was Somalia’s largest bilateral lender, holding approximately a fifth of Somalia’s total debt in 2018, prior to the beginning of its debt-relief efforts, according to IMF figures.
SOMALILAND
Polls: Voters to chooses president on Wednesday
Residents of Somaliland, a break-away region of Somalia, will be going to their presidential and political party election on Wednesday this week to elect their president in a decisive vote which will give a pathway for the country to finally get international recognition as an independent state, 33 years later. It has been touted as a two-horse race, pitting Kulimye Party candidate Muse Bihi against opposition leader Dr Abdulrahman Mohammed’s Wadani Party. Feisal Ali Husein of the Uid Party is also on the ballot. The self-declared independent country holds its fourth presidential election under universal suffrage on November 13. The election will be a step closer to being internationally recognised as an independent state away from the mother country, Somalia, which they broke ranks with over three decades ago. International observers including a delegation from Kenya will be critical in overseeing the manner in which the nascent democracy performs in these polls, as the over 1.2 million voters cast their votes.
OpEd: Strategic policy; why USA should recognise Somaliland
OpEd: America’s “One Somalia” Policy is a Gift to China
SOUTH SUDAN
Nearly 380,000 people displaced by floods, UN says
Flooding in South Sudan has displaced more than 379,000 people, according to a United Nations update that warned about a surge in malaria. Aid agencies have said the world’s youngest country, highly vulnerable to climate change, is in the grip of its worst flooding in decades, mainly in the north. The floods have affected about 1.4 million people, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday, across 43 counties and the disputed Abyei region, which is claimed by both South Sudan and Sudan. The World Bank said last month that the latest floods were “worsening an already critical humanitarian situation marked by severe food insecurity, economic decline, continued conflict, disease outbreaks, and the repercussions of the Sudan conflict”, which has seen several hundred thousand people pour into South Sudan.
SUDAN
Dozens die of mysterious illness in RSF besieged town
At least 73 people have died of mysterious causes in the Sudanese town of al-Hilaliya, besieged by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, the Sudanese Doctors Union said. It is one of dozens of villages that have come under attack in eastern El Gezira state since the defection of a top RSF commander to the army, which prompted revenge attacks that have displaced more than 135,000 people. While high death tolls in other parts of Gezira came as a result of RSF shelling and gunfire, in Hilaliya people have fallen ill with diarrhoea, overwhelming a local hospital according to the union and three people from the area. A network blackout enforced by the RSF has made it difficult to determine the exact cause. Hilaliya is home to the family of defected commander Abuagla Keikal, which locals say may explain the siege of a previously stable trade hub that had housed 50,000 people, including many displaced from other areas.
UN sanctions 2 generals from Sudan’s paramilitary force for key roles in war against the military
The UN Security Council imposed sanctions Friday on two generals – Maj. Gen. Osman Mohamed Hamid Mohamed, head of the Rapid Support Forces’ operations department, and Maj. Gen. Abdel Rahman Juma Barkalla, the RSF commander in West Darfur – for their key roles in the war against the country’s military that has seen ethnically motivated attacks and atrocities. Britain’s U.N. Mission tweeted on X that the two generals were added for threatening the peace, security and stability of Sudan, “including acts of violence and human rights abuses.” The U.N. sanctions order all countries to freeze the asses and impose a travel ban on the generals. The United States Treasury imposed sanctions on both generals earlier in the year, freezing any assets in the U.S. and banning all financial transactions with them.
Sudan envoy: UAE fuelling conflict in Sudan
The Sudanese Ambassador to Tunisia, Ahmed Abdel Wahid, accused the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of “supporting the RSF, which has led to the displacement and forced migration of millions of Sudanese citizens.” He highlighted that “in areas under RSF control, civilians are prohibited from farming, warehouses are looted, and there is a severe shortage of supplies. However, in the areas outside of their control, fortunately, there are no such issues.” The ambassador noted “gruesome violations, including killings, torture and even the rape of women by militias, with some of these crimes documented by the perpetrators themselves.” Sudan, he added, is not experiencing a civil war, but a foreign-backed, politically driven conflict, with the UAE allegedly supporting the RSF and escalating tensions.
WEST AFRICA
EQUATORIAL GUINEA
Massive sex tape leak could be a ploy for power
What the rest of the world sees as a sex tape scandal could in fact be the latest episode in the real-life drama over who will become Equatorial Guinea’s next president. Over the past fortnight, dozens of videos – estimates range from 150 to more than 400 – have been leaked of a senior civil servant having sex in his office and elsewhere with different women. They have flooded social media, shocking and titillating people in the small country and beyond. Many of the women filmed were wives and relatives of people close to the centre of power. It appears some were aware they were being filmed having sex with Baltasar Ebang Mr Engonga, who is also known as “Bello” because of his good looks. All this is hard to verify as Equatorial Guinea is a highly restricted society where a free press does not exist. But one theory is that the leaks were a way to discredit the man at the centre of the storm. Mr Engonga is a nephew of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema and one of those thought to be hoping to replace him. Politics in the country is really about palace intrigue and this is where the scandal involving Mr Engonga fits in…Vice-President Teodoro Obiang Mangue, along with his mother, are suspected to be pushing aside anyone who threatens his path to the presidency, including Gabriel Obiang Lima (another son of President Obiang from a different wife), who was oil minister for 10 years and then moved to a secondary government role. Those in the elite are thought to know things about each other that they would rather was not made public, and videos have been used in the past to humiliate and discredit a political opponent.
GHANA
Cocoa farmgate price raised again
Ghana, the world’s number two cocoa producer, has raised the fixed farmgate price paid to cocoa farmers for the second time this 2024/25 season to help boost farmers’ incomes, President Nana Akufo-Addo said. Akufo-Addo, whose two-term mandate ends on Jan. 7, 2025, said at a farmers’ award ceremony late on Friday that cocoa farmers would now receive 49,600 Ghanaian cedi ($3,062) per metric ton compared with the 48,000 Ghanaian cedi announced when the season opened on Sept. 1. A cocoa marketing board (Cocobod) spokesperson said the increase had been introduced with immediate effect. Reports of a possible price hike led to farmers’ hoarding beans in October, potentially squeezing global supplies. The authorities have been seeking to increase farmers’ incomes and deter smuggling, which led to Ghana losing more than a third of its cocoa output for 2023/24, according to Cocobod officials. This compounded sectoral woes that brought Ghana’s production to a more than two-decade low, helping send global cocoa prices to record highs. Bright Simons, a vice president at Accra-based think tank IMANI Africa, said the motivation for the policies “appears to be strictly about votes in the impending elections”, noting that the price hike was significantly below the cumulative effects of inflation and currency depreciation, muting the potential impact.
NIGERIA
Rights body finds ‘no evidence’ military conducted secret mass abortions
Nigeria’s human rights commission said on Friday an investigation had found “no evidence” that the Nigerian military deliberately attacked women and children or carried out secret abortions in its fight against an Islamist insurgency in the northeast. The Nigeria Human Rights Commission, which is appointed by the government, had been investigating three Reuters reports published in December 2022 which found the Nigerian military ran a secret, systematic and illegal abortion programme and massacred children in the northeast, where the insurgency has been going on for 15 years. The commission said in a report that it carried out its investigation over an 18-month period and interviewed 199 witnesses, including from the military, former militants, women who had been freed from Boko Haram captivity and local and foreign aid agencies. Not all of them were named…Responding to the report’s conclusions, a Reuters spokesperson said: “We stand by our reporting which fully met our standards for independence, accuracy and impartiality under the Reuters Trust principles
New insurgent group kills 15 in northwest Nigeria, residents say
At least fifteen people were killed and several others wounded when new insurgent group Lakurawas attacked a rural community in Nigeria’s northwest Kebbi state after stealing livestock, residents said. Nigeria has been grappling with a long-running insurgency in its northeast, primarily driven by the Islamist armed group Boko Haram and its offshoot Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Lakurawas emerged after the July 2023 coup in Niger from herding communities along the Nigeria-Niger border who had gradually turned militant. Witnesses said the insurgents arrived on motorbikes in the village of Mera in Kebbi’s Augie local government area on Friday and attempted to seize cattle from the villagers. When residents resisted, gunfire erupted, leaving fifteen dead and forcing others to flee. Two insurgents also died, the witnesses said.A local traditional ruler Samaila Mera said this was the first attack by the group in the area.
SOUTHERN AFRICA
BOTSWANA
Duma Boko sworn-in as new president
Botswana has sworn-in Duma Boko as the country’s new president after his landslide election victory kicked out the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), which had been in power for nearly 60 years. On Friday, Boko, 54, took the oath in front of several thousand people in the national stadium just nine days after his Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) crushed the BDP at the ballot box. “For nearly three score years, our democracy remained unbroken, unproven and untested. On the 30th of October this year, together, we tested this democracy,” Boko said in a speech. “It is with pride, and perhaps even a tinge of relief, that I can proudly say we have passed this test with flying colours,” he said to cheers from the crowd. “Together, we usher in a new political dawn.” Boko’s left-leaning UDC won 36 seats in parliament compared with just four for the conservative BDP, in a stunning reversal for the party that had governed diamond-rich Botswana since its independence from the United Kingdom in 1966. Former President Mokgweetsi Masisi, who conceded defeat two days after the vote as his party’s colossal defeat became clear, was in the audience alongside leaders of other regional countries including Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Although the crowd booed Masisi, the new president praised his predecessor’s “statesmanship”.
New President to legalise undocumented Zimbabweans
Botswana’s new president has told the BBC that he wants undocumented Zimbabweans to be legalised by granting them temporary work and residence permits. “They do jobs that would otherwise not get done,” Duma Boko explained in a podcast before his historic inauguration on Friday. They tend to work doing cheap labour often as domestic workers and farm workers. Botswana hosts the world’s second-largest community of Zimbabweans fleeing their country’s economic woes – and they are often resented, with deportations taking place daily. The decision is not likely to be popular in the diamond-rich southern African nation, but Boko, 54, who has just unseated the ruling party that was in power for 58 years, said it was part of his plans to revive the economy.
MOZAMBIQUE
Three killed, 66 injured in Opposition protest, hospital says
Mozambique’s largest hospital said on Friday that at least three people were killed and 66 injured during clashes between police and protesters the previous day over a disputed election. The fatalities add to at least 18 people killed in earlier protests since the Oct. 9 poll, which the opposition claims was rigged. Some groups have given a higher toll, with Mozambique’s Centre for Democracy and Human Rights reporting 34 deaths overall. Thursday’s protests were the biggest Mozambique has ever seen against Frelimo, the party that has ruled the southern African state since 1975 and was declared winner of last month’s election by a landslide. Civil society groups and international observers said the vote did not meet democratic standards, and the country’s Constitutional Council has requested clarification from the electoral commission on discrepancies in the vote count. Frelimo has not responded to requests for comment.
South Africa partially reopens border after Mozambique vote sparks concern
South Africa’s border authority said on Saturday it had partially reopened its main crossing with neighbour Mozambique, where last month’s disputed election sparked protests, raising safety concerns. Opposition supporters in Mozambique have been demonstrating against what they say is a fraudulent win by Frelimo, the party that has ruled the southern African country since 1975. South Africa closed the Lebombo port of entry in its Mpumalanga province earlier this week after receiving reports of vehicles being torched on the Mozambican side…At least 21 people have been killed in Mozambique and scores injured in protests in which demonstrators have burned tyres, blocked roads and marched to Frelimo offices. Authorities have responded with tear gas and live ammunition, human rights groups said, and restricted access to the internet.
UN should be reformed, ‘especially the Security Council,’ says former South African FM
Former South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor told an audience in Leicester on Friday evening that the UN must be reformed, “Especially the Security Council.” Warning critics of the international organisation that they should be careful what they wish for when calling for its abolition, the former minister said that the UN needs to be reformed. “Particularly the Security Council with its undemocratic veto power for the five ‘permanent’ members,” explained Dr Pandor. “And debate about reform is not about Europe, and more power for Europe. Others need to be involved.” She pointed out that the Global South must be connected to the Global North in order for the UN to be truly representative. “Moreover, the UN has peace monitoring, but it lacks the means for peace enforcement.” The veto power sees to that. “Nevertheless, change is always gradual, has to be managed and has to be thought through.” In a wide-ranging speech, she touched upon the issue of an academic, cultural and sporting boycott of the occupation state, drawing on South Africa’s experience in the struggle against apartheid.
NAMIBIA
Gas may dash Big Oil’s Namibian dreams
International companies and the government of Namibia had high hopes only months ago they could quickly cash in on offshore discoveries and turn the country they saw as the world’s last frontier of untapped oil into a prolific producer. They have since hit a major complication: an unexpectedly high percentage of gas in the fields, meaning they need to install additional infrastructure. That will slow development and may make projects unprofitable, according to executives, politicians and industry sources. “What we are seeing is that all our discoveries have a very high gas-to-oil ratio,” Namibia’s Petroleum Commissioner Maggy Shino told an industry conference last month. Namibian law bans flaring – or burning gas off, releasing CO2 into the atmosphere – meaning companies will have to inject the gas back into the reservoir or process it for consumption, which Shino said was in any case the right thing to do. After initially hoping for first oil by 2026, Namibia’s government is working with operators to agree on a single plan with common infrastructure for the 8.7 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of unexpected gas.
SOUTH AFRICA
EFF is rocked by high-profile defections
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), appears to be on a downward spiral after another high-profile member defected to ex-President Jacob Zuma’s party. Dali Mpofu, an advocate and former EFF chairperson, told local media that after much “soul-searching” he had decided to join uMhkonto weSizwe (MK), or Spear of the Nation. Led by the firebrand Julius Malema, the EFF had strong support among South Africa’s burgeoning young population frustrated with the slow pace of political and economic reforms since the end of the racist system of apartheid in 1994. But the EFF suffered a major setback in the May general election when, instead of achieving its goal of rising from the country’s third biggest party to second, it dropped to fourth, losing support to MK. The two parties share similar economic policies – including the expropriation of white-owned land and the state ownership of mines and banks. Mpofu’s defection follows that of Malema’s deputy, Floyd Shivambu, and two lawmakers, Mzwanele Manyi and Busisiwe Mkhwebane. Responding to Mpodu’s defection on an EFF podcast, Malema said it did not come as a shock.
NORTH AFRICA
ALGERIA
Algeria denies having imposed sanctions on France
The Algerian banking association announced retaliatory measures against Paris following France’s diplomatic shift towards Morocco. But the government distanced itself from this initiative, describing it as ‘erroneous information.’ The Algerian government denied the existence of any trade sanctions against France in the wake of Paris’s diplomatic U-turn on the question of Western Sahara. “The press office of the prime minister would like to categorically deny this information which is completely erroneous,” read a press release published by the official APS news agency, naming the former French ambassador to Algiers, Xavier Driencourt, as the source of these “misleading allegations.” The retired French diplomat, makes no secret of his criticism of the Algerian regime…On the Algerian side, the reaction to France’s change of heart on this issue initially seemed minimalist. Absorbed by the campaign for the September 7 presidential election that led to the re-election of Abdelmajid Tebboiune, the authorities in Algiers waited until the pressures of the election had eased before deciding on their response. They were also keen to observe how Macron’s state visit to Morocco might unfold. The lavish staging of French-Moroccan reconciliation, in particular the standing ovation received by the French president at the parliament in Rabat, did not please them. Algeria’s denial of the adoption of trade sanctions against Paris reveals clear unease among its authorities. There is no question that there was a meeting on Tuesday at the headquarters of the Professional Association of Banks and Financial Establishments (ABEF) in Algiers, during which informal instructions were given to the heads of Algerian public and private foreign banks.
Imane Khelif files legal complaint against French media
Olympic boxing gold medallist Imane Khelif is now taking legal action over French media reports which surfaced earlier this week, that claim she has XY chromosomes. The 25 year old has already lodged a legal complaint with authorities in France over the online harassment she experienced during the Paris Olympics. The International Olympic committee says it is ‘’saddened’’ by the torrent of abuse Khelif had come up against since her appearance at the Games. In a statement the IOC insisted that ‘‘All the athletes who participated in the boxing tournament at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 complied with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, together with all the applicable medical regulations enacted by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit”.
EGYPT
Egyptian political prisoner dies of medical negligence
Political prisoner Ihab Masoud Juha died this week after more than five years of pre-trial detention, a rights group said. The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) said that Juha, 51, had been subjected to medical negligence that “amounts to murder by omission”. “The EIPR calls on Public Prosecutor Mohamed Shawky to open an urgent investigation into the Prisons Authority’s handling of Juha’s medical file in a way that led to his death,” it said. “Noting that Juha’s case is not an isolated one, EIPR calls on the Public Prosecutor to review the situation of pretrial detainees, immediately release anyone whose detention has exceeded two years, and develop a clear plan with a specific time frame to respond to all health care requests submitted by detainees to either the Public Prosecution or the Prisons Authority.” Two political prisoners have died in Egyptian jails in October, according to the Committee for Justice rights group, which documented 45 other deaths in custory in 2024.
Doctor given life sentence in Egypt faces deportation from Morocco
A Turkish-Egyptian dual citizen who is facing a life sentence in Egypt for his political activity was detained upon arrival in Morocco and is set to be deported. Dr Abdelbaset Abdallah Mohamed al-Imam, 62, was detained and interrogated by Moroccan security officials after landing in Casablanca airport on 3 November, his family told Middle East Eye. After receiving an initial message from him which read “pray for me”, Imam’s family lost contact with him for 14 hours. They then received a minute-long call from him informing them that he was being transferred to a police station in Casablanca to await a court hearing regarding his deportation to Egypt. Imam fled Egypt in 2016, fearing arrest for social media activity concerning his son’s death in the 2013 Rabaa massacre. Imam and his family had received multiple threats from the authorities after the massacre, which Human Rights Watch described as the worst mass killing of civilians in Egypt’s modern history. “He (Imam) previously travelled to Yemen, to Saudi Arabia, he went to Qatar and Jordan…he hasn’t faced any problems before,” the family member said. The family’s names are included on an Egyptian airport watch list but it is not known whether this list has been shared internationally. Imam’s family are concerned that he will likely face torture on arrival in Egypt. Morocco and Egypt signed an agreement on the extradition of convicts in 2014.
LIBYA
Libya reinstates morality police
The Interior minister has announced the reintroduction of the morality police to the streets to enforce what he called “society’s traditions” and restrict women’s freedom of movement. Emad al-Tarabulsi said the patrols would resume next month. They would target people with “strange” haircuts, ensure women wear “modest” clothing and prevent gender mixing in public spaces. He also suggested that women would be barred from travelling within the country without a male guardian, adding that those “seeking personal freedom should go to Europe”. In 2014, the country split between eastern and western factions, each governed by rival administrations. The internationally recognised Government of National Unity (GNU), of which Tarabulsi is a minister, is based in the western city of Tripoli. A rival administration based in Benghazi refuses to recognise GNU Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who was appointed through a UN-backed process in 2021. In May, the GNU’s General Authority of Endowments and Islamic Affairs established what it called the “Guardians of Virtue” to protect Islamic values. Non-Muslims and members of Muslim minority sects have faced persecution from both the state and armed groups in Libya.
MOROCCO
What do limitations on preaching about Gaza war reveal?
Politicians and activists in Morocco are questioning limitations imposed on preachers regarding what they may say about war in the Middle East during sermons. During a meeting at the country’s parliament this week, socialist lawmaker Nabila Mounib bemoaned the way that imams were curtailed in how they can speak about the plight of Palestinians and call for religious struggle to support their cause. “No imam can speak about the Palestinian issue,” Mounib claimed on Tuesday (Nov. 05). Minister of Islamic Affairs Ahmed Toufiq later denied Mounib’s claim that preachers cannot broach the Israel-Hamas war. “Any imam who talks about barbarism and injustice and denounces them is welcome” he said. Yet to some pro-Palestinian activists in Morocco, the limitations are about the tensions between state and society that have simmered since the war began. Morocco has one of the region’s most historically significant Jewish communities and was one of four Arab states to normalize ties with Israel in 2020. But tens of thousands of protesters have regularly taken to the streets of its major cities throughout the 14-month war, protesting Israel’s actions and demanding Morocco cut diplomatic ties.
CENTRAL AFRICA
CHAD
680,000 Sudanese refugees are being hosted
Over 680,000 Sudanese refugees have found safety in Chad, forced to flee the war raging back home. In the last month alone, 60,000 new refugees arrived; the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said this week. The vast majority of the new arrivals are women and children, many reach the border after walking for long distances before entering to neighbouring Chad. However, suffering doesn’t end in Chad. Refugees arrive in a country with limited resources. Chad is facing the greatest refugee influx in its history, according to the United Nations. The country’s weak economy and poor infrastructure is grappling with a mix of conflict, climate crisis, and food insecurity.
Floods: Tens of thousands of livestock drowned
Since the end of July, nearly 2 million people have been reported as disaster victims due to widespread flooding in Chad. This year’s rainy season, running to the end of November, has been particularly fierce, with the UN and local authorities reporting over 570 deaths from torrential rains. Beyond the striking images of capital city N’Djamena submerged in water, there are more subtle damages with longer-lasting consequences on agricultural land. Thousands of hectares have been lost, along with tens of thousands of livestock drowned or dead from illness.
AFRICA-GENERAL NEWS
The Trump Election on Africa
With Trump election win, Africa braces for US aid cuts, uncertainty
As the results of the United States presidential election came in on Wednesday, showing that former President Donald Trump had won, relief took hold more than 11,000 kilometres (7,000 miles) away, in Uganda’s capital Kampala. “The sanctions are gone,” the East African country’s parliamentary speaker, Anitah Among, told parliament, hinting at her expectation of improved ties with the US under Trump. The speaker is one of a series of Ugandan officials who have been barred from entering the US in recent years because of allegations of human rights violations against them. But while some African governments that have faced allegations of authoritarianism in recent years might find reason to celebrate, sanctions are not the only thing that might go under Trump, warn analysts: US aid might too. Four days after Trump’s re-election, Africa is grappling with the prospects of what his second term could mean for the continent…many experts believe Trump’s foreign policy will prioritise transactional relationships and shift away from multilateral partnerships, with aid, trade, and climate agreements now uncertain. Trump’s focus, they warn, could be limited to how Africa fits within his broader geopolitical objectives, especially concerning his rivalry with China. Those who fall in line will be favoured, others pressured to conform – that, say analysts, was Trump’s track record during his first stint in power, between 2017 and 2021.
Trump’s win: African leaders optimistic of cordial US relations
Several African heads of state have sent their congratulatory messages to US President-elect Donald Trump, who secured victory in the November 5 presidential election. Trump, who served as the 45th president of the US from 2017 to 2021, said in an address in Florida on Wednesday that he “overcame obstacles that nobody thought” he would. Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud termed Trump’s victory “historic”, and Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu said Trump’s presidency would enable the two nations to “foster economic cooperation, promote peace, and address global challenges that affect our citizens.” President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) said in a statement on X that he was “ready to collaborate with the newly elected American president…Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema said that Trump’s “historic achievement demonstrates the people’s freedom to choose their leaders”, and Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa said: “The world needs more leaders who speak for the people. Zimbabwe stands ready to work with you…South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said his country was looking forward to “continuing the close and mutually beneficial partnership” with the US.
Donald Trump and Sudan: What to expect from the returning US president
While Joe Biden came into office promising not just to repair US relations with Africa following Trump’s first term, but to deepen them, he has not set foot on the continent as president. He has barely mentioned Sudan in public and had not engaged with it diplomatically, focusing instead on his country’s support for Ukraine and Israel…In February, responding to pressure from civil society, the US appointed a special envoy for Sudan, Tom Perriello. Described as energetic and engaged, Perriello is this week on another tour taking in Egypt, Kenya and Uganda. But he has not been to Sudan, where the war is taking place. While Trump’s return to the White House is momentous, some analysts argue that for US policy in Sudan and the Middle East it may not change very much in the immediate term…“I think Sudan is going to be an addendum in a Trump administration to his wider Middle East and Gulf policy,” Cameron Hudson, a former State Department official said. “Sudan is going to be seen as a bargaining chip that can be offered to exchange for something else… The resolution of the war in Sudan under Trump will be the byproduct of a much larger deal.” “He’s going to look at the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt and say: resolve this,” Hudson added. The question will then be how those three powers proceed. While the UAE’s support for the RSF in Sudan is well known, Saudi Arabia’s more discreet preference for the Sudanese army, a force it comprehends and can deal with, is less widely talked about.
South Africa concerned Trump election will impact climate talks
South Africa is concerned by the impact Donald Trump’s election as the next president of the United States may have on talks to tackle climate change, its environment minister said on Friday. Trump’s election and the collapse of Germany’s coalition government this week have come right before COP29 talks aimed at curbing global warming, which scientists blame for destructive hurricanes, floods and heatwaves across the world this year. “We are concerned about America because we don’t know what they’re going to do … how (it) is going to approach COP,” said South African Environment Minister Dion George. “Mr. Trump said that he would withdraw from the Paris Agreement, but we don’t know what will happen,” George added in a telephone interview. International partners are concerned that the prospect of an administration led by Trump, who has called climate change a hoax, will de-motivate poor and middle-income countries who want rich nations to shoulder more of its financial burden.
Trump’s world order: election win brings fears of a combustible US foreign policy
The sheer unpredictability of Trump’s caprice, and his faith in his quixotic charisma, made it hard for diplomats to operate (during his first term). It would often taken feverish consultations with Trump’s senior aides, including some in the Pentagon, before a plan – such as a premature withdrawal of 2,500 US troops from Afghanistan – could be finessed. Now, for all the pro-forma congratulations, that sense of foreboding is back. Although only 4% of the American electorate said foreign policy was the most important issue to them in the election, for those watching from abroad it was the all-consuming preoccupation. That is hardly surprising, as Trump represents an injection of highly combustible material into an already explosive world. Two wars are raging, one now including North Korean troops fighting alongside Russia, and the other still capable of pitting Iran against Israel. And a third with China is looming. In the eyes of Republican foreign policy thinkers, that is at least two wars too many.
Trade, aid, security: What does Trump’s win mean for Africa?
As it became clear that Donald Trump had landed the US presidency for the second time, leaders from across Africa began tweeting their congratulations.
“Zimbabwe stands ready to work with you”, wrote Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, eyeing a diplomatic reset, while Nigeria’s Bola Tinubu expressed hope that Trump’s second term would bring “reciprocal economic and development partnerships between Africa and the United States”. But will Trump 2.0 be good for the continent? During his first stint in the White House critics accused him of dismissing Africa, having cut some funding, curbed immigration and reportedly referred to some of its nations as “shithole countries”…In 2023, the US said it had invested more than $22bn since Biden came to power. But there are concerns Trump might roll back on this investment and trade. The soon-to-be president has more of a protectionist, insular outlook than Biden – one of the slogans for his first term was “America First”. The African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), which has enabled eligible African countries to export some of their produce to the US without paying taxes since 2000, is a key source of concern.
Trump win could jeopardise AGOA renewal, putting Africa at a crossroads
A potential victory for former U.S. President Donald Trump in this election could leave African countries at a critical moment, as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is set to expire next year. Renewal of the US-Africa trade pact, which allows duty-free, quota-free access for African exports to the US, may face significant hurdles under a Trump administration, given his previous demands for increased market access for U.S goods. Trump, who has emphasised “reciprocity” in trade, has signaled that African countries would need to open their markets to more American goods in return for continued benefits under AGOA, a move that could flood the continent with cheap American goods. This stance could disrupt the longstanding trade preferences, putting African nations in a precarious position as they seek to protect domestic industries while benefiting from AGOA’s provisions…The stakes are high for nations relying on AGOA to drive exports, with nearly 39 African countries currently eligible for the pact’s benefits. If Trump secures a second term, the future of AGOA could hang in the balance, potentially affecting Africa’s access to its most lucrative export market.
How Trump’s win could reshape U.S.-Africa relations
Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has cast uncertainty over trade negotiations between Kenya and the United States revived under President Joe Biden. In 2021, the Biden administration established a strategic trade and investment partnership with Kenya, but it is unclear whether Trump will continue with the framework set by the Biden administration or cancel it altogether. In addition, the president-elect declared immigration would be one of his top priorities as he campaigned, pledging to bring “unprecedented order” to the southern border and deport millions of undocumented immigrants on day one of his administration. In a Daily Maverick webinar, a panel of experts examined what happened, why it happened, and what it might mean for the U.S., South Africa, and the world in the wake of Trump’s re-election. Xolela Mangcu, a sociology professor at George Washington University, said Trump’s election victory offers African countries, particularly South Africa, a chance and an incentive to adjust diplomatic and economic strategies to navigate the changing American foreign policy landscape. The Guardian’s Washington bureau chief, David Smith, said more effort would be devoted to oil exploration and production, which would have disastrous implications for the global environment.
What Donald Trump’s victory means for the African continent?
When America sneezes, the world catches a cold. What kind of relationship should we expect with Africa with the return of Donald Trump to power, who never really shown any interest for the continent? Zainab Usman, from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace tells us more…
Analysis: What Trump’s win means for Africa’s trade and investment
Vaccine doses allocated for 9 African countries hardest hit by mpox
An initial 899,000 vaccine doses have been allocated for 9 countries across Africa that have been hit hard by the current mpox surge, the WHO and other health organisations said on Wednesday. The WHO declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years in August after a new variant of the virus, called clade Ib, spread from the Democratic Republic of Congo to neighbouring countries. The global health agency said on Wednesday the newly allocated vaccines will go to the Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda. The largest number of doses – 85% of the allocated vaccines – will go to the Democratic Republic of Congo as the most affected country, the WHO said.
UK blacklists mercenary groups in Africa in latest sanctions against Russia
The United Kingdom has announced 56 new sanctions against Russia, targeting African mercenary groups backed by Moscow and people involved in the Ukraine war and a nerve agent attack on British soil. Entities based in China, Turkey and Central Asia were targeted for the alleged supply and production of goods such as machine tools, microelectronics and components for drones. 3 private mercenary groups, including the Wagner Group’s successor Africa Corps and “11 individuals associated with Russian proxies” were sanctioned as well. The UK noted it has now become the first Group of Seven (G7) country to directly sanction Africa Corps, which it said is “responsible for threatening stability and security across Africa”.
Putin offers African countries Russia’s ‘total support’
Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered what he called “total support” for Africa, including in the struggle against terrorism and extremism. The speech was read out at a summit in the Black Sea resort of Sochi by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to his African counterparts. Several African governments have cut ties with traditional Western allies and are looking to Moscow for help in tackling frequent attacks by jihadists. Russia’s help, often in exchange for access to raw materials, also comes with a promise that there will be no meddling in a country’s internal affairs or lessons on how to run an election…And Lavrov said Russia’s relations with Africa were strengthening “more and more” with progress “on all axes”. Putin’s speech underlined this point. “I would like to reiterate that our country will continue to provide total support to our African friends in different sectors: ensuring sustainable development, the struggle against terrorism and extremism, combating epidemics, food problems and the consequences of natural disasters,” it said. Rwanda, whose Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe was also in Sochi, is one of several African countries which have already signed deals with Moscow to get help building a nuclear power plant. He announced that hundreds of Rwandan students had graduated from Russian universities, including “those who specialise in nuclear science”.
Ilham Aliyev, the autocrat who wants to kick France out of Africa
When it was confirmed that Beninese activist Kemi Seba had been arrested in Paris on 14 October, the Baku Initiative Group (BIG) in Azerbaijan was among the first to react, saying: “We consider this arrest to be a manifestation of the neo-colonial policy that France has been pursuing in Africa for many years.”…The BIG is the brainchild of the all-powerful Ilham Aliyev, the 62-year-old authoritarian who has been president of Azerbaijan for 20 years. From 2019 to 2024, he was also secretary-general of the Non-Aligned Movement, the forum of 120 countries not formally aligned with any major power bloc, before handing it over to Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni. With COP29 shortly to be held in Baku, from 11 to 22 November, Azerbaijan’s support for Seba, via the BIG, is casting a harsh light on the tensions between Baku and Paris – and on the development of an Azeri-African policy. On 3 October, just before he visited France, Seba was invited to Baku at BIG’s expense to headline a conference on “French neo-colonial policy in Africa”. Before an audience of Azeri officials and a handful of African sovereignty activists, he described Azerbaijan as a “sincere” ally in his fight against “Emmanuel Macron and his mother Brigitte [sic]”.
At Cop16 biodiversity summit, Africa demands more action
Most analysts admit that not enough came out of Cop16 – held in Cali, Columbia last month – and hope to see biodiversity issues taken more seriously. Africa is also home to one third of the world’s biodiversity, harbouring eight of the 34 critical biodiversity reserves listed by the NGO Conservation International. But its biodiversity remains in grave danger…[Mamadou Diallo of the International Union for Conservation of Nature] emphasised that Africa had hoped Cop16 would secure stronger protection for 30 percent of its land and seas, but achieving this requires political commitment, especially from northern hemisphere countries that, he argued, prioritise resource extraction over equitable conservation.
Britain’s foreign secretary says slavery reparations not about cash transfer
Britain’s foreign secretary said Monday that reparations for the U.K.’s role in the slave trade are not about the “transfer of cash” and reiterated his country’s position that leans toward focusing on the future. There have been calls from some of Britain’s former colonies for a reckoning over its role in the transatlantic slave trade, including at the recent 27th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting where leaders called for a “ meaningful, respectful and truthful ” discussion of reparatory justice…Lammy said Britain is pursuing a new approach to relations with African nations that will deliver on “respectful partnerships that listen rather than tell, deliver long-term growth rather than short-term solutions and build a freer, safer, more prosperous continent.”
Analysis: Actionable Items in the Pact for the Future
This piece is the second part to a piece published in Diplomacy Now’s edition on The Pact for the Future. In an earlier essay, we asked whether the emerging pact for the future was an exercise in scattershot diplomacy or contained actionable items. The Pact, as adopted, has elements of hope, scattershot diplomacy, and potentially actionable items. This essay points to some actionable ideas that could be practical.
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