News That Matters To Africa©️
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The end of tyranny can happen in the most unexpected ways and places.”
HIGHLIGHTS
WHO experts in Congo on mystery killer disease
Ghana’s Mahama is back as President
Namibia’s president-elect pledges ‘radical shifts’
Morocco to get ADB’s 650m Euro loan for World Cup
Statue of Wagner’s founder unveiled in Central Africa.
TOP NEWS
Eastern Africa
WHO sends experts to help Congo diagnose mystery disease
DRC: How worried should we be about Disease X?
The civil war in Ethiopia that never really ended
Unexploded ordnance in Tigray continues to pose a serious threat – mostly to children
Interview: Ethiopia and Abiy Ahmed
Kenyan police in Haiti submit resignations over pay delays
Why rebelling public presents tough times for Ruto, Raila
The fight for Nairobi’s ‘Green Space’
Documentary: Outsourcing academia – Kenyans ghostwriting academic work for the Global North
Commentary by JKIA/Adhani Whistleblower
OpEd: Kenya sliding into repression as leaders plot to silence the critics
Kagame: China’s rise beneficial to Global South countries
Rwanda bets on Formula 1, sports deals to boost tourism
Somali migrant boat accident survivors arrive home in Mogadishu
Pirates in Somalia demand ransom for Chinese vessel
High-level Americans to visit Somaliland head of presidential inauguration
Cholera outbreak in South Sudan ‘rapidly escalating’
Hunger watchdog warned of catastrophe in Sudan. Famine struck anyway.
Commentary: The world’s ‘worst crisis’ is in Sudan
Video: Theatre of Violence: The ICC’s landmark trial of a former child soldier
West Africa
Burkina Faso appoints new prime minister
Canary Island’s struggle to cope with migrant deaths, disappearances
Ghana’s former President Mahama wins election
Jubilant Ghanaians celebrate election results
Ghana becomes record fifth African nation to see opposition victory this year
Who is John Mahama, set to return as Ghana’s President
Ghana counts votes amid hopes for better times
Mali Issues Arrest Warrant for Barrick Gold CEO Mark Bristow
Mali court frees 11 who called for calling for military to stand down
How a uranium mine became a pawn in the row between Niger and France
Nigerian Police Implements Key Postings and Disciplinary Measures for Senior Officers
Nigeria’s Senate seeks to criminalise corn exports to tackle hunger
Nigerians pay a premium for super ‘dodgy’ fuel
Netflix denies leaving Nigeria productions
Southern Africa
OpEd: Angola’s path to prosperity lies in its sun and soil, not its oil
Namibia’s president-elect pledges ‘radical shifts’ on poverty and unemployment
Future of Namibia’s red line goes on trial next month
More than 150 people rescued from abandoned gold mine
McKinsey Agrees to Pay $122 Million to Settle South Africa Bribery Case
South Africa to deport killer of anti-apartheid leader Hani to his native Poland
South African research funds ‘at risk’ of losing funding over Gaza stance
North Africa
Egyptian court labels Muslim Brotherhood as ‘terrorist organisation’
Egyptian military agency takes over wheat buying from decades-old supply group
Morocco to get ADB’s 650m Euro loan for 2030 World Cup infrastructure
Central Africa
Statue of Russia’s Wagner founder Prigozhin unveiled in Central Africa
Hundreds of people in Chad protest against the French military presence in the country
EASTERN AFRICA
DR CONGO
WHO sends experts to help Congo diagnose mystery disease
The World Health Organization said on Friday it is deploying experts to support health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo to investigate an as-yet undiagnosed disease linked to multiple deaths in a remote area of the country. The WHO experts are on their way to Panzi, a locality in the southwestern Kwango province, where they will deliver essential medicines and diagnostic kits to help analyse the cause of the illness. Laboratory tests are being conducted to determine the cause, the WHO said, adding that it would share more information as soon as it was available. “Our priority is to provide effective support to the affected families and communities,” said Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’s regional director for Africa. “All efforts are underway to identify the cause of the illness, understand its modes of transmission and ensure appropriate response as swiftly as possible,” she added. Earlier this week, local authorities said an unknown disease had killed 143 people in the region in November. Symptoms of the illness include headache, cough, fever, breathing difficulties and anaemia, according to the WHO.
How worried should we be about Disease X?
They’re calling it Disease X. It’s a mysterious illness circulating in a remote part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Current figures: almost 400 cases and 79 deaths. International health authorities are monitoring. It all started on October 24 when the first patient fell ill with an unidentified sickness. Others soon followed, all in Kwango Province, which is more than 400 miles from the capital Kinshasa. But it wasn’t until more than five weeks later that the national government was notified. No one knows yet how worried to be about Disease X — as it’s been called by Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In fact, “situations like this occur probably several times a year around the world,” says Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, who has been tracking the DRC outbreak.
Most times, an unidentified disease is in fact identified as something that’s known and brought under control locally. However, in all such instances the concern is that the disease will take off and spread around the world, as COVID-19 did. In the DRC, he says, the mortality rate is striking but “it hasn’t appeared to grow exponentially.”
ETHIOPIA
The civil war that never really ended
The Ethiopian civil war would last for two years and lead to accusations of war crimes against both sides. Human Rights Watch and other groups have documented rape and mass summary executions of civilians by the T.P.L.F. The Ethiopian government has been accused of mass rape and extrajudicial killings and detentions in Tigray. But while both sides have been accused of crimes, their atrocities differ in scale. The U.S. State Department has described “ethnic cleansing” in Tigray. Ethiopian and Eritrean troops destroyed fields, crops and grain stores while the government imposed a communications blackout and blocked humanitarian aid. Ninety percent of Tigray’s population faced famine, according to the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator in 2021. As Mark Lowcock, a former U.N. relief coordinator, has said, the Ethiopian government “basically wanted to starve the Tigrayans into submission or out of existence.”…Both sides agreed to stop fighting in 2022. As part of the peace deal, the Tigray Defense Forces were required to surrender their arms and send 270,000 fighters to makeshift rehabilitation camps, which were supposed to help reintegrate them into society. But those forces have said they will not fully disarm until Eritrean forces withdraw. Two years on, Abiy has yet to ask them to leave parts of western Tigray, an indication, perhaps, that he does not trust Tigrayan leadership to keep the peace.
Pictorial: Unexploded ordnance in Tigray continues to pose a serious threat – mostly to children
Two years after the peace agreement was reached, towns in Tigray are brimming with hope for lasting stability and economic renewal. Despite the heavy damage the armed conflict caused to the economy, the streets of cities like Mekelle, Shire and Axum, lined with traditional coffee shops, bristle with traffic and revived commerce. But the scars of violence remain visible in rural areas, where metal carcasses of burned vehicles are slowly rusting away on the roadsides, and unexploded remnants of war continue to kill and maim civilians – mostly children. Some are killed, and others may not reach ICRC facilities. Still others have injuries that ICRC services simply cannot treat. Eighty percent of the victims the project has received are children.
Interview: Ethiopia and Abiy Ahmed
KENYA
Kenyan police in Haiti submit resignations over pay delays
Reuters is reporting that nearly 20 of the roughly 400 Kenyan police officers serving in Haiti on a U.N.-backed anti-gang force have submitted letters of resignation from the mission over the past two months because of pay delays and poor conditions. The officers have received no response to their letters and continue to serve on the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission. The MSS in Haiti, which is led by top Kenyan police officers, said in a statement sent after publication of this article that it “categorically refutes” the assertions by Reuters that MSS officers were considering resigning over payment delays. It said personnel “have received their salaries, including monthly allowances, and no MSS officer has tendered their resignation.” A Reuters spokesperson said that, while the news agency did not seek comment from the MSS before the publication of the story, it stands by the accuracy of its reporting. Kenya’s national police spokesperson did not respond to calls and messages seeking comment about the resignation letters, pay delays and working conditions. National police chief Douglas Kanja addressed reports in Kenyan media of pay delays at a news conference, saying the officers had been paid “up to the end of October”. The three officers disputed this, saying they were last paid in September…The three officers told Reuters that colleagues began to submit letters of resignation in October after trying to resign verbally and being told to put their requests in writing. Three officers submitted resignation letters in October and another 15 or so in November. Among them were at least five senior officers, including a unit commander, who was the first to submit a letter in October, they said. Kenya has deployed about 400 officers since June to lead the MSS, which is meant to comprise around 2,500 personnel from about 10 countries, but the force has been hobbled by funding and staffing shortfalls.
Why rebelling public presents tough times for Ruto, Raila
It is a shift that has tested the foundations of the traditional political establishments and kept the political class at the edge of their seats as a growing wave of discontent, open criticism and hostility from the populace gains root. And as President William Ruto, opposition chief Raila Odinga and their lieutenants mull ways to win back public support and rally Kenyans to their course, the rebellion is growing from several quarters. While the backbone of the pushback against the political class is taking place majorly in social media, its spillage has cascaded to some constituencies where several leaders, especially in the Mt Kenya region, are facing a backlash for backing the Kenya Kwanza administration. To them, even visiting their constituencies has become a tall order since they participated in the impeachment of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. So bad is the rebellion that at the weekend, Kenyans on X rallied in their numbers to push for a trend to weaken Raila’s African Union Commission chairmanship bid in an attempt to dissuade African Heads of State from backing the experienced politician.This week, a seemingly frustrated President lashed out at those he claimed were on a mission to derail all the projects his administration is pursuing. His choice of words, body language and the social media mockery that followed his speech highlight the growing discontent and rebellion against his administration. In an attempt to address the backlash, Ruto equated the wave of dissent to an evil spirit undermining national progress. With the growing discontent, every decision Ruto makes has come under intense scrutiny.
The fight for Nairobi’s ‘Green Space’
A fight is brewing over a plan to lease parts of Nairobi’s largest park to private developers under public-private partnership agreements. Nairobi county government said its plan for Uhuru Park would generate revenue, create jobs, and improve the experience of parkgoers. Environmental groups, elected officials, and residents have voiced opposition to the proposal, arguing that it could set the stage for grabbing of public land and deny city residents access to green spaces. Earlier this year, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja revealed plans for the commercialization of the park, including construction of a night club. “What we’re seeing lately is a desire to make [Uhuru Park] more of a business hub,” said environmental activist Kamau Maina. The Green Belt movement activist group, in a statement, said it “will not watch” as authorities “privatize the only remaining green spaces in Nairobi.”
Documentary: Outsourcing academia – Kenyans ghostwriting academic work for the Global North
Kenya is host to a thriving army – about 40,000 strong – of college graduates who work as academic writers. These “shadow scholars” are commissioned and paid by students in the most prestigious institutions in the western hemisphere to produce essays, papers, scholarly articles and graduate theses on their behalf. Worth around $7-billion, this shadow industry is built on the wide economic gulf that exists between wealthy nations and a developing country like Kenya. “The Shadow Scholars”, by first-time feature director Eloïse King, is a compelling documentary that builds on the work of sociologist and Oxford University scholar Patricia Kingori. Kingori, born in Kenya, is a rising star in academia and one of the world’s leading scholars on contract cheating. As narrator and subject, Kingori provides not just intellectual heft to the project, but also a fair-minded approach that is in lockstep with director King’s vision of shining a light on under-reported stories. There are many ways that this story could have been sensationalised, with clear villains and victims. But “The Shadow Scholars” comes at this respectfully through the people involved, specifically the young Kenyans who labour in the trenches for their more privileged counterparts a world away. For security reasons, the film disguises the identities of these essay writers while trying to break down their motivations. The film also insists on not reducing these Kenyans to the status of victims to be pitied. Kingori’s scholarship is interested in teasing out how power dynamics shape the past, present and future of the global order. In this case, she is appalled by how easily the efforts of these young Kenyans are erased as they go uncredited for their intellectual output – an erasure with loud echoes in history.
Commentary by JKIA/Adhani Whistleblower
“Why is the government not pushing ‘Africa 50’ power deal like they were doing to Adani energy? Last I checked there was also no formal cancellation of the deals both Ketraco and JKIA with Adani so much so that Adani officials are allegedly still roaming around in JKIA. Is it so hard for this government to be transparent and accountable to its people? It’s worth noting that ‘Africa 50’ an infrastructure arm of African development bank in which Kenya contributes to the most was bypassed by Adani energy in the contract to build the much needed additional power transmission grids across the country. MPs were asking how come the contract was not awarded to ‘Africa 50’ first and yet it had cheaper EPC cost by 12.5%, the cost of debt was way cheaper than Adani at 9.5% plus it came before Adani. We want to see the president and his cronies pushing for ‘Africa 50’ to do the whole transmission grid with the same enthusiasm they did Adani.”
Nelson Amenya @amenya_nelson on “X”
OpEd: Kenya sliding into repression as leaders plot to silence the critics
RWANDA
China’s rise beneficial to Global South countries, says Kagame
The rise of China as a global power has a positive impact on its diplomatic and economic relations with countries in the Global South, according to President Paul Kagame speaking at the Doha Forum. “China’s rising is a good thing,” said Kagame. “It’s rising maybe with others. So, how it conducts business is very important. How it relates and cooperates with other countries, most especially African countries, is a good thing.” Kagame noted that China supported many African countries during their struggle for independence from colonialists. “Now, the cooperation presents even more value in terms of trade and investment,” he said, highlighting that Rwanda benefited from China’s trade policies and recent removal of tariffs. The President also said China’s relationship with African countries “doesn’t come with a lot strings attached, like we have had with many other parts of the world.” Speaking about what is often referred to as the Chinese ‘debt-trap diplomacy’, a perception that the Asian giant offers loans to poorer countries to increase its influence on them, Kagame said that that is was based on “prejudice.” “That should not be blamed on China – much as it could take part of the blame for that – but Africans also need to do better in engagement with our partners, in this case China. We could take loans that we will to deploy to projects that are going to give good returns both ways,” he said.
Kigali bets on Formula 1, sports deals to boost tourism
Rwanda is pushing ahead with its bid to be added to the lucrative Formula 1 race calendar as part of a wider drive to double down on sports events as a central plank of its economic growth plan. Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe told Semafor Africa Rwanda is still i n talks with Formula 1 concerning its bid to hostthe sport’s first race in Africa since the 1993 South African Grand Prix. He said Rwandan authorities were working with other countries that already host races to learn from their experiences. “We’re interested — it would be a good thing for the sport itself and Rwanda,” he said. “We have demonstrated the capacity to host big sporting events.” Rwanda will host the cycling world road championships next year. It has also partnered with the NBA’s Basketball Africa League, hosting key games at the BK Arena in the capital, Kigali. Nduhungirehe said the focus on hosting major sporting events helped to drive tourism revenue, which stood at $636 million in 2023 — a 36% increase on the previous year. Rwandan officials said tourism revenue in 2024 already stood at $448 million in September. The East African country has in the last six years signed sponsorship deals with footballing giants Arsenal, PSG, and Bayern Munich to advertise its Visit Rwanda tourism campaign.
Nduhungirehe said the deals had “paid off.” He said that within one year of signing the first of those deals, with London football club Arsenal in 2018, the number of tourists visiting Rwanda rose by 17%. And, he added, the United Kingdom became the second biggest contributor of tourists, up from fifth.
SOMALIA
Migrant boat accident survivors arrive home in Mogadishu
Nearly 50 survivors of a migrant boat tragedy last month that left 25 dead in the Indian Ocean off Madagascar arrived back in Somalia on Saturday and were received by government officials. The survivors aged 17 to 50 wore outfits made of fabric with the Somali national flag colors as they disembarked from a plane in the capital, Mogadishu, visibly relieved to return to safely. Many young Somalis embark every year on dangerous journeys in search of better opportunities abroad. The U.N. agency has previously raised concerns over the rise in irregular migration from Horn of Africa countries as people flee from conflict and drought. The survivors reorted that they were stranded in the ocean for 13 days after their boat’s engines failed. Two vessels carrying the migrants departed Somalia early last month. “We were split into two small boats. The engine broke down, and we drifted at sea for 13 days with no functioning engine. We had no food or water, and the (few) dates we had ran out during those 13 days. We survived by catching some fish,” said one of the survivors. The boats left from a beach near the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on Nov. 2 with 73 people on board and were believed to be headed to the French region of Mayotte, according to Jean-Edmond Randrianantenaina, the head of Madagascar’s Maritime Ports Agency. Mayotte, an archipelago, is around 1,600 kilometers (990 miles) from Mogadishu.
Pirates demand ransom for Chinese vessel
Somali pirates have demanded hefty ransom for a Chinese vessel recently hijacked off the coast of Puntland. Somali pirates who hijacked a Chinese fishing boat have demanded a ransom payment for the vessel and its 18 crew members, police and local officials said on Saturday. It was not immediately clear when the ship was taken hostage by gunmen wielding AK-47 assault rifles but the European Union’s anti-piracy force drew global attention to the incident on Thursday. “The pirates are moving the ship off the coast… they are looking for a safe haven,” Mohamed Dini, a police officer in Eyl, a traditional pirate stronghold on Puntland’s east coast, told the media. The boat was hijacked by men who had been contracted to provide “protection” before later being reinforced by other pirates, Dini said, adding that they had demanded payment for its release. Ali Warsame, a local elder familiar with the case, said a Somali company acting on the boat’s behalf had offered to pay a $300,000 ransom. But the proposal was declined by the pirates. Local fishermen said the boat came close to Eyl on Friday, but the pirates pushed back into the sea out of fear of Puntland’s coast guards. But “they cannot move deeper towards the ocean because they are afraid of the foreign military ships,” said fisherman Abdirahman Said. The incident is the latest episode in a surge of Somali pirate activity after years of lull.
SOMALILAND
High-level Americans to visit Somaliland head of presidential inauguration
U.S. Ambassador to Somalia Richard H. Riley and Major General Brian Cashman, Commander of the Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), are set to arrive in Somaliland in the coming days for high-level talks with President-elect Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi “Cirro.” The delegation, which will also attend Cirro’s inauguration ceremony alongside representatives from the U.S. Embassy and expected congressional staffers, marks an unprecedented level of U.S. diplomatic and military engagement with the Republic of Somaliland. While not confirmed, sources indicate the delegation may also meet with outgoing President Muse Bihi Abdi. The upcoming visit marks a stark departure from previous U.S. engagement. Under Ambassador Riley’s predecessor Larry André, relations with Somaliland were hampered by an almost zealous adherence to the ‘One Somalia’ policy. André, along with Assistant Secretary Molly Phee, were often described by State Department colleagues as ‘more Catholic than the Pope’ in their rigid stance—seemingly prioritizing the ‘One Somalia’ policy over U.S. strategic interests in the region. Their approach appeared to go beyond diplomatic caution into active appeasement of Mogadishu, even when it potentially undermined U.S. security interests in the Horn of Africa…The timing (of the visit) coincides with Somaliland’s inclusion in the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025” roadmap, designed for a potential Republican administration, which explicitly supports Somaliland’s recognition.
SOUTH SUDAN
Cholera outbreak ‘rapidly escalating’, aid group warns
An outbreak of cholera in South Sudan is “rapidly escalating”, a humanitarian group has warned, more than a month after the first suspected case was detected. Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, said on Friday that a total of 737 cholera cases were reported in Malakal, the capital of South Sudan’s Upper Nile state. Cholera is an acute form of diarrhoea that is treatable with antibiotics and hydration, but can kill within hours if left untreated. It is caused by a germ that is typically transmitted through a lack of access to sanitation. People become infected when they swallow food or water carrying the bug. MSF said that its teams had set up a 100-bed cholera treatment centre near Malakal Town Hospital, but “significant gaps remain”, particularly in water and sanitation. As of December 3, South Sudan had reported 1,526 suspected and confirmed cholera cases, MSF said. The UN said last month it had secured more than 280,000 doses of oral cholera vaccine to be rolled out in transmission hotspots, saying the outbreak was driven by limited access to safe drinking water and poor sanitation.
SUDAN
Hunger watchdog warned of catastrophe in Sudan. Famine struck anyway.
A global warning-and-response system is supposed to prevent the kind of catastrophe unfolding at Sudan’s Zamzam camp, where famine threatens the lives of an estimated 500,000 people uprooted by decades of civil war. Vast and intricate, the system binds together several arms of the United Nations, humanitarian groups, rich donor nations and hundreds of technical experts who parse data for signs of starvation. And it sends billions of dollars of aid annually to needy nations. But in Zamzam – and in many other hunger spots around the world – this safety net is failing. At the core of the system is the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) meant to help prevent famine by providing donors and humanitarian organizations unbiased information they need to make strategic decisions about how to deploy aid. The framework is overseen by 19 large humanitarian aid and international organizations, known as global partners. IPC monitors food insecurity in more than 35 countries and publishes periodic evaluations. To produce those reports, the IPC relies on a consortium of non-governmental aid organizations (NGOs), government ministries and technical analysts…The inability to prevent famine in Sudan represents a “collective failure, absolutely” of the political and humanitarian institutions that are supposed to protect people, Jose Lopez, head of the IPC, told media. Four months into the civil war in Sudan, the IPC issued a report that described the many ways conflict was worsening food insecurity across the country. It cautioned that war would make things worse, affecting “all aspects of food security, pushing further numbers of people, especially internally displaced populations, into acute food insecurity.” But as war raged across Sudan, the report contained a perplexing contradiction. It predicted that food security would improve in the months ahead, from Phase 4 to Phase 3. It surmised that the coming millet and sorghum harvest would mitigate food shortages, along with the “opening of roads and markets and supply chains of food and non-food commodities.”…The IPC’s methods for analyzing food security have focused more on weather and economic conditions and have not adequately considered conflict, the leading driver of famine for more than two decades, a review-committee member said…The IPC’s finding of famine in Zamzam in August came late, said Eric Reeves, who heads Team Zamzam, a charity providing aid at the camp. And given the difficulty of consistently getting aid in, the IPC warning “has made absolutely no difference to the lives of the people of Zamzam.”
Commentary: The world’s ‘worst crisis’ is in Sudan
Sudan is coping with the apathy of a failing international system.
UGANDA
Theatre of Violence: The ICC’s landmark trial of a former child soldier
A Ugandan defence lawyer asks whether the International Criminal Court (ICC) is imposing a new form of colonialism. Krispus Ayena is appointed defence lawyer in The Hague to defend the first former child soldier to be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court (ICC). His client, Dominic Ongwen, was nine years old when he became one of at least 20,000 children abducted by rebel leader Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda. He is charged with 70 counts of different war crimes, including torture, rape and murder. But Ayena wants him acquitted, raising vital questions about accountability when someone is both victim and perpetrator, and what justice means when prosecuted in an international court far away from the crime scene.
WEST AFRICA
BURKINA FASO
A new prime minister is appointed
Burkina Faso’s military government has appointed Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo as prime minister of the transition after it fired Apollinaire Joachim Kyelem de Tambela, and dissolved the government on Friday, a statement said on Saturday. Ouedraogo was communication minister and spokesman of the previous government. No reason was given for the dismissal of Tambela, who was appointed interim premier soon after junta leader Ibrahim Traore seized power in September 2022.
CANARY ISLANDS
Inside one island’s struggle to cope with migrant deaths, disappearances
This year, 33 irregular migrants have arrived dead or died shortly after reaching Canary Island’s El Hierro, according to official data. In 2023, the number was 11. In 2022, there was one. The number of migrants arriving from the West African coast in the Spanish archipelago is running at all-time highs. But the rate of migrants going missing or dying on the voyage is growing five times faster, the latest available data shows. Forensic pathologist Modesto Martinez is the only forensic pathologist on El Hierro, which has a population of 11,400 and is a rising destination for migrants at a time when overall irregular arrivals to Europe have declined. As some European countries crack down hard on migration, the pathologist’s predicament underscores the heightened risks being taken by those impelled to try to make a new life for themselves, as well as the dark months endured by their families seeking news of them. So far this year around 20,000 irregular migrants have arrived on El Hierro, according to the Red Cross. That’s about half the total of more than 40,000 who reached the Canary Islands archipelago over the period — itself a new record. Migrant arrivals to the Canaries rose 12% between January and October, according to Spain’s interior ministry. But the number of dead or disappeared was up 61% in the same period to 891, according to estimates by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). It says the route is the second-deadliest in the world and since only partial data is available, its estimates are conservative. The Red Cross believes the majority of deceased migrants never even reach the Canaries, but either drown or their dead bodies are thrown overboard. The surge in migration to the Canaries is one of several factors behind the rising deaths and disappearances, said Andrea Garcia Borja, acting coordinator of the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project. Boats have been coming from further away in West Africa, with smugglers packing in up to 300 people on each craft, she said. In September, only 27 migrants were found alive after a boat said by Spain’s coast guard to carry 84 people capsized. It was the Canaries’ worst shipwreck on record; a local judge is investigating the accident. El Hierro is just one example of the void into which migrants are launched when they board smugglers’ boats.
GHANA
Elections 2024
Ghana’s former President Mahama wins election
Ghana’s former President John Dramani Mahama has staged a political comeback by winning the West African nation’s presidential election after his rival Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia conceded defeat on Sunday. Addressing a press conference from his residence, Bawumia said he had called Mahama to congratulate him, adding that Mahama’s National Democratic Congress (NDC) also won the parliamentary election. Bawumia said he conceded before the official results to ease tensions. Before his concession, scuffles had been reported in several local constituency centres where results were still arriving from polling stations. “I am making this concession speech before the official announcement by the Electoral Commission to avoid further tension and preserve the peace of our country,” Bawumia said. “It is important that the world investor community continues to believe in the peaceful and democratic character of Ghana,” he added. “The people have voted for change at this time, and we respect that decision with all humility.”
Who is John Mahama, set to return as Ghana’s President
John Dramani Mahama is set to return as Ghana’s president after his main rival accepted defeat, even though the electoral authorities are yet to announce the official results. The 65-year-old led Ghana from 2012 to 2017 and is one of the West African country’s most experienced politicians. He has served at all levels of office, as an MP, deputy minister, minister, vice-president and president. Long before it became a career, politics played a significant role in Mahama’s childhood. When Mahama was just seven, his father, a government minister, was jailed during a military coup and later went into exile. Personal trials like this appear in Mahama’s acclaimed writing – he has been published by a number of international news outlets and his memoir, My First Coup D’etat, won praise from two African literary greats, Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Chinua Achebe. When penning his manifesto for this year’s elections, Mahama told voters Ghana “is headed in the wrong direction and needs to be rescued”. But critics argue he may not be the right man for the job, given that his administration was hit by economic problems and a string of corruption scandals…So what kind of leader is Mahama? Franklin Cudjoe, a Ghanaian political commentator and head of the Imani Centre for Policy and Education, said the former president was an “excellent communicator”. While political scientist Dr Clement Sefa-Nyarko described Mahama as a “pragmatist”.
Ghana becomes record fifth African nation to see opposition victory this year
Ghana’s vote brings to an end a remarkable 12 months in African politics, which have seen five transfers of power – more than ever before. This “annus horribilis” for governments has now also brought opposition victories in Botswana, Mauritius, Senegal and the self-declared republic of Somaliland. Even beyond these results, almost every election held in the region this year under reasonably democratic conditions, has seen the governing party lose a significant number of seats. The trend is likely to continue into 2025, and will cause trouble for leaders such as Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera, whose country goes to the polls in September. One of the most striking aspect of the elections that have taken place in 2024 is that many have resulted in landslide defeats for governments that have previously appeared to have a strong grip on power – including in countries that have never before experienced a change at the top. Even in cases where governments have not lost, their reputation and political control have been severely dented. South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) retained power but only after a bruising campaign that saw it fall below 50% of the vote in a national election for the first time since the end of white-minority rule in 1994.
Jubilant Ghanaians celebrate election results
Ghana counts votes amid hopes for better times
Ghana voted in a presidential and parliamentary election on Saturday amid hopes for an economic revival after the worst financial crisis in a generation, which led to a major debt default in the West African nation. President Nana Akufo-Addo is stepping down next month after serving the two terms allowed by the constitution in Ghana, the world’s second-largest cocoa producer and a significant gold miner. Twelve candidates are vying to succeed him, but the race is seen as primarily between Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, chosen successor of Akufo-Addo’s New Patriotic Party (NPP), and former President John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). Opinion polls tipped Mahama, who served as president from 2012 to 2016, for a potential comeback. Mahama, 66, has framed Bawumia as representing a continuation of policies that led to Ghana’s economic woes, and has promised to negotiate terms of a $3 billion IMF bailout secured last year to restructure the country’s debts. The crisis peaked in 2022 when Ghana turned to the IMF. “This is the only election that we can all see the direction of the outcome before we start voting,” Mahama said after casting his vote in Bole, his home town in northern Ghana. “We are hopeful and confident that we’ll win,” he added. Bawumia, a 61-year-old former central banker, also expressed confidence that he would win after he voted in his Walewale constituency in northern Ghana. “By the grace of God, I’m very hopeful of winning this election. I think that we have done a lot of work. We have put our message to the people, I think the message has been well received,” he said.
MALI
Mali Issues Arrest Warrant for Barrick Gold CEO
Mali, one of Africa’s biggest gold producers, has issued an arrest warrant for Barrick Gold Chief Executive Mark Bristow, a warrant document showed, escalating a dispute with the Canadian mining company. The West African country’s military-led government is seeking more income from the sector to bolster state revenues as prices of the precious metal rally and has detained mining executives to put pressure on foreign companies operating there. Four senior local employees of Barrick were briefly detained in September as the government demanded about $500 million in unpaid taxes, and then arrested again last month pending trial. In early November, Bristow responded that Barrick Gold, world’s No. 2 gold miner, was confident of resolving claims and disputes with authorities before the end of the year. He is accused of money laundering and violating financial regulations, the warrant document, first reported by Malian media and dated Dec. 4, showed. Its authenticity was confirmed by two sources close to the matter who asked not to be identified. Barrick said the company “will not be commenting” on the reported arrest warrant, responding to press requests. Barrick’s shares were down 2.9% on the Toronto stock exchange after the news. Bristow, a South African national who shuttles between Britain and the United States, last travelled to Mali in July, according to the company website. Barrick has its headquarters in Toronto.
Another document showed Mali had also issued an arrest warrant for Cheick Abass Coulibaly, general manager at Barrick’s Loulo-Gounkoto mining complex in Mali.
Mali court frees 11 who called for calling for military to stand down
A court in Mali has freed 11 opposition leaders who were arrested in June on charges of plotting against the ruling military junta after calling for a return to civilian rule. Their provisional release on Friday has been seen as an attempt to calm the country’s political climate in the wake of the controversial appointment of Gen. Abdoiulaye Maiga as prime minister. The 11 individuals had been arrested on June 20 during an “illegal” meeting held during a period when all political party activities had been banned. They were charged with plotting against the junta after they signed a declaration in March calling for the military to relinquish power. “The 11 comrades of the March 31st Declaration platform of political parties and associations have been free since yesterday,” former Malian minister Djiguiba Keita, whose opposition Party for National Rebirth (Parena) is a signatory of the declaration, said Friday. Several other prominent political leaders and civil society activists are still in prison in Mali, including Issa Kaou N’Djim, the former VP of the National Transitional Council, the legislative body of Mali’s transition, and the economist Etienne Fakaba Sissoko. Both have been critical of the military regimes of the three countries of the Alliance of Sahel States — Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
NIGER
How a uranium mine became a pawn in the row between Niger and France
In the latest sign of a dramatic deterioration in relations, Niger’s military rulers appear increasingly determined to drive France out of any significant sector in their economy – and particularly uranium mining. This week the French state nuclear company Orano announced that the junta – which deposed France’s ally, President Mohamed Bazoum, in a coup in July 2023 – had taken operational control of its local mining firm, Somaïr. The company’s efforts to resume exports have for months been blocked by the regime and it is being pushed into financial crisis. The crisis facing Orano in Niger represents a significant practical challenge for French energy supply. With 18 nuclear plants, totalling 56 reactors, which generate almost 65% of its electricity. Over the past decade or so, France has imported almost 90,000 tonnes – a fifth of which has come from Niger. Only Kazakhstan – which accounts for 45% of global output – was a more important source of supply. The outlook for Orano’s hopes of restoring normal uranium operations and exports from Niger look dim, given the hostile attitude of the military regime in Niamey. That antipathy is partly explained by Macron’s vocal condemnation of the July 2023 overthrow of Bazoum, its endorsing of the tough stance of Ecowas, and there were even rumours that it might have been ready to provide tacit support had the bloc ever gone ahead with its short-lived threat to intervene militarily in Niger to reinstate Bazoum. The French company’s predominant role in the uranium sector had for years fuelled resentment among many Nigériens, amidst claims that the French company was buying their uranium on the cheap, despite periodic renegotiations of the export deal. Although the mining operations only started years after independence, they were seen as emblematic of France’s ongoing post-colonial influence.
NIGERIA
Nigerian Police Force Implements Key Postings and Disciplinary Measures for Senior Officers
Significant structural reforms have been initiated by the Nigerian Police Force (NPF), involving major personnel changes and strict disciplinary actions aimed at addressing misconduct within its ranks. These measures are part of the ongoing drive to enhance leadership, promote accountability, and improve the professionalism of the force. Inspector-General of Police Kayode Egbetokun announced the redeployment of four senior officers to critical positions across the country. In a parallel move, the Police Service Commission (PSC) concluded a thorough review of 109 disciplinary cases during its plenary session in Abuja, resulting in the dismissal of 19 senior officers. The PSC imposed additional penalties on officers found guilty of negligence or disobedience to lawful instructions, including severe reprimands and warnings. Notably, two Assistant Inspectors General were disciplined, with one receiving a reprimand and the other a formal warning.
The Senate seeks to criminalise corn exports to tackle hunger
Nigeria’s Senate has passed a bill seeking to make it a crime to export large quantities of unprocessed corn in an effort to alleviate hunger in the West African nation. Africa’s most populous country is grappling with its worst cost-of-living-crisis in a generation. Economic hardship has worsened since President Bola Tinubu started austerity reforms, including devaluing the country’s naira currency and ending a decades-old petrol subsidy, fuelling inflation. The weak Nigerian currency has spurred informal exports of corn, rice and sorghum to neighbouring countries due to the exchange rate differential with the West African CFA franc. Corn is a staple in Nigeria that is also used for animal feed, drinks and processed flour. The Senate bill, which will need the president’s assent to become law, will make it illegal to export unprocessed corn from a minimum of 1 metric ton. Violators would pay the value of the corn in fines or face a one-year prison sentence.
Nigerians pay a premium for super ‘dodgy’ fuel
When Russia invaded Ukraine, Western sanctions targeted Russian exports, like refined oil. But in the eight months following the invasion, an oil tanker loitering just outside Maltese waters sold nearly two million barrels of Russian oil to Nigerian importers. Blended with products from elsewhere, it was then sold as oil from Malta. It also sold at prices 24% higher than unblended Russian oil. Data from Kpler, a platform that tracks oil shipments, shows that the Huihai Atlantic arrived in the waters off the Maltese coast in January 2023. The following month, it started receiving oil and naphtha via ship-to-ship transfers, a controversial practice often associated with illicit trade. Tankers from Russia transferred 2.1-million barrels to the Huihai Atlantic, and ships from Bulgaria, India, Italy, Romania, Spain, and Türkiye gave it about 2.7-million barrels. The blended fuels were then sold as originating from Malta, usually to Nigeria, with a small amount sold to the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the time, the average price for Malta fuel was $131 per barrel. Had they openly bought the Russian products, they would have paid about $100 per barrel, the cap that sanctions set it at, and the price paid for imports direct from Russia to Nigeria in 2023…Offshore oil blending is also controversial for another reason: it can produce lowquality, inefficient and extra-polluting blends: dirty fuel. Nigeria is already struggling with the quality of fuel. This proliferation of dirty fuels is especially concerning in urban Nigeria, where diesel generators are ubiquitous. “In Lagos, houses are built so close together that the generator exhaust fumes often blow directly into neighbouring homes. Combined with car emissions, the air quality can be terrible,” said Otonye Iworima, who advocates for cleaner air in Nigeria’s commercial hub.
Netflix denies leaving Nigeria productions
Netflix has denied reports it is pulling out of Nigeria but local film producers and industry insiders told Semafor Africa the streaming giant has been cutting back on original productions. “We are not exiting Nigeria,” wrote a Netflix spokesperson in an email.”We will continue to invest in Nigerian stories to delight our members.” However two filmmakers who have worked with Netflix on Nigerian productions said some local filmmakers were told last month that their Netflix original projects were either being put on hold or shelved. The devaluation of the local currency and runaway inflation are said to have made production costs unsustainable in the near term. Filmmakers said they believe Netflix will continue to license Nigerian films, but likely only ones which already had some traction at local cinemas or elsewhere rather than investing in production. Netflix signalled its Nigeria ambitions with the acquisition of Lionheart, a film produced in 2018 by industry veteran Genevieve Nnaji, as its first original in the country. The streamer has since commissioned and co-produced multiple original series and films in the years since, opening up a new medium for Nollywood’s deep bench of screenwriters and producers to complement theatrical releases.
SOUTHERN AFRICA
ANGOLA
Joe Biden in Angola: the chips are down
This week United States President Joe Biden made his one and only trip to the African continent with a flight to Angola. The New York Times spoke of the strong relationship between the two (more enslaved people were taken to the US from Angola than anywhere else – quite the flex). It noted China did not have a similarly strong card to play. But Biden did not come to talk up democracy – he was there to laud American investment in a railway line that will funnel resources out of the DRC through Angola – not unlike China’s Road and Belt approach. East and West seem to think Africa, teeming with elements crucial to 21st century tech, is a prize to be won in a game of colonial poker. But their African hosts are hoping that the house might actually win this time – if they play their own cards right.
OpEd: Angola’s path to prosperity lies in its sun and soil, not its oil
Investing in solar electricity and agriculture can help the country diversify its economy and uplift its rural areas.
NAMIBIA
President-elect pledges ‘radical shifts’ on poverty and unemployment
Namibia’s President-elect Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah pledged “radical shifts” to fix the country’s high levels of poverty and unemployment, speaking on Thursday in her first press conference since winning last week’s election. Nandi-Ndaitwah, who will take office in March as the first woman to hold the post in the southern African country, suggested she might break with her SWAPO party predecessors on some social and economic issues. SWAPO has governed Namibia since its independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990. “It’s not going to be business as usual,” Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, said of her presidency. “We must have radical shifts in addressing the plight of our people.” She did not lay out specific plans, but mentioned a need for land reform and more equitable distribution of wealth. Namibia is classed by the World Bank as an upper-middle-income country but it is one of the most unequal in the world, with high poverty levels that are partly a legacy of decades of white minority rule. A 2021 government report found that 43% of the population were living in “multidimensional poverty”, a measure that takes into account income as well as access to education and public services among other factors. Namibia, a country of 3 million people, has become an oil exploration hotspot after companies including TotalEnergies and Shell, announced major discoveries, although an unexpectedly high percentage of gas in the fields could slow development.
Future of Namibia’s red line goes on trial next month
Namibia’s newly elected president is setting out the agenda for her coming administration, and one of the priorities may be removal of the red line, a remnant of Namibia’s colonial period that divides the country and restricts the movement of agricultural products, especially beef, between north and south. The outbreak of cattle disease in the 1890s prompted Namibia’s colonial German rulers to block the free movement of livestock between northern and southern Namibia. The practice extended into the era of South African rule. In the 1960s, authorities built a fence across the width of the country, about 1,000 kilometers long. People can cross the fence freely but cannot transport agricultural products such as beef, fruit and vegetables. The AR Movement, a political party that finished third in last month’s National Assembly elections, is suing the state, hoping to force the removal of the fence, which is commonly called the red line. The party says the government has maintained the fence to the economic disadvantage of Namibia’s majority black population, which lives mostly in the north. Beef is one of Namibia’s chief exports. In January 2024, 42% of Namibia’s beef exports went to the European Union. However, this beef is sourced only south of the red line. Responding to questions posed at a press conference Thursday, Namibia’s president-elect, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, said removal of the red line was agreed to at the country’s second national land conference six years ago. She said the issue is being hijacked by the AR Movement to score political points. “It can have an economic impact, and that’s why now as a government, we have a plan on how to gradually … and we have already started … reach that,” she said. Right now, there is no date for when the red line would be eliminated.
SOUTH AFRICA
More than 150 people rescued from abandoned gold mine
More than 150 illegal miners have been rescued from an abandoned mine in South Africa’s eastern Mpumalanga province. Police say three bodies were recovered earlier this week on the first day of the rescue operation. Most of those rescued, reportedly foreign nationals, claim they were forced underground against their will to search for gold. A police spokesperson confirmed the miners have been arrested, and investigations are continuing into illegal mining activities in the region. Days earlier, the national police head Fannie Masemola also confirmed officers were investigating “allegations of human trafficking and forced labour in these mining operations by those who have resurfaced”. On Friday night, the final miner to emerge from the disused shaft blew a whistle as he was received by army officers. He appeared exhausted but could not hide his relief after surfacing. A police spokesperson confirmed the rescue operation at the Mpumalanga mine is now complete, though investigations will continue before the site is shut down. Meanwhile, rescue efforts are still under way at another abandoned mine in Stilfontein, south-west of Johannesburg.
McKinsey Agrees to Pay $122 Million to Settle South Africa Bribery Case
McKinsey & Co. agreed to pay a fine of more than $122 million to resolve a felony bribery investigation stemming from its work in South Africa, federal prosecutors in New York said in a filing unsealed Thursday. It is the latest in a string of legal penalties for the global consulting firm, which in recent years has agreed to pay about $1 billion in settlements for its work with opioid manufacturers.The fine announced Thursday was part of a deferred prosecution agreement that would dismiss the bribery charge against the company after three years if McKinsey meets the conditions of the deal. Separately, a former McKinsey senior partner, Vikas Sagar, who was a leader in its Johannesburg office, pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate an anti-corruption law, prosecutors said. The bribery investigation stemmed from work that McKinsey’s South African branch performed, starting more than a decade ago, for two state-owned companies: one overseeing the country’s run-down electric generating system, the other managing its freight rail system and ports. Mr. Sagar received confidential information about the companies that led to multimillion-dollar consulting contracts, and in return, some of the money McKinsey and its local partners made was routed to two officials as bribes, prosecutors said.
Authorities to deport killer of anti-apartheid leader Hani to his native Poland
South Africa will deport Janusz Walus, a far-right extremist who assassinated anti-apartheid leader Chris Hani in 1993, to his native Poland on Friday, the government said. Walus, 71, served nearly 30 years of a life sentence for Hani’s murder in a South African prison. In 2022 he was released on parole, sparking protests in South Africa where some said it re-opened deep wounds of racial inequality. Now that he has finished his parole period in line with a court order…Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said the deportation would take place on Friday and would be paid for by the Polish embassy. “At the time of Mr Chris Hani’s assassination, the negotiations for a free and equal South Africa had stalled, and his tragic death forced the negotiating parties to set a date for the first democratic General Elections,” said the South African government in its statement on Friday. “Every year that we celebrate Freedom Day, as a country we are in large part indebted to Chris Hani.”
South African research funds ‘at risk’ of losing funding over Gaza stance
Solidarity with Palestine in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East is threatening research funding at some South African universities, according to a leading politician. Naledi Pandor, the country’s former International Relations Minister who also previously served as Minister of Science Technology, said several universities could lose funding after cutting ties with Israeli institutions and urged the South African government to offer financial support. In a keynote address at the Science Forum South Africa in Pretoria this week, the retired politician said the sector was not immune to the impact of the current toxic geopolitical environment. “Universities must not be deterred and should remain true to their mission, which must be an ethical commitment to seeking the truth, social justice, human rights, anti-racism, solidarity and knowledge that benefits humanity,” says Salim Vally, associate professor, Education Faculty, University of Johannesburg…“Taking a principled stand often comes with sacrifice,” added Vally, who is also a prominent human rights activist.
NORTH AFRICA
EGYPT
Criminal court labels Muslim Brotherhood as ‘terrorist organisation’
The Egyptian Criminal Court yesterday added the Muslim Brotherhood to the list of terrorist organisations. The movement was designated by the Egyptian government as a “terrorist” organisation in 2013. The court, chaired by Judge Mohamed Saeed Al-Sharbini, also added several leaders and members of the Brotherhood to the “terrorist” lists, including Yahia El-Sayed Mousa, Ali Ahmed Batikh and Jihad El-Hadad. This court ruling follows just days after the removal of hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood members from the terrorist list in Egypt. The move led some to ask if President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi is moving towards “reconciliation” with the movement. While some viewed the previous decision as a breakthrough, others dismissed it as a ploy to distract from pressing issues, particularly the severe economic crisis and the ongoing events in Gaza, which many consider to be a significant ethical challenge for Egypt.
Egyptian military agency takes over wheat buying from decades-old supply group
An Egyptian military agency has taken over the country’s import of strategic commodities, replacing a decades-old state institution to take over international buying tenders and also conduct direct purchases which have in recent weeks shaken the wheat market. As one of the world’s largest wheat importers, Egypt had relied on the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), part of the Ministry of Supply, to buy the grain for a country where subsidized bread is a staple for 70 million people. A letter from the ministry to Oksana Lut, Russia’s Minister of Agriculture, said that the Mostakbal Misr Agency for Sustainable Development of the Egyptian Air Forces had become the exclusive body responsible for importing food commodities. Firms owned by Egypt’s military have flourished under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, unsettling some business leaders and foreign investors. Traders are sceptical about the new agency. “GASC terms for deals in international tenders have been built up over many years. They are trusted and only when there is trust can big purchases be made with many millions of dollars involved,” one German trader said. “In the long run, the new organisation will no doubt be able to make purchases. In the short term it may face difficulties.”
MOROCCO
ADB to loan 650m Euro for 2030 World Cup infrastructure
The African Development Bank (ADB) plans to lend Morocco 650 million euros to develop transportation infrastructure for the World Cup in 2030, MAP state news agency quoted the bank’s head as saying. Bank President Akinwumi Adesina said financing to develop Morocco’s rail and airport infrastructure for the World Cup would be put to the board for approval. Morocco will host 2030 World Cup jointly with Spain and Portugal. It will be the second African country to host the World Cup after South Africa in 2010. The North Africa country has begun plans to develop air, road and rail infrastructure projects. Morocco also plans to build a large stadium in Benslimane, near Casablanca, and upgrade six others, the government said last year.
CENTRAL AFRICA
CENTRAL AFRICA REP. (CAR)
Statue of Russia’s Wagner founder Prigozhin unveiled in Central Africa
A monument in honour of the late leader of Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has been unveiled in the Central African Republic (CAR). The statue of Prigozhin and his right-hand man Dmitru Utkin, who both died in a plane crash last year, was erected in the capital Bangui. The statue shows Prigozhin in bullet-proof clothing holding a walkie-talkie next to his colleague who holds an AK-47 rifle. Fighters from the Wagner Group have been in CAR since 2018, when they were invited by President Faustin-Archange Touadéra to help tackle rebel groups. The group’s subsidiaries went on to win contracts to operate gold and diamond mines. They are also operating in several other African countries but their most significant presence is in CAR.
CHAD
Hundreds of people protest against the French military presence in the country
Hundreds of people marched in Chad on Friday to call for the withdrawal of French troops from the country, a week after the Central African country ended a military agreement with its former colonial ruler. Protesters in the capital, N’Djamena, chanted “Chad for us, France out!” with some holding banners that read, “We do not want to see a single French person in Chad.” Chad was one of the last countries in the region in which France maintained a large military presence, having been ousted in recent years from Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. Those countries have inched closer to Russia, which has mercenaries deployed across the Sahel, the vast expanse below the Sahara desert.
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