News That Matters To Africa©️
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“…no one puts their children in a boat, unless the water is safer than the land…”
HIGHLIGHTS
DRC/Rwanda talks aborted; Sahel Alliance says split from Ecowas permanent; Malawi appeals for food aid; Algeria summons French ambassador for a reprimand; 10 African airlines blacklisted by EU.
TOP NEWS
1) EASTERN AFRICA
2) WEST AFRICA
3) SOUTHERN AFRICA
4) NORTH AFRICA
AFRICA-GENERAL NEWS
EASTERN AFRICA
DR CONGO
Peace talks with Rwanda canceled
Talks due Sunday between the leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo to end conflict in the eastern DRC were called off after negotiations deadlocked, officials said. There had been high hopes that the summit hosted by Angola’s President Joao Lourenco — the African Union mediator to end the conflict — would end with a deal to end the conflict. But around midday Sunday the head of the Angolan presidency’s media office said it would not go ahead. The Congolese presidency said that negotiations had hit deadlock over a Rwandan demand that the DRC hold direct dialogue with the Kigali-backed and largely ethnic Tutsi M23 rebels who have since 2021 seized swathes of the eastern DRC. Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said Friday that his country wanted “a firm commitment from the DRC to resume direct talks with the M23 within a well-defined framework and timeframe.” Kagame and Tshisekedi last saw each other in October in Paris but did not speak, though they have maintained dialogue through the mediation of Luanda. In early August, Angola mediated a fragile truce that stabilized the situation at the front line, but both sides continued to exchange fire and clashes have intensified since late October.
Fighting in eastern Congo between army and rebels intensifies ahead of peace talks
Fighting between the Congolese army and the M23 rebel group intensified in eastern Congo in recent days ahead of much anticipated peace talks on Sunday, the army said. Congo’s army accused the M23 of killing 12 civilians earlier this week in villages of the Lubero territory in the eastern province of North-Kivu in a statement on Friday. An M23 spokesperson denied the accusation, discrediting it as “propaganda” from Congo’s government. M23 is one of about 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda, in a conflict that has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. Last month, Congo and Rwanda’s foreign ministers agreed on the terms and conditions of the disengagement of Rwandan forces in eastern Congo. In July, Congo signed a ceasefire with M23 that came into effect in August, but fighting has resumed since. The intensification of fighting comes as Congo’s President and Rwanda’s President are set to meet Sunday in Angola, which has been mediating the conflict. It will be their first official meeting since last year.
Ex-governor, 2 army officers in Congo for possible humanitarian crimes
Amnesty International called for an investigation Wednesday into a former governor and two top army officials in Congo for “possible crimes against humanity” during a deadly crackdown on demonstrators last year protesting the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the country. The human rights group said in a report Congo’s security forces killed at least 56 people and injured 80 more, during a protest in the eastern city of Goma in August 2023. The protest was organized by a sect called the Natural Judaic and Messianic Faith Towards the Nations and known colloquially as Wazalendo. Its supporters were demonstrating against the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, called MONUSCO. The MONUSCO force arrived in Congo in 2010 after taking over from an earlier U.N. peacekeeping mission…However, frustrated Congolese say that no one is protecting them from rebel attacks, leading to several protests against the U.N. mission. Amnesty International said it saw operational plans in which the (Congo) security forces were given orders to “destroy isolated enemy elements.” This massacre was the result of a series of deliberate, planned actions by the Congolese authorities, after MONUSCO explicitly requested they prohibit the protest says Amnesty. The organisation also identified the three top officials as Lt. Gen. Constant Ndima, who was governor of the North Kivu province at the time, Col. Mike Kalamba Mikombe, who was head of the Republican Guard unit in Goma, and Maj. Peter Kabwe, who led the Republican Guard’s Special Forces.
Kinshasa’s Security sweep in Zambia
According to recent reports, yes, dozens of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) nationals suspected of plotting to destabilize their country were apprehended in neighboring Zambia and subsequently brought back to the DRC by authorities. The individuals were accused of planning activities aimed at disrupting peace and stability within the DRC. Zambian authorities cooperated with DRC security forces to detain these suspects in Zambia. The individuals were subsequently transported back to the DRC to face legal proceedings.
ETHIOPIA/SOMALIA
Inside the Turkey-backed Somalia-Ethiopia deal
The Turkish government had been attempting to mediate the sea port crisis between the two countries for almost a year through two rounds of negotiations, but no tangible progress had been made beyond vague statements of goodwill. Mogadishu has been demanding that Ethiopia cancel a memorandum of understanding (MoU) it signed with Somalia’s breakaway northern region of Somaliland in January. This agreement aimed to grant Ethiopia port access through Somaliland’s coastline for the next 50 years. Ethiopia, in contrast, argued that as a landlocked country, it had a right to sea access under international law. “You won’t leave this room until you reach a deal,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during the negotiations, according to a person familiar with the issue. A Turkish official stated that the negotiations between the two leaders and their respective teams lasted nearly seven uninterrupted hours, with Erdogan and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan actively participating. Somalia and Ethiopia finally reached a final agreement, known as the Ankara Declaration, that addressed the core demands of both. Somalia secured Ethiopia’s recognition of its territorial unity, while Ethiopia was granted commercial access to the Somali coastline. Turkish officials hailed the deal as a victory for both sides.
Analysis: Somalia & Ethiopia/Ankara talks
The main purpose of Ankara was to give HSM face-saving formula to allow Ethiopian troops to continue to play stabilising role in South West State, Jubaland, Hiiraan & Galmudug. The boilerplate phrases about sovereignty were designed to mollify Somali nationalists and HSM support base, but in no way hint at Ethiopia abandoning MoU with Somaliland. Foreign Minister Fiqi who was at the talks in Ankara has now lobbed a fresh grenade into the Ankara talks by attacking the notion Ethiopian troops may be allowed to continue to play supportive security role in a post-ATMIS Somalia in Jan 2025. New Somaliland President Abdirahman Irro in his inauguration speech stated unequivocally Hargeisa’s commitment to the quest for international recognition. The new president will travel to Addis early next year to discuss deepening cooperation. Mogadishu’s calculation Irro may reverse or water down the MoU was always misplaced.Expect a slow unravelling of Ankara in the coming days as HSM’s hardline base mounts a backlash.
Rashid Abdi @RAbdiAnalyst on “X”
KENYA
The Shilling’s strength masks underlying risks to economy
Kenya’s currency, which has weathered the surge in the dollar since Donald Trump won the US election, risks foundering unless the East African nation’s economic growth revives. The shilling rallied 21% in the first seven months of the year — making it the world’s best performer — but has since remained locked in a narrow range around 129 per dollar, with volatility nearing zero. Interventions by the central bank, high interest rates and new foreign-exchange trading rules are among factors that have underpinned the currency’s stability. That stability risks being undermined, with the $107 billion economy headed for its worst performance since a coronavirus-induced contraction in 2020 because of flooding that killed more than 300 people in April and anti-government protests that started in June which left dozens dead. The World Bank on Tuesday trimmed Kenya’s economic growth for this year and next to 4.7% and 5% respectively, compared with estimates of 5% and 5.3% in June. Kenya’s reliance on external factors such as remittances and commodity exports point to a lack of robust domestic growth. Manufacturing growth remains sluggish, and high taxes continue to squeeze businesses. Without structural reforms, the shilling’s stability remains fragile, and the currency’s short-term gains are vulnerable to erosion…
*Why trainee Kenyan doctors are taking their own lives*
Francis Njuki, a 29-year-old trainee pharmacist, is the fifth medic to kill themselves in Kenya in the last two months because of “work-stress hardships and lack of responsive insurance cover”, according to Dr Davji Atellah, the secretary of the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) – adding it was not something the union had ever recorded before. There had also been five attempted suicides by KMPDU members this year, the medical body said. No figures are yet available on the number of suicides nationwide in Kenya this year. Njuki was doing his mandatory one-year training to qualify at a public hospital in Thika town near the capital, Nairobi, when he took his life last month. Njuki was among hundreds of interns who were posted to health facilities in August and who say they had not received their salaries for the first four months. This is despite the fact that interns are a crucial part of the workforce in public hospitals – used by many Kenyans who cannot afford private medical insurance. Trainees make up about 30% of doctors in the state health sector. They do most of the work in public hospitals, but under close supervision. They are on call, sometimes for 36 hours, and provide most of the health services that patients need. “Like many of his colleagues, Dr Njuki faced insurmountable challenges in meeting basic needs such as rent and utility bills,” KMPDU said in a statement. The government has been in a long-running dispute with unions over the pay and working conditions of interns. The government has proposed cutting the monthly salary of interns to $540 (£430). The union wants it to remain at $1,600 as had been agreed with the government in 2017. But President William Ruto has said that the government cannot afford to pay such an amount, and “we must live within our means”.
500 yr old Shipwreck May Be Connected to Vasco da Gama’s Final Voyage
A shipwreck found off the coast of Kenya may have been connected to Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese navigator who sailed around Africa to reach India in the late 1400s and early 1500s. The wreckage was discovered near the city of Malindi in 2013. Caesar Bita, an underwater archaeologist at the National Museums of Kenya, explored the site after receiving a tip from local fishermen, as Artnet’s Verity Babbs reports. He recovered elephant tusks and copper ingots from the wreckage in the years that followed. Last March, Bita invited Filipe Castro, a maritime archaeologist at Portugal’s University of Coimbra, to examine the site. They lean to believing that the vessel may be the São Jorge, a galleon from da Gama’s final voyage that sank in 1524. In 1497, the king of Portugal commissioned da Gama to find a naval route from Europe to Asia, which led him to sail around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. His voyage enabled sea travel between Europe and India, triggering a golden age of trade for Portugal. Da Gama led two more multi-ship voyages to India in 1502 and 1524, and that final voyage’s 20-ship fleet included the São Jorge. The navigator would not return home from the third voyage: He got sick and died in India on December 24, 1524. If the wrecked ship isn’t the São Jorge, the researchers think it could be the Nossa Senhora da Graça, another Portuguese vessel that sank in 1544. Identifying the preserved wreckage of the São Jorge would be archaeological stardust. “Kenya was a staging post for tapping into the dazzling wonders of the Indies,” making any early European shipwrecks found there “hot property,” adds Sean Kingsley, editor of Wreckwatch magazine “This is one wreck that screams out for protection, respect and care” before its history is lost to time.
MAURITIUS
Mauritius police issue arrest order for former central bank governor
Police in Mauritius have issued an order for the arrest of the Indian Ocean islands’ former central bank governor, in connection to an inquiry into a conspiracy to defraud case. The action, by the police anti-money laundering unit, is the first significant one from the government of Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam, who said last week the outgoing government had falsified the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), budget deficit and public debt figures for years. The former central bank governor, Harvesh Kumar Seegolam, was out of the country and would be arrested as soon as he returned, police said in a notice in Mauritius newspapers on Sunday. They provided no more details on the nature of the case. In a report issued to parliament, Ramgoolam also accused the central bank of printing money to fund the government’s Mauritius Investment Corporation, set up in 2020 to help companies deal with effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
RWANDA
Rwanda Aims To Host Formula 1 In Africa For The First Time In Over 30 Years
Recent conversations between the president of the Republic of Rwanda Paul Kagame and the F1 boss could lead to the first African GP in decades. The consensus seems to be that Rwanda could host a race in the capital city of Kigali. It would be astonishing for a country like Rwanda, which saw incredible strife during the 1990s including economic collapse and genocide, to bounce back and be added to the list of F1 host countries. The country has grown its economy by leaps and bounds since 2000, and has become a pillar of stability in the region. By all accounts the current government has a better track record on human rights than many other F1 host countries, making impressive progress in areas like education, health, and poverty reduction, though still receives some criticism for media freedom and crackdowns on dissent.
SOMALIA
Mogadishu pulls out troops from semi-autonomous state after clashes
Somalia said on Thursday it had pulled federal troops out of the southwestern Lower Juba region, after clashes with local forces from Jubbaland state which has broken off ties with the central government. Heavy fighting broke out around the coastal town of Ras Kamboni on Wednesday, where hundreds of federal soldiers had been flown in after Jubbaland re-elected its president, Ahmed Mohamed Islam Madobe in a vote last month. Jubbaland, which borders Kenya and Ethiopia, is one of Somalia’s semi-autonomous states. It comprises three regions, of which Lower Juba is the most populous. The state suspended relations with with the federal government last month in a dispute over the election, which Mogadishu had said was illegal. Jubbaland officials say their forces defeated the detachment of federal troops in Ras Kamboni on Wednesday…and captured Ras Kamboni town and the nearby airport, and many federal government troops surrendered after Wednesday’s fighting. As the dispute escalated, the federal government issued an arrest warrant for Madobe, while Jubbaland issued a reciprocal one for Mohamud.
Jubaland humiliates Mogadishu with troop repatriation
Following the decisive defeat of the Somali National Army (SNA) and its allied forces by Jubaland troops in Ras Kamboni, Jubaland officials have taken the unexpected step of repatriating 83 captured and disarmed SNA, Police, and National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) personnel to Mogadishu, and with reports that it intends to repatriate a further 50 fighters tomorrow. This gesture, which included providing each fighter with $100 and a stern admonishment for allowing themselves to be used as pawns in President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s political machinations, has sent shockwaves through the ranks of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and further undermined its already tenuous legitimacy and morale. The repatriation of the captured fighters is a masterful stroke of diplomacy by the Jubaland administration, one that not only highlights the FGS’s reckless and ill-conceived campaign against the regional state but also serves to further isolate and discredit the central government in the eyes of the Somali people. By treating the captured fighters with a measure of respect and compassion, despite their role in the FGS’s aggression against Jubaland, the regional administration has demonstrated a level of statesmanship and political acumen that stands in stark contrast to the divisive and heavy-handed tactics employed by the FGS.
Syrian refugees in Somalia hope to return home
Expressing a renewed desire to return to their homeland, some Syrian refugees residing Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, are hopeful that recent developments, including the ousting of the Assad family regime that brutally ruled Syria for 53 years, might signal a safer future in Syria. Holding placards that read “We want to go home” and “Syria awaits us,” demonstrators expressed their longing for peace and stability in their homeland. Ali Al-Zahir, who fled from Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, lost his wife and three children in the Syrian war. He arrived in Mogadishu in hopes of keeping his two surviving children safe. Syrian refugee Khadija Mohamed sells perfumes and tusbah, prayer beads used in Islamic practices, in Mogadishu. While she is hopeful about returning to Syria, she acknowledges the challenges her impoverished family faces…many Syrian refugees remain cautious despite their longing to return home. There is no official data on the number of Syrian refugees living in Somalia, but officials estimate it to be in the thousands. Syrians who found refuge in Somalia said the two countries’ history of amicable relations drove them. The Syrians say Somalis’ friendliness toward refugees and Somalia’s lack of visa restrictions also drew them to Mogadishu and other major cities in the country. In return, the Syrian refugees, which include doctors, nurses, engineers, chefs, technicians, and teachers among their ranks, have enriched Somalia culturally and economically because of the knowledge and skillsets they brought with them.
SUDAN
Dozens of UAE flights head to airstrip UN says supplies arms to Sudan rebels
At least 86 flights from the UAE have headed for an airstrip at Amdjarass in eastern Chad since the war began in April 2023, three-quarters of them operated by carriers accused by the U.N. of ferrying Emirati weapons to a warlord in Libya, according to the flight data and corporate documents reviewed by Reuters…Previously unreported video footage reviewed by Reuters from Amdjarass filmed this year, showing two pallets on the tarmac stacked with khaki crates, some of them labelled with the UAE flag…The contents were “highly probably ammunition or weapons, based on the design and colour of boxes,” according to one of the experts, who has worked as a U.N. weapons inspector and asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the information. The long and thin proportions of cases on the right-hand pallet indicate they likely contain weapons, he added.
Turkey’s Erdogan offers to mediate between Sudan and the UAE
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a telephone call with Sudan’s military leader on Friday and offered to mediate to resolve tensions with the United Arab Emirates, according to the Turkish leader’s office. The offer to Sudan’s military leader, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, comes just days after Erdogan brokered a deal between Ethiopia and Somalia. The deal initiates technical talks aimed at resolving a dispute that arose after Ethiopia signed a deal with Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. Erdogan told Burhan that Turkey was willing to mediate toward resolving disputes between Sudan and the UAE. He said Turkey’s “core principles include establishing peace and stability in Sudan, preserving its territorial integrity and sovereignty, and preventing the country from becoming a zone of external interventions,” according to a statement from the Turkish presidential communications office. The Sudanese government accuses the UAE of providing weapons to its rival paramilitary force and prolonging the conflict in Sudan. The UAE has rejected the allegations and accused the government of refusing to negotiate peace with its enemy.
Colombian Mercenaries in Transit to Sudan via Libya
According to reports by Colombian mediaand the Wall Street Journal, more than a hundred Colombian ex-soldiers were recruited to fight with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan. Colombian President Gustavo Petro has asked the Foreign Ministry to look for options to return those involved in the scheme to Colombia…several ex-soldiers who were reportedly recruited by a Colombian security company with links to the UAE, said they had been misled about their ultimate destination and transported to Sudan via Libya, one of the countries identified as a source of mercenaries .
Suspected Darfur militia leader maintains his innocence at ICC war crimes trial
A Sudanese man accused of ordering thousands of pro-government Janjaweed militia to carry out atrocities including murder and rape in Sudan’s Darfur region told judges at the International Criminal Court on Friday that they had the wrong man. In the first trial at the ICC looking at alleged atrocities in Darfur, prosecutors earlier this week said that Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman was the Janjaweed militia leader known by the nom de guerre Ali Kushayb who led pro-government fighters at the peak of the fighting in 2003-2004. “I am not Ali Kushayb. I don’t know this person,” Abd-Al-Rahman told judges at the end of his trial. The defendant said he voluntarily surrendered himself to the court in 2020 to clear his name, adding he had nothing to do with the accusations against him. Lawyers for Abd-Al-Rahman have called for his acquittal. In his closing statement ICC prosecutor Karim Khan told judges that during the trial, prosecution witnesses had given “detailed accounts of mass murder, torture, rape, targeting of civilians, burning and pillaging of entire villages” and had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.
UGANDA
Museveni defends military trials for civilians
President Yoweri Museveni, 80, has defended the use of military courts to try civilians – following an outcry over the arrest and trial of opposition leader Kizza Besigye. His 68-year-old rival has been charged in a military court with possession of pistols and attempting to purchase weapons abroad – accusations he denies. Hundreds of civilians have been tried in Uganda’s military courts, even though the Constitutional Court has ruled against the practice. The president said his party had enacted a law through parliament in 2005 to allow the use of military courts because of the “rampant activities of criminals and terrorists that were using guns to kill people indiscriminately. The civilian courts were clogged with the many court cases of the whole country: murders, rape, assaults, robbery, land matters, divorce matters etc, etc. They could, therefore, not handle these gun-wielding criminals quickly. Yet, for stabilization you need speed,” he said. “Civilians tried in Uganda’s military courts do not receive the same due process guarantees as those in civilian courts,” UN human rights chief Volker Türk said.
At least 11 dead in the French territory of Mayotte as Cyclone Chido causes devastating damage
At least 11 people have died after Cyclone Chido caused devastating damage in the French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, France’s Interior Ministry said Sunday. The ministry said it was proving difficult to get a precise tally of the dead and injured amid fears the death toll will increase. A hospital in Mayotte reported that nine people were in critical condition in the hospital and 246 others were injured. The tropical cyclone blew through the southeastern Indian Ocean, also affecting the nearby islands of Comoros and Madagascar. Mayotte was directly in the path of the cyclone and suffered extensive damage on Saturday, officials said. The prefect of Mayotte said it was the worst cyclone to hit Mayotte in 90 years. Chido brought winds in excess of 220 kph (136 mph), according to the French weather service, ripping metal roofs off houses and destroying many small structures in Mayotte, which has a population of just over 300,000 spread over two main islands about 800 kilometers (500 miles) off Africa’s east coast. In some parts, entire neighborhoods were flattened, while local residents reported many trees had been uprooted and boats had been flipped or sunk. The main airport also suffered major damage, the French transport minister said.
Indian Ocean islands of Comoros, Madagascar and Mayotte are bracing for Cyclone Chido
The islands of Comoros, Madagascar and Mayotte in the Indian Ocean were bracing for Cyclone Chido on Friday as the intense tropical storm whirred its way toward Africa’s east coast. Comoros, a small archipelago, ordered schools to close as authorities expected Chido to hit the islands early Saturday. Before then, the cyclone was due to pass the northern tip of Madagascar. The French territory of Mayotte, south of Comoros, is also in its path and the French national weather service put Mayotte on red alert starting Friday night, its highest alert level.
Mozambique on the African mainland also issued a red alert for the northern provinces of Cabo Delgado and Nampula and said that more than 2 million people could be affected when Chido makes landfall on the continent, which is expected early Sunday. The Mozambique National Meteorological Institute said that it was forecasting winds of 200 kph (124 mph).
WEST AFRICA
GHANA
We will not quit IMF deal but wants changes, says president-elect
Ghana’s President-elect John Dramani Mahama has said he will not abandon the country’s $3 billion rescue package with the International Monetary Fund, but wants to review the deal to tackle wasteful state spending and upgrade the energy sector. Mahama had said previously that he would renegotiate the IMF programme secured by the government of outgoing President Nana Akufo in 2023. “When I talk about renegotiation, I don’t mean we’re jettisoning the programme,” Mahama said. “We’re bound by it but what we’re saying is within the programme, it should be possible to make some adjustments to suit reality.” Ghana’s electoral commission declared Mahama, who was in office from 2012-16, winner of the presidential poll with 56.55% of the vote. The president-elect of the world’s number two cocoa producer inherits a nation emerging from its worst economic crisis in a generation, with turmoil in its vital cocoa and gold industries.
Ghana’s ‘Year of Return’ delivers a bittersweet buzz as tourists push up prices
Success of Ghanaian president’s call to members of diaspora to visit country adding to inflation, say locals. In recent years, Ghana has become a December hotspot. It began in 2018 with President Nana Akufo-Addo’s call-to-action in Washington DC, urging Black people in the diaspora to visit Africa. The “Year of Return” was launched in 2019 to mark the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first recorded enslaved Africans in the state of Virginia in the US. Members of his cabinet assured visitors of a warm welcome, with one calling them “Josephs and Josephines who were sold into slavery and have come back home”. Since then, thousands of people including celebrities have thronged to a country that has long seen itself as home to all Africans. This November, 524 settlers were granted citizenship. However, while outsiders see Akufo-Addo’s call to action as a masterstroke, many within Ghana say it has been a bittersweet experience. Service providers in particular have inflated their prices and in some cases set them in dollars instead of the Ghanaian cedi, even as the economy dipped. Consequently, the price of everything from braids to apartments has doubled. Nigerian-born Clay, who attended university in Kumasi complained that “many activities, and their pricing, have been centred around the visitors, creating something of a segregation.” Locals primarily blame the government for inflation, but also African Americans, even though many only come in December to party, then leave.
GUINEA
Opposition angry at military’s extension of rule
Opposition groups in Guinea say they are outraged at an announcement by the junta that the transition to democratic rule will extend beyond the end of the year. A spokesperson for the ruling authority said conditions for the transitional period to end have not yet been met. In negotiations with the regional bloc, ECOWAS, the junta which seized power in a coup in September 2021 had promised a return to elections and civilian rule within two years. In July, it presented citizens with a draft of a new constitution which imposes a strict two-term limit for the presidency, each for five years. It would also potentially allow current military leader Mamady Doumbouya to participate in the next presidential poll. But the promised referendum on the document, expected to pave the wave for a return to constitutional rule, is yet to take place. A committee of Guinean opposition groups, civil society organisations, and activists known as the Forces Vives, says it will no longer recognise the legitimacy of the transitional authority after 31 December.
MALI
Fahad Ag Almahmoud killed in Mali: the Tuareg leader who became a legend
Known for his radicalism and causticity, Fahad Ag Almahmoud, killed on December 1 by the Malian army, devoted the last twelve years of his life to war. The former founder of the Self-Defense Group of the Tuareg Imghad and Allies (GATIA), allied with the central government, had joined the rebel groups. However, his singular journey illustrates with painful acuity the inextricable conflict between the armed groups of northern Mali and the regular army. From 2014 to 2018, Fahad Ag Almahmoud fought alongside the Malian Armed Forces (FAMA) on two equally bloody fronts – the fight against armed groups and the fight against the Islamic State. Since then, the Tuareg leader had changed his mind. On December 1, in Tinzawaten, he was shot down by a Malian army drone in the middle of a bivouac alongside his former opponents from the rebel groups who had become his allies. The Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) paid tribute to “the martyr who fell on the field of honor” along with seven other community and political leaders. Soonafter, the Malian armed forces welcomed the “neutralization of high-ranking officials of terrorist groups during a major special operation.”
NIGER
Govt suspends BBC for ‘spreading false news’
Niger suspended the BBC for three months over the broadcaster’s coverage of an extremist attack that allegedly killed dozens of Nigerien soldiers and civilians, authorities said Thursday. “BBC broadcasts false information aimed at destabilizing social calm and undermining the troops’ morale,” communications minister Raliou Sidi Mohamed said in letters to radio stations that rebroadcast BBC content. Mohamed asked the stations to suspend BBC’s programs “with immediate effect.” The BBC said it had no comment on the suspension. Popular BBC programs, including those in Hausa — the most-spoken language in Niger — are broadcast in the Central African country through local radio partners to reach a large audience across the region. The British broadcaster had reported on its website in Hausa on Wednesday that gunmen had killed more than 90 Nigerien soldiers and more than 40 civilians in two villages near the border with Burkina Faso. The French broadcaster Radio France International, also known as RFI, also reported on the attack, calling it a jihadi attack and citing the same death toll. Niger’s authorities denied that an attack happened in the area in a statement read on state television and said it would file a complain against RFI for “incitement to genocide.”
NIGERIA
Nigeria moves closer to state policing
Majority of Nigeria’s 36 states have agreed that states should have their own police, an official has said…In the North-east, troops are fighting years-long insurgency by Boko Haram and its splinter groups…The spill over of the North-east insurgency has created a similar pattern of violence in North-central where fighters of Boko Haram have maintained a strong presence in places like Kurebe, Allawa and Bassa — all in Shiroro LGA of Niger State. The region is also plagued by banditry, partly fuelled by the incessant conflict between farmers and herders…The South-east and South-south are also not left out. Armed separatists routinely attack security and government officials, as well as civilians. All these have triggered the call for creation of state police in Nigeria. However, critics say state police could be used by governors to oppress critics and opponents in their states. If the NEC eventually declares support for state police, it would influence the National Assembly to pass laws for it.
Kemi Badenoch defends her remarks on Nigeria despite criticism
UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has defended her critical comments about Nigeria after the country’s vice president, Kashim Shettima, accused her of disparaging her heritage. Badenoch, who was born in the UK but grew up in Nigeria, often highlights the insecurity and corruption she witnessed growing up in the West African country, contrasting it with the freedoms she found in the UK. Shettima, during a speech in Abuja, criticized her remarks and suggested she “remove the Kemi from her name” if she is not proud of her origins. Badenoch’s spokesperson stated she stands by her comments, emphasizing her commitment to truth. Badenoch has frequently referenced her Nigerian upbringing. Earlier this year, while attending a Conservative Party conference, she described Lagos as a city of fear and lawlessness. Her experiences, she noted, have shaped her conservative ideals.
SIERRA LEONE
EU says 11-year-old is only survivor from capsized migrant boat
An 11-year-old girl from Sierra Leone says she was one of 45 who set off from Sfax, Tunisia, all others are feared dead. The girl was rescued at sea after a three-day ordeal. “We assume that she is the only survivor of the shipwreck and that the other 44 people drowned,” said CompassCollective, which assists in migrant rescue missions in the Mediterranean Sea. CompassCollective said crew members on one of the group’s vessels, on the way to another rescue, “heard calls in the darkness” and plucked the girl from the water and is recovering well at a hospital in Lampedusa, Italy. The UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) says it has recorded more than 24,300 deaths and disappearances on the sea route between North African Tunisia and the EU nations of Italy and Malta since 2014. Some 2,050 migrants have drowned or gone missing on the route in 2024. Mediterranea, another NGO, said it fears as many as three boats may have sunk in this week’s storm. Each vessel — carrying 45, 75 and 45 people respectively — departed Tunisia in late November.
Sahel Alliance says split from Ecowas ‘irreversible’
The military governments of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger said Friday their decision to quit West African regional bloc ECOWAS, which they have condemned as subservient to ex-colonial ruler France, was “irreversible”. The statement from the trio of countries in the volatile Sahel region came just as the regional group, the Economic Community of West African States, prepared for a summit on Sunday where leaders had hoped to find a solution to keep them from leaving. The breakaways have not announced plans to attend. They held a separate ministerial-level meeting Friday in Niger’s capital, Niamey. “The ministers reiterate the irreversible decision to withdraw from ECOWAS and are committed to pursuing a process of reflection on the means of exiting in the best interests of their peoples,” they said in a joint statement. The three countries have launched a regional bloc of their own, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), after breaking with France and pivoting toward Russia. Their departure from ECOWAS could have a major impact on the free movement of people and goods in the region, which currently shares a common currency, the CFA franc. Their disaccord with ECOWAS came after it threatened a military intervention over a July 2023 coup in Niger – the region’s sixth in three years – and imposed heavy sanctions on the country, drawing the ire of the new military rulers.
SOUTHERN AFRICA
LESOTHO
UN’s Guterres urges rich nations to meet new commitments on climate finance
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged rich nations to honor their commitments to help the world’s poor countries fight climate change in a speech to Lesotho’s Parliament and repeated his hope that Africa would soon have permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council. Guterres is on a three-day visit to southern Africa and was in South Africa on Wednesday. His two-day trip to neighboring Lesotho, a small landlocked mountainous kingdom, will also see him visit the Katse Dam, an integral part of the country’s plans to harness its water reserves. A focus of Guterres’ visit has been the money poor nations in Africa and elsewhere need to deal with the impact of a warming planet. While Africa contributes a tiny amount to global warming, it is one of the worst affected continents.
MALAWI
President appeals for international food aid
Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera has renewed his appeal for international assistance to address severe food shortages affecting more than one quarter of the country’s population of 20 million. Malawi is currently facing one of its worst food shortage situations in decades with about 5.7 million people affected, according to a recent Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee report. This is about a quarter of the country’s population of about 20 million people. In rural areas, some villagers were reported to be surviving on wild plants like buffalo beans…In March of this year, the president appealed for $200 million in food aid for millions of citizens facing starvation due to a drought linked to the El Nino weather condition.
MOZAMBIQUE
The unrest: Tesla supplier shuts, AB InBev beer factory raided and SA exports disrupted
Mozambique’s economy is buckling as weeks of intensifying election protests evolve into a revolt that’s increasingly being felt beyond the borders of the southern African nation. The unrest prompted Tesla supplier Syrah Resources to declare force majeure, while hitting output at sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest aluminum smelter and disrupting South Africa’s chrome exports. It’s causing domestic economic wreckage, with Standard Bank predicting the first quarterly economic contraction since 2020. There is no sign of tensions cooling, with fears of further delays to a $20 billion natural gas export plan led by TotalEnergies. Venâncio Mondlane, the charismatic opposition leader commanding the demonstrations via livestream, plans to announce a fresh round of protests on Dec. 16. Scores of people have been killed by security forces.
NAMIBIA
Court rules Namibia opposition parties can inspect election data
Two Namibian opposition parties that are seeking to challenge the result of elections last month won a court order on Friday allowing them to inspect election materials they had requested to see. Namibia’s ruling party, SWAPO, won both the presidential and parliamentary elections on Nov. 27, extending its 34-year rule in the southern African state. Opposition parties alleged the election was flawed and potentially invalid due to an extension of voting for several days, among other issues. “There were clearly irregularities in the election. IPC seeks the information in order to … determine the extent of the irregularities,” the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), the largest opposition party, said in a court filing. “It also enables IPC to consider whether to launch proceedings concerning the validity of the elections,” it said. Another opposition party, the Landless People’s Movement, joined the IPC in its request…The election was also marred by ballot paper shortages and technical challenges, causing voting to be extended for up to three days in some places.
SOUTH AFRICA
The ‘Dream Team’: Litigating a genocide
“Heroes don’t wear capes – they have LLBs.” So read a placard in the crowd at Johannesburg’s international airport in January. The crowd had gathered to
welcome home South Africa’s legal team who, earlier in the month, had argued at the International Court of Justice that Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. John Dugard, Max du Plessis, Adila Hassim and Tembeka Ngcukaitobi presented their case at The Hague. They argued that, with bombs and blockades, Israel was systematically squeezing the life out of the Palestinians of Gaza. The court later ruled that their genocide arguments were plausible. “I must say that I have never felt as proud as I felt today when our legal team
was arguing our case in The Hague,” said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. In October, the team submitted thousands of pages of evidence that they say documents how the Israeli government is violating the UN Genocide Convention by inciting and committing genocide, by destroying infrastructure, and using disease and starvation as weapons of war. Israel’s war on Gaza continues, and it may be years before the ICJ passes a final judgement, but South Africa’s legal team has already made a powerful moral and
political statement: international courts aren’t for African leaders only.
Digital nomads price locals out of Cape Town housing market
There are concerns that an influx of Western remote workers is worsening Cape Town’s housing crisis by driving up property prices. These “digital nomads” earn in foreign currencies, giving them an edge over locals in the rental market.
People jumping in front of cars to get injury payouts
In a statement, the government’s national Road Accident Fund, said the phenomenon of people intentionally getting hit near intersections and stop streets was becoming a significant problem, while it acknowledged that some cases might have been driven by poverty and desperation at an expensive time of the year. “We acknowledge road users may be faced with socioeconomic challenges,” the fund said. The RAF allows people to claim compensation from a national fund if they are injured in car crashes. The fund didn’t say how many cases of people intentionally getting hit by cars it had recorded but said it had rejected nearly 50,000 claims in the period between February 2022 and February this year, some of them because they were fraudulent.
ZIMBABWE
President set to abolish death penalty he once faced
Zimbabwe’s Senate has approved a bill to abolish the death penalty, a key step in scrapping a law last used in the southern African nation nearly 20 years ago.
Zimbabwe’s Parliament said that the bill was passed by senators. The death penalty will be abolished if it is signed by the president, which is likely. The southern African country uses hanging, and last executed someone in 2005, partly because at one point no one was willing to take up the job of state executioner, or hangman. President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe’s leader since 2017, has publicly spoken of his opposition to capital punishment. He has cited his own experience of being sentenced to death — which was later changed to 10 years in prison — for blowing up a train during the country’s war of independence in the 1960s
Zimbabwe at risk of another dry season after El Nino drought, says WFP
Zimbabwe appears to be heading into another dry spell that could worsen hunger for millions of people already suffering from an El Nino-induced drought, the U.N. World Food Programme said on Thursday. The drought in Southern Africa that started early this year has been the worst in decades and prompted Zimbabwe and neighbouring countries to declare a state of disasterover food shortages. Rainfall was forecast to resume in October, which is normally the start of a six-month rainy season. But so far Zimbabwe has received only a few days of rain in late November.
NORTH AFRICA
ALGERIA
Govt summons French ambassador for reprimand over ‘hostile plans’ by Paris
Algeria has summoned French Ambassador Stéphane Romatet for reprimand over what it called “hostile plans” by the French intelligence service, according to Algerian media on Sunday, Anadolu reports. Romatet was summoned to the Foreign Ministry last week to address accusations of French intelligence involvement in destabilizing campaigns in Algeria, the state-run newspaper El Moudjahid reported. The newspaper said the reprimand followed revelations that the French intelligence service had recruited former Algerian militants to undermine the country’s stability. It cited the case of Mohamed Amine Aissaoui, who was recently featured in a televised confession on Algeria television speaking of a purported conspiracy directed by French intelligence. Algerian authorities warned the French diplomat that such actions “won’t go unanswered” or stand idly by in response to “attacks on its sovereignty,” the newspaper said. There was no French comment on the Algeria media report. This development marks another chapter in the already strained relations between Algeria and France, which have been marred by disputes over historical memory, migration, and the Western Sahara conflict.
EGYPT/ETHIOPIA
Could Africa’s largest water dispute be avoided with open science?
One of the biggest conflicts in the Middle East and Eastern Africa is brewing over natural resources. In this case—the water from the Nile River and how upstream damming affects the countries Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt, and their share of water and hydropower. A new article in Communications Earth & Environment provides a scientific framework for operating the Nile’s “mega” dams during prolonged droughts to balance generating sustainable hydropower while minimizing the water deficit for people living downstream. Most of the Nile River flows originate from the highlands in Ethiopia and flow northward to the lowlands in Egypt and to the Mediterranean. The rising dispute is over what control the dam operators should have over the flowing water during prolonged periods of drought. While Egypt relies on the Nile for water, Ethiopia relies on its newly completed mega-dam, named Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), for hydroelectric power. Basically…the upstream is in a dire need for energy and downstream is in a dire need for water.
MOROCCO
Jubiliation after official nomination of Morocco, Portugal, Spain as 2030 World Cup hosts
The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) celebrated, on Wednesday in Salé, the official designation of Morocco, Portugal and Spain as hosts of the 2030 World Cup by the FIFA Congress, gathered in an extraordinary session by videoconference. The celebration, held at the Mohammed VI Football Complex, was attended by several officials, sports figures, former Moroccan and African soccer legends, as well as members of the FRMF. On this occasion, FRMF vice-president Mohamed Joudar highlighted the efforts made by Morocco over the last few years to host the world soccer’s flagship event. “Hosting the 2030 World Cup is the fruit of Morocco’s sports policy, under the enlightened leadership of HM King Mohammed VI, and the investments made to strengthen sports infrastructure and training,” Joudar told the press. “This is a historic day for Morocco, Spain and Portugal.” Head of the African football federation (CAF) congratulated Morocco on this African achievement. “The alliance between Morocco, Portugal, and Spain represents a symbolic bridge between Africa and Europe through football, and it inspires all stakeholders in the football world to work together to make the world a better place,” CAF president Patrice Motsepe said.
AFRICA-GENERAL NEWS
Security strategy of recruiting cheap militiamen backfires in Africa
Burkina Faso is now home to one of the deadliest conflicts in West Africa. To beef up the ranks of his embattled military, Captain Ibrahim Traoré’s government recruited tens of thoussands of men into a civilian militia, known as the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland. The militia was created by a previous leader to protect communities against the insurgents. But under Captain Traoré, it has spread unchecked violence and pitted local populations against each other, with minority ethic groups being brutally targeted in what some analysts fear will lead to a civil war. In northeast Nigeria, members of a civilian militia assisting the country’s fight against Boko Haram have been accused of sexual violence, child recruitment and summary executions. In Sudan, the militia known as the Rapid Support Forces triggered a war that has caused the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. In each case, the strategy of using a civilian militia to augment military power has backfired, deepening a spiral of violence that further endangers the local population and fuels interethnic tensions. Because most of the Qaeda-affiliated insurgents waging a war in Burkina Faso are from the Fulani ethnic group, Fulani civilians have often been accused of collaborating with the jihadists and are disproportionately targeted by the militia. Researchers have described the militia’s violence — and the state’s complicity in it — as “a public policy.” There is a direct connection between the scaling up of the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland under Captain Traoré and the “targeting of Fulani populations and the massive influx of refugees in Ivory Coast,” said Jean-Baptiste Zongo, an independent security analyst from Burkina Faso living in Ivory Coast.
The EU has updated its Air Safety List, and 10 African carriers have been blacklisted
The European Union’s Air Safety List, often referred to as the EU Flight Blacklist, includes airlines that are banned from operating within EU airspace, primarily due to concerns about their safety standards or the lack of adequate oversight from their national aviation authorities. Airlines from African nations, despite the region’s significant air travel demands, have faced repeated scrutiny for not adhering to internationally recognized safety protocols. Thus, according to the latest EU data, 10 African carriers have been declared too dangerous to be in European airspace. They include air carriers from the DRCongo, Angola, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. The EU has provided affected airlines with a potential way to lift the ban by using wet-leased aircraft or partnering with an airline that is not subject to an operating ban. A banned airline can also request removal from the blacklist once it meets the required technical standards and adheres to the applicable international safety regulations.
UN talks fail to reach agreement on dealing with rising risk of global drought
Despite two weeks of U.N.-sponsored talks in Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh, the participating 197 nations failed to agree early Saturday on a plan to deal with global droughts, made longer and more severe by a warming climate. The biennial talks, known as COP 16 and organized by a UN body that deals with combating desertification and droughts, attempted to create strong global mandates to legally bind and require nations to fund early warning systems and build resilient infrastructure in poorer countries, particularly Africa, which is worst affected by the changes. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification released a report earlier this week warning that if global warming trends continue, nearly five billion people — including in most of Europe, parts of the western U.S., Brazil, eastern Asia and central Africa — will be affected by the drying of Earth’s lands by the end of the century, up from a quarter of the world’s population today. The report also said farming was particularly at risk, which can lead to food insecurity for communities worldwide. This is the fourth time UN talks aimed at getting countries to agree to make more headway on tackling biodiversity loss, climate change and plastic pollution have either failed to reach a consensus or delivered disappointing results this year, worrying many nations, particularly the most vulnerable.
World Bank to mobilize record $100 billion for world’s poorest Nations
The World Bank (WB) announced on Friday, December 6, in Seoul that it will mobilize an unprecedented $100 billion over the next three years to support the world’s poorest nations. This milestone marks the culmination of a year-long fundraising effort spearheaded by the International Development Association (IDA), the WB’s arm dedicated to providing grants and low-interest loans to 78 low-income countries, primarily in Africa. The $100 billion target will be achieved through the World Bank’s leveraging model, which multiplies nearly $24 billion pledged by donor countries. While African nations had initially sought $120 billion, the $100 billion allocation represents a record-level refinancing for the IDA. Despite a challenging global fiscal environment, some donor nations increased their contributions by as much as 50%, demonstrating robust commitment to the cause.
As the world’s largest source of climate financing, the IDA has allocated $270 billion over the past decade, with more than two-thirds channeled to African nations.
The Age of super-profits for global firms operating in Africa’s resource sector is at its climax
After decades of largely being sidelined while profits from their mineral resources accrued to foreign firms and kleptocratic local leaders, Africa’s new leaders, both democratic and autocratic, want a greater slice of the pie. Some want to achieve this at the negotiating table while others employ much rougher methods. Multinational companies should hurry to find sustainable ways in which they can share risk and revenue with governments, as they do in jurisdictions like Norway (where taxes are as high as 78%) and the United Arab Emirates. Animating Kenya’s anti-tax government shutdown this year, concepts of “decoloniality” now drive youth protests, inspire coup leaders such as those in Mali and drive some policy making in democratic states. It is particularly influential in countries where large oil, gas, and mineral finds have been made, from Namibia to Mozambique and South Africa. Its influence has seen old and new mining contracts in Botswana, Senegal, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and elsewhere being renegotiated.
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