News That Matters To Africa©️
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty.”
HIGHLIGHTS
Ethiopia’s Election Board revokes TPLF’s legal status
Former Mauritanian president jailed for 15 years following appeal
Ramaphosa prepares for crucial talks with Trump
US denies report of relocation of Palestinians to Libya
35 people killed in intercommunal clash in Chad
ICC prosecutor takes leave amidst scandal
World’s anti-doping agency revokes status of Africa’s only testing lab.
TOP NEWS
UNITED NATIONS
AFRICA-GENERAL NEWS
EASTERN AFRICA
DR CONGO
Legislators in Congo move closer to waiving Kabila’s immunity
The Senate of the Democratic Republic of Congo met on Thursday to consider a request by the executive to lift the parliamentary immunity of former president and senator-for-life Joseph Kabila. The Senate announced it would issue a decision “in 72 hours”. The request was submitted by the Auditor-General of the Armed Forces at the behest of Justice Minister Constant Mutamba. The Justice Ministry accuses the former president of “treason, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.” Mr Mutamba claims they have “proof of the involvement” of Kabila—President Félix Tshisekedi’s predecessor—in activities linked to the AFC/M23 rebellion in the east. The prospect of a formal indictment has stirred strong reactions within the Congolese political class. Félix Momat, a former deputy minister for Budget, condemned the move to lift Kabila’s immunity as a “manifestly irregular procedure” being pursued “in an illegal and politically motivated manner.” Florimond Muteba, a prominent civil society activist, echoed the concern, saying: “This initiative is in flagrant violation of Article 104 of the Constitution. The law stipulates that only a majority of the assembled Congress can decide on this lifting. The Senate alone does not constitute Congress. It is imperative that Congress be convened to take an informed decision on this issue.”
Trump senior Africa adviser discussed peace plan with Rwanda, Congo leaders
President Donald Trump’s senior adviser for Africa said on Thursday he spoke with the presidents of Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo about a draft peace deal this week, as Washington seeks to end a decades-long conflict in the region. The United States is awaiting final feedback due this weekend from Rwanda and Congo on the draft agreement, Massad Boulos said in an interview in Washington. He added that there may still be amendments and adjustments, but he hopes it can be concluded in coming weeks. The Trump administration, which has sought to strike peace accords in multiple regions and prioritized U.S. access to critical minerals, has been seeking to end the conflict in a region rich in tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper and lithium. Boulos said he spoke with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi to touch base, adding that they were pleased with the progress that had been made. Congo and Rwanda earlier this month submitted a proposal as part of a process meant to end the fighting in eastern Congo and attract billions of dollars of Western investment. Boulos said they worked on the drafts and came up with the current one. “We are awaiting the final feedback from both parties,” Boulos said on Thursday. “As soon as we finalize this last round, as indicated before, Secretary Rubio is ready and prepared to host them here. So we hope this can be concluded as quickly as possible in the coming few weeks,” he said, referring to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Hundreds of Rwandans who fled to Congo after the 1994 genocide return in UN repatriation
Hundreds of Rwandan refugees who were living in eastern Congo since the 1994 genocide in Rwanda were repatriated on Saturday, the U.N. refugee agency said, after Rwandan-backed rebels seized key parts of the region. Most of the refugees were women and children, and 360 of them crossed the border in buses provided by Rwandan authorities and were escorted by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, and aid group Save the Children, local authorities said. The goal is to repatriate 2,000 people, UNHCR said. They were among the hundreds of thousands of Hutus who fled Rwanda after the state-sponsored 1994 genocide that left up to a million minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead. Most had returned when Tutsi-led Rwandan troops first invaded Congo in 1996. But Rwandan authorities said thousands of Hutu militiamen and ex-soldiers had stayed and joined Congo’s army to destabilize Rwanda.
Congo’s coltan miners dig for world’s tech — and struggle regardless of who is in charge
Nestled in the green hills of Masisi territory in Congo, the artisanal Rubaya mining have been at the center of the fighting, changing hands between the Congolese government and rebel groups. For over a year now, it has been controlled by the M23 rebels, who earlier this year advanced and seized the strategic city of Goma and Bukavu in a major escalation of the conflict. Despite the country’s exceptional mineral wealth, over 70% of Congolese live on less than $2.15 a day. For the men working in the Rubaya’s mines, who rely on the mining for their livelihoods, little has changed over decades of violence. The mines produce coltan — short for columbite-tantalite — an ore from which the metals tantalum and niobium are extracted. Both are considered critical raw materials by the United States, the European Union, China and Japan. Tantalum is used in mobile phones, computers and automotive electronics, as well as in aircraft engines, missile components and GPS systems. Niobium is used in pipelines, rockets and jet engines. Congo produced about 40% of the world’s coltan in 2023, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, with Australia, Canada and Brazil being other major suppliers.
ETHIOPIA
Election Board revokes TPLF’s legal status
The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) has officially revoked the legal status of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), citing the party’s failure to implement “corrective measures” ordered by the Board. The decision, effective 05 May 2025, follows the expiration of a three-month deadline issued to the TPLF in February 2025. According to NEBE, the TPLF “did not fulfill” the requirements under Proclamation No. 1332/2016, which allows political parties registered under “special circumstances “including those with a history of armed struggle”, to be placed under a provisional recognition. Under this framework, the TPLF was registered in August 2024, with conditions including the need to hold a general assembly within six months and notify the Board 21 days in advance to allow monitoring, according to the Board. The TPLF, however, maintains that it never recognized the “special registration” offered by NEBE, insisting that the November 2022 Pretoria Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) grants it de facto reinstatement. The party argues that the Pretoria Agreement, signed between the federal government and the TPLF to end the two-year war in northern Ethiopia, requires the restoration of its pre-war legal status. In its decision today, the NEBE said the TPLF’s argument “is not acceptable.” Last week, the TPLF accused NEBE and the federal government of undermining the peace accord and jeopardizing the fragile political process. “Denying our legal recognition undermines the very foundation of the peace accord,” the party declared. “The Electoral Board continues its political stance that undermines trust under the guise of legal cover.”
TPLF warns, once again, of ‘grave threat’ to Pretoria Agreement amid looming recognition dispute with Electoral Board
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has once again issued a strong statement accusing the Ethiopian government and the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) of undermining the Pretoria Agreement, warning that the refusal to reinstate the party’s legal recognition poses a “serious threat” to the fragile peace process. In a statement released late Friday from its head office in Mekelle, the capital of Tigray region, the TPLF said that its legal status was unjustly revoked in early 2021 during the height of the two-year brutal war in the Tigray region. “The Pretoria Agreement is the primary legal document directly linking our organization and the FDRE government,” the statement read. “Denying our legal recognition undermines the very foundation of the peace accord.”… The TPLF argues that the November 2022 Pretoria Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA), signed between the TPLF and the federal government grants a de facto restoration of its legitimate status as a party. The Pretoria Agreement also paved the way for the establishment of the Tigray Interim Administration in March 2023, in which the TPLF held 51% representation.
KENYA
Kenyan-led Haiti Mission faces uncertain future a year later
The future of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission in Haiti remains uncertain as it approaches the first anniversary of its deployment in June last year. A contingent of 400 Kenyan police officers is expected to return to Nairobi in June, marking the end of their one-year contract with the mission. Meanwhile, approximately 261 officers designated for deployment remain stranded in Nairobi due to limited space and a lack of technical and financial support. An analysis by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC) suggests that, combined with the deteriorating situation in Haiti, these factors signal a mission that may be nearing its end. “Gangs have increased their power and territorial control, and the mission still faces critical challenges in terms of funding, institutional articulation and coordination with local authorities, as well as a possible resurgence of political opposition in Nairobi,” the organisation states in its report, Haiti on the Brink as Kenya’s Aid Mission Remains Paralyzed. The report highlights that the mission is caught between political realignment in the United States and paralysis in international aid efforts, leaving it in a fragile and unsustainable position. “While a peacekeeping mission plan under the auspices of the Organisation of American States is under discussion, the Kenyan-led mission remains in limbo. In addition to urgent financial support, a strategic redesign is needed to finally establish the operational and tactical foundations of the mission, re-evaluate its collaboration with the Haitian National Police (HNP), and enable it to adapt to a worsening security crisis,” the report adds.
Govt defends labour deal with Saudi Arabia, & dismisses Amnesty report
Kenya’s Embassy in Saudi Arabia has defended the country’s labour agreement with the Gulf nation, saying it protects the rights of Kenyan migrant workers and provides safe, fair working conditions. In a statement issued on Saturday, Ambassador Mohammed Ramadhan Ruwange criticised a new Amnesty International report for what he described as misleading information about the conditions faced by Kenyan domestic workers in Saudi Arabia. “The government of Kenya recognises the importance of advocacy for the rights of migrant workers,” said the ambassador. “However, it is unfortunate that the report contains glaring inaccuracies, exaggerated claims, misconceptions and unverified allegations that unfairly misrepresent the realities,” he added. The Ambassador was reacting to the release, by Amnesty International, of “Locked In, Left Out: The Hidden Lives of Kenyan Domestic Workers in Saudi Arabia”, a report based on testimonies from over 70 women. According to Mohammed, the Kenya-Saudi Bilateral Labour Agreement ensures protection and fairness for workers, based on internationally accepted labour standards. The statement outlined several reforms introduced by Saudi Arabia to safeguard migrant workers.
Martha Karua faces deportation from Tanzania
Martha Karua, a presidential candidate who also represents opposition figures on trial in neighbouring countries, was arrested in Tanzania on Sunday, according to a spokesperson. Karua posted on X network later on Sunday that she was “awaiting deportation after retrieving our bags.” Karua has been representing Tanzanian opposition leader Tindu Lissu, who is on trial for treason and faces a possible death penalty. Lissu is due in court on Monday. The trial comes as Tanzania prepares for elections in October. Karua “was detained at the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam, questioned for three hours, her passport was confiscated and she is awaiting deportation”, the spokesperson said. A former justice minister in Kenya, Karua has been vocal about “democratic backsliding” in the East Africa region. She has also been representing Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye, who was kidnapped in Kenya last year and taken back to his home country to also face treason charges. “What we are seeing is total erosion of democratic principles in the three countries: Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda,” Karua said in an interview earlier this month. “All these countries now have become dangerous, not just to others but to their own nationals. I tie this to the forthcoming elections,” she said. She accused the leadership of the three countries of “collaborating.” “It’s a pattern,” she said. “They are neutering the opposition ahead of elections.”
Is President William Ruto facing a global publicity crisis?
As domestic unrest in Kenya grows, President William Ruto’s carefully crafted global image is unravelling. Internal discontent is eroding Ruto’s international standing, which can potentially damage Kenya’s position as a regional sanctuary. Ruto’s early days in office were marked by a strong focus on championing African interests on the global stage. Today, not so much…In April 2024, President Ruto consolidated this global recognition when Time Magazine named him one of the 100 Most Influential People of the Year, underscoring his growing stature on the international stage. Ruto’s leadership in convening the landmark African Climate Summit in Nairobi the previous year, in September 2023, was pivotal in promoting his positive image on the global scene. But Ruto’s newfound prominence on the international stage also coincided with mounting challenges at home in Kenya. High inflation and rising unemployment spurred widespread discontent…This wave of economic discontent was compounded by growing perceptions of poor governance and persistent corruption scandalsinvolving key figures within Ruto’s administration. Together, these issues have eroded the president’s domestic standing, fostering a burgeoning movement of opposition against his leadership. The dissonance between Ruto’s shining international advocacy and ailing domestic governance has exposed a gap that has become a core aspect of his continuing publicity crisis.
Commentary: Kenya shouldn’t let China build its Foreign Affairs headquarters
Diplomacy requires secure space—and absolute national control. When a foreign nation funds and constructs that building, it introduces significant concerns over diplomatic sovereignty.
US, European anti-rights groups descend on ‘family values’ events in Kenya
The Pan-African conference on Family Values began in Nairobi with a call to wage a “biblical” fight for the family unit…The conference is one of several planned across Africa this year, backed by wealthy US ultra-Christian groups, including Family Watch International, Christian Council International, the Center for Family and Human Rights, and the Family Policy Institute. However, the Africa Christian Professionals Forum (ACPF) received a backlash following an earlier announcement, that had announced an all-white panel, meant to hold discussions on African matters. They subsequently revised its speakers list for the event. European and American groups have spent more than a decade channelling millions of dollars into funding anti-LGBT and anti-abortion narratives in Africa in a bid to spread influence and change laws to align with their conservative values. “There is nowhere that they have been anywhere in Africa where good has followed,” says women’s rights lawyer and Amnesty International Kenya board member, Tabitha Saoyo. Their presence in Nairobi this week likely means “they will influence law and they will influence policy”, she adds.
SOMALIA
Mogadishu suicide bomber kills at least 13 at army recruitment drive
At least 13 people were killed on Sunday after a suicide bomber targeted a queue of young recruits registering at the Damanyo military base in the Somali capital Mogadishu, according to witnesses, in an attack claimed by militant group Al Shabaab. Teenagers were lining up at the base’s gate when the attacker detonated their explosives, they said. A military captain who gave his name as Suleiman described the attack as he had seen it unfold. “I was on the other side of the road. A speeding tuk-tuk stopped, a man alighted, ran into the queue, and then blew himself up. I saw 10 people dead, including recruits and passers-by. The death toll may rise,” he said. Dozens of abandoned shoes and the remains of the suicide bomber were visible at the scene. Another witness, Abdisalan Mohamed, said he had seen “hundreds of teenagers at the gate as we passed by in a bus”. “Abruptly, a deafening blast occurred, and the area was covered by dense smoke. We could not see the details of casualties,” he said.
Puntland acquires four attack helicopters to boost war against ISIS
Puntland’s acquisition of four new attack helicopters is expected to significantly enhance its fight against the Islamic State (ISIS), according to regional authorities. General Mahamud Ahmed Fadhiigo, spokesperson for the Puntland Counter-Terrorism Operation, told The Eastleigh Voice that Puntland forces have surrounded ISIS militants in their latest hideout in the Almiskaad’s mountains. He confirmed that some fighters—mostly of African descent—have surrendered, but noted that foreign fighters remain defiant. “…the four new fighter helicopters are a game changer for us, and we hope to soon wrap up this operation,” said General Mahamud. Puntland officially declared war on ISIS militants in November 2024, launching a large-scale offensive under the code name Lightning—or Hilaac in Somali. This marks the region’s first major military campaign since the 2016 Qandala operations, when Qandala served as a key ISIS stronghold. The conflict has so far displaced thousands and resulted in hundreds of civilian deaths, along with an unspecified number of casualties among Puntland forces. The spokesperson did not disclose how many soldiers had been lost in the current operation.
OpEd: Sufi vs Jihadists In Mogadishu
A weak Somali state struggles to defeat the attraction of a foreign import, al-Shabaab.
Essay: Understanding Somalia’s Destruction
How democracy and the postindependence ‘romance of the state’ gave way to disillusionment and a ruinous civil war
SOUTH SUDAN
’Knives Are Out’ in South Sudan as Vice President Is held in detention
Riek Machar, the vice president of South Sudan, has been detained at his residence in an upscale neighborhood of the capital, Juba, since March. Armored personnel carriers block the gate of the sprawling compound and security officers wielding AK-47s patrol the perimeter. Inside, Mr. Machar lives in isolation, his phones and laptop seized. His wife, a government minister, is staying separately in the compound. While she is allowed to cook for him, she is not allowed to deliver the meals herself. South Sudan’s tenuous peace is on the verge of collapse, with Mr. Machar accused of inciting an antigovernment rebellion led by a militia known as the White Army…fears are spreading that oil-rich South Sudan will once again explode into war, setting off a mass exodus of refugees that would spill into neighboring nations like Ethiopia and Sudan, both burdened by war and famine. The turmoil has already drawn in Uganda, which deployed troops in March to back President Salva Kiir’s government. The rivalry between Mr. Kiir and Mr. Machar has shaped South Sudan’s short independence, with both men accused of profiteering and their forces accused of war crimes. Mr. Kiir’s government has rejected mediation and blocked envoys from meeting with Mr. Machar. Many of Mr. Machar’s top associates have been arrested or disappeared, are in hiding or have fled the country, party officials said.
S.Sudan medical system collapsing
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Thursday that attacks on medical facilities were rising in South Sudan as “major conflict” caused mass displacement, leaving under-resourced health centres struggling to cope. South Sudan has long grappled with insecurity and political instability, but tensions between President Salva Kiir and his rival, Vice-President Riek Machar, have spilt over into clashes between their forces around the country in recent months. International attention has focused on fighting in Upper Nile State, but MSF warned that clashes were also occurring in the states of Jonglei, Unity, and Western Central Equatorial. MSF teams witnessed entire villages displaced, saying “hospitals, health facilities and community facilities have been abandoned as well from their staff. The UN says eight medical facilities have been struck this year, and MSF believes the figure could be even higher.
SUDAN
Drone attacks cut power across Khartoum state two years into Sudan war
Drone attacks cut power across Khartoum and the surrounding state, authorities said on Thursday, as Rapid Support Forces paramilitaries pressed on with a campaign of long-distance attacks more than two years into their war with Sudan’s army. The RSF, which has largely been pushed out of central Sudan in recent months, has switched tactics from ground assaults to drone attacks on power stations, dams and other infrastructure in army-held territory. Drones struck Khartoum state on Wednesday night, the Sudanese Electrical Company said in a statement. Staff were trying to put out large fires and assess and repair the damage, it added. The war between the two forces has devastated the country, pushed more than 13 million people out of their homes and spread famine and disease. Tens of thousands of people have died in fighting. RSF drone strikes on the army’s wartime capital Port Sudan and other areas have plunged most of the country into extended blackouts. They have also hit water supplies, piling on the hardships and raising the risk of the spread of cholera and other diseases.
Sudan’s women ‘bear the brunt of war as maternal deaths surge’
Sudan’s brutal war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), now entering its third year, has exacted a devastating toll on women, whose suffering is deepening amid a near-total collapse of the country’s health system. Maternal mortality has surged, with pregnant women and new mothers among the most vulnerable in a country plagued by displacement, hunger and poverty. The maternal mortality rate has climbed to 295 deaths per 100,000 live births, according to figures from the Federal Ministry of Health. Health Minister Haitham Mohammed Ibrahim stated that “the number of pregnant deaths observed between June 2023 and July 2024 reached 870 deaths, including 350 deaths that occurred inside hospitals and health facilities.” The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that more than 1.1 million pregnant women in Sudan now lack access to basic services such as antenatal care, safe delivery and postpartum care. Dr Adiba Ibrahim, a member of the Sudanese Medical Association, warned that 90 percent of the country’s health institutions have collapsed. “This has worsened the health care situation, especially in conflict zones,” she said.
Essay: Sudan’s World War
Commentary: Sudan Is Unraveling: Why War is Likely to Once Again Tear the Country Apart
East African young women making drones for Russia war
The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC) has released a report revealing that thousands of young women from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, South Africa, Ethiopia, and Zambia are working in hazardous conditions in Russia, manufacturing weapons to support the ongoing conflict with Ukraine. The watchdog details how hundreds of African youth have been transported to Russia to work in drone manufacturing factories—assignments they were unaware of when they initially signed up for training programs in the country. At the heart of the report is the Alabuga Special Economic Zone (Alabuga SEZ), a large industrial and engineering complex located in the Tatarstan region of southwest Russia. Facing a significant labour shortage—partly due to Russia’s military mobilisation—the management of Alabuga SEZ has reportedly been staffing its drone production facilities with students from Alabuga Polytech, a college situated within the complex.
According to the report, many migrant workers are recruited through an international programme known as Alabuga Start. This initiative targets young women aged 18–22, primarily from Africa, but also from Latin America, South Asia, and former Soviet states.
WEST AFRICA
BURKINA FASO
Sankara Mausoleum officially inaugurated
The Mausoleum of Captain Thomas Sankara and his 12 companions was inaugurated on Saturday, May 17, 2025, in Ouagadougou. The ceremony was presided over by Burkina Faso’s Prime Minister, Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo, representing President Captain Ibrahim Traoré. The event drew notable attendance, including the Prime Ministers of Senegal, Ousmane Sonko, and Chad, Allah-Maye Halina, alongside numerous political, administrative, traditional, religious, military, paramilitary, and diplomatic figures. A large media presence also covered the occasion. The Mausoleum was constructed to honor the memory of Captain Thomas Sankara and his twelve companions, who were killed alongside him. It serves both to commemorate their dedication and to preserve and promote the political legacy of the leader of the August 1983 Revolution. It also represents a dignified burial offered by the Burkinabe state and people to President Sankara and his comrades. As part of the ceremony, 21 cannon shots were fired in tribute to Sankara and his fallen companions. Additionally, several streets in the capital were renamed after the twelve companions, complementing the existing avenue dedicated to Captain Thomas Sankara.
GABON
Ousted president Bongo flies to Angola with family
Gabon’s ousted former president Ali Bongo has flown to Angola with his wife and son, who had been freed almost two years after being detained following a coup, Angola’s presidency said on Friday. The family were welcomed “for humanitarian reasons,” presidency spokesperson Luis Fernando said. “They will then decide what they want to do, in other words, which country they want to go and live in as exiles,” he added. The presidency posted photos that it said showed Bongo arriving at Luanda airport, 700 miles (1,100km) down Africa’s western coast from Gabon’s capital on Thursday night. It said the family had been freed after diplomatic representations from Angola. Sylvia Bongo, 62, and son Noureddin, 33, were taken into custody shortly after the August 2023 coup and accused of crimes including embezzlement and money laundering. They were transferred to house arrest on May 9, two sources familiar with the case said. They had most recently been held in basement cells in the presidential palace in Libreville, one of the sources said. Ali Bongo, now 66, was initially placed under house arrest after the coup, though officials later said he was free to move as he wished. His supporters said that was untrue.
MAURITANIA
Former Mauritanian president jailed for 15 years following appeal
Mauritania’s former president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on corruption charges following an appeal to a Nouakchott court by both the state and Aziz’s defence against a 5 year sentence imposed in 2023. Abdel Aziz led the West African country for a decade after coming to power in a 2008 coup, followed by an election a year later. He was an ally of Western powers fighting Islamist militants in the Sahel region. Abdel Aziz, who has denied corruption allegations, was found guilty of economic crimes and abuse of power. “It is a decision that reflects the pressure the executive branch exerts on the judiciary,” noted defence lawyer Mohameden Ichidou, adding that the defence would appeal against the decision to the Supreme Court. Abdel Aziz was elected on a five-year mandate in 2009 and for a second term in 2014. An election in 2019 led to a peaceful transfer of power to Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, initially an ally of Abdel Aziz, but whose parliament later brought charges against him.
Neighbours outraged over Mauritania’s mass migrant pushback
On a recent weekday in March, men, women, and even children – all with their belongings heaped on their heads or strapped to their bodies – disembarked from the ferry they say they were forcibly hauled onto from the vast northwest African nation of Mauritania to the Senegalese town of Rosso, on the banks of the Senegal River. Their offence? Being migrants from the region, they told reporters, regardless of whether they had legal residency papers. The deportees are among hundreds of West Africans who have been rounded up by Mauritanian security forces, detained, and sent over the border to Senegal and Mali in recent months, human rights groups say. According to one estimate from the Mauritanian Association for Human Rights (AMDH),1,200 people were pushed back in March alone, even though about 700 of them had residence permits. The largely desert country – which has signed expensive deals with the European Union to keep migrants from taking the risky boat journey across the Atlantic Ocean to Western shores – has called the pushbacks necessary to crack down on human smuggling networks. However, its statements have done little to calm rare anger from its neighbours, Mali and Senegal, whose citizens make up a huge number of those sent back. Mali’s government, in a statement in March, expressed “indignation” at the treatment of its nationals, adding that “the conditions of arrest are in flagrant violation of human rights and the rights of migrants in particular.”
NIGERIA
Trans Niger oil pipeline bursts, spills crude, rights group says
A second incident affecting the Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP), in two months burst and spilled oil into the local B-Dere community in Ogoniland, an environmental rights group said on Thursday. The pipeline is a major oil artery transporting crude from onshore oilfields to the Bonny export terminal. Nnimmo Bassey, executive director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation, said the spill, which occurred on May 6, was yet to be stopped, adding that the slow response showed a lack of care for the people and was “unconscionable.” Ogoniland, one of Africa’s earliest crude oil producing areas, has been dealing with oil pollution for decades, but its profits have often flowed to the big oil companies and to Nigerian state coffers. The TNP, with a capacity of around 450,000 barrels per day, is one of two conduits that export Bonny Light crude from Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer. Pipeline sabotage and crude theft are some of the major reasons that forced oil majors like Shell, Exxon Mobil, Total and Eni to sell their onshore and shallow-water fields in Nigeria to concentrate on deep-water operations.
Living in part-time exile on the Niger-Nigeria border
Since May 2021, Illela has been under siege by relentless bandit attacks; the raids have left scores dead, homes burned and entire families torn apart. The attacks have also rendered Illela, once a thriving rural hub, a ghost town by night and created a peculiar new kind of refugee in the region: the cross-border commuter. Many residents work in the town during the daylight, but flee to safety each night across the border to the small town of Birni-N’Konni, in neighboring Niger. For generations, the flow of traffic was toward Illela: It has a large livestock market, and merchants used to come from as far away as Mali to buy and sell their cattle, grain and goods. Both towns thrived in this cross-border trade, with buyers, herders and families moving freely, mixing markets, customs and even marriages. A shared identity was forged. Then the banditry started, and everything changed. Since the late 2010s, northwestern Nigeria has been consumed by banditry — a kind of criminal terror that is as hard to define as it has been to combat. Groups of well-armed fighters, loosely aligned but not ideological, have swept through several states in campaigns of looting, cattle rustling and kidnapping for ransom. The gangs take over rice farms, grazing lands, villages and towns, in what are often largely random attacks. Thousands of people have been killed; hundreds of thousands more have been displaced.
34,000 Nigerians secured US citizenship in three years
The United States granted citizenship to 34,289 Nigerians between 2020 and 2022, the latest Naturalisations Annual Flow Report from the US Department of Homeland Security shows. Compiled by the Office of Homeland Security Statistics (OHSS), the report pulls its numbers from Form N-400—the application form every would-be American files. The data is also drawn from the electronic case files that US Citizenship and Immigration Services use to track each applicant from fingerprinting to the oath ceremony. The 3 year Nigerian tally makes up three per cent of all 248,553 Africans who naturalised in that period. More Nigerians were naturalised within that period, followed by the DRC, whose naturalisations almost doubled in 2022 to about 6,000. Other African applicants from Ethiopia to Ghana, Kenya and beyond are bundled into the “All other countries” category. Overall, naturalisations of Africans jumped 40 per cent between 2021 and 2022, the highest increase per region recorded. Across all regions, Mexico accounted for 326,237 naturalisations for the three years. India followed with 171,114 naturalisations, steadily rising from 48,111, 57,043 and 65,960 for 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively.
Essay: Luxury apartment developments add to inequality in Lagos
In recent years, Lagos has witnessed a surge in waterfront developments, mirroring the urban landscapes of cities like Miami and Los Angeles. Rather than fostering inclusive growth, these developments have intensified socio-spatial inequality while increasing climate vulnerabilities, such as rising sea levels and increased inner-city flooding.
SOUTHERN AFRICA
SOUTH AFRICA
Ramaphosa prepares for crucial talks with Trump amid Afrikaner concerns
As President Cyril Ramaphosa prepared for his meeting with his counterpart, Donald Trump, this week, his spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said the president did not see the Afrikaner “refugee” matter as important, as it “does not define US-South Africa relations.” Ramaphosa was mostly prepared to engage Trump on economic and trade issues, but was aware that the issue of his government taking the Israeli administration to the International Court of Justice might come up strongly during the discussions at the White House. Ramaphosa and some ministers will visit Washington, D.C. from Monday to Thursday to meet his counterpart, who on February 10 signed an Executive Order, which was seen to be threatening to cut ties with South Africa. This will be the first diplomatic face-to-face meeting since Trump was inaugurated in January. Magwenya said Ramaphosa would not be apologetic or back down on refuting the distortion of facts regarding the treatment of Afrikaners. Magwenya emphasised that the most important issue on Ramaphosa’s agenda was the trade relationship. He said Ramaphosa would seek clarity on Trump’s position on the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which would expire in September and whose future under Trump was uncertain.
South African Catholic leaders refute U.S. claims of white genocide
Catholic leaders in South Africa have blasted the Trump administration over claims of an ongoing genocide against white South Africans. U.S. President Donald Trump recently claimed that “genocide” was taking place in South Africa. He said white farmers were being “brutally killed” and their “land is being confiscated.” White farmers, most being Afrikaans-speaking South Africans, are descendants of Europeans who settled at the southern tip of Africa in the mid-17th century. Over time, they developed a distinct cultural identity, but their expansion also led to the dispossession of African communities from their ancestral lands. Afrikaner dominance of South Africa ended in 1994, when black people were allowed to vote for the first time in a nationwide election, bringing Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) to power. The legacy of apartheid lived on… Johan Viljoen, Director of the Denis Hurley Peace Institute of the South African Bishops’ Conference, dismissed the claim as baseless, telling Crux that there is “absolutely no evidence” to support allegations of genocide against whites or Afrikaans people in South Africa. Viljoen, himself an Afrikaner, argued that such statements reflect President Trump’s fundamental misunderstanding — either of the concept of genocide or of South Africa’s complex 400-year history.
OpEd: Donald Trump embraces South Africans — the white ones
Pictorial: His photographs cut through apartheid — and never diminished their subjects
David Goldblatt’s photographs, on view in a brilliant retrospective – co-organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Yale University Art Gallery – exposed the moral rot of apartheid while preserving the humanity of the South Africans who lived it.
ZAMBIA
Second opposition lawmaker jailed for hate speech
Maureen Mabonga, a Zambian parliamentarian from the former ruling Patriotic Front party, was sentenced to eight months in prison on Friday for “seditious practices” that included inciting a “national uprising” on ethnic grounds. The prosecution had requested the magistrate in the capital, Lusaka, to convict Mabonga of two separate charges. However, after hearing arguments from both sides, the magistrate sentenced Mabonga to eight months in jail and a fine of 1,600 Zambian Kwachas (just under $100). Mabonga, a member of parliament for Mfuwe constituency in eastern Zambia, is the second opposition parliamentarian to face jail in the same month, following the conviction of Munir Zulu. Magistrate Kasanda stated in his ruling that Mabonga uttered seditious words that had the potential to incite a national uprising on political and ethnic grounds. Mabonga was accused of uttering seditious words in Lusaka during in May 2024, which were interpreted as inciting violence against a specific ethnic group. Under Zambian law, any convicted parliamentarian loses their seat, and a by-election in the region of concern will be held within the next three months.
ZIMBABWE
Zimbabwe is full of elephants and conflict with villagers is growing. A new approach hopes to help
A new system of tracking elephants wearing GPS collars was launched last year by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and the International Fund for Animal Welfare. It aims to prevent dangerous encounters between people and elephants, which are more frequent as climate change worsens competition for food and water. For generations, villagers banged pots, shouted or burned dung to drive away elephants. But worsening droughts and shrinking resources have pushed the animals to raid villages more often, destroying crops and infrastructure and sometimes injuring or killing people. Zimbabwe’s elephant population is estimated at around 100,000, nearly double the land’s capacity. The country hasn’t culled elephants in close to four decades. That’s because of pressure from wildlife conservation activists, and because the process is expensive, according to parks spokesman Tinashe Farawo. Technology now supports the traditional tactics. Through the EarthRanger platform introduced by IFAW, authorities track collared elephants in real time. Maps show their proximity to the buffer zone — delineated on digital maps, not by fences — that separate the park and hunting concessions from community land. At a park restaurant one morning IFAW field operations manager Arnold Tshipa monitored moving icons on his laptop. When an icon crossed a red line, signaling a breach, an alert pinged… Villagers like Senzeni Sibanda say the system is making a difference: “We still bang pans, but now we get warnings in time and rangers react more quickly.”
NORTH AFRICA
LIBYA
US embassy in Tripoli denies report of planned relocation of Palestinians to Libya
The U.S. embassy in Libya denied on Sunday a report that the U.S. government was working on a plan to relocate Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Libya. On Thursday, NBC News said the Trump administration is working on a plan to permanently relocate as many as one million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Libya. NBC News cited five people with knowledge of the matter, including two people with direct knowledge and a former U.S. official. “The report of alleged plans to relocate Gazans to Libya is untrue,” the U.S. embassy said on the X platform. The Tripoli-based internationally-recognised Government of National Unity was not available for immediate comment. When President Trump first floated his idea after taking the presidency, he said he wanted U.S. allies Egypt and Jordan to take in people from Gaza. Both states rejected the idea, which drew global condemnation, with Palestinians, Arab nations and the U.N. saying it would amount to ethnic cleansing. In April, Trump said Palestinians could be moved “around to different countries, and you have plenty of countries that will do that”.
Libya’s latest clashes explained: What this round of violence could signal
Abdel Ghani al-Kikli, one of Tripoli’s most influential militia leaders, was killed on May 12 in a shootout at the 444th Brigade’s headquarters, a force tied to the Ministry of Defense. His death sparked renewed clashes between the 444 Brigade and the rival Special Deterrence Force (Radaa), which controls eastern Tripoli, including Mitiga Airport. Known as “Gnewa,” Kikli rose to power through his Abu Salim-based militia, which evolved into the Stability Support Apparatus (SSA), formally established in 2021. His efforts to consolidate power strained ties with both Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah and competing militias. Kikli’s death may signal deeper cracks in Tripoli’s militia-based security structure, long sustained by armed groups filling the void left by absent state institutions. These groups often acted as parallel authorities—collecting taxes, controlling borders, and influencing judicial processes—without integrating into a national framework. “The lines between state and militias have blurred, with armed power becoming a key source of legitimacy,” says analyst Taha Yasin. Following the clashes, which involved the 444th and 111th Brigades and Radaa, Dbeibah declared security restored, praising state forces and vowing to dismantle “irregular armed groups” and reassert state authority over strategic checkpoints and facilities.
CENTRAL AFRICA
CHAD
35 people killed in intercommunal clash
Thirty five people were killed and six wounded in an intercommunal clash in Chad’s southwest province of Logone Occidental, a government spokesperson said. Deadly conflicts are frequent in the Central African country, usually between herders and local farmers who accuse them of grazing animals on their land. The incident occurred in a village on Wednesday, Chad’s government said in a statement. Security forces quickly intervened in the conflict and brought the situation under control before a delegation arrived at the scene to provide support for the people affected.
Prosecutor launches investigation into former PM Masra
Chad’s prosecutor said on Friday an investigation has been launched into Succes Masra, the former prime minister and current opposition leader, for alleged involvement in a clash in which dozens were killed this week. Masra was arrested at home on Friday morning by the judicial police, the prosecutor said, adding that he was being investigated on charges including incitement to hatred and revolt, complicity in murder and the desecration of graves. Masra had emerged as a staunch opponent of the junta headed by President Mahamat Idriss Deby, who seized power after his father, long-serving President Idriss Deby, was killed as he was visiting troops fighting militias in the north of the country in 2021. Legal proceedings against Masra would exacerbate concerns of shrinking democratic space in Chad, where the government frequently bans demonstrations and is accused of restricting media organizations’ ability to operate.
UNITED NATIONS
ICC war crimes prosecutor takes leave amid sexual misconduct inquiry
Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, who was pursuing war crimes cases against the leaders of Israel and Russia, has abruptly stepped aside while under investigation himself amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Khan informed the court Friday that he would take leave from his duties until the inquiry into his personal behavior concludes. The serious nature of the allegations against Khan, and the long-delayed decision that he should go on leave during the investigation, marks another blow for the ICC…Khan’s decision to step aside follows a complaint of repeated unwanted sexual contact by a woman who worked for him at the ICC prosecutor’s office. Khan has denied the allegations.
UN budget crisis sows ‘panic’ at human rights office
After the WHO, IOM and the UN refugee agency, the UN’s financial woes are rattling the UN rights office housed at Palais Wilson. Plans are underway to relocate large parts of the organisation to Vienna, Nairobi and other cheaper cities, raising concerns about the future of the human rights ecosystem that has long defined Geneva. In recent weeks, the human rights community has been thrown into disarray. Within the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and across NGOs working in the field, anxiety is growing. “There’s panic,” said a well-briefed source. As part of secretary general António Guterres’s UN80 reform initiative, the OHCHR is bracing for sweeping structural cuts – far more drastic than the “OE 2.0” (Office Effectiveness) reform proposed two years ago by human rights high commissioner Volker Türk. According to one expert, “between 60 per cent and two thirds of OHCHR posts in Geneva could be relocated – meaning several hundred of the 900 staff based there, and out of a global total of 2,000”. Most of those remaining, the source added, would be senior leadership. While US president Donald Trump accelerated the crisis by abruptly and drastically slashing funding, other countries – particularly from Europe – have also cut back on their donations.
OpEd: The world is changing fast: it is now crucial to restructure the UN
The United Nations is facing its greatest financial crisis since the organization’s founding at the end of World War II. The effectiveness and efficiency of the UN system is under unprecedented scrutiny. While there has been talk of reform for years, structural changes are now firmly on the agenda. Once a taboo subject, even the potential merger of UN entities is now openly being discussed.
AFRICA-GENERAL NEWS
U.A.E. is pouring money into Africa, seeking resources and power
Look at the chief economic and strategic spots across Africa — ports for key trade corridors, mines that produce critical minerals, large renewable energy projects — and you will find the United Arab Emirates. As the United States and, to a lesser extent, China reduce their investment, aid and presence on the African continent, the Emirates is using its enormous wealth and influence to fill the void. Persian Gulf investments in Africa, primarily by the Emirates, have exploded in recent years. Since 2019, $110 billion worth of deals — mostly by firms tightly aligned with the ruling powers — have been announced, dwarfing amounts pledged by any other country. President Trump, seeking to draw Emirati money to the United States, paved the way this week for the sale of American advanced artificial intelligence chips to the Emirates. The Emirates’ wide-ranging investments and efforts to become a world leader in A.I. are part of an ambitious plan to increase the country’s influence, particularly over global supply chains. Like other oil-producing nations in the Persian Gulf, the Emirates is looking to diversify its economy away from fossil fuels, and it sees Africa as an essential part of the plan. The continent has vast mineral resources, a growing population, agricultural potential and a strategically important location bordering the Red and Mediterranean Seas as well as the Indian and Atlantic Oceans… In 2022 and 2023, the Emirates announced a total of $97 billion in investments in Africa — three times China’s total, according to fDi Markets, a database of foreign investments. U.S. investment in 2023 was about $10 billion.
The Trump Administration leaned on African countries. the goal: get business for Elon Musk
Starlink, Musk’s satellite internet company, had spent months trying to secure regulatory approval to sell internet access in the impoverished West African country. As head of Gambia’s communications ministry, Lamin Jabbi had been slow to sign off and the company had grown impatient. Now the top U.S. government official in Gambia, Ambassador Sharon Cromer, was in Jabbi’s office to intervene. Cromer said something that rattled Gambian officials in the room. She listed the ways that the U.S. was supporting the country, according to two people present and contemporaneous notes, noting that key initiatives — like one that funds a $25 million project to improve the electrical system — were currently under review. Foreign leaders are acutely aware of Musk’s unprecedented position in the government, which he has used to help rewrite U.S. foreign policy…Executives at Starlink have seized the moment to expand. An April State Department cable to D.C. quoted a Starlink employee describing the company’s approach to securing a license in Djibouti: “We’re pushing from the top and the bottom to ram this through.” As of last November, Starlink had reportedly launched in 15 of Africa’s 54 countries, but it was beginning to spark a backlash…Since Trump won the election, at least five African countries have granted licenses to Starlink: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho and Chad. Now Musk’s campaign of cuts has given him leverage inside the State Department. A Trump administration memo that leaked to the press last month proposed closing six embassies in Africa. The Gambian embassy was on the list of proposed cuts.
US Envoys in Africa to be rated only on commercial deals struck
A senior State Department official said that U.S. envoys in Africa will be rated on commercial deals struck, not aid spent, touting it as the new strategy for U.S. support on the continent. African Affairs senior bureau official Troy Fitrell added that “Assistance involves a donor and a recipient, but commerce is an exchange between equals.” U.S. ambassadors in Africa had already shepherded 33 agreements worth $6 billion in Trump’s first 100 days, Fitrell said. “Trade, not aid, a slogan we’ve seen thrown around for years, is now truly our policy for Africa.” U.S. goods exports to sub-Saharan Africa amount to less than 1% of total U.S. trade, according to U.S. think-tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Despite Trump’s aggressive spending cuts, Washington has pledged a $550 million loan for the Lobito Rail Corridor, a shortcut for copper and cobalt from Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo to Angola’s Atlantic port, bypassing China-controlled routes.
US Bill to tax Remittances
House Republicans have included in President Donald Trump’s big priority bill a 5% excise tax on remittance transfers that would cover more than 40 million people, including green card holders and nonimmigrant visa holders, such as people on H-1B, H-2A and H-2B visas. U.S. citizens would be exempt. Trump also recently announced that he is finalizing a presidential memorandum to “shut down remittances” sent by people in the U.S. illegally. White House and Treasury officials have not responded to requests for comment from The Associated Press on specifics of the presidential memorandum that Trump previewed in an April 25 Truth Social post and how it would work. Remittance experts, local leaders and former migrants say that banning, limiting or adding a tax on certain remittances could damage communities that rely on them, prove burdensome to American citizens and firms and, paradoxically, end up causing even more illegal migration to the U.S. The influx of money provides an important economic lifeline to residents of poorer towns that often have little access to jobs or income. Remittances provide opportunities for people in their home country, making it less likely they would take the risk of migrating to the United States, the experts say.
Trump cuts to foreign aid leave food rotting in storage
More than a million people in some of the world’s most impoverished countries could be fed for three months and hundreds of thousands of children’s lives could be saved if $98 million in ready-made meals and other rations were able to leave four warehouses run by the U.S. foreign aid agency dismantled by the Trump administration. But instead, there is no end in sight to the food languishing in the facilities—or to the starvation of millions of people in Gaza, Sudan, South Sudan, and other parts of the Global South facing high levels of hunger and malnutrition. Some of the 66,000 tonnes of food, including grains, high-energy biscuits, and vegetable oil, are slated to expire as soon as July, when they will likely be turned into animal feed, incinerated, or otherwise destroyed. The warehouses are located in Houston, South Africa, Djibouti, and Dubai, and are run by the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance. Many of the staff who help run the warehouses are scheduled to be fired on July 1 in the first of two rounds of cuts that will effect nearly all of USAID.
Ranking 12 U.S. Presidents on their Africa policies. The results are surprising.
To judge a US president’s record on Africa, one must look at the number of Oval Office meetings they have with African leaders. It is the most reliable predicator of a robust U.S. policy toward the region. It’s all in the numbers: presidents who meet with more African leaders, on balance, launch more initiatives, introduce more policies, and engage more Africans on global issues. Everything flows from the Oval Office…President George W. Bush topped the chart, followed by JF Kennedy. Bush spent more time with African leaders than any other U.S. president. He hosted an African counterpart every 33 days. As a result, Bush prioritized Africa in his signature initiatives, including the President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Additionally, Bush helped to resolve conflicts in Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Sudan. Under his watch, the U.S. Department of Defense established the U.S. Africa Command in 2007, which is responsible for U.S. military activities on the continent (excluding Egypt). Kennedy met with more African counterparts as a percentage of his foreign leader engagements than any other U.S. president. He elevated Africa as a U.S. policy priority. As early as 1959, he declared that “the future of Africa will seriously affect, for better or worse, the future of the United States.” Kennedy’s consistent focus on the continent made it an imperative for the rest of the U.S. government…Presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Donald Trump, on the other hand, spent far less time with African leaders.
World’s anti-doping agency revokes status of Africa’s only testing lab
The only recognized drug-testing laboratory in Africa lost its right to work in sports, the World Anti-Doping Agency said on Friday. WADA revoked accreditation for the anti-doping lab in Bloemfontein, South Africa, “due to its inability to satisfactorily address multiple nonconformities.” The lab has been suspended since September 2023 for issues including detecting steroids in athlete samples. WADA has accredited a network of about 30 labs worldwide and samples collected in Africa can be transported to testers in India, Qatar, Portugal, Spain and Turkey. Collecting samples from remote athlete training centers and transporting them long distances increases the risk they will degrade and be unusable for testing.
OpEd: Reduce immigration to the west? We don’t want to come anyway, Mr Starmer
OpEd: African solutions have not solved the Great Lakes problems
Ineffective African interventions in the region have opened the door to more assertive external actors.
OpEd: Africa should let some countries get rich first
The Africa Edition ©️ 
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