Campaigns Kick Off In Nigerian Presidential Race
Campaigning kicks off in Nigeria Wednesday, five months ahead of elections set to be dominated by crushing inflation and President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms. Africa’s most populous country is straining from years of economic turmoil and violence from armed groups — though a divided opposition works in favour of Tinubu, seeking a second term. … Elected in 2023, Tinubu has used his first term to push through ambitious economic reforms, including ending a costly fuel subsidy that for years had indirectly suppressed prices throughout the economy. Though praised by economists and investors, the reforms have sparked a cost-of-living crisis that saw the value of the naira crumble and inflation spike up to 34 percent. Headline inflation cooled to 15.4 percent in July. A slide into poverty, pre-dating Tinubu, has continued for millions, with more than 60 percent of Nigerians now living below the poverty line, according to the World Bank, up from 40 percent in 2019. The country is also mired in multiple security crises — from jihadists, non-ideological “bandit” gangs, farmers and herders fighting over land, and a simmering separatist conflict. … The January 16 poll will in part be a rematch of 2023, with Tinubu again running against former southeastern governor Peter Obi and ex-vice president Atiku Abubakar. Tinubu won that poll with 36.6 percent of the vote. Abubakar took 29 percent and Obi notched 25 percent. AFP
At Least 25 Killed in Attack on Nigeria’s Plateau amid Reprisal Fears
At least 25 people were killed in an overnight attack on a village in Nigeria’s central Plateau state, local officials and residents said on Tuesday, in violence that has heightened fears of violent reprisals in the restive region. The incident highlights persistent insecurity in Plateau state, where tensions between farming communities and herders often spiral into retaliatory violence, leaving people dead, displaced and homeless. Lemun Le’an Iliya, a councillor representing the area, said 23 people were killed in the attack and another victim later died in hospital. Resident Amos John said that an additional victim had died, bringing fatalities to at least 25. He said the attackers went from house to house, killing residents with machetes, with women and children accounting for most of the victims. Plateau police spokesperson Alfred Alabo told Reuters officers were deploying to the area and would issue a statement after assessing the situation. … Plateau, in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, has long been plagued by violence linked to disputes over land, grazing rights and resources, often compounded by ethnic and religious divisions. Reuters
Sudan’s RSF Launches Major Security Crackdown in Nyala
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have launched their largest security and military mobilization in South Darfur’s capital of Nyala since seizing the city, residents and eyewitnesses said on Tuesday. The paramilitary group seized Nyala, Sudan’s second-largest city, in October 2023 following heavy clashes with the Sudanese Armed Forces. … Residents reported pervasive armed robberies in markets and residential areas by uniform-wearing combatants in machine-gun-mounted vehicles. Armoured vehicles deployed early Tuesday morning to conduct rigorous searches at major intersections throughout the city, an Al-Wadi neighbourhood resident said. The show of force follows a wave of kidnappings targeting merchants and local leaders for ransom, alongside ethnically motivated violence and severe restrictions on Starlink satellite communications. Local sources said the campaign follows directives from RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, to re-establish command and control and confiscate over 300 unregistered combat vehicles. Dagalo is widely believed to be in Nyala to oversee the security sweep directly, having recently made public appearances at field hospitals and with wounded personnel. Sudan Tribune
Somalia Boosts Army as 3,000 Complete Saudi-backed Training
Somalia has graduated about 3,000 soldiers from a Saudi-funded training programme, the largest single group to complete such military training in the country since the collapse of the central government in 1991. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud presided over the graduation on Sunday at the Hananbure military camp in the central Galgadud region, where the recruits had spent nearly a year undergoing training before formally joining the Somali National Army. The soldiers, recruited from different parts of the country, studied combat tactics, weapons handling, military law and discipline as well as other skills needed for frontline operations. … The programme followed a military cooperation agreement signed in Riyadh on February 9 by Somali Defence Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Khalid bin Salman. … For the government, training thousands of soldiers on Somali soil marks an important step in rebuilding the army. The bigger test will come after graduation, when those troops are asked to take on the security responsibilities that foreign forces have carried for years. Somalia Today
Somalia to Export Fish to China under Tariff-free Deal
Somalia will begin fish exports to China from next month under a tariff-free arrangement that has been dangled to other African countries to improve trade balance with Beijing. The deal was firmed up in July, but its timelines were only revealed this week after the inaugural Somalia maritime conference in Mogadishu. Under the zero-tariff arrangement, China has, since May, allowed in certain goods from African countries that recognise Beijing as the capital of China. The project is meant to even a trade imbalance that has punctuated growing China-Africa relations for years. Last year, trade volumes with China reached $380 billion but Africa only exported a 10th of that. … For China, this fish trade protocol while empowering Somalia could also address another long-term problem: Chinese fishing vessels had been accused of illegally catching fishing Somali waters. Under the arrangement, Mogadishu will provide special licenses for vessels and ensure the fishing gear is within the law. The two countries signed the protocol on July 13 under which all Somali seafood products such as tuna and lobster will enter China duty-free. The East African
Southern African Mothers Plead For Sons Lured To Russia’s War
Instead of celebrating her son’s birthday this month, Zimbabwean mother Rodwin Chitewere spent the day praying for his body to be brought home from Russia, where he was reportedly killed fighting Moscow’s war against Ukraine. In Botswana and South Africa, too, women are desperate for sons and husbands to return from a conflict many say they were duped into joining, as authorities warn recruiters are still active. … In mid-February, the All Eyes on Wagner collective published the names of more than 1,400 Africans it said Moscow had recruited between January 2023 and September 2025. More than 300 had died, it said. … In Botswana — where the government said in July an “alarming” number of men were being misled into joining the war — another mother has not heard from her 20-year-old son for nearly a year. He and a friend went to Russia in July last year. … She believed they were duped by the daughter of ex-president Jacob Zuma under the pretext of attending a personal development course in Russia. Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla resigned as a parliamentarian in December after police said they were investigating claims she lured men to the Russian war. AFP
Mobile Gold Miners in Eastern Congo Complicate Health Workers’ Efforts to Contain Ebola
As the outbreak spreads and kills people faster than any other outbreak of the disease in history, a major source of concern for monitoring efforts is miners constantly on the move and in hard-to-reach, unsafe territories. The Associated Press gained rare access into one of Ituri’s largest mines, in the locality of Iga-Barrière, where miners crowd into pits to dig for gold. Although there are no known reports of the outbreak reaching any of Congo’s mining sites, officials say it’s difficult to know the true situation in hard-to-reach areas. Most new cases and deaths are reported among groups not being monitored, they say. … In parts of the east, including Ituri, artisanal gold mining draws a highly mobile workforce as miners travel across villages in search of gold and related work while small-scale traders travel between mining areas and population centers to trade the mineral. But that constant movement is also making Ebola harder to contain, complicating efforts to find infected people and trace those who may have been exposed, said Mari Ndika, an Ebola response worker involved in disease monitoring. AP
Two French Nationals Detained in Togo since July 27
Two French nationals have been held in Togo since being arrested over a fortnight ago, the foreign ministry in Paris told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Tuesday, August 19. The pair, journalist-directors working for a French production company according to local media outlets, were detained on July 27 and are subject to a judicial investigation, the foreign ministry said. Togo has been led since 2005 by Faure Gnassingbé, who succeeded his father after he ruled the West African state for 38 years. Since late 2021, the country’s far north has been plagued by incursions from jihadists based over the border in Burkina Faso. The government declared a state of emergency the following year in a northern region and has extended it several times, most recently in February for a period of one year. It took Radio France Internationale and France 24 off the air for three months in June 2025, accusing them of sharing “inaccurate and tendentious remarks” after demonstrations critical of the government, which shook the country that same month. Togo ranks 97th out of 180 countries in the annual press freedom index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Le Monde avec AFP
Attacks on Journalists a Deliberate Bid to Blackout Kenyans, Stakeholders Warn
Attacks on journalists and destruction of their equipment are creating an information blackout that could prevent Kenyans from knowing what happens during political events, media stakeholders have warned. Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) Secretary General Eric Oduor and Advocate of the High Court and Daystar University Head of Public Law Dr Erneo Nyakundi said journalists must be allowed to work freely, particularly during political rallies. The remarks came days after eight journalists and five drivers from different media houses were attacked during the Linda Mwananchi rally in Homa Bay on Sunday. The Media Council of Kenya says 18 journalists and at least two drivers from different media houses have been assaulted or injured in the past two months. Oduor said the attacks appear to form a targeted strategy by politicians and their supporters to keep journalists away from political events or destroy their equipment when they document violence. … The stakeholders also defended the role of mainstream media in countering misinformation and disinformation despite the growing influence of social media. The Standard
Libya’s Power Crisis Deepens as UN Warns of Fuel Diversion and Infrastructure Strain
Libya’s worsening power crisis is putting pressure on critical infrastructure and fueling public frustration over deteriorating living conditions. UN Special Representative for Libya Hanna Serwaa Tetteh told the Security Council that the country faces a “striking paradox”: around $1 billion is spent each month on fuel imports, yet electricity systems remain vulnerable to fuel shortages. Tetteh also raised concerns over the alleged large-scale diversion of subsidized fuel in the electricity and security sectors. She called for stronger oversight, accountability and coordination to ensure public resources are used to provide essential services. The crisis has also triggered protests in the capital, Tripoli. Weeks earlier, more than 100 protesters dumped rubbish outside a Libyan oil company, chanting against the authorities and demanding an end to prolonged power outages. The UN says those responsible for diverting subsidized fuel must be investigated and held accountable. Africanews
Nine Bodies of Migrants Recovered off Eastern Tripoli, Red Crescent Says
Nine bodies of migrants have been recovered in the past two days from the shores of an eastern suburb of the Libyan capital Tripoli after their boat capsized, the Tripoli Red Crescent branch said. The Red Crescent branch said in a statement late on Monday that the bodies were recovered from Tajoura, some 22 km from Tripoli. More bodies are likely to wash ashore as the boat was carrying about 19 people, according to local authorities in Tajoura, Tripoli Red Crescent media officer Muad Zurgani told Reuters by phone. … The charity rescue ship, EMERGENCY, rescued 50 migrants from a wooden boat in international waters off Libya on Monday, while seven others were found dead. Libya has become a transit route for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty to Europe via dangerous routes across the desert and over the Mediterranean since the toppling of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011. Reuters
Burundi to Join East African Payment Network by December 2026
Burundi will join the East African Payment System by December 2026, enabling real-time cross-border payments and advancing efforts to reduce reliance on foreign currencies in regional trade. The Bank of the Republic of Burundi told a meeting of East African central bank governors in Kampala, Uganda, in July that its integration into the East African Payment System (EAPS) is targeted for completion in four months, marking a significant milestone in Burundi’s contribution to regional payment-system harmonisation. … Currently, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda are connected to the EAPS, with the bulk of transactions being executed in the Kenyan currency. [Irene Kabura, the bank’s Deputy Governor] said Burundi would promote the wider adoption and use of partner states’ domestic currencies in cross-border trade to reduce dependence on foreign currencies and deepen financial integration. The East African