Sudan: After 1,000 Days of War, Millions of Civilians Still Bearing Brunt
Aid agencies marked 1,000 days of war in Sudan on Friday with a grim reminder that the conflict has created the world’s biggest hunger crisis and largest displacement emergency. Every day, civilians have been “paying the price for a war they did not choose”, said UN aid coordination office, OCHA. Latest UN data indicates that 9.3 million people have been uprooted by conflict across the country and more than 4.3 million have fled across borders, placing immense strain on neighbouring countries. More than 21 million people are also believed to be acutely food insecure across the country. Although many of those displaced have returned to the capital, Khartoum, massive challenges and dangers for civilians remain there, including from unexploded weapons. UN News
Sudan: RSF Transfers Dozens of West Kordofan Detainees to Nyala
Volunteers said on Thursday that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have transferred dozens of detainees from West Kordofan to Nyala, the capital of South Darfur. The RSF is holding more than 19,000 people, including 5,000 civilians, in detention centres in Nyala, which it has designated as the headquarters for its parallel government. Reports indicate several deaths within these facilities due to hunger, torture, and medical neglect. The Dar Hamar Emergency Room stated in a press release that the RSF militia transferred approximately 40 forcibly detained young men from Al-Nuhud in West Kordofan to Nyala. It noted that these youths were abducted from various areas across West Kordofan State. The emergency room expressed deep concern for the remaining detainees with whom communication has been severed, noting that it lacks information regarding their status and cannot rule out the possibility of their execution within the detention centres. The RSF controls all of West Kordofan, where it periodically launches attacks on villages for the purpose of looting, while arresting and torturing anyone who objects to these acts. Sudan Tribune
China, Ethiopia Pledge Closer Cooperation in Areas from Infrastructure to AI
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Thursday and called for greater cooperation with Africa’s fastest growing economy, including in infrastructure, green industry, and the digital economy. China’s Foreign Ministry said Wang, who is on an annual New Year tour of Africa, said China is willing to better align development strategies with Ethiopia to promote their “all-weather strategic partnership” to new heights. Wang met Abiy in Addis Ababa during the first stop of his six-day Africa visit. He called for accelerating the upgrading of trade and economic cooperation and advancing “high-quality Belt and Road cooperation between China and Africa,” according to official state news agency Xinhua. Beijing aims to highlight countries it views as model partners of President Xi Jinping’s flagship Belt and Road infrastructure programme and to expand markets, particularly in young, increasingly affluent economies such as Ethiopia, where the IMF forecasts growth of 7.2% this year. Reuters
Chinese and Iranian Warships Arrive in South Africa for BRICS Naval Exercises
Warships from China and Iran have arrived in Cape Town ahead of a joint military drill hosted by South Africa starting Friday. Named “Will for Peace 2026,” the drill brings together key nations from the BRICS+ group. China will lead the week-long naval exercise held in South African waters from January 9 to January 16. Russian ships are also expected to reach Cape Town. The theme of the drill is “Joint Actions to Ensure the Safety of Shipping and Maritime Economic Activities.“ The drill will showcase the participants’ commitment to “safeguard maritime trade routes […] and deepen cooperation in support of peaceful maritime security,” South Africa’s Department of Defence said in a statement on December 30. Africanews
Clerics Pen Letter to Ugandans Ahead of Polls
Religious leaders under the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU) have issued a pastoral letter urging citizens to act responsibly, peacefully, and with national interest in mind as the country heads into next week’s general elections. … The clerics cautioned against actions that could plunge the country back into instability, recalling Uganda’s troubled past marked by political, ethnic, religious, regional, and economic divisions. … Beyond voters, the religious leaders also addressed other key stakeholders in the electoral process, including the Electoral Commission, candidates, political parties, the media, security agencies, Parliament, the Executive, and the Judiciary. “We underscore the grave responsibility carried by other stakeholders in this period. Their actions must be guided by the national Constitution,” the clerics said. Monitor
Rattled By Coup Plot, Benin Votes in Legislative Polls
One month after an attempted coup shook Benin, the west African country will hold parliamentary and local elections Sunday, set to define the political landscape ahead of presidential polls in April. President Patrice Talon’s ruling coalition is expected to strengthen its already powerful hand in the ballots, with the main opposition Democrats party barred from the local polls — and from April’s presidential race — for failing to gather enough signatures to register. The Democrats will be running in parliamentary races Sunday, but risk ceding more ground to Talon’s three-party bloc, which currently holds 81 of the 109 seats in the National Assembly. The elections come at a fraught moment for Benin, still reeling from a deadly coup attempt by army mutineers on December 7, which was put down in a matter of hours by the military, with support from Nigeria and France. AFP
South Sudan: Kiir Replaces Opposition Ministers in Mini-Reshuffle
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit, who also leads the ruling SPLM, has dismissed and appointed a number of cabinet ministers in a mini-reshuffle affecting positions allocated to the opposition SPLM-IO under the transitional power-sharing arrangement. In a decree broadcast on state-owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) on Wednesday evening, Kiir removed Lasuba Lodoru Wango, Minister for Federal Affairs; Martin Gama Abocha, Minister of Mining; Peter Marcelo Nasir, Minister of Energy and Dams; and Ayaa Benjamin Warile, Minister of Gender, Child and Social Welfare. All of the dismissed ministers are leading members of the SPLM-IO faction loyal to detained First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar, except Losuba Lodoru Wango. Mr. Lasuba currently serves as deputy chairperson of the SPLM-IO interim leadership led by Peacebuilding Minister Stephen Par Kuol. That faction broke away from the SPLM-IO in April 2025 following the detention of party leader Riek Machar. Radio Tamazuj
Intense Fighting in DR Congo As Warring Parties Defy Peace Agreements
Amid local and foreign interventions to achieve peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo‘s eastern region, violent clashes persist across various fronts in the country. The fighting between the M23 rebels and government forces has caused chaos in Kibati, an area dominated by the Luberike tribal group in the Walikale territory of North Kivu. Local sources told HumAngle that Congolese forces launched an attack on the morning of Jan. 5, targeting the M23 positions to dislodge them from the town. In Kashabere, a neighbourhood in the North Kivu province, witnesses reported incidents of heavy and light weapons fire, putting the residents in difficult situations. According to Mwami Mérovin, the chief of the Waloa Yungu tribal group, Buhimba remains under the control of Congolese forces. However, the rebels have withdrawn towards Kasopo and Mahanga, located in Masisi territory. The local chief added that inhabitants of villages neighbouring Buhimba, notably Ngenge and Kailenga, have once again been forced to flee into the bushes for safety away from the violence. HumAngle
Uganda, Tanzania Set October Start for First Oil Exports via Pipeline
The Ugandan and Tanzanian governments have announced that the first exports of crude oil from Uganda’s oilfields via the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop) will take place in October this year, with the project 79 percent complete as of the end of December 2025. The two countries’ Energy ministers disclosed this on January 5 during a high-level stakeholder meeting in Dar es Salaam, where they reviewed progress and coordination ahead of Uganda’s first oil exports. The review covered construction of the pipeline, above-ground installations, the marine terminal in Tanga and supporting infrastructure. Officials said works are at peak levels and remain on track for startup readiness by July 31, 2026. … The project has drawn criticism from environmental and human rights groups, who describe it as a climate risk and say it has displaced tens of thousands of landowners. … Eacop is the world’s longest heated pipeline, operating at about 50°C to transport Uganda’s waxy crude oil. At peak capacity, it will carry up to 230,000 barrels of oil per day to Tanga, where the crude will be loaded onto tankers for export. The East African
Senegal’s 2025 Oil Output Exceeds Predictions to Reach 36.1 Million Barrels
Senegal’s 2025 oil output reached 36.1 million barrels, largely exceeding predictions, according to the Ministry of Energy, Oil and Mines. Initial projections for the year stood at 30.53 million barrels and were already raised to 34.7 million in June. In a report published on Wednesday, authorities attributed this excess to “the good response of the reservoirs, the good maintenance of [oil] wells, and the robustness of operational performance.” Senegal’s oil output comes from the Sangomar offshore oil and gas field, located 100 kilometres off the coast of Dakar. Australian group Woodside Energy began operating the site in 2024. The Ministry said that three shipments of crude oil from Sangomar were sold on the international market in December, accounting for 2.94 million barrels. Senegal also exceeded its expectations regarding liquefied natural gas. LNG production reached its highest level in December 2025, with the export of 0.5 million cubic metres that month. Africanews
Burundi Is Running Out of Space
For most of history, Africa has been sparsely populated, and much of it remains so. But the continent now has ten times as many people as a century ago, and places like the Niger delta and the Ethiopian highlands are getting crowded. So, too, is the region around Burundi, from Kenya to Congo, a swathe of humanity packed between Africa’s Great Lakes, where there are good rains and enough altitude to soften the equatorial heat. Density does not necessarily mean cities. Most Burundians still live in the collines, the rolling hills, growing bananas, cassava and beans on steep slopes that crumble into the valleys. … By conventional measures, often based on administrative divisions, Burundi is one of the most rural countries on the planet. A research project called Africapolis backed by the oecd, a group of mainly rich countries, considers a place urban if it has more than 10,000 inhabitants in buildings not more than 200 metres apart. By that measure 78% of Burundians are already urban; by 2050, most of their country will be one solid agglomeration. This should not be taken too literally. It might be better to say that much of Burundi is becoming an in-between place: not quite country, not yet town. The pressing question is how to grow enough food. … Meanwhile, society is being reinvented. The traditional sources of prestige in Burundian culture are land, cows and children. In future people will have less of all three. The Economist