Togo Votes in Local Elections amid Outburst of Public Anger
Tensions are palpable in the West African nation of Togo as highly anticipated local government elections are being held following weeks of angry protests calling for leader Faure Gnassingbe to resign. Although small, Togo commands weight as a developing maritime and transit hub in the region because of an important port in the seaside capital, Lome, which is perched on the edge of the Atlantic. The country serves as a gateway into inland Sahel nations and is also home to a major West African airline, meaning unrest there could reverberate across the region…[D]emonstrators have scheduled protests in the capital, Lome, to intentionally clash with the date of the vote, prompting fears of possible widespread violence. Led largely by the country’s youth population, antigovernment demonstrations erupted in June after a controversial constitutional change. Protests have been met with brute force from Togolese security forces; at least seven people have died, local rights groups say. The protests are only the latest in the restive country, where more frequent demonstrations in recent years are pressuring the decades-long dynastic government. Al Jazeera
Cameroon’s Biya, 92, Reshuffles Military Top Brass Ahead of Vote
Cameroon’s 92-year-old President Paul Biya, the world’s oldest head of state, has overhauled the military’s top ranks in what analysts say is an effort to ensure the armed forces back his bid for an eighth term after a public outcry. The personnel moves, announced late on Tuesday in a series of presidential decrees, affect nearly all branches of the armed forces. They include the appointment of new chiefs of staff for the infantry, air force and navy as well as the promotion of eight brigadier generals to the rank of major general. One of the promoted generals is the coordinator of the elite Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR), a special forces unit often deployed in counter-terrorism operations and seen as central to Biya’s security apparatus. The decrees also named a new special presidential military adviser…The decrees concerning the armed forces reflect “a strategy by President Biya and his collaborators to consolidate power by building a fortress of loyal army generals around him” that can suppress any protest to his continued rule, said Anthony Antem, peace and security analyst at the Nkafu Policy Institute in Yaounde. Reuters
French Army Withdraws Last Troops from Senegal Bases
France on Thursday formally handed back its last two military bases in Senegal, leaving Paris with no permanent camps in either West or Central Africa. Ending the French army’s continuous presence in Senegal since independence in 1960, the pull-out comes after similar withdrawals across the continent, with former colonies increasingly turning their backs on their former ruler. France returned Camp Geille, its largest base in the west African country, and its airfield at Dakar airport, in a ceremony attended by top French and Senegalese officials, including Senegalese chief of staff General Mbaye Cisse and General Pascal Ianni, the head of the French forces in Africa. Around 350 French soldiers, primarily tasked with conducting joint operations with the Senegalese army, are now leaving, marking the end of a three-month departure process that began in March…In February, France handed back its sole remaining base in Côte d’Ivoire, ending decades of French presence at the site. The month before, France turned over the Kossei base in Chad, its last military foothold in the unrest-hit Sahel region…Only the tiny Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti will be home to a permanent French army base following Thursday’s withdrawal. France intends to make its base in Djibouti, with some 1,500 people, its military headquarters for Africa. Le Monde with AFP
Drugs, Blood and Terror: Inside a Paramilitary Massacre in Sudan
At least 31 people were massacred on April 27 in Salha, a neighborhood in the city of Omdurman, across the Nile from the capital, Khartoum, survivors said. Drawing on eight eyewitness accounts and videos, as well as evidence gathered from the scene, The Washington Post has reconstructed the events of that day, documenting a bloody breakdown in discipline among Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary fighters as Sudan’s military closed in. Survivors said the men who attacked had often previously been high on drugs, and may have been that day, which they believe contributed to their brutality…In the early days of fighting, civilians were rarely the main targets. But as the RSF recruited new fighters, and the military raised militias, mass killings of noncombatants became more common. Atrocities similar to those in Salha have been carried out across the country, but with few journalists still able to operate, many victims’ stories remain untold. The use of drugs by irregular fighters has introduced a dangerous new variable to an already lawless battlefield. In May, reporters visited a makeshift factory recently recaptured by the army where authorities said the RSF had been producing Captagon, a synthetic stimulant that contains amphetamine…What happened in Salha reveals how RSF leaders are increasingly failing to assert command and control, leaving civilians to pay the price. The Washington Post
Sudan War Fuels Flow of Advanced Arms to South Sudan, U.N. Says
The conflict in Sudan is fueling a flow of sophisticated, looted weapons into neighbouring South Sudan, violating a U.N. arms embargo and threatening the fragile peace in the world’s youngest nation, a report by United Nations experts said. The report, submitted to Security Council members on July 1, 2025, said South Sudanese security services began seizing modern, Turkish-made rifles with scopes from civilians and cattle keepers in late 2024, a significant escalation from the typical arms in the region. Investigators traced the weapons—including BRG 55, HUSAN Arms MKA 556, and UTAS Defence rifles—to stockpiles looted by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum. These arms are smuggled across the porous border from RSF-held territory into South Sudan’s Northern Bahr el-Ghazal state and the contested Abyei region, the report said. The trade is part of a two-way illicit economy where “individuals with military or political connections” exchange arms and looted goods for fuel and food, effectively sustaining the Sudanese conflict…The report warns that the influx of advanced weapons is making local conflicts in South Sudan more lethal and undermining the country’s stalled 2018 peace agreement. Sudan Tribune
Returnees Cry for Help Amid Dire Humanitarian Conditions in DR Congo
Uprooted by the ongoing violent conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), locals in the Bahunde chiefdom of North Kivu are lamenting the dire humanitarian conditions they have faced since their return. The Congolese, mainly from the Bishange and Luzirantaka areas, previously fled their homes when they were caught between the DRC army and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. In a letter to the global humanitarian community, the returnee crisis committee highlighted how food insecurity affects thousands of households across the Bishange and Bitonga zones. They report that since returning to their homes, residents have received no assistance, despite losing everything during violent clashes in their communities. “The food and non-feeding needs are enormous because we lost everything during the armed violence in our zone,” the returnees stated in the letter. “We call on humanitarian organisations to take this question seriously because we are already recording cases of serious malnutrition due to a lack of food. We call on international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to save lives.” The locals returned to their villages after the area was occupied by M23 rebels, following intense clashes with government forces. HumAngle
A Look at Eritrea’s Role as New Tigray War Looms in Ethiopia
Reports of troop movements and sporadic clashes in northern Ethiopia have emerged in recent months, feeding concern that a fragile calm could soon collapse. The region is still reeling from the brutal two-year civil war between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and federal government forces — a conflict that claimed an estimated 600,000 lives before it ended with the Pretoria peace agreement in November 2022…During that war, Eritrean troops supported Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s campaign against the TPLF. But critics warned at the time that peace would remain fragile without Eritrea at the negotiating table. President Isaias Afwerki, who has ruled Eritrea for decades, was notably absent from the talks in the South African’s administrative capital, Pretoria. Now, growing fears of renewed violence point towards Eritrea’s involvement. Another destabilizing factor is the political turmoil within Tigray itself. The once-dominant TPLF has fractured after internal power struggles — a vulnerability Eritrea could potentially exploit…The Eritrean military is reportedly strengthening its positions near the Tigray border and may have advanced up to 10 kilometers into Ethiopian territory, according to The Sentry. DW
Ghana Charges Oil Regulator Ex-chief in $28 Mn Graft Case
Ghana’s anti-graft agency on Thursday said it has charged a former head of the petroleum regulator and six others over a $28 million corruption and money laundering scheme. This is the latest move under President John Mahama’s sweeping campaign launched in early 2025 to fight graft and retrieve misappropriated state funds. The Office of the Special Prosecutor said it had brought 25 charges against Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, the former head of the National Petroleum Authority, as well as six other individuals and three companies. The charges, which include extortion by a public officer and money laundering, are linked to what the agency described as “a sprawling corruption scheme… initiated by Abdul-Hamid” between 2022 and December 2024. Abdul-Hamid, who is accused of receiving $2.3 million directly and benefiting from a wider $28 million extortion scheme, denied any wrongdoing…”Mahama’s credibility depends on how even-handed these prosecutions are. Ghanaians are watching whether this is genuine reform or a political purge in disguise,” political analyst Joshua Jebuntie Zaato of the University of Ghana said. AFP
Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez Visits Mauritania for Talks on Migration, Trade and Regional Security
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was in Mauritania on Wednesday for talks with President Mohamed Ould Ghazouni on migration, trade and regional security. Mauritania is struggling to cope with boats departing its shores for Spain’s Canary Islands. More than 25,000 irregular departures were recorded in 2023. Sánchez said safe and orderly migration was vital to Spain’s economic progress and Madrid has been working with a number of West African countries to develop paths to legal migration…Sánchez is also looking to promote trade and investment relations with Mauritania and work to counter terrorism and transnational crime networks in the region. This was the Spanish leader’s third visit to Mauritania in the last 18 months. Africanews
Ivory Coast Farmers Hope Tech Tempts Jaded Youth Back to Fields
Though farming has long been the pillar of Ivory Coast’s economy, many young Ivorians have turned their backs on fruit-picking and tree-felling, discouraged by the hard labour and the slow pace of progress…Dominated by the cultivation of cocoa, rubber and cashew nuts, nearly half of Ivorians with jobs work in agriculture in one way or another. Yet the country’s farms have been slow to modernise. Less than 30 percent of farms are mechanised, according to the National Centre for Agronomic Research. And although three-quarters of Ivorians are under the age of 35, the sector is struggling to refresh an ageing workforce…At the Ivorian digital transition ministry, Stephane Kounandi Coulibaly, director of innovation and private sector partnerships, said he had seen a boom in agricultural start-ups….The “agritech” trend mirrors that already in motion across the continent, including in Benin, Nigeria and Kenya, with Abidjan hosting a forum for African start-ups at the beginning of July…Coulibaly, the innovation chief, said the west African country plans to build a centre for manufacturing state-of-the-art inventions and training farmers in their use. That would mean Ivorian businesses would no longer have to import their technology from abroad, often from China, he added. AFP
New AI Skills Fellowship Aims to Train 10,000 Africans by the End of 2025
AI Skills Africa has unveiled an ambitious fellowship programme aiming to reshape the continent’s economic landscape. The AI Skills Fellowship, launching its first cohort on 2 August, represents one of the largest AI education initiatives in Africa’s history and a bold move to position Africa at the forefront of the global artificial intelligence revolution. The eight-week hybrid programme, developed in partnership with FestMan Learning Hub, will train 10,000 African professionals and graduates in generative AI skills by 2026. This hybrid programme offers a structured learning pathway focused on AI fluency – the ability to use and apply artificial intelligence effectively, efficiently, safely, and ethically to deliver business value…Key areas of focus include AI-powered data analysis and presentations, automated workflows and AI agents, AI-driven research, content creation, and the development of applications and websites using AI technologies…”Our vision is to democratise access to AI fluency skills and ensure that young Africans are empowered to lead innovation across sectors,” explained the CEO of FestMan Learning Hub. Joy News