Suspected Suicide Bombers Target Nigeria’s Maiduguri City, Killing 23 People and Injuring over 100
At least 23 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in suspected suicide bombings Monday night that targeted Maiduguri city in northeastern Nigeria, police said Tuesday. It was one of the deadliest attacks in the conflict-battered city in recent history. Residents and emergency services earlier told The Associated Press that three explosions were reported in crowded places in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, including in a major market and at the entrance of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital. … No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but suspicion quickly fell on the Boko Haram jihadi group, which in 2009 launched an insurgency in northeastern Nigeria to enforce their radical interpretation of Shariah. … Maiduguri city has been at the heart of the deadly violence but has in recent years experienced relative peace even as the countryside is often battered by extremists. The attack took place less than 24 hours after the Nigerian military repelled attacks by militants on the outskirts of Maiduguri, in what some residents say could have been planned as a distraction. … The first explosion was recorded at about 7:30 p.m. at the entrance of the teaching hospital, while the second and third followed few minutes later at the popular Monday Market and nearby Post Office business hub, both located about 4 kilometers from the hospital. … The multiple attacks could be seen as a major victory for the jihadis in a city seen as impregnable despite the jihadis often targeting troops and villages on the outskirts of the city. Past attacks in the city have been limited to one-off incidents that occur once in a long while, including a suicide attack that killed five at a mosque on Christmas Eve last year. AP
RSF Seizes Strategic City in Sudan’s North Kordofan, Town on Chad Border
Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Monday seized the strategic city of Bara in North Kordofan and the border town of Karnoi in North Darfur, as the paramilitary group expands its offensive across the country’s western and central regions. Bara, the second-largest city in North Kordofan, sits approximately 45 kilometres east of the state capital, El Obeid. The city has become a focal point of the conflict, having been recaptured by the Sudanese army only 10 days ago before falling again to the RSF in a dawn assault. Local sources said the RSF deployed dozens of combat vehicles, drones, and artillery in the attack, forcing the military and its allied Joint Force to retreat toward the town of Al-Dankoj. In a statement, an RSF spokesperson said the takeover was part of a broader military strategy to target remaining army strongholds. … The Joint Force of armed movements, which fights alongside the regular army, had previously reported an increase in drone strikes in the area before the city’s fall. In North Darfur, the RSF also announced it had taken full control of Karnoi, a town near the border with Chad. The group described the operation as a “lightning” offensive against the army and its supporters. Karnoi is considered one of the final outposts for the military and its allies in that sector of North Darfur. Sudan Tribune
Press Watchdogs, Legal Group Demand RSF Release Female Journalists and Activists
International media watchdogs and a Sudanese legal aid group on Monday called on the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to immediately release several female journalists and activists detained in South Darfur, amid growing reports of arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) stated that RSF personnel arrested Nyala State Radio reporters Mawaheb Ibrahim and Zahraa Mohamed Al-Hassan, along with presenter Ishraqah Abdulrahman, on February 28. The journalists were seized in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, after attending a workshop for female media professionals. … According to local sources cited by CPJ, the women are being held at Korea prison in Nyala without formal charges or legal representation. The emergency legal group “Emergency Lawyers” corroborated the reports, identifying additional detainees, including Dr Manahel Mustafa al-Sanousi and Izdehar Abdel Moneim Hamed. The group warned that the lack of a functioning judicial system in RSF-controlled areas leaves these women at high risk of torture and sexual violence. Sudan Tribune
South Sudan: SSPDF Takes Control of Akobo Town
South Sudan’s army (SSPDF) on Sunday deployed troops in the town of Akobo in Jonglei state, days after announcing it had recaptured the area from opposition forces, several sources said. Akobo County, near the border with Ethiopia, is considered a strategic area. It had been the last remaining stronghold of the opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Army-in-Opposition (SPLA-IO) in the Lou Nuer areas following the capture of bases in Nyirol and Uror counties. The development marks the first time the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) have regained control of Akobo since the civil war erupted in December 2013. Multiple sources told Radio Tamazuj that SSPDF soldiers entered the town on Sunday with vehicles and military equipment and began patrolling the area after residents fled to neighbouring Ethiopia. There were reports of fighting on Saturday morning before government troops were seen fully deployed in the town on Sunday, the sources said. Radio Tamazuj
Kenyans Will No Longer Be Enlisted to Fight for Russia in Ukraine, Minister Says
Kenya said on Monday that it had agreed with Russia that Kenyans would no longer be eligible for signing up to fight in the war with Ukraine after the scale of Russian recruitment triggered anger in some African countries. Kenya says that more than 1,000 Kenyans have been recruited to fight, attracted by monthly salaries of several thousand dollars and bonuses of more than $6,000 for contract soldiers. After meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Kenyan Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi praised the relationship with Moscow, including Soviet recognition of Kenyan independence from Britain in 1963. On the issue of Kenyans fighting in what the Kremlin calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine, Mudavadi said agreement had been reached to no longer allow Kenyans to sign up to fight. … “We want Kenyans stopped – they should not be enlisted at all,” Mudavadi said. “We are getting a lot of pressure from some of the affected families who are now gathering more courage to come forward and speak to the issue.” A Kenyan intelligence report presented to lawmakers in February said that more than 1,000 Kenyans had been recruited to fight on Russia’s side in the war in Ukraine, five times more than authorities had previously estimated. Kenyan politicians have described what they say is a network of rogue state officials who have colluded with human trafficking syndicates to recruit Kenyans to fight for Russia in Ukraine. Reuters
China Pledges Increased Security Support for Somalia in Fight Against Al-Shabaab, ISIS
China is moving to deepen its security cooperation with Somalia, pledging enhanced support for the country’s long-running battle against armed groups, including al-Shabaab and the Islamic State (ISIS) group. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reaffirmed Beijing’s commitment during a high-level meeting with Chinese diplomats stationed in Mogadishu. The discussions focused on Somalia’s volatile security landscape and the strategic direction of Chinese policy toward the militant factions operating within the Horn of Africa nation. Central to the deliberations was the safety of Chinese nationals and personnel working on development and infrastructure projects across Somalia. Wang emphasized that Beijing would take “every necessary measure” to ensure the protection of its citizens and the security of its growing economic interests in the country. … China’s strategic interests in Somalia remain multifaceted, ranging from significant investment in the fishing industry to diplomatic efforts aimed at curbing Taiwan’s influence in the region. Analysts suggest that by bolstering the SNA’s capabilities, Beijing seeks to secure its maritime and commercial interests while positioning itself as a key security partner in East Africa. Garowe Online
Uganda’s Shrinking Civil Space Forcing Oppositions into Exile-Ssemakadde
The Uganda Law Society (ULS) President, Mr Isaac Ssemakade, has decried what he described as a ‘shrinking civil space’ which, he says, is affecting Uganda`s opposition politicians, activists, and government critics and forcing them into exile. The outspoken advocate says Uganda`s opposition figures are fleeing the country in order to gain back their freedom of expression. Noting that if such a violation of constitutional rights continues, the country will become a state where the expression of opinions would attract raids, surveillance and persecution. “When a leading opposition figure like Bobi Wine is forced to leave his own country to stay alive and organise political work, it is not merely a personal decision – it is an indictment of the State. A country where citizens must operate from exile to speak freely is not a democracy,” Ssemakadde said. This is coming a day after former Presidential candidate, Mr Robert Kyagulanyi, commonly known as Bobi Wine of the National Unity Platform (NUP), announced his exit from Uganda to meet allies. … Over the years, a section of Ugandans has also been forced into exile due to tension, including Mr Ssemakadde, who left Uganda last year following his case of contempt of court order, and arrest warrants were issued against him after allegedly insulting judicial officials online. Monitor
The New Crisis Facing Tigray’s Families
[Video] They escaped one war only to lose their children to traffickers. In Tigray’s Hitsats camp, parents desperately fundraise to free loved ones held in Libya, as thousands more attempt the same deadly route. DW
Belgian Court Decides On Holding Trial Over 1961 Congo Leader Murder
A Brussels court is to decide Tuesday whether a 93-year-old former Belgian diplomat should stand trial over the 1961 killing of Congolese independence icon Patrice Lumumba. Etienne Davignon, a one-time EU commissioner, is the only one still alive among 10 Belgians accused by the Congolese leader’s family of complicity in the murder. If the prosecutors’ request that he answer in court is accepted, he would become the first Belgian official to face justice in the 65 years since Lumumba was executed and his body dissolved in acid. Lawyers for Davignon, who denies all charges, argued in a closed-door January hearing that too much time had passed since the events, according to multiple sources. Lumumba’s relatives conversely maintained that the time is ripe for a long-overdue legal reckoning. … Prosecutors accuse Davignon of “participation in war crimes” over his role in the “unlawful detention and transfer” of Lumumba, as well as “humiliating and degrading treatment”. A fiery critic of Belgium’s colonial rule, Lumumba became his country’s first prime minister after it gained independence in 1960. But he fell out with the former colonial power and with the United States and was ousted in a coup a few months after taking office. He was executed on January 17, 1961, aged just 35, in the southern region of Katanga, with the support of Belgian mercenaries. AFP
Pope’s Upcoming Africa Odyssey Takes Him to a Mosque, a Prison and the Site of a Deadly 2021 Blast
The Vatican released on Monday details of Pope Leo XIV’s upcoming four-nation Africa tour, suggesting Christian-Muslim relations, comforting victims of violence and encouraging the Catholic community in former European colonies will be key themes. The April 13-23 trip begins in Algeria, which has never before welcomed a pope. It includes a visit to the Great Mosque in Algiers as well as a meeting with Leo’s fellow Augustinians in the place most associated with St. Augustine of Hippo, the 5th-century inspiration for their religious order. Leo will preside over a peace meeting in northwest Cameroon, visit an important Marian shrine in Angola and pray at a memorial to victims of a 2021 blast in Equatorial Guinea that killed more than 100 people and was blamed on negligence. All the while, he’ll meet with local bishops, celebrate Masses for the faithful and have private talks with the four nations’ leaders, two of whom have been in power for decades. AP
Namibia Tops Africa’s Exploration Rush for Critical Minerals
Namibia is emerging as one of Africa’s busiest exploration frontiers after receiving more than 800 new licence applications as investors accelerate efforts to expand mineral production pipelines on the back of a surge in global demand for critical minerals. According to Namibia’s Mining Commissioner Isabella Chirchir, the southern African country is reforming its licensing system to speed up approvals and attract more investment. Chirchir said Namibia is rolling out digital platforms to clear backlogs and improve regulatory efficiency, with more than 600 environmental applications pending alongside the 800‑plus new exploration bids. Namibia already holds 588 active prospecting licences and is positioning itself to expand beyond uranium and diamonds into a broader critical‑minerals hub. According to organisers of the upcoming African Mining Week, Namibia is among several African governments pushing greenfield exploration to drive industrial growth, create jobs and diversify economies long dependent on raw mineral exports. APA
Mineral Exports Curbs across Africa Upend Chinese Supply Chains
Rising mineral exports curbs across Africa are upending key Chinese supply chains, and as a result sending global commodity prices soaring. Several African countries have in recent months imposed restrictions on the export of their raw minerals in order to capture more of their value in the refining process: DR Congo implemented quotas on cobalt, and Ghana and Zimbabwe on lithium. The restrictions have squeezed Chinese refineries — the world’s biggest — forcing many to draw from domestic stockpiles. Semafor
Can Africa Succeed where India Failed with the $40 Smartphone?
On March 3, the GSMA, a global advocacy and lobby group for the mobile communications industry, announced partnerships to pilot $40 smartphones in Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda in 2026. … Around 960 million Africans don’t use mobile internet despite living within the coverage area, suggesting device affordability, not infrastructure, is the barrier. At $40, a 4G smartphone would cost only about 10% more than the global average selling price of a feature phone, according to Counterpoint Research. But at a time when the global average price of a smartphone has surpassed $400, making and scaling an ultracheap smartphone won’t be easy, industry experts and analysts said. Over the last decade, several affordable phone projects have failed due to poor economics, technology limitations, and ecosystem issues. … Several previous experiments have proved too ambitious. In 2016, India experimented with a $4 Freedom 251 smartphone. Despite the initial euphoria, the experiment collapsed due to an unviable cost structure, misleading marketing, and eventual manufacturing and delivery failures. Even the more reasonable attempts in India — Mozilla’s $25 Firefox phone and Google’s Android One that cost $50–$100 — fizzled out over concerns with poor performance, low storage, and stiff competition from Chinese brands like Xiaomi and Realme, whose phones were slightly more expensive but superior in quality. Rest of World