Niger’s Junta Leader Cements His Grip on Power as He Is Sworn in as President
Niger’s junta leader, Abdourahamane Tchiani, was sworn in Wednesday as the country’s president for a transition period of five years under a new charter that replaces the West African nation’s constitution. Tchiani, an army veteran, was also elevated to the country’s highest military rank of army general and signed a decree dissolving all political parties, cementing his grip on power since June 2023 when he led soldiers in a coup that deposed the country’s elected government. The move defied attempts by the regional bloc to quicken the return to democracy after a 2023 coup…The transition charter also sets out a referendum as one of the conditions for setting up foreign military bases in Niger. However, it noted that the president may authorize it through a decree in the event of an emergency. Niger currently has a military partnership with Russia, its new ally after kicking out U.S. and French soldiers — both longstanding partners. Niger’s junta had initially proposed a three-year transition period right after the coup, but that was rejected by West Africa’s regional bloc known as ECOWAS, which called it a provocation and threatened to intervene with the use of force. Since then Niger has left the bloc alongside Mali and Burkina Faso, in protest of harsh sanctions which the bloc announced to force a return to democracy in Niger. Critics say Niger’s junta has clamped down on civil rights and struggled to end the jihadi violence that the military said inspired them to take power. AP
VP’s Arrest Ends South Sudan Peace Deal, His Party Says
The detention of South Sudan’s First Vice-President Riek Machar has effectively collapsed the 2018 peace deal that ended the country’s five-year civil war, his party has said. An armed convoy led by top security officials, including the defence minister, entered Machar’s residence in the capital, Juba, and disarmed his bodyguards late on Wednesday, said the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM/IO). Machar was detained alongside his wife Angelina Teny, who is the country’s interior minister, the party added. “The arrest and detention of H.E Dr Riek Machar effectively brings the [peace] agreement to a collapse,” said SPLM/IO deputy leader Oyet Nathaniel Pierino. The government is yet to comment on Machar’s reported house-arrest. The UN has been warning that South Sudan is on the brink of a return to civil war following an escalation of conflict between Machar and the president that has been building for weeks. The two leaders agreed in August 2018 to end the civil war that killed nearly 400,000 people. But over the last seven years their relationship has become increasingly strained amid ethnic tensions and sporadic violence. BBC
Sudan’s Burhan Lands in Khartoum, Declares Capital ‘Liberated’ from RSF
Sudan’s army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, declared Khartoum state “liberated” from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Wednesday, shortly after landing at the capital’s international airport for the first time in two years. Early Wednesday morning, the army and its supporting forces carried out the largest ground military offensive in Khartoum state, capturing military and civilian sites and expanding into most of the capital’s neighbourhoods following a widespread flight of RSF elements. RSF elements departed most of the Khartoum cities they had occupied, withdrawing towards the west of the country. The force’s vehicles and soldiers congested the Jebel Aulia bridge south of Khartoum during an escape journey documented by army drone footage…Burhan’s plane was the first flight the airport had received since the war broke out on April 15, 2023. The RSF had seized control of Khartoum International Airport on the first day of the war, before the army recaptured it on Wednesday along with other sites in the capital…Large numbers of Sudanese army soldiers and officers received the Commander-in-Chief, who was visiting the Presidential Palace for the first time in nearly two years. Sudan Tribune
Sudan’s Booming Wartime Gold Trade Flows Through The UAE
Sudan’s gold industry has become the lifeblood of its war, with nearly all of the trade channelled through the United Arab Emirates, enriching both the army and paramilitaries, according to official and NGO sources. The two-year conflict has decimated Sudan’s economy, yet last month the army-backed government announced record gold production in 2024. Demand for the country’s vast gold reserves was “a key factor in prolonging the war,” Sudanese economist Abdelazim al-Amawy told AFP. In a statement to AFP, a UAE official rejected “any baseless and unfounded allegation regarding the smuggling or profiting of gold”. But according to Sudanese officials, mining industry sources and Swissaid’s research, nearly all of Sudan’s gold flows to the UAE, via official trade routes, smuggling and direct Emirati ownership of the government’s currently most lucrative mine…According to data from Dubai’s commodities exchange, the UAE became the world’s second-largest gold exporter in 2023, overtaking Britain. It is also the leading destination for smuggled African gold, according to Swissaid. AFP
Burkina Broadcaster Apologises to Junta After Journalist Crackdown
Private Burkinabe television station BF1 issued an apology Wednesday after one of its journalists was detained in a spat over criticism of the ruling junta leaders. Burkina Faso has seen numerous abductions of people viewed as critical of the junta under its chief Ibrahim Traore since he took over in a 2022 coup, with a new wave of repression against dissenting voices seen in the past week. On Friday, the president of the Burkina Journalists’ Association (AJB), Guezouma Sanogo, criticised “attacks on the freedom of expression and the press” in an address, which were then broadcast by BF1. The AJB later said Sanogo and his deputy president Boukari Ouoba were detained Monday and taken to an unknown destination. BF1 journalist Luc Pagbelguem was also subsequently taken in for questioning. On Wednesday, BF1 issued a statement on social media stating it “sincerely apologises” to the public and authorities for broadcasting the AJB address…BF1 management said it sent letters of apology to both groups and has deleted the report from its channels. It comes after Interior Minister Emile Zerbo announced Tuesday that the government had dissolved the AJB, citing a breach of administrative regulations. AFP
Guinea Opposition Figure Appeals Jail Term for ‘Insulting’ Junta Chief
A Guinean court on Wednesday began hearing an appeal brought by an opposition figure who was sentenced to two years in prison on charges of “insulting and defaming” the head of the ruling junta. Aliou Bah, who heads the Liberal Democratic Movement (MoDel), was convicted in January, prompting condemnation from the opposition and Amnesty International. The junta under General Mamady Doumbouya, who overthrew the civilian president Alpha Conde in a 2021 coup, is regularly accused of cracking down on freedom of expression and silencing critics. A number of opposition figures have been arrested, brought before the courts or forced into exile…Bah is accused of having “called on (Guinean) religious leaders to break their silence” on the situation in the country during meetings, according to his lawyers. He is also accused of describing the junta’s ruling National Committee of Reconciliation and Development as “incompetent”…Representatives from the French, Belgian, Spanish, British and European Union diplomatic missions attended the court hearing in the capital Conakry. Demonstrations calling for the end of military rule in the west African country are regularly banned and several media outlets have been closed. AFP
US Conducts Strikes Against IS In Somalia
The United States and Somalia have conducted air strikes targeting the Islamic State (IS) group in northern Somalia, the country’s federal government and the US military said Wednesday. The extremist group has a relatively small presence in the east African country compared to the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab, but experts have warned of growing activity. A coordinated operation led by the United States African Command (AFRICOM) with the federal government had targeted “known hideouts of ISIS terrorists” based in the Golis mountains in the semi-autonomous Puntland region, Mogadishu said, using another acronym for IS. The strikes were carried out Tuesday night, a short statement said, adding initial reports “suggest that multiple ISIS fighters were killed, with no civilian casualties reported”…The statement said the strikes complemented a “larger counter-terrorism initiative” currently being undertaken by local forces in the Al-Miskeed mountain range…The Puntland Defence Forces have been carrying out operations in the region against IS since December, with the extremist group said to have established a presence in the Golis mountains. AFP
Zimbabwe President Fires Army Chief Ahead of Planned Protests
Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa acted to consolidate his hold on power with Tuesday’s dismissal of a senior general, political analysts say, amid growing fears of a possible coup by former allies. Mnangagwa, who took charge after a military coup that ousted longtime ruler Robert Mugabe in 2017, is facing growing dissent within his ZANU-PF party, which has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980. Some veterans of the Southern African country’s war of independence have called for countrywide protests on March 31 to force Mnangagwa to step down. They accuse him of deepening the country’s economic crisis and plotting to extend his rule beyond 2028 when his second term is due to end…Analysts say Mnangagwa appears to be increasingly worried about his grip on power has been trying to bolster his position by shaking up the military, police and intelligence leadership. Tuesday’s removal of Anselem Sanyatwe, Zimbabwe’s second most powerful general and head of the army, was the third such reshuffle by Mnangagwa in recent months. Mnangagwa also removed the chief of police and head of Zimbabwe’s intelligence service. The EastAfrican
Zimbabwe Mourns Veteran Journalist and Critic Who Challenged State Media Hegemony
Zimbabwe is mourning Geoffrey Nyarota, one of the country’s most prominent journalists best known for exposing government corruption and launching what became the country’s most popular and critical independent newspaper. Nyarota died on Saturday of colon cancer. He was 74…The veteran newsman came to prominence in the late 1980s when, as editor of state-run newspaper The Chronicle, he exposed a racket involving cabinet ministers and top government officials who jumped the line to buy cars from a local vehicle assembly firm, and resold them for a profit at a time the country was facing vehicles shortages. A commission of inquiry was established, five ministers resigned, one of them eventually taking his own life, but Nyarota lost his job and left the country to teach journalism in southern Africa. Nyarota had trained as a teacher, one of the few jobs open to educated Blacks during white minority rule in what was then known as Rhodesia, before branching into journalism…In 1999, Nyarota helped launch The Daily News, an independent newspaper that challenged the state hegemony on the media…Nyarota and journalists from the Daily News were arrested multiple times, the paper’s printing press was bombed in 2001, before it was closed over licensing issues in 2003. Nyarota had resigned from the paper earlier in 2002 due to differences with its new management…In 2003, he moved to the U.S as a fellow of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, and also ran an online publication, The Zimbabwe Times. He later returned to Zimbabwe and chaired a government-supported panel of inquiry into media ethics in 2014. Nyarota was a recipient of several international awards, including the Committee to Protect Journalists’ International Press Freedom Award in 2001, Golden Pen of Freedom Award from the World Association of Newspapers in 2002, and the Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize the same year. AP
Dozens Escape from Suspected Human Trafficking in South Africa
Dozens of young adults and children who were allegedly held captive in a suburban house in Johannesburg escaped on Wednesday, police said, in a suspected case of human trafficking. Police have found 32 of the escapees, all of whom are Ethiopian nationals, spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo told journalists. The case echoes others around Johannesburg in recent months, with industrialised South Africa drawing streams of migrants, many of them undocumented, from countries such as Malawi, Lesotho and further afield…”Most of them are minors,” Masondo said, putting their ages at between 13 and 24 years…In January, Johannesburg police rescued 26 undocumented Ethiopian nationals, who were being held captive without clothes or documents by suspected human traffickers. In August last year, police found more than 80 undocumented Ethiopians locked in a house in inhumane conditions in another suburb of the city. Three other Ethiopian nationals were arrested on suspicion of human trafficking and the illegal possession of a pistol. AFP
Kenya Recognises Kosovo as Independent State
Kenya on Wednesday formally recognised Kosovo, the southeastern European country that has been seeking independence from Serbia for more than two decades. Albanian President Bajram Begaj confirmed it after Kosovan special envoy Behgjet Pacoli visited Nairobi and met with President William Ruto. Later, Kenya’s Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Ministry said the decision followed an International Court of Justice advisory opinion on the independence of Kosovo. “Kenya has recognised Kosovo in the interest of international peace and security, territorial integrity and in furtherance of strengthening relations with countries in the Balkans,” the ministry said…The move now brushes aside Serbian lobbying, which had campaigned heavily in Africa against recognising a territory it considers part of Serbia. In October 2023, President Ruto met his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic on the sidelines of a conference in Beijing, China. The Serbian leader said he received assurances that Nairobi wouldn’t jump on the Kosovo recognition bandwagon. Kosovo had declared independence in 2008. It claims 117 countries around the world recognise its independence, but only 10 in Africa have done so. Russia and China do not recognise it either. And Moscow had previously vetoed Kosovo’s membership of the United Nations…The motivation for Kenya’s decision is not immediately clear, especially after it refused to do so in the past, and has increased technical cooperation with the Serbs. The EastAfrican
How a Japanese Entrepreneur Built Ethiopia’s Fastest-growing EV Maker
In energy-starved Ethiopia, where electricity reaches less than half of the population, a local startup’s unconventional bet on battery-powered motorcycles has hit the spot. In less than a year of launch, Dodai has emerged as the East African nation’s fastest-growing electric vehicle maker, selling 850 units in the face of regulatory and supply-chain challenges. The company’s two-wheelers have become the preferred mode of transport for businesses with delivery needs because of their ability to run as many as 150 kilometers (93 miles) on a single charge. Founded in 2022 by Japanese entrepreneur Yuma Sasaki, Dodai’s electric two-wheeler has become popular among businesses…Dodai’s competitive edge comes from its use of lithium-ion batteries instead of the lead-acid batteries offered by competitors such as Chinese EV company San Polo…It has partnered with Beatrix, one of the few authorized GPS providers in Ethiopia, to facilitate the installation of tracking systems — a mandatory requirement for the registration of new vehicles, which is expensive. The partnership allows Dodai to subsidize license plate costs for its buyers. The company has also formed an EV bike association for gig workers to ease the registration process…In January, Dodai said it would introduce bikes with exchangeable batteries into the country and announced a target to build 100 battery-swapping stations across the country by the end of 2025. Rest of World