Families Sent Back to Homes Ruined in East DR Congo Conflict
[A]t the end of January, Goma — capital of North Kivu province — was seized by the M23 as part of a lightning offensive which has seen the group occupy swathes of territory in the eastern DRC. Then in early February the M23 ordered those displaced by the conflict to return to what remained of their homes…And so Sake, which sits on the Congolese bank of Lake Kivu across from Rwanda, filled up again…Although Sake is coming back to life its fragile wooden houses, scattered among grey volcanic rock, bear the scars of conflict…Many shops have reopened since mid-February and residents now flock to the town’s market where fruit and vegetables grown on the province’s fertile hills are sold under tarpaulin sheets. But sometimes the fighters emerge from the hills at night to steal and rob…On the road to South Kivu’s provincial capital Bukavu, AFP met many villagers who found their houses looted on their return…According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 44 percent of people who returned to North and South Kivu “found their fields occupied” by people from other places working in them. More than one in 10 who returned to their homes found them inhabited by interlopers who had moved in in their absence, the OCHA added. AFP
UK Will Not Pay Rwanda More for Scrapped Migrant Deal
On Monday, Rwanda’s government spokesperson Yolande Makolo said the UK had asked Rwanda to “quietly forgo” the remaining payment – reportedly amounting to $64m – based on “trust and good faith”. However, Rwanda has now asked the UK to pay the remainder of the money it says it is owed, accusing the UK of breaching trust by suspending some aid to the country. In a statement, a UK government spokesperson said that “no further payments in relation to this policy will be made and Rwanda has waived any additional payments”…The row over payments linked to the Rwanda scheme comes after the UK government announced it would halt bilateral aid to the east African country last month, except for “support to the poorest and most vulnerable”. The UK took the decision to cut aid after accusing the country of supporting M23, a rebel group that has captured swathes of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in a deadly uprising…The plan to deport some asylum seekers to Rwanda, devised by the previous Conservative government in 2022, cost the UK $310m before being scrapped by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. BBC
Army Surrounds South Sudan Vice President’s Home as His Allies Are Arrested
South Sudanese soldiers surrounded Vice President Riek Machar’s home in the capital on Wednesday and several of his allies were arrested after an armed group allied to him overran an army base in the country’s north. Machar, whose political rivalry with President Salva Kiir has in the past exploded into civil war, said last month that the firing of several of his allies from posts in the government threatened the 2018 peace deal between him and Kiir that ended a five-year civil war in which more than 400,000 people were killed. Deputy army chief Gen. Gabriel Duop Lam, also loyal to Machar, was detained Tuesday over the fighting in the north, while Machar ally and Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chol was arrested Wednesday alongside his bodyguards and family. No reason was given for the arrests. AP
Sudan RSF-aligned Groups Sign Transitional Charter in Nairobi, Back Secular State
Sudanese political groups and armed movements aligned with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) signed a transitional charter in Nairobi on Tuesday, endorsing, among other provisions, a secular state for Sudan. The groups, including the RSF, factions of the Sudan Revolutionary Front, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, the National Umma Party, civil society groups, and other civilian entities, signed a founding pact on February 23. The agreement paves the way for a parallel government in RSF-controlled areas, which is expected to be announced in the coming weeks. The Sudanese government has rejected the move, saying it encourages the division of African countries and violates their sovereignty…The transitional charter calls for the repeal of the 2019 transitional constitutional document and all prior laws, decisions, and decrees…The “Nairobi Charter” has drawn concern from the United Nations and the United States, which called it “a new escalation” and “a step that will not help bring peace and security to Sudan.” Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan, Somalia, and Qatar have also rejected the move to form a government parallel to the Sudanese army’s authority in Port Sudan. Sudan Tribune
Tunisia Puts 40 Opposition Figures on Trial. Activists Say the Move Is Politically Motivated
A Tunisian court opened a high-profile trial Tuesday in which 40 people, including leading opposition figures, stand accused of conspiring against state security. Activists protested outside, calling it a baseless case and part of a politically driven crackdown. Nine of the defendants were not allowed to appear at the trial, deemed by the court as too dangerous to release from custody. Their lawyers demanded the right of their clients to appear before a judge, as did the protesters outside. In addition to opposition politicians, the accused include former diplomats, business leaders, journalists, lawyers and human rights defenders, and some have spent more than two years in pre-trial detention. Others have fled abroad…The birthplace of the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprisings, Tunisia has seen a significant rollback of freedoms under Saied. AP
Migrants Rescued after Several Days Stranded on Oil Platform
Thirty-two migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean have been rescued by an NGO ship after spending several days stranded on an oil platform off the coast of Tunisia…One person on the platform had died, the charity said. NGO Sea Watch said it had managed to rescue all 32 people from the gas platform on Tuesday afternoon, and that they were being looked after aboard the Aurora ship. However, the Aurora’s final destination was unclear as no country nearby had yet assigned the ship a port of safety, Sea Watch said. It added that no European country had intervened “despite the imminent emergency” and the fact that the people were stranded in international waters on the border of the Tunisian and Maltese search and rescue (SAR) zones. BBC
Lead Mining in Zambia Town Poisoning Children: HRW
The Zambian government is allowing hazardous mining in the lead-contaminated town of Kabwe, worsening severe health risks to children, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday. Kabwe, around 150 kilometres north of the capital Lusaka, is one of the world’s most polluted places from decades of lead and zinc mining. More than 30 years after the mine’s closure in 1994, residents are still exposed to extreme levels of toxic lead, found in the soil and dust around homes, schools and roads. Yet the government is still “facilitating hazardous mining and processing” in the area, HRW said in a report, citing licenses issued to South African, Chinese and Zambian businesses…More than 95 percent of children living near the Kabwe mine had elevated blood lead levels with about half requiring urgent treatment, HRW said…The concentration of lead in the soil has reached 60,000 milligrams per kilogramme, according to the report, 300 times the threshold considered a hazard by the US Environmental Protection Agency. AFP
How Illegal Gold Mining Is Fuelling a Chocolate Shortage
Ghanaian cocoa farmers are abandoning beans for bullion in an illegal gold mining boom that has ravaged the country’s cocoa production and helped drive global chocolate prices to historic highs. The cost of cocoa traded in New York trebled between early 2023 and the start of this year but price controls in Ghana, the world’s second-largest cocoa producer, have denied farmers that windfall. As a result, many are selling their farms to illegal miners who have decimated swaths of land and poisoned much of the country’s water supply. The cocoa industry, civil society and a government-commissioned report all allege that the miners are backed by political elites…Galamsey’s [illegal gold mining] insatiable rise is intensifying a crisis that saw cocoa yields in the west African country plunge 20 per cent last year…Galamsey is “the most malignant” of all the forces driving the crisis and all but irreversible due to the flooding and chemicals used by miners, said Antonie Fountain, managing director of the Voice Network, a non-profit focused on sustainability in cocoa. Financial Times
1.7 Million Somali Children Face Severe Malnutrition – Report
Nearly a quarter of Somalia’s population is in constant need of food, the result of erratic weather and insecurity that has ravaged the country for the past three years. And the latest figures show that the number could rise to 4.4 million between April and June this year, up from a previous estimate of 3.3 million. Many Somalis were already wallowing in high levels of hunger between January and March 2025, according to a situation report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a multi-stakeholder initiative that helps build an accurate picture of food security. The IPC report, released this week, says that 1.7 million children under the age of five are at risk of acute malnutrition by December 2025…A study by the UN children’s fund (Unicef) found that malnourished children can be stunted, with lifelong impact, slow learners, with low immunity, and can also be sickly. The EastAfrican
Africa Deepens Economic Ties with Caribbean
African finance leaders are forging closer economic ties with Caribbean countries to bolster trade between the two regions that is projected to be worth nearly $2 billion annually in the coming years. The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) last month announced a $1 billion “oil service” financing agreement with Guyana, which would pave the way for partnerships between Guyanese businesses and oil companies from African countries…In January, ministers from Benin and CARICOM met in the West African country for the first time for talks on trade and investment…African officials have in recent years moved closer to building a trade bloc with the Caribbean that would create a market of 1.3 billion people with a combined GDP of around $3.5 trillion. In October, the African Union and CARICOM signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at boosting investment and collaboration between countries in the two regions. The African Development Bank signed a similar agreement with the Caribbean Development Bank in 2022. Research published last year by the International Trade Centre (ITC) and Afreximbank estimated that trade between Africa and the Caribbean could rise to $1.8 billion per year by 2028 — up from around $700 million — if value addition and improved logistics are prioritized. Semafor
Tanzania Reverses Trend in Maternal and Newborn Deaths
Tanzania’s efforts to combat maternal and newborn deaths appear to be paying off, with recent data showing a significant drop in the number of deaths. And experts are pointing to a programme known as the Safer Births Bundle of Care (SBBC), which Tanzania launched to target rural and marginalised communities to help them access maternal care services. Data published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that maternal and newborn deaths in Tanzania have fallen since the programme began in 2021, by up to 75 percent for mothers and 40 percent for newborns…It was observed that mothers and babies in this region were being saved by being provided with services that they had previously been unable to access due to bad roads, distance to the clinic or high costs…The SBBC programme provided on-site and frequent simulation training for health workers, as well as innovative clinical tools to improve heart rate monitoring and resuscitation. The EastAfrican