Assessing Progress on Africa’s Agenda 2063
In line with Africa’s enormous potential as a youthful population, emerging market, and hub for technological and cultural innovation, the African Union (AU) set out a vision and strategy of what the continent could become when marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). Agenda 2063 envisages a continent with a vibrant economy, the eradication of poverty, greater interregional integration, the entrenchment of the rule of law and democratic governance, and peace and security. … Among the flagship projects designed to bring these aspirations to life are the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), the African Passport and free-movement policy, the Grand Inga hydropower project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and digital and scientific platforms required to propel Africa into a knowledge-based economy. Ultimately, Agenda 2063 represents not only a roadmap but also a call to action. It requires visionary leadership, institutional resilience, and above all, the active ownership of African citizens and the diaspora. If these conditions are met, by 2063 Africa will not only have achieved its aspirations but also assumed its rightful place as a prosperous, democratic, and globally influential continent. Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Nigeria Sees One of Worst Mass Abductions as 315 Taken from School
More than 300 children and staff are now thought to have been kidnapped by gunmen from a Catholic school in central Nigeria, making it one of the worst mass abductions the country has seen. The Christian Association of Nigeria said 303 students and 12 teachers were taken from St Mary’s School in Papiri, Niger state – substantially more than previously estimated. It said the figures have been revised upwards “after a verification exercise”. … The kidnapping of people for ransom by criminal gangs, known locally as bandits, has become a major problem in many parts of Nigeria. The payment of ransoms has been outlawed in an attempt to cut the supply of money to the criminal gangs, but it has had little effect. Friday’s mass abduction was the third such attack in the country in a week. [Last] Monday, more than 20 schoolgirls, who the BBC has been told are Muslim, were kidnapped from a boarding school in neighbouring Kebbi state. A church was also attacked further south in Kwara state, with two people killed and 38 others abducted. BBC
Insecurity: Akpabio Unveils Nigeria’s Five-year Plan for Countering Terrorism
Nigeria’s Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, on Monday unveiled the country’s new strategic framework for combating terrorism, a five-year plan expected to run from 2025 to 2030. The security blueprint, known as the Nigeria Counter-Terrorism Strategic Plan, was developed by the National Counter-Terrorism Centre, under the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA). … The senate president explained that the plan provides a clear framework for transforming Nigeria’s security architecture, modernising institutions, and strengthening national resilience. … Mr Akpabio stated that the 10th National Assembly has passed major laws in defence, policing, intelligence coordination, cybersecurity and counter-terrorism, and has enhanced inter-agency collaboration and the welfare of security personnel. “While security is a constitutional responsibility shared by all arms of government, the legislature has a unique obligation — to provide the legal, oversight and budgetary backbone upon which security institutions stand and thrive. … He, however, stressed that legislation alone cannot solve Nigeria’s insecurity challenges without corresponding investments in people, technology, training, and strategic partnerships. Premium Times
New Yale HRL Satellite Evidence: ‘Empty Markets, Ongoing Body Disposal’ in North Darfur Capital
Disturbing evidence has emerged from a report published by the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) on Friday, that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continued to carry out activities likely related to the disposal of bodies in civilian areas of El Fasher, North Darfur, following the militia’s complete control of the city on October 26, 2025. According to the analysis, satellite imagery detected activity consistent with possible burnings and burials of bodies in the vicinity of the Saudi hospital and the ‘First Class’ neighbourhood, two areas where the lab had previously documented mass killings. New individual burial mounds were also identified in civilian cemeteries between October 26 and 28, before this activity ceased entirely after that date. … [A]n earlier HRL report showed clusters of human bodies and dark spots, likely blood, around El Fasher children’s hospital and the Saudi hospital, confirming that recent large-scale executions had taken place. The latest report notes that the absence of traditional burials and the scarcity of any civilian activity reinforce Yale Lab’s earlier estimates that nearly 250,000 civilians who were in El Fasher before October 26 may have been killed, died, been displaced, or remain in hiding and unable to move. … The Yale Lab asserts that the combination of evidence—including the likelihood of cremations, the absence of traditional burial practices, and the lack of market activity—raises serious concerns about the fate of the remaining civilians in El Fasher, suggesting that the vast majority have been killed, disappeared, or forcibly displaced. Dabanga
Social Media Accounts Linked to Sudan’s RSF Are Based in the UAE
Several social media accounts linked to Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) appear to be operating from the United Arab Emirates, Middle East Eye has found. In recent days, X, formerly known as Twitter, has rolled out a feature that allows users to see where an account is based and from which region it connects to the X app from. A number of accounts of figures linked to, or supportive of, the Sudanese paramilitary and its affiliated institutions are based in the UAE, according to this new feature. These include the account of the interior ministry of the Government of Peace and Unity, the recently created parallel administration backed by the RSF. Two other accounts belonging to that administration, the foreign affairs ministry and prime minister’s office, are run out of “West Asia”, a region that includes the Middle East – but not Sudan. … Accounts linked to the UAE are looking to discredit journalists and organisations that report on RSF atrocities, while Saudi-linked accounts are boosting the same content. Middle East Eye also used the “profile transparency feature” on Facebook to find that a number of Facebook accounts linked to the RSF are also run from the UAE. Middle East Eye
Guinea-Bissau Challenger, Incumbent both Claim Victory in Presidential Vote
Fernando Dias, widely seen as the leading challenger in Guinea-Bissau’s presidential election, and President Umaro Sissoco Embalo’s camp both declared victory on Monday before the release of official results, each claiming over half the vote. The duelling assertions risk escalating strife in the coup-prone West African country after Sunday’s vote, in which the party that led the fight for independence from Portugal was excluded for the first time. That party, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), threw its support behind Dias. If none of the presidential candidates wins more than 50% of the vote, a second round will take place. … Dias, 47, of the Party for Social Renewal, gained traction after obtaining the backing of former prime minister Domingos Simoes Pereira, the PAIGC leader who came second in a disputed 2019 presidential election. Embalo, 53, is a former army general seeking to become his country’s first sitting president in three decades to win re-election. Reuters
Tanzania Cancels Independence Day over Protests
Tanzania will not hold independence day celebrations on December 9 after calls for protests over the mass killings during recent contested elections, the prime minister said Monday. Hundreds and possibly thousands of protesters were shot dead by security forces after anger erupted over the rigging of elections on October 29, according to tallies by rights groups and the opposition. President Samia Suluhu Hassan was declared the winner with 98 percent of the vote, but her main opponents were either jailed or disqualified, and observers reported signs the vote was manipulated. Prime Minister Mwigulu Nchemba announced independence day celebrations would be cancelled on December 9 — the date set by opposition parties and others for fresh protests — saying the money would instead be spent on rebuilding infrastructure damaged during the unrest. … Hundreds of young people were arrested in the wake of the protests and charged with treason, which carries the death penalty. AFP
Uganda: Bobi Claims 180 Campaign Team Members Arrested
The National Unity Platform (NUP) presidential candidate, Mr Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, has said 187 members of his campaign team have been arrested and are being held in various prisons on trumped-up charges. … “Before heading to Kawempe for our scheduled campaign programme, we have checked on our jailed comrades who are being detained at Luzira Upper Prison on trumped-up charges. They are strong in spirit and unwavering in their convictions. They are being held in their hundreds, and this always happens to weaken and isolate me,” Mr Kyagulanyi said. Earlier this month, police arrested more than 50 members of his campaign team in Mbarara District. Another 20 had been detained in Lira District, while more than 20 were reportedly picked up from hotel rooms in Kiruhura District. … Police charged the detainees with various offenses, including theft, vandalism of police vehicles, and assaulting officers, before producing them in court and remanding them to different prisons. Monitor
Mali, Canada Mining Giant End Gold Complex Dispute
Canadian giant Barrick and Mali announced Monday they had reached an agreement ending their dispute over one of the world’s largest gold complexes, as the country’s economy grinds to a halt under a jihadist fuel blockade. In mid-June, a Mali court ruled that the western Loulo-Gounkoto gold mines held by Barrick would be managed for six months by an appointee, effectively stripping operation from the firm amid rising tensions over taxes. “Operational control over the complex will be handed back to Barrick,” the Toronto-based company said in a statement Monday, adding that “all charges brought against Barrick, its affiliates and employees will be dropped”. It additionally said that legal steps for the release of four detained Barrick employees will move forward. … Barrick has an 80-percent stake in the Loulo-Gounkoto complex, while the Malian state holds the rest. … Barrick and Mali’s authorities said as a result of the agreement, the company would withdraw its arbitration claims before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), a World Bank arbitration panel. AFP
Journalist in Niger Imprisoned for ‘Violating’ State Security
A Niger court has sentenced a Nigerien-Ivorian journalist to two years in prison for “violating” the security of fellow junta-led Sahel nation Burkina Faso, sources told AFP Monday. Both Niger and Burkina Faso have clamped down on dissent, press freedom and civil society since undergoing coups, and along with Mali are linked under the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). The journalist, Serge Mathurin Adou, disappeared in Niger’s capital Niamey on September 1, after telling his wife he had been summoned by the police in the city, where the couple lived. Several weeks later, Burkina Faso’s Security Minister Mahamadou Sana accused him of being one of the authors of an alleged “plot” and “several attempts to destabilise” the country, which is allied with Niger. … Relations between Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso have frayed considerably following Captain Ibrahim Traore’s seizure of power in the latter in September 2022. Adou had been living in Niger for around 20 years and notably worked as a journalist for the private television channel Canal 3 in Niamey. AFP
Tunisians Convicted of Aiding Migrants but Will Go Free
Two aid workers accused of assisting irregular migration to Tunisia were sentenced Monday, November 24, to two years in prison, with four months suspended, but will be freed after time already served, their lawyer said, sentences well short of what had been feared. Mustapha Djemali, an 81-year-old Tunisian-Swiss national who heads the Tunisian Refugee Council, and TRC project manager Abderrazek Krimi, had been charged with “sheltering” migrants and “facilitating illegal entry” into the North African country. … This was the first trial of more than a dozen aid workers from various organizations arrested during a May 2024 crackdown. … The TRC partnered with the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, to screen asylum applications. … Lawyers have insisted that the TRC worked legally to help asylum seekers. … The defendants were arrested in May 2024 along with about a dozen humanitarian workers, including members of French group Terre d’Asile and anti-racist organization Mnemty, who are awaiting trial. Le Monde with AFP
African Union Chair Calls for Fairer Debt Restructuring Tools at Summit with EU
Angolan President Joao Lourenco, current chair of the African Union, on Monday called for fairer debt restructuring tools and innovative financing instruments to support Africa’s development. Lourenco’s comments, delivered to African and European Union leaders assembled in Angola’s capital, come as a growing number of African countries are at risk of debt distress. … “We are in dire need of a new vision for the financial relationship between Africa and international lending institutions so that we can invest in development without being stifled by unsustainable debt,” Lourenco told the first day of an AU-EU summit. … United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, addressing the same summit, agreed the world’s financial architecture needed to be overhauled. “We must reform it for everyone’s benefit and this means ending the crushing debt cycle, … giving developing countries, many of them in Africa, greater participation and influence in the global financial institutions,” Guterres said. … Debt concerns for countries such as Senegal and Mozambique have put debt resolution mechanisms back in the spotlight. Reuters