U.N. Security Council to Discuss Sudan Crisis on Monday
The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Monday to address the escalating violence and humanitarian crisis in Sudan, with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expected to condemn the fighting and urge immediate action to protect civilians. Guterres and a civil society representative will brief the 15-member council, diplomats said, as concerns grow over the increasing number of casualties and reports of human rights abuses…Guterres is expected to urge warring parties to intensify diplomacy, pursue local ceasefires and establish a mechanism to ensure compliance with a May declaration to protect civilians. The possibility of deploying an African Union-led protection force is also expected to be discussed. While Guterres’s report acknowledges the calls for such a force, it notes that current conditions in Sudan are not conducive to the successful deployment of a U.N. peacekeeping mission. Sudan Tribune
At Least 124 Killed after Sudan’s RSF Attack Village, Activists Say
Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killed at least 124 people in a village in El Gezira State on Friday, activists said, in one of the deadliest incidents of an 18-month war and largest in a spate of attacks in the state. Following the surrender of high-ranking RSF officer Abuagla Keikal to the army last Sunday, pro-democracy activists said the RSF has carried out revenge attacks in the farming state where he comes from, killing and detaining civilians and displacing thousands. Gezira has already faced a months-long rampage in which residents told Reuters the RSF looted homes, killed scores of civilians and displaced hundreds of thousands. Reuters
Nigeria: How Years of Government Failures Caused a Flood ‘Worse Than Boko Haram’
[After heavy rains in early September], water ripped through the Alau dam wall, leaving two-thirds of the city of Maiduguri underwater, killing up to 1,000 people, said rescue and security workers, and displacing nearly half a million…[G]overnment agencies knew the dam was badly damaged and did not fix it or correct operational mistakes despite repeated warnings, both from local residents and from engineers who spent six years studying the dam. Eight months before the dam collapsed, one of the engineers, Mala Gutti, warned dam officials that the structure was under intense hydraulic pressure and at risk of “catastrophic failure.”…Humanitarian agencies and government officials have warned that the next disaster facing Maiduguri will be severe water and food shortages. Crops that would have fed 1.6 million people for six months were lost in the flood, according to Chi Lael, a spokeswoman for the United Nations World Food Program. The New York Times
Nigeria: Green Energy’s Dirty Secret: Illegal Lithium Trade Thrives in Oyo
As the transition from carbon-spewing petroleum-powered cars to electric vehicles accelerates, the demand for lithium is also rising. The International Energy Agency estimates that lithium production must increase 40-fold by 2040 to reduce carbon emissions enough to avert the worst impacts of climate change. This demand for lithium has extended to Nigeria, where a market for illicitly mined lithium minerals is thriving in the international border areas of Oyo State, helped by poor government regulation and monitoring…The Nigerian government claimed in 2022 that “commercial lithium material” had just been discovered in the country. However, when PREMIUM TIMES visited the Oyo border community in August, villagers said the sale had been ongoing for about two decades. Premium Times
Eastern DR Congo Grapples with Chinese Gold Mining Firms
Hundreds of foreign companies, most of them Chinese-owned, mine gold in the mineral-rich province often without permits and without declaring profits, according to local authorities…In July, South Kivu governor Jean-Jacques Purusi suspended “illegal” mining activity in the province until companies could comply with Congolese mining laws. Under the legislation, companies would have to renew their mining permits, some of which have been expired for decades…[Artisanal mining] is forbidden to foreigners by the country’s mining code, but Chinese companies use local cooperatives as “partners” to circumvent the ban. Around half of the Congolese cooperatives in the province are partnered with Chinese companies, according to the bureau of scientific and technical study (BEST), a Congolese NGO specialising in mining governance. RFI
Diamond-rich Botswana Votes with President Masisi Seeking Second Term
Botswana will hold a general election on Wednesday with President Mokgweetsi Masisi competing against three challengers for a second term in the diamond-rich southern African state. The poll could be competitive, analysts said, although a divided opposition gives the advantage to Masisi’s Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), which has ruled the country of 2.3 million people since its independence from Britain in 1966…Botswana has enjoyed stability and relative prosperity thanks to its diamond wealth and small population, which gets free healthcare and education. It is the world’s top producer by value of the gem. But a downturn in the diamond market has put a squeeze on revenues in the last few years, and the country has struggled to diversify its economy. Opponents say the BDP has been in power too long and accuse it of economic mismanagement and corruption, which it denies. Reuters
Ivory Coast Former Minister Seeks Presidential Nomination, Challenges Ex-banker Thiam
Ivory Coast’s former trade minister Jean-Louis Billon said on Friday he would seek the nomination of the opposition PDCI party for the country’s 2025 presidential election, challenging party leader and former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam. Billon’s decision to run could further divide the PDCI party that ruled Ivory Coast from independence until the late 1990s, but has struggled to regain power due to infighting. Thiam recently returned to the world’s top cocoa-producing nation and won the PDCI’s leadership race. His victory fuelled speculation he would run to replace or challenge President Alassane Ouattara. Neither man has formally declared his intentions. Reuters
Tunisia Coastguard Recovers Bodies of 16 Migrants
Tunisia’s coastguard has recovered the bodies of 16 migrants off the coast of the towns of Maloulech, Salakta and Chebba, the national guard said on Monday, the latest migrant boat disaster in the Mediterranean…Last month at least 15 Tunisian people died, including three infants, and 10 others were missing after their boat sank off the Tunisian coast at Djerba as they sought to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. The bodies of 13 sub-Saharan African migrants were also recovered in the same area last month. Tunisia is grappling with an unprecedented migration crisis and has replaced Libya as the major departure point for both Tunisians and people from elsewhere in Africa seeking a better life in Europe. Reuters
France’s President Is Visiting Morocco after His Western Sahara Change Brings a ‘New Honeymoon’
French President Emmanuel Macron arrives Monday in Morocco, where he is expected to meet with the North African kingdom’s leaders and discuss partnerships regarding trade, climate change and immigration. During the president’s three-day visit to Rabat, he is scheduled to meet with King Mohammed VI and Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch and address Morocco’s Parliament. It comes months after Macron changed France’s longstanding public position and backed Morocco’s autonomy plan for the disputed Western Sahara. The move endeared the country to Morocco and alienated it from Algeria. AP
Kenyan Activist Freed after Night in Police Custody
Prominent Kenyan human rights activist Boniface Mwangi has been released without charge after being detained by police on suspicion of inciting violence, his wife told the BBC. She described on Sunday how six masked individuals forcibly took him from his home. His detention came after he called for an anti-government protest at a marathon in the capital, Nairobi, on Sunday…His latest call for a protest was seen as an attempt to keep up pressure on Mr Ruto, who has faced growing public anger over the escalating cost of living and alleged police brutality during demonstrations earlier this year. BBC
Financial Audit Forces Senegal to Reassess IMF Program Strategy
The Minister of Finance, Cheikh Diba, announced during the annual IMF meetings in Washington that Senegal’s program with the international institution needs to be revised following an audit that revealed a higher debt and budget deficit than previously reported…The budget deficit is actually over 10% of GDP, nearly double the initially reported 5.5%. These revelations had immediate repercussions: Moody’s downgraded the country’s credit rating further into the speculative category, with a potential additional downgrade on the horizon. Senegalese Eurobonds experienced a brief period of massive selling. The audit, commissioned by the new president Bassirou Diomaye Faye, revealed alarming figures regarding the last five years of Macky Sall’s presidency. Africanews with AP
Ghana: Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey Appointed Commonwealth Secretary General
Commonwealth members appointed Ghana’s foreign minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, as the new secretary general, on the final day of the group’s summit in Samoa. Botchwey, a former lawmaker who has served as Ghana’s foreign minister since 2017, has supported calls for reparations for transatlantic slavery and colonialism – a position that was also shared by the two other candidates who had vied for the position…Botchwey has also backed the drafting of a free trade agreement among Commonwealth member states. The Guardian
Malaysia, Ethiopia Agree to Strengthen Bilateral Ties
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed met with his Malaysian counterpart on Saturday as he continued his visit to the country. Following the talks in Putrajaya, Abiy told reporters that both nations had agreed to collaborate further in several sectors including agriculture, industry and trade and investment. “There are plenty of opportunities from both sides,” he said standing alongside Malaysian Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim. “The discussion was very fruitful towards enhancing our cooperation in all sectors.” Abiy arrived in Malaysia on Friday for a two day visit to the country. Anwar expressed his gratitude to Abiy for his endorsement for Malaysia’s entry into the BRICS bloc of developing economies which recently concluded its summit in Russia. Africanews with AP