Africa Media Review for September 12, 2024

Malian Junta Suspends TV5 Monde, Citing ‘lack of Balance’ in Reporting
Mali’s media regulator, the High Authority for Communication, announced its decision, criticising TV5 Monde for reporting on the deaths of at least 15 civilians in drone strikes in the northern town of Tinzaouatene without considering the Malian army’s perspective. The controversial report aired on August 25 as part of the channel’s widely viewed Africa program in Mali…The channel said that the Malian army had not yet provided its version of events at the time the channel broadcast its report on the drone strikes, “despite direct requests from TV5 Monde”…Since taking power, Mali’s military leaders have suspended the widely followed French outlets France 24 and Radio France Internationale. The junta also suspended France 2 in early 2024, before news channel LCI suffered the same fate at the end of August…Correspondents from a number of foreign media have been forced to leave, go into exile or cease work. Mali’s military leaders have also taken an ever-tougher line on political opposition within the country. RFI with AFP

Sudanese Rebels Appear to Be Posting Self-incriminating Videos of Torture and Arson on Social Media
Fighters from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group, have been accused of waging a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Sudan for the past year as they try to take control of the country. As the RSF has overrun the western region of Darfur, fighters appear to have filmed and posted evidence of their actions on social media. Self-incriminating footage has been viewed by the Guardian and verified by the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR). The footage could become evidence for war crimes investigators, say observers, after the international criminal court put out a call for submissions of visual and audio evidence from Darfur last year…The footage reveals some of what has been happening on the ground in parts of the region of Darfur in western Sudan, where journalists and activists have been unable to safely document violence. The Guardian

UN Security Council Extends Arms Embargo on Sudan’s Darfur
In a resolution adopted unanimously, the Council extended until 12 September 2025 the sanctions regime in place since 2005, which is aimed solely at Darfur. That includes individual sanctions (asset freezes and a travel ban) on three people, and an arms embargo. The “people of Darfur continue to live in danger and desperation and despair. This adoption sends an important signal to them that the international community remains focused on their plight,” said deputy US ambassador Robert Wood. Though sanctions do not apply to the whole country, their renewal “will restrict the movement of arms into Darfur and sanction individuals and entities contributing to or complicit in destabilising activities in Sudan,” he said…Jean-Baptiste Gallopin, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, said the decision was a “missed opportunity” by the Council to extend the embargo to the whole of Sudan. AFP

After Migrant Boat Tragedy, Senegal’s President Vows Sanctions against People Smugglers
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye of Senegal promised severe sanctions against people smugglers during his visit on Wednesday to the town of Mbour, the departure point of a boat that capsized on Sunday…One of these boats heading to Europe left Mbour on Sunday afternoon before capsizing a few miles (kilometers) off the coast. There were 89 people on board, Faye said, and at least 37 died. Only three survivors have been found so far…In recent years, the number of migrants leaving West Africa through Senegal has surged with many fleeing conflict, poverty and a lack of jobs. Most head to the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago off the coast of West Africa, which is used as a stepping stone to continental Europe…Migrant vessels that get lost or run into problems often vanish in the Atlantic, with some drifting across the ocean for months until they are found in the Caribbean and Latin America carrying only human remains. AP

Scorched Earth: How the Search for Gold Has Scarred DRC’S Haut-UéLé Province
In the north-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, forests have been cleared for mines and the roads that service them. Large companies take what they can and move on, leaving abandoned ponds, toxic rivers and scraps of precious metal left in the ground…Huge swathes of Haut-Uélé have been taken over by gold mining in the past few years, particularly by people driven from neighbouring provinces by the security situation. Ongoing fighting between the army and other armed groups in Ituri and North Kivu provinces has displaced thousands of people…Forests have been cleared for the mines and to build roads and facilities for Congolese mining cooperatives, which are licensed by the government and often linked to Chinese corporations. Local people have seen their fields ravaged and their rivers polluted by mercury, used to separate particles of gold from mud. The Guardian

Congo Brings Forward Launch of Mpox Vaccine Drive to Oct 2
Democratic Republic of Congo will start its mpox vaccination campaign on Oct. 2, nearly a week earlier than previously planned, the head of its outbreak response said on Wednesday. Congo is the epicentre of the ongoing mpox outbreak that the World Health Organization declared to be a global public health emergency last month, but a lack of vaccines has until now hampered efforts to curb the spread of the sometimes deadly virus…”There are procedures that have evolved and helped reduce delays,” he said, adding that the vaccination campaign will last 10 days and target only adults, including healthcare professionals, park rangers and sex workers in Congo’s six provinces. Reuters

Rich Nations Have Millions of Mpox Shots as Africa’s Outbreak Spreads; Will They Share?
Rich countries have several hundred million doses of vaccines that could help fight an mpox outbreak in Africa, where donated shots fall far short of what is needed, according to a Reuters tally of public statements, documents and estimates from non-governmental organizations. The shots have been stockpiled for years by countries such as Japan, the United States and Canada in case smallpox, an eradicated disease that is the more dangerous cousin of mpox, ever makes a comeback. Some of the vaccines were used outside of Africa in 2022 when mpox spread globally. A small fraction of those doses could help curb what is now the biggest mpox outbreak on record in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring countries, disease experts say…”It’s not a technical question, it’s a political one,” Maria Van Kerkhove, acting head of pandemic and epidemic prevention at the World Health Organization, told Reuters. She is lobbying for more donations alongside Africa’s CDC and other health authorities. “Vaccines are useless on shelves,” Van Kerkhove said. “Why wouldn’t we get them to the people who need them right now?” Reuters

US Supports Two Permanent UN Security Council Seats for Africa
The United States supports creating two permanent United Nations Security Council seats for African states and one seat to be rotated among small island developing states, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield will announce on Thursday…Developing nations have long demanded permanent seats on the Security Council, the most powerful body in the United Nations. But years of talks on reform have proved fruitless and it is unclear whether U.S. support could fuel action. Ahead of making the announcement at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Thursday, Thomas-Greenfield clarified to Reuters that Washington does not support expanding veto power beyond the five countries that hold it…Any changes to the Security Council membership is done by amending the founding U.N. Charter. This needs the approval and ratification by two-thirds of the General Assembly, including the Security Council’s current five veto powers. Reuters

US Grants Egypt $1.3 Billion in Military Aid, Overriding Rights Conditions
The Biden administration is overriding human rights conditions on military aid to Egypt, a State Department spokesperson said on Wednesday, granting the U.S. ally its full allocation of $1.3 billion this year for the first time during this administration, despite ongoing concerns over human rights in the country. The announcement comes as Washington has relied heavily on Cairo – a longstanding U.S. ally – to mediate so far unsuccessful talks between Israel and Hamas on a ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza. Of the $1.3 billion in U.S. foreign military financing allocated to Egypt, $320 million is subject to conditions that have meant at least some of that sum has been withheld in recent years. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Congress on Wednesday that he would waive a certification requirement on $225 million related to Egypt’s human rights record this year, citing “the U.S. national security interest,” the spokesperson said by email…Cairo has remained a close regional ally of Washington despite accusations of widespread abuses under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s government, including torture and enforced disappearances. Reuters

Guinea Bissau President Embalo Says He Will Not Run for a Second Term
Guinea Bissau’s President Umaro Cissoko Embalo said on Thursday he would not run for a second term in elections in November. Embalo, 51, was elected in January 2020 to succeed outgoing president Jose Mario Vaz. He defeated runner-up Domingos Simoes Pereira with 54% of the vote and would have been eligible for another term in office. The unexpected announcement could trigger a power vacuum and heighten political instability in the coup-prone country of around two million people. At the end of a council of ministers on Thursday night, Embalo said his wife had dissuaded him from running again…Embalo, an ex-army general who served as prime minister under Vaz, inherited a long-running political impasse in a country where coups and unrest have been common since independence from Portugal in 1974. There were two attempts to overthrow him during his presidency, according to Embalo, the latest in December 2023.He dissolved parliament days later for the second time since he came to power. Legislative elections that followed after the first time Embalo dissolved parliament, in May 2022, quashed his plans to push through a constitutional change that would have allowed him to consolidate power by ridding the country of its semi-presidential system. Reuters

Nigerian Judge Grants Bail to 10 Protesters Charged with Treason
A Nigerian judge on Wednesday granted bail to 10 people charged with treason and conspiring to incite the military to mutiny following last month’s protests against a cost of living crisis. Nigerians protested for 10 days last month against high inflation that has made it difficult for ordinary people to meet their basic needs. The protests, which saw thousands take to the streets, were met with a deadly crackdown by security forces. Amnesty International said at least 13 people were killed although security forces denied using lethal force. Judge Emeka Nwite on Wednesday said he had granted bail to nine men and a woman, using the court’s discretion. They have pleaded not guilty to the charges…The government had opposed bail when the charges were presented last week. If found guilty of the offence, the accused could face the death penalty. Reuters

US Pledges Support for Africa’s AI Goals
The two-day pan-African AI conference co-hosted by the United States concluded Wednesday in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub. Hundreds of delegates including public officials, tech leaders, policy makers academics and entrepreneurs attended the conference to hold talks about the development and use of safe, secure and trustworthy AI systems in Africa…In July, the African Union launched the continent’s Artificial Intelligence Strategy, saying AI is pivotal in transforming Africa into a global technology hub, and it called on member states to adopt the strategy. On Tuesday, Nigeria’s minister of communication, innovation and digital economy, Bosun Tijani, announced a $61,000 grant for Nigeria’ brightest AI startups…Africa currently represents 2.5% of the global AI market, according to the Artificial Intelligence for Development Africa, or AI4D. But analysts say with more talks about safe use, AI applications could boost Africa’s economy by $2.9 trillion by the year 2030 with Kenya, South Africa and Nigerian markets taking the lead. VOA

Critics Say a South African Education Bill on Language in Schools Threatens New Unity Government
An education bill that would give South Africa’s government more control over white minority language schools is a threat to the country’s new government of national unity, the second largest political party said Wednesday. The bill seeks to give the government the power to determine language and admission policies in schools. In the current arrangement, school governing bodies consisting mostly of parents and community leaders determine these. Critics describe the bill as a threat to single-language schools, particularly those in the Afrikaans language that is spoken by the country’s white, minority Afrikaner population and others. South Africa has 12 official languages. While most schools use English as a medium of instruction from a certain age, some use Afrikaans, the language that developed among Dutch and other European colonial settlers in the 17th century…The ANC believes the bill would avoid the exclusion of majority Black learners from schools where the only language of instruction is Afrikaans. AP

Ghana Raises Cocoa Farmgate Price by Nearly 45% to Boost Farmers’ Incomes
Ghana has raised the fixed farmgate price paid to cocoa farmers by nearly 45% to help boost their incomes and deter bean smuggling, Agriculture Minister Bryan Acheampong said on Wednesday. Reuters reported earlier this month that Ghana’s cocoa producer price review committee would raise the price from 33,120 cedis per metric ton to 48,000 cedis ($3,070) for the 2024/25 season, in line with the price announced by the minister. The price increase is unprecedented and will take effect from Wednesday, Acheampong told reporters at the launch of the world’s second biggest producer’s 2024/25 cocoa season. Global cocoa prices have been buoyant this year as disease and adverse weather in Ghana and Ivory Coast, which supply more than 60% of the world’s cocoa, the main ingredient in chocolate, pushed the market to a third successive deficit. A similar price increase could be implemented in Ivory Coast next month since the two countries coordinate farmgate prices and cocoa supplies to help sustain the sector and boost their farmers’ incomes. Reuters

Zimbabwe Blueberry Farmers Chase Booming Demand but Face Funding Woes
Despite being one of the fastest growing blueberry producers globally, with production doubling to 7,000 metric tons last year due to a favourable climate, Zimbabwean farmers are struggling to secure financing for their operations…The sector’s exports, which peaked at $140 million in 1999, were disrupted when former President Robert Mugabe began the seizure of white-owned farms to resettle landless Black citizens. Despite the sector’s recent growth, banks remain wary of financing agriculture due to uncertain land tenure, making it challenging for Black farmers…to expand. Blueberry farming in Zimbabwe is currently dominated by the few remaining local white farmers, many of whom are looking for foreign investment to expand operations. Zimbabwe’s banks do not accept the 99-year leases handed by the government to resettled farmers as collateral for borrowing. The banks also tend to be reluctant to lend to farmers because the state has in the past arbitrarily acquired farmland, including from some Black commercial farmers. Reuters