Conflicts Causing Record Level of Forced Displacement in Africa
The number of Africans forcibly displaced by conflict and repressive regimes has risen for the 13th year in a row—to over 45 million people. Comprising internally displaced persons (IDPs), refugees, and asylum seekers, this figure represents a 14-percent increase from the previous year. With 3 percent of its total population forcibly displaced, Africa has both a larger share and absolute number of forcibly displaced people than any other major region in the world. Given the persistent growth in displacement, there has been a doubling in the forcibly displaced population in Africa since 2018…Conflict has consistently been the leading driver of displacement on the continent…The spike in displacement over the past year is mostly attributed to the conflict in Sudan, which recorded a 5.35-million-person increase in internally displaced over the past year. Sudan, though, is just one of 9 African countries with forcibly displaced populations of more than 250,000 that had increased displacement during this period. In 6 African countries, more than 10 percent of the population is forcibly displaced, underscoring both the breadth and depth of this instability. Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Burkina Faso Issues New Passports Without West African Bloc’s Logo
Burkina Faso has launched new biometric passports without the logo of West Africa’s main political and economic bloc on their cover, further signalling its determination to withdraw from the regional alliance after military leaders took power in a coup. Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, three neighbouring states now led by military juntas, jointly announced in January they would leave the 15-member Economic Community of West African States, which has since sought to persuade the three to reconsider their decision…ECOWAS has warned that the three countries’ withdrawal would undermine the freedom of movement and common market of the 400 million people living in the 50-year-old bloc. Reuters
First Mpox Vaccines Due in DR Congo on Thursday
The first delivery of almost 100,000 doses of mpox vaccines will arrive in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday, the African Union’s health watchdog said…More than 17,500 cases and 629 deaths have been reported in the country since the start of the year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The vaccine doses [were expected to] be transported onboard an airplane leaving the Danish capital Copenhagen on Wednesday evening and are due to arrive at Kinshasa’s international airport on Thursday at 1100 GMT…In Africa, mpox is now present in at least 13 countries, including Burundi, Congo-Brazzaville and the Central African Republic, according to figures from the Africa CDC dated August 27. AFP
Gridlock in Nigeria amid Fuel Shortages and Price Hikes
Nigerians have been hit by a double whammy of chronic fuel shortages and a hike in prices by the state-owned oil company. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which imports the country’s fuel and distributes it to private sellers, blamed its debts and rising global prices for its difficulty in getting fuel. Many people have been left stranded with long queues at petrol stations nationwide. Commuters in Lagos have been lining up at bus stations, but there are very few buses operating. Others told the BBC they have been forced to trek long distances as public transport prices have doubled along some routes…When President Bola Tinubu came to power last year, he shocked Nigerians on his first day by removing a subsidy that kept the price of fuel low. BBC
China’s Xi Promises $50 Billion for Africa over Next Three Years
Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday pledged more than $50 billion in financing for Africa over the next three years, promising to deepen cooperation in infrastructure and trade with the continent as he addressed Beijing’s biggest summit since the pandemic. More than 50 African leaders and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres are attending this week’s China-Africa forum, according to state media. African leaders already secured a plethora of deals this week for greater cooperation in infrastructure, agriculture, mining, trade and energy. AFP
China Signs Electricity, Infrastructure Deals with Chad and Senegal
China has signed multiple agreements with Chad and Senegal involving projects ranging from electricity and infrastructure to drinking water and communications technology at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing, the countries’ presidencies said on Wednesday…Leading Chinese companies and institutions have signed six memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with Chad in the energy, water, agriculture, infrastructure and defence sectors, the Central African country’s presidency said in a statement…[A]n MoU with Chinese state-owned defence company CATIC will help reinforce Chad’s military capabilities, the statement said. Reuters
UN Chief Warns Africa’s Inadequate Access to Debt Relief Is Recipe for Social Unrest
African countries’ inadequate access to debt relief and scarce resources is a recipe for social unrest, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday, proposing fresh reforms to the international financial architecture…Guterres proposed “deep reforms to the outdated, ineffective and unfair international financial architecture” and further stimulus “to provide developing countries with the liquidity they need while seeking medium- and long-term solutions.”…Guterres praised China’s initiatives across Africa and said they could drive a “renewable energy revolution” and “be a catalyst for key transitions on food systems and digital connectivity.” Reuters
China’s Mission to Win African Hearts with Satellite TV
Almost nine years ago, President Xi promised the heads of state attending the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Johannesburg that China would provide over 10,000 remote villages in 23 African countries with digital TV access…The ambitious pledge, revealed during a period of warm China-Africa relations and funded by China’s aid budget, was entrusted to StarTimes, a private Chinese company already operating in several African countries…First introduced to the continent in 2008, StarTimes is now one of the largest private digital TV providers in sub-Saharan Africa, with more than 16 million subscribers…Villagers under the project ostensibly received everything for free, including the infrastructure, such as a satellite dish, battery, and installation, as well as a subscription to StarTimes’ content…Despite its relatively cheap price, extending subscriptions was considered a significant financial burden for many. With that, the initial excitement has waned among some of the project’s beneficiaries, putting a dent in China’s push to build up goodwill…China’s influence extends to the content broadcast on StarTimes channels, with mixed results…Dr Dani Madrid-Morales, a lecturer at the University of Sheffield, echoes that StarTimes has not revolutionised the [African] news environment. Most villagers say they prefer local news channels. One consultant to Chinese media companies in Africa said that StarTimes was trying to avoid a repeat of what has happened to the likes of TikTok or Huawei, whose overt Chinese-ness have attracted a high level of scrutiny in the West. [Dr Angela Lewis, an academic who has written extensively on StarTimes in Africa completed a study of news stories from 2015 to 2019. She noted] that most news stories mentioning StarTimes did not reference China or China-Africa relations. The company appears careful not to overtly showcase its Chinese roots. BBC
Kenya’s Security Paradox: Police Sent to Haiti as Banditry Plagues North Rift
The Kenyan government has deployed 400 of an expected contingent of 1,000 special forces police to Haiti as part of a UN-approved security mission. The intervention has faced legal challenges, and widespread criticism that the government is neglecting communities in its North Rift region that constantly need police escorts just to fetch firewood and water, or drive safely along the major roads…It’s a region that for generations has been plagued by cattle-rustling, where rival communities have fought over control of grazing areas. The conflict has escalated and turned more deadly with the commercialisation of cattle-rustling and the proliferation of illegal weapons…Mistrust between warring communities has created an arms race among pastoralists, leading to the cycles of violence that repeatedly displace vulnerable families, as well as hindering economic development…Without an effective police presence to ensure peace, the pastoralists’ leaders remain suspicious of any disarmament programme. The New Humanitarian
Tunisian Public Prosecutor Orders Detention of Presidential Candidate Zammel
Tunisia’s public prosecutor on Wednesday ordered the detention of presidential candidate Ayachi Zammel pending trial, the latest move in what critics call manoeuvres by President Kais Saied to remove rivals challenging his re-election bid. Zammel was arrested, on Monday on suspicion of falsifying popular endorsements. He was one of the three candidates approved to run in the election expected on Oct. 6, along with Saied and politician Zouhair Maghzaoui…Zammel’s lawyer Kais Oueslati told Reuters that the prosecutor had decided to keep him in custody pending trial, the date of which has not yet been set. The decision came two days after Tunisia’s electoral commission defied an administrative court ruling to reinstate three prominent candidates in the race. Rights groups, political parties and constitutional law professors protested, saying the decision was an unprecedented step that raised doubt about the legitimacy and legality of the election in the North African country. Reuters
Erdogan Says Turkey Wants Deeper Ties with Egypt on Natural Gas, Nuclear Energy
President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Turkey wanted to deepen its ties with Egypt on natural gas and nuclear energy, after talks with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Ankara. Speaking at a joint press conference with Sisi, Erdogan said the two countries had reaffirmed their will to improve relations in every area, including trade, defence, health, energy, and environmental matters. Ministers from both countries signed a series of agreements ahead of the leaders’ statements. Reuters
Mozambique Kicks off Election Campaign, a Contest on Who Promises a Better Future
Mozambique is due to hold elections on October 9. But the campaigns…officially opened this week for the race to replace President Filipe Nyusi…At least 37 political parties and associative movements are contesting for seats, but only four candidates have come forth to contest for the presidency. Daniel Chapo is running for the ruling Frelimo party, which is essentially backed by the government machinery. Ossufo Momade is the main opposition Renamo’s candidate, Lutero Simango represents the MDM and Venâncio Mondlane is running as an independent candidate…[A] new election law stipulates that polling station officials who falsify election results will face a maximum penalty of a two years in prison. The law also states that the district courts will no longer have the power to order vote recounts. This power now lies exclusively with the National Electoral Commission (CNE) and the Constitutional Council. It also allows the presence of journalists and observers at all stages of the vote count, without any prohibition, which was not the case before…In January, however, the Africa Center for Strategic Studies said that the 2024 presidential and legislative elections would be defined by the Frelimo’s growing sense of entitlement and impunity. The EastAfrican
Zimbabwe Court Acquits More than 70 Activists in Detention since June
More than 70 activists were acquitted Wednesday after being arrested in Zimbabwe in June for disorderly conduct for allegedly planning to peacefully demonstrate during a meeting of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Jeremiah Bamu of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights is representing 78 opposition activists who were arrested in mid-June at the home of Jameson Timba, the acting opposition leader of the Citizens Coalition for Change. The activists were charged with participating in a public gathering with the intent to promote public violence and disorderly conduct in a public place…The minister of home affairs, Kazembe Kazembe, said the activists were arrested in June because of plans to protest at the Southern African Development Community meeting held last month in Harare. Others were arrested in other parts of the country, bringing the tally to more than 100. VOA
Zambia and Zimbabwe Face Dark Days Ahead
Zambia and Zimbabwe are facing the unprecedented prospect of having to shut down their major hydropower plants as the El Nino-induced drought takes its toll on the two economies. The drought, caused by climate change, has led to a significant drop in water levels at Kariba Dam — the world’s largest man-made lake and a shared source of hydropower between the two countries. The Zambezi River Authority (ZRA), a bi-national body that manages the water resources of the shared lake, said this week that as of August 26, the water available for power generation had dropped to just eight percent of normal levels…Zambia immediately announced that the hydropower plant on its side of the lake would be shut down on September 14, which would see households and businesses only getting three hours of electricity supply per day. Zimbabwe for its part, said it might be forced to turn off the turbines at its hydropower station on the southern side of the lake in December, when it expects to have exhausted its quota of water allocated for electricity generation. The EastAfrican
21 Migrants Missing at Sea as Boat Capsizes in Rough Seas Off Italy
Twenty-one migrants were missing at sea on Wednesday, according to survivors rescued from a sinking boat about 10 miles from the Italian island of Lampedusa, Italy’s Coast Guard said. Seven men, identified as Syrian, were rescued by a Coast Guard vessel on Wednesday morning. A video showed the migrants crouching in a small white motorboat, partly submerged, before being carried in pairs by a rubber raft to a waiting Coast Guard vessel. The migrants told their rescuers that they had left Libya on Sunday on the boat packed with 28 people, including three minors…Last year, more than 212,000 migrants and refugees tried to cross the central Mediterranean Sea from North Africa, according to a report by the United Nations refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration, or I.O.M. The New York Times
South Africa: Sithole and Ramphadi Secure Africa’s First Wheelchair Tennis Medal
South African duo Lucas Sithole and Donald Ramphadi secured Africa’s first wheelchair tennis medal after clinching bronze in the quad doubles at the Paris Paralympics on Wednesday…Ramphadi, 31, who developed brittle bone disease at 12, won the French Open doubles last year with Lapthorne and was a finalist in doubles at the last two editions of the Australian Open…Sithole, 37, who lost his legs in a train accident at age 12, won the U.S. Open singles in 2013 and the Australian Open doubles three years later. Reuters