Africa Now – Weekly Newsletter (Week 28, 2022)

Welcome to Africa Now, your weekly newsletter for Africa, presenting the most important developments in the continent – news that matters.

COMMENTARY

The Gambian Voting System: An Ode to Simplicity

On 4th December 2021, The Gambia, the smallest country in mainland Africa, held its presidential election. The successful election and transfer of power were a powerful message toward Gambia’s successful transition into a democratic society. Click here to read…

Food crisis starts to bite Africa amid Russia-Ukraine war

Disruptions in food shipments after the Russian invasion of Ukraine are pushing up prices of food staples in Africa, making an already alarming situation worse. With food insecurity and acute hunger set to increase, affecting 174 million people, Africa is on the brink of a humanitarian crisis. Click here to read…

NEWS

African leaders mourn ex-Japan PM Shinzo Abe

Several African leaders have expressed shock and anguish following the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday, who they have described as a friend of Africa. Click here to read…

West Africa leaders lift sanctions on 2 junta-led neighbours

West African leaders attending a regional summit agreed Sunday to lift sanctions on two neighbours led by military governments that are now promising a return to democratic rule. Click here to read…

Jihadis attack jail in Nigeria’s capital, 600 inmate escape

At least 600 inmates escaped in a jailbreak in Nigeria’s capital city, officials said Wednesday, blaming the attack on Islamic extremist rebels. Click here to read…

Tunisia: President Kais Saied publishes new constitution draft

Tunisia’s President Kais Saied published on Friday in the official gazette a new draft of the proposed constitution that included minor amendments and did not affect his power. Click here to read…

Kenya’s 9 August elections: Presidential candidates Odinga and Ruto differ on voter register

Kenya’s two frontrunners for the August presidential election, William Ruto and Raila Odinga, have differed on whether the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission should use a manual register to identify voters during the polling day. Click here to read…

Is South Africa’s Ramaphosa Headed the Same Way as UK’s Johnson?

President’s re-election as ruling party leader not guaranteed. Ruling Party Treasurer-General could enter race for top job. Click here to read…

Two Ex-presidents Attend Meeting Called by Junta Leader on Burkina Faso Future

Two former presidents of Burkina Faso attended a meeting called by the country’s Junta leader Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba to discuss the situation in the West African country on Friday. Click here to read…

What is behind the protests rocking Libya?

Protesters take to the streets in east and west Libya, as anger rises over political deadlock and living conditions. Click here to read…

Sudan protesters sceptical military will step aside

Appearing on television late on Monday, Sudan’s coup leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan announced that the military would step aside and allow civilian forces to assume power, appearing to concede to the demands of the country’s mass pro-democracy movement. Click here to read…

Authorities in Guinea arrest members of the opposition

Authorities in Conakry have arrested three members of an opposition organization, including its national coordinator Fonike Mangue also known as Oumar Sylla. Click here to read…

Clashes continue in DRC despite de-escalation pact with Rwanda

An M23 rebel spokesman said there was an exchange of fire after Congolese troops attacked a rebel position in the east. Click here to read…

Why Ghana has returned to the IMF

Hundreds took to the streets of Ghana’s capital Accra last week to protest over its deteriorating economy. Days later, the government of one of West Africa’s most prosperous nations announced it would begin formal talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for support. Click here to read…

Zimbabwe to mint gold coins to tackle rising prices

Zimbabwe says it will introduce gold coins later this month as it tries to curb soaring inflation amid a slump in its currency. Click here to read…

Uganda Discovers Over 31 million Tonnes Of Gold Ore

Uganda, a country in Eastern Africa, has recently announced the discovery of a deposit of 31 million tonnes of gold ore, with extractable pure gold estimated to gross 320,000 tonnes worth over $12.8 trillion. Click here to read…

Angola boosts fuel production with refinery expansion

The new plant will bump up Angola’s fuel production to 1,580,000 litres a day, contributing to a 15 percent reduction in annual imports. Click here to read…

Egypt hopes Gulf mediation will help resolve Nile dam dispute

Egypt has intensified its contacts with Gulf countries to mobilize support in the GERD file, although statements and public support may not be enough to pressure Ethiopia back to the negotiation table. Click here to read…

EU agrees to improve migration cooperation with Morocco after Melilla tragedy

Morocco and the European Union have agreed to cooperate more closely in combatting human trafficking after at least 23 migrants died during an attempted mass border crossing from Morocco into the neighboring Spanish enclave of Melilla. Click here to read…

Namibia and EU ink seven-year partnership programme

National Planning Commission executive director Wilhencia Uiras and the European Union’s ambassador to Namibia, Sinikka Antila, launched a seven-year partnership programme between the EU and Namibia on Thursday. Click here to read…

Oil and Gas Multinational TOTAL Is Making a Mess in Mozambique

TOTAL is creating a social and economic disaster in Mozambique, consulting the same playbook it uses in Myanmar and Yemen where it extracts resources and silences communities. Click here to read…

2 UN peacekeepers from Egypt killed, 5 wounded in Mali

A U.N. armored vehicle hit a mine Tuesday in central Mali, killing two Egyptian peacekeepers and seriously wounding five others in another deadly incident targeting the U.N. mission in the West African nation that has faced a decade-long Islamic insurgency. Click here to read…

Fresh clashes in DR Congo as rebels dash ceasefire hopes

Fresh clashes between M23 rebels and soldiers erupted in eastern DR Congo on Thursday, officials said, as the militia declared that it was not bound by a ceasefire agreement. Click here to read…

IDF participates in African Lion drill in Morocco for the first time

For the first time, IDF officers and officials from Israel’s Defense Ministry took part in the large-scale African Lion, the largest annual military exercise held on the African continent, alongside Morocco and several African nations. Click here to read…

Palestinian president and Hamas chief hold rare meeting in Algeria

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh — who officially last met face-to-face in Doha in October 2016 — were brought together in a meeting with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. Click here to read…

Burundi vows to ‘eradicate’ begging as police sweep streets in raids

Authorities in Burundi on Thursday said a police operation rounding up beggars in the main city of Bujumbura would not stop until they had been “totally eradicated” from the streets. Click here to read…

Ties with Somalia prove Africa’s importance for Turkey: Erdoğan

Somalia is the main example that shows the importance Turkey attaches to the economic development, social peace and stability of the African continent, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Wednesday. Click here to read…

Chinese Communist Party opens school in Tanzania to train party officials from region

The Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Leadership School, for which China provided a support of $40 million in funding, was opened early this year and inaugurated by Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan and several other neighbouring countries’ leaders. Located in Kibaha, near the port city of Dar-e-Salaam. Click here to read…

African Heads of State to Convene to Champion a Strong Start to IDA20 Implementation for A Robust Recovery

The Republic of Senegal and the World Bank Group will host a high-level meeting on July 7, 2022, with African leaders to leverage the powerful voice of African countries in implementing the IDA20 program. Click here to read…

Turkey detains Russian ship Ukraine says is full of stolen grain in part of Putin’s plan to use starvation as a weapon

Turkish authorities detained a Russian ship carrying grain stolen from Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said. Click here to read…

Libya’s power cuts enrage citizens, spurring protest

When the power cut out in Libya’s Benghazi last week, Haitham al-Ghoul dashed into the street with his five-year old son Othman to find somewhere to plug in a respirator the child needs to ease asthma attacks. Click here to read…

Togo now has a development agency for MSMEs

Togo now has a national agency for the development of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The related decree was issued on July 7, 2022, during the council of ministers. Click here to read…

‘No sign of rain’: Citizen’s despair as drought devastates Somalia

The UN says nearly 7.1 million Somalis, almost half of the country’s population, face acute levels of food insecurity. Click here to read…

Ethiopia: Abiy Vows to Defeat OLA Militants Following Recent Attacks

In a July 7 address to parliament, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed vowed to defeat the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) after blaming the militant group for two major attacks against ethnic Amharas. Click here to read…

Angola’s former President José Eduardo dos Santos dies at 79

Angola’s former president José Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled Africa’s second biggest oil producer for nearly four decades, has died aged 79. Click here to read…

China wishes to penetrate Africa’s political landscape with its ‘debt-trap’ diplomacy: Report

After offering loans to countries to Africa, China is leveraging the “debt trap” to strategically penetrate the continent’s political landscape. Click here to read…

History of the Pan-African flag, target of a flamethrower attack in the US

A Pan-African flag, flying outside the headquarters of a Black socialist group in Florida, was set on fire using a flamethrower Saturday. Click here to read…

INDIA IN AFRICA

Reframing India-Africa Relations in Post-pandemic World

Africa has always been a foreign policy priority for India. However, the new Government under PM Narendra Modi has displayed unprecedented eagerness to deepen its age-old relationship with the African continentClick here to read…

Jaishankar wishes South Sudan on its 12 Independence Day

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar extended wishes to the government and people of South Sudan on their 12th Independence Day. Click here to read…

Jaishankar agrees to take forward India-Senegal ties

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday met his Senegalese counterpart Aissata Tall Sall and agreed to take forward ties in various fields including agriculture, health, and fertiliser production. Click here to read…

India, Mozambique review ties, exchange views on global developments

India and Mozambique on Monday reviewed the multi-faceted bilateral relationship including political exchanges, development partnership projects, defence and security cooperationClick here to read…

M23 — why armed African group Indian soldiers helped defeat in 2013 is back in the news

Resurgence of M23, a rebel group thought to be defunct until last year, has led to blame game between Rwanda and Democratic Republic of the Congo, although peace efforts are under way. Click here to read…

Morocco Ambassador to India Mohammed Maliki Visits SOA In Bhubaneswar

Morocco’s ambassador in India Mohammed Maliki made a courtesy call on Prof (Dr) Manojranjan Nayak, founder president of Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) in Odisha capital on Friday. Click here to read…

India expanding defence partnership with its key African partner Egypt

The destroyer also participated in a PASSEX in which it closely cooperated with the Egyptian Navy. India’s Ambassador in Cairo Ajit Gupte visited the INS KOCHI to meet with the fleet commander and the crew. The ship’s visit is part of the ongoing intensified defence exchanges between India and Egypt. Click here to read…

2nd Foreign Office Consultations between India and Mozambique

The 2nd round of Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) between India and Mozambique were held in New Delhi on 4 July 2022. The Indian side was led by Shri Puneet R. Kundal, Joint Secretary (East & Southern Africa) and the Mozambican side was led by Mr. Ismael Valigy, Director for Asia and Oceania in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Mozambique. Click here to read…

Egypt, Malaysia looking to replace their ageing fleets with India’s Tejas fighter jets

In a bid to replace their ageing fleets, Malaysia and Egypt are looking to buy India’s Tejas fighter jets. Click here to read…

Airtel Africa clears dues worth $450 mn, purchases notes via tender offer

The company had issued a tender offer to purchase USD 300 million worth of its 5.35 per cent guaranteed senior notes of $1 billion due 2024. Click here to read…

Kenya-based cargo airline Astral Aviation to enter Indian skies

In a new development for the aviation sector in India, a new Kenya-based cargo airline Astral Aviation is going to enter the market under Pradhaan Air brand with an A320F plane. Click here to read…

Lt Gen M. Subramanian appointed Force Commander of UN Mission in South Sudan

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday announced the appointment of Lt Gen Mohan Subramanian of India as Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). He succeeds Lt Gen Shailesh Tinaikar also from India. Click here to read…

Cobalt, copper, China: India should pay more attention to the savage violence in Congo

Leaving security to mercenaries is a path to proxy wars, colonial-era savagery. Democracies like India with an economic stake can’t remain sidelined. Click here to read…

Chennai gets direct flight to Africa

It was celebration on Sunday at Chennai airport when Tamil Nadu finally got one of its most awaited air links — a direct flight to Africa. Click here to read…

Little Africa in the Indian jungles in Western Ghats

Nestled on the foothills of the Western Ghats, Yellapur is a small town in Karnataka known for its thick forests and forest-dwellers. Click here to read…

Woman living in India for 50 years seeks citizenship, approaches Bombay HC

A 66-year-old woman living in India for over 50 years without any citizenship documents or an Indian passport approached the Bombay High Court on Friday seeking the government grant her citizenship. Click here to read…

Niraamaya Retreats goes International, introduces its private residence collection in Seychelles

Niraamaya Retreats, known for its distinctive luxury hospitality and bespoke wellness, has partnered with Petit Amour Villa and is set to open its 1st international private residence in the beautiful island nation of Seychelles. Click here to read…