Understanding Ethiopia’s Port Deal with Somaliland and Its Geopolitical Implications by Raisana Debates
January 25, 2024
Introduction:
(Observer Research Foundation) The year 2024 began with political turmoil in the Horn of Africa region. On the very first day of the year, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed signed a deal with President Muse Bihi Abdi of Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. The deal will give Ethiopia, a landlocked country, direct commercial and military access to the Red Sea. As per the deal, Somaliland agreed to lease a military port in the Gulf of Aden and 20 kilometres of Somaliland's coastline to Ethiopia for 50 years. In return, Somaliland would be formally recognised as a sovereign state and acquire a portion of the shares in Ethiopia's flagship carrier, Ethiopian Airlines. This makes Ethiopia the first country in Africa to recognise Somaliland as an independent state, and the second country in the world after Taiwan, another self-governing territory lacking international recognition.
Ethiopia’s quest for Red Sea access
Prima facie, the deal seems to be a diplomatic success, fulfilling Ethiopia's long-standing need for immediate access to the sea. Ever since Eritrea’s independence, Djibouti, a port on the Red Sea, has served as Ethiopia's most important trade route. However, Djibouti charges Ethiopia about US $1.5 billion annually in port fees, prompting Ethiopia to explore other alternatives in neighbouring Eritrea, Sudan, Somaliland, and Kenya. The 2018 Peace Deal with Eritrea was greeted with optimism by Ethiopia as a move to reclaim duty-free access to Eritrean ports. There were also announcements with Somalia’s former President, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, for Ethiopia to jointly invest in four Somalian seaports. In August 2023, Ethiopian Minister for Transport and Logistics Alemu Sime visited Kenya's Lamu port too. However, Ethiopia’s plan to use any of these ports never materialised so far.
As a matter of fact, Ethiopia has been eyeing Berbera and Port Sudan since 2005. However, Ethiopia was unable to carry out a complete transition from Djibouti due to several challenges, including logistical problems and the possibility of conflict with Somalia.
Further extract:
Everything changed in 2023 when Ethiopia's Prime Minister declared that his landlocked country must break the ‘geographic prison’ of approximately 120 million Ethiopians.
Namibian President Hage Geingob dies in a hospital where he was receiving treatment, his office says
Source: ABC News/AP
February 4, 2024, 12:58 AM
HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Hage Geingob, President of Namibia, one of Africa’s most stable democracies, died Sunday while receiving medical treatment at a local hospital, his office announced. The Namibian presidency said Geingob's medical team at Lady Pohamba Hospital did its best to help him, but he died with his wife, Monica Geingos, and children by his side, in a post on X, formerly Twitter,
Angolo Mbumba, Namibia’s acting president, called for calm, saying in the same post that the “Cabinet will convene with immediate effect in order to make the necessary state arrangements in this regard.” Local media reported Mbumba has called for an urgent cabinet meeting. According to Namibia’s constitution, there should be an election to choose a new president within 90 days of Geingob’s death.
Geingob was undergoing treatment for cancer. The 82-year-old had a colonoscopy and a gastroscopy on Jan. 8, followed by a biopsy, his office said last month. He returned home on Jan. 31 from the United States where he had undergone a trial two-day “novel treatment for cancerous cells,” according to his office. In 2014, he said he had survived prostate cancer.
Geingob, president of the southern African nation since 2015, was set to finish his second and final term in office this year. He was the country’s third president since it gained independence in 1990, following more than a century of German and then apartheid South African rule.
Madagascar is to castrate child rapists, prompting criticism but also support
Feb. 11, 2024, 9:15 AM ET
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — Madagascar's Parliament has passed a law allowing for the chemical and, in some cases, surgical castration of those found guilty of the rape of a minor, prompting criticism from international rights groups, but also finding support from activists in the country who say it's an appropriate deterrent to curb a “rape culture.”
Parliament in the Indian Ocean island nation of 28 million passed the law on Feb. 2 and the Senate, the upper house, approved it last week. It must now be ratified by the High Constitutional Court and signed into law by President Andry Rajoelina, who first raised the issue in December. His government proposed the law change.
Justice Minister Landy Mbolatiana Randriamanantenasoa said it's a necessary move because of an increase in cases of rape against children. In 2023, 600 cases of the rape of a minor were recorded, she said, and 133 already in January this year.
“Madagascar is a sovereign country which has the right to modify its laws in relation to circumstances and in the general interest of the people," Randriamanantenasoa said. “The current penal code has not been enough to curb the perpetrators of these offenses."
Surgical castration “will always be pronounced” for those guilty of raping a child under the age of 10, according to the law's wording. Cases of rape against children between the ages of 10 and 13 will be punished by surgical or chemical castration. The rape of minors aged between 14 and 17 will be punished by chemical castration.
Refugees and Returnees Remain in Dire Situations as Thousands are Stuck in Khartoum, Sudan by Richard Sultan
February 17, 2024
Introduction:
(Amjambo Africa!) Outside their temporary shelters of tents and rickety buildings made of iron-sheet roofs and no walls, South Sudanese refugee returnees crowded together one recent morning, awaiting the arrival of members of a youth-led initiative known as Citizens’ Call for Emergency Evacuation and Reception of South Sudanese Trapped in Sudan’s War (CC-ERRI). The returnees expected a much-needed food delivery from CC-ERRI – a few kilos of rice for each recipient. Some of the returnees said CC-ERRI does more than their government or other humanitarian agencies to help. One returnee named her newborn child “Citizens Call” in honor of the support she receives from the initiative.
The scale of need in Sudan and South Sudan is staggering. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, announced in a statement on January 31 that battles between the army and the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan have led to the displacement of “about 8 million” people since last April 15. Some are internally displaced within Sudan, and others have sought help elsewhere, including South Sudan. According to the UNHCR, since last April, an average of 1,500 people cross daily into South Sudan from Sudan. Many of these were originally from South Sudan, but fled to Sudan during their own country’s civil war.
As the returnees patiently waited, some women talked and others stared off into space. One woman, known as Mama Abdalla, who is the mother of two children under 5 years old, told Amjambo, “When the fighting started, my husband wasn’t at home as he works in a construction site outside Khartoum. We couldn’t wait for him to come back, as that would mean the end of us, considering the intensity of the fighting in our neighborhood. ” She added that when her neighbor informed her of free trucks taking people to South Sudan, she jumped on board with her children.
The trucks were driven by members of CC-ERRI, and eventually evacuated over 10,000 South Sudanese from the battleground suburbs of the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. This was a herculean effort that the returnees hoped would continue as long as there were still South Sudanese stuck in Sudan – including Mama Abdalla’s husband.
Ousmane Sonko and Bassirou Diomaye Faye: Senegal opposition leaders freed ahead of election
51 minutes ago
Senegal's opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and the presidential candidate he is backing in this month's delayed election, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, have been released from prison.
The two met hundreds of their jubilant supporters in the capital, Dakar, after their release late on Thursday.
Their release followed an amnesty announced by President Macky Sall.
The elections are due to be held on 24 March after a failed bid to push them to December.
"It's the most beautiful day of my life," a supporter told the BBC.
Skepticism Over Sudan’s Ramadhan Ceasefire Despite Fresh Appeal by UN Chief by Richard Sultan
March 13, 2024
Introduction:
(Amjambo Africa!) There is growing anxiety and skepticism, instead of a renewed hope among most Sudanese in and outside the country, as to whether the UN Security Council Resolution 2724 to stop hostilities in Sudan during Ramadan, which began yesterday, Monday 11th March 2024, will hold or not.
Speaking in New York on Sunday, the 10th March, 2024, on the eve of Ramadhan, the UN Chief says the start of the Holy Month of Ramadhan is a period where Muslims worldwide celebrate and spread the values of peace, reconciliation, and solidarity.
Last Friday, the resolution adopted by the UN Security Council from New York received 14 votes in favor against one abstention.
Drafted by Britain, it called on the warring factions to remove all obstacles, allow unhindered humanitarian aid, even across borders and lines of contact, and comply with international humanitarian law.
Conclusion:
Since that time (mid-April 2023 when fighting erupted) tens of thousands of people have been killed, nearly 10 million internally displaced, and according to the UN nearly 25 million people – about half of Sudan’s population – are going hungry.
Updates from Africa by Olive Mukahirwa
March 17, 2024
Introduction:
(Amjambo Africa!)
U.S. to add five military bases in Somalia
The U.S. will build five new military bases in Somalia, to help Somalia in their fight against the extremist group al-Shabaab, which continues to carry out sporadic attacks across the country on military bases and civilians. The latest attack by al-Shabab was on a military base in Mogadishu, and killed four Emirati soldiers and a Bahraini military officer. The five new bases will be for the Danab Brigade, a U.S.-trained Somali rapid intervention force. At least 3,000 Somali soldiers will be recruited to receive special military training to prepare them to respond quickly to al-Shabab attacks anywhere in the country.
Somalia
Amhara region in Ethiopia sees violence
The U.S. and the European Union have called for an urgent investigation into the massacre of 45 people who were allegedly killed by soldiers going door to door in the city of Merawi in the Amhara region of Ethiopia in late January. The soldiers were looking for members of Fano, an armed militia group. Ethiopia’s government has denied the allegations. Fano fought alongside the federal government in the violence in Tigray that finally ended in 2022. Ethiopian authorities have cut off the internet in Amhara, as well as in nearby areas, and human rights groups say this makes what is happening in the Amhara region impossible to monitor. Journalists are also banned from entering the region
Ethiopia
Africa will produce own vaccines
Africa plans to significantly increase vaccine production over the next 10 years, and by 2040 the continent will produce 60% of the vaccines needed to protect her people against disease, according to delegates of the International Vaccine Institute, which met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on February 18. The announcement comes just weeks after Cameroon became the first country in the world to start using the new malaria vaccine. Malaria annually kills more than 600,000 people in the world, and 95% of them are in Africa. Of these, most are children under 5 years of age. President William Ruto of Kenya was among African heads of state who attended. He pointed to the difficulty Africa had in obtaining vaccinations against COVID-19 as one motivation for ramping up vaccine production in Africa.
Taps have run dry across South Africa's largest city in an unprecedented water crisis
Source: AP
By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME
Updated 4:04 AM CDT, March 21, 2024
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — For two weeks, Tsholofelo Moloi has been among thousands of South Africans lining up for water as the country’s largest city, Johannesburg, confronts an unprecedented collapse of its water system affecting millions of people.
Residents rich and poor have never seen a shortage of this severity. While hot weather has shrunk reservoirs, crumbling infrastructure after decades of neglect is also largely to blame. The public’s frustration is a danger sign for the ruling African National Congress, whose comfortable hold on power since the end of apartheid in the 1990s faces its most serious challenge in an election this year.
A country already famous for its hourslong electricity shortages is now adopting a term called “watershedding” — the practice of going without water, from the term loadshedding, or the practice of going without power.
Moloi, a resident of Soweto on the outskirts of Johannesburg, isn’t sure she or her neighbors can take much more.
