Africa News and Discussions

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caltrek
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South African Court Rules Zuma’s Corruption Case to Continue
by Mogomotsi Magome
October 26, 2021

https://www.courthousenews.com/south-af ... -continue/

Introduction:
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Former South African President Jacob Zuma’s effort to get a prosecutor removed from his corruption case has been dismissed by the Pietermaritzburg High Court.

Zuma filed a special application to have prosecutor Billy Downer taken off his case, accusing him of bias.

Judge Piet Koen on Tuesday dismissed Zuma’s application, paving the way for the corruption case against the former president to proceed. The trial will continue on April 11, 2022, said the judge.

“I conclude that Mr. Zuma’s complaints, even if taken at face value, do not affect the title of Mr. Downer to prosecute,” said Koen delivering the judgment.

Zuma’s legal representatives said they will study the ruling to determine whether or not they will appeal the judgment.
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Sudan General States the Prime Minister Detained in Coup is Being Held for His Own Safety
by Samy Magdy
October 26, 2021

https://www.courthousenews.com/sudan-ge ... wn-safety/

Introduction:
CAIRO (AP) — Sudan’s ruling general said Tuesday the prime minister he deposed in a coup was being held for his own safety and would likely be released soon. But he warned that other members of the dissolved government could face trial as protests against the putsch continued in the streets.

A day after the military seized power in a move widely denounced by the international community, pro-democracy demonstrators blocked roads in the capital of Khartoum with makeshift barricades and burning tires. Troops fired on crowds a day earlier, killing four protesters, according to doctors.

The takeover came after weeks of mounting tensions between military and civilian leaders over the course and the pace of Sudan’s transition to democracy. It threatened to derail that process, which has progressed in fits and starts since the overthrow of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir in a popular uprising two years ago.

The U.N. Security Council was to discuss the situation in Sudan, a nation in Africa linked by language and culture to the Arab world, at a closed-door meeting later Tuesday. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged world powers to come together to act decisively at the council, saying unity was needed to confront an “epidemic of coups d'état” recently.

In his second public appearance since seizing power, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan said Tuesday the military was forced to step in to resolve a growing political crisis.
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Sudan Arrests Three Coup Critics as Pressure Mounts on Military
by Samy Magdy
October 27, 2021

https://www.courthousenews.com/sudan-ar ... -military/

Introduction:
CAIRO (AP) — Sudanese security forces detained three prominent pro-democracy figures overnight, their relatives and other activists said Wednesday, as internal and international pressure mounted on the country's military following its coup.
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Sudan’s Generals Have Torn Up the transition Playbook. But Don’t Count Out the Masses
by David E Kiwuwa
October 26, 2021

https://theconversation.com/sudans-gene ... ses-170670

Introduction:
(The Conversation) This week the head of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, General Abdel Fattah El Burhan, declared the dissolution of the transitional council, which has been in place since the overthrow of former president Omar el-Bashir in 2019. He also disbanded all the structures that had been set up as part of the transitional roadmap, and decreed a state of emergency.

In essence, he staged a palace coup against the transitional authority he chaired.

The general’s actions, which included the arrest of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, are a culmination of a long period of tension between the civilian and military wings of the council. The tensions were punctuated by an alleged attempted coup only weeks earlier. The days leading to the palace coup were marked by street protests for and against the military.

Does this mark the end of the transition as envisaged by the protest movement?

The popular uprising against Bashir’s government was led by the Sudan Professional Association.* It ushered in the political transitional union of civilians and the military establishment. The interim arrangement was to lead to a return to civilian rule. But this cohabitation was tenuous from the start, given the oversized role of the military in the transition. Moreover, the military appeared to be reluctant to see the civilian leadership as an equal partner in shepherding through the transition.
*Sudanese academics defiant as revolutio ... ature.com)
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African Union Suspends Sudan Over Coup
October 27, 2021

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/ ... over-coup

Inroduction:
(Al Jazeera) The African Union (AU) has said it suspended Sudan from all its activities after the country’s military overthrew the civilian-led transitional government in a coup.

The African Union Political Affairs Peace and Security on Wednesday tweeted the news of the suspension, an expected move typically taken in the wake of military coups.

In a communique, the pan-African body said the suspension would be in place until “the effective restoration” of the transitional authority steering the country towards elections.

It came as the World Bank also on Wednesday followed the United States in suspending aid to Sudan following the widely condemned military takeover.

Meanwhile, state oil company workers and doctors said they would join a growing campaign of civil disobedience called by a coalition of unions against the power grab.
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The Coup in Sudan, Explained
by Jen Kirby
October 29, 2021

https://www.vox.com/2021/10/29/22751437 ... han-hamdok

Extract:
(Vox) The “troika,” the team of the US, United Kingdom, and Norway that has traditionally engaged with Sudan, has condemned the coup, and has continued to recognize Prime Minister Hamdok…

The US is trying to put some pressure on the Gulf states, like Saudi Arabia, to get them to use their influence to avert a deeper crisis. Whether such international pressure will work is an open question — especially since the US Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa met with Sudanese officials in early October to tell them to stick to the democratic transition or risk losing US support. (And then, yeah, they went ahead and did the coup a few weeks later.)

But for now, the Sudanese pro-democracy and civil society groups are mobilizing to preserve the democratic experiment they’ve started.
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Sudan’s Anti-coup Protesters Back on Khartoum’s Streets
October 31, 2021

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/ ... cade-roads

Introduction:
(Al Jazeera) Anti-coup protesters have manned barricades in Sudan’s capital Khartoum, a day after a deadly crackdown on mass rallies, as a defiant civil disobedience campaign against the military takeover entered its seventh day.

Tens of thousands turned out across the country for Saturday’s demonstrations, marching against the army’s October 25 power grab.
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Corruption and Environmental Damage: Chinese Investments in Africa
by John Feffer
November 9, 2021

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021 ... nts-africa

Introduction:
(Common Dreams) China's relationship with Africa is multifaceted. The People's Republic of China (PRC) shares ideological bonds with many African countries because of early ties to anti-colonial struggles and through the Non-Aligned Movement. Every African country recognizes the PRC with the exception of eSwatini (Swaziland), which has diplomatic relations with Taiwan). Many African countries preserved trade relations with Beijing after the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, and those commercial links have only grown stronger. China has been Africa's leading trading partner since surpassing the United States in 2009.

Many African governments seek Chinese assistance through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to bridge the continent's infrastructure gap, while China in turn seeks access to a number of key strategic resources, including fossil fuels, minerals, and also access largely untapped markets. In addition to being rich in natural resources, some African countries attract Chinese interest because of relatively cheap labor, poor governance, and lax environmental standards. In 2017, McKinsey reported that more than 10,000 Chinese companies are likely operating throughout Africa.

The amount of money involved is staggering. According to a 2021 report from the Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, China has since 2000 invested a total of $47 billion throughout Africa (in 52 out of 54 countries), with new investments adding up to $2.96 billion in 2020 (an increase of over $200 million from the previous year). The vast majority of Chinese investment—87 percent—has been concentrated in four sectors: energy, transport, metals, and real estate. China's Export-Import Bank provides much of the financing for infrastructure projects in Africa, but a number of commercial banks have also established branches throughout the continent.

Yet, despite these numbers, Africa attracted only 2 percent of Chinese foreign investment in 2019.

The impact of Chinese economic interactions with Africa can also be measured at an individual level. "There are no individuals in Nigeria who don't have Chinese goods," reports Tijani Abdulkareem, the executive director of the Socio-Economic Research and Development Centre in Abuja. "It's the food that they eat, the wristwatches they own, the clothes that they wear."
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The Coalition of Rebel Forces Taking on Ethiopia’s Government, Explained
by Ellen Ioanes
November 7, 2021

https://www.vox.com/2021/11/7/22768365/ ... -explained

Introduction:
(Vox) After a year of conflict, displacement, and growing humanitarian crises, Ethiopia’s civil war entered a new phase this week after a newly formed coalition of Tigrayan rebels and other minority groups began their advance on the federal capital of Addis Ababa.

The civil war, which began in November last year, has already killed thousands and displaced millions more; the UN says there have been brutal human rights violations on all sides, including a federal blockade of badly needed humanitarian aid into the northern Tigray region.

Now, the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, has responded by marching on the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, along with a number of other rebel groups that have joined with the TPLF in opposition to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. While reports vary regarding their progress toward the capital, rebel forces may be as close as about 100 miles away, a spokesperson for the Oromo Liberation Army told CNN.

TPLF representatives in Washington, DC, announced the new coalition, called the United Front of Ethiopian Federalist and Confederalist Forces, on Friday, and made clear its intention to oust Abiy.
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African Startup Market Increasingly Active
by Alex Wilhelm and Anna Heim
November 12, 2021

https://techcrunch.com/2021/11/12/faste ... er-rivals/

Introduction:
(TechCrunch) The global venture capital market is increasingly active, but few locales are seeing the sort of investment acceleration that African startups are enjoying this year.

New data indicates that African startups have already outraised all known prior years, meaning 2021 is sure to be a record. But, more importantly, the pace at which African startups are raising money in 2021 is accelerating, with September data indicating that it was perhaps the best month ever.
Given that venture capitalists are putting more money to work in Africa this year as the quarters tick along, it’s reasonable to anticipate that 2022 could bring even greater total venture investment to the continent.

Investors told The Exchange that their investment pace is picking up tempo and prices are rising. But it’s not all good news on the African front. There may be a dearth of late-stage checks despite a surfeit of early-stage deals, and the African startup economy remains weighted toward a single country (Nigeria) and category (fintech).

Any heating market won’t warm evenly, and the African startup scene is no exception to the rule. Still, the type of funding that the continent’s startups may need is in rich global supply, so perhaps this is a supply-chain issue that can be resolved?
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