Africa News and Discussions

[Time_Traveller]

Burundi celebrates 60 years of independence in Bujumbura

6 hours ago

Burundi celebrated the 60th anniversary of its independence in Bujumbura with a military parade and guests of honor from around the world.

The Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye during the ceremony hailed the new Burundi after 6 years and further advocated for a better tomorrow for the central African country.

"After 60 years, Burundi is no longer the same, it is a new Burundi, it is for this reason that we must cherish the chapter that we have started, we must not deviate from the good path that we have taken," said Evariste Ndayishimiye, Burundian president.

President Ndayishimiye further reckoned the underdevelopment status of the country linking colonizations as the root of ethnical vices like wars.

This, according to Evariste Ndayishimiye, has relegated the country to the bottom of the economic ladder. Burundi is ranked as the poorest country in the world by the World Bank.

https://www.africanews.com/2022/07/02/b ... bujumbura/

[Time_Traveller]

Ghana back to IMF as economic conditions worsen

01/07

Ghana’s president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has authorized Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta to commence formal engagements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to support the country’s economy.

A statement issued by the country’s information ministry said the order follows a telephone conversation between President Akufo-Addo and the IMF Managing Director, Miss Kristalina Georgieva, Graphic.com reported.

"At a meeting on June 30th, 2022, the cabinet indicated its support for the decision," the statement said on Friday, July 1.

"The engagement with the IMF will seek to provide a balance of payment support as part of a broader effort to quicken Ghana's build back in the face of challenges induced by the Covid-19 pandemic and, recently, the Russia-Ukraine crises".

https://www.africanews.com/2022/07/01/g ... ns-worsen/

[caltrek]

Germany, Nigeria to Sign Accord on Return of Benin Bronzes
July 1, 2022

Introduction:

BERLIN (AP via Courthouse News) — Germany and Nigeria are set to sign an agreement in Berlin Friday paving the way for the return of centuries-old sculptures known as the Benin Bronzes that were taken from Africa in the 19th century and displayed in German museums and elsewhere.

Governments and museums in Europe and North America have increasingly sought to resolve ownership disputes over objects that were looted during colonial times.

A British colonial expedition stole the bas-relief Bronzes along with a vast number of other treasures in 1897 from the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin, in what’s now southern Nigeria.

The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, an authority that oversees many of Berlin’s museums, announced last year that it was beginning formal negotiations on returning pieces that are in its collection. Many of them date from the 16th to the 18th centuries.

The memorandum of understanding will be signed by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Culture Minister Claudia Roth, as well as Nigeria’s Culture Minister Lai Mohammed and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zubairo Dada.

Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/germany ... -bronzes/

[Time_Traveller]

UN secretary general urges calm in Libya as protests spread

Sun 3 Jul 2022

The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has appealed for calm as street demonstrations spread across Libya in protest over power cuts and the failure to hold national elections.

Talks between the Libyan factions in Geneva convened by the UN special adviser Stephanie Williams made progress last week but without agreement on a constitution for the elections.

On Friday night, protesters stormed the parliament in the eastern city of Tobruk as anger exploded over deteriorating living conditions and the political deadlock.

“The secretary general is following with concern the demonstrations that were held in several cities in Libya, including Tripoli, Tobruk and Benghazi,” the office of Guterres said in a statement.

The UN chief called on protesters “to avoid acts of violence and on the security forces to exercise utmost restraint”.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... ts-tripoli

[caltrek]

Sudan’s General al-Burhan Says Army Stepping Back from Government
July 4, 2022

Introduction:

(Al Jazeera) Sudan’s coup leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has said the army will make way for a civilian government, will withdraw from ongoing political talks and allow political and revolutionary groups to form a transitional government.

The general’s statements on Monday follow after a deadly week for Sudan’s pro-democracy movement as large-scale protests demanding an end to military rule have continued in the Khartoum area since Thursday.

Nine people have been killed and at least 629 injured by a security forces crackdown on the demonstrations, according to the Sudan’s Doctors Committee, which has tracked protest casualties.

“The armed forces will not stand in the way” of democratic transition, al-Burhan said in a televised address, affirming the military’s commitment to working towards “elections in which the Sudanese people choose who will govern them”.

The ruling sovereign council, led by al-Burhan and consisting of military and civilian members, will be dissolved after the formation of the new government, he said.

Read more here: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/ ... lian-govt

[weatheriscool]

At least 14 dead in a mass shooting at a bar in Soweto, South Africa
Source: CNN

(CNN)At least 14 people were killed and nine more injured in a shooting at a bar in the South African township of Soweto on Sunday, local authorities said.

The incident unfolded shortly after midnight, when a group of men armed with rifles and 9-millimeter pistols entered the bar in the Nomzamo informal settlement near Johannesburg and started shooting "randomly" at the patrons, Gauteng Police said in a statement.

Police said 23 people were shot in the establishment -- 12 died at the scene and 11 were rushed to a nearby hospital with injuries. Two more people were declared dead at the hospital. The police have opened investigations into 14 cases of murder and nine cases of attempted murder, according to the statement.

"It's a bad scene. When you see the bodies [that] are piled up, you can see that every one of those people [was] struggling to get out of the tavern," Gauteng Police Commissioner Elias Mawela told South African news channel ENCA. Mawela said the police are yet to determine details on the motive or why the people at the tavern were targeted.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/10/africa/s ... index.html

[caltrek]

Climate Change, Labour Availability and the Future of Gender Inequality in South Africa
Published on line May 21, 2022 and cited by EurekAlert on July 14, 2022

Abstract:

(Climate and Development) Women in developing countries are more exposed to the adverse effects of climate change. We develop a structural model to study the long-term impacts of climate and socioeconomic changes on labour supply and the pay gap between male/female and high-skilled/low-skilled labour. We calibrate our model with empirical evidence on the impacts of increasing temperatures on labour availability in two general economic sectors with high and low exposure to rising temperatures. Using five waves of nationally representative micro-survey data in South Africa from 2008 to 2017, we find that while high-skilled labour availability is insensitive to climate change, higher temperatures have a negative impact on working hours of low-skilled labour specially among women in the high-exposure sector. We incorporate these findings in an overlapping generations (OLG) model to show that climate-induced reduction in labour availability increases the relative wages of low-skilled female labour and reduces the wage gap between male and female labour in the high-exposure sector, and between high-skilled and low-skilled female labour, in general. Considering climate change damages both on sectoral productivity and on labour availability, we project that by the end of the century, the output per adult will drop by about 11 percentage points under a severe climate scenario. This calls for more targeted adaptation policies that build on the potential benefits of climate change in reducing gender inequality and empowering women to take up more active roles in designing and implementing such policies at the local level.

Read more here: https://rsa.tandfonline.com/doi/full/ ... zMHZBzX6

And here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/958647

[wjfox]

‘A bright life ahead’: Botswana on path to seeing no babies born with HIV

Mon 18 Jul 2022 08.30 BST

Being told her baby, Lesedi, was born without the HIV virus was “probably the happiest news I’ve heard”, says Neo Goitsemang, a street vendor. “The relief, from the guilt and fear, was unmatched.”

Lesedi, from Selebi-Phikwe, a mining town in the east of Botswana, was born just months after her 35-year-old mother learned she was HIV positive. “What frightened me the most was the idea of ruining my baby’s life before she was even born, by passing the virus on to her.”

According to the World Health Organization, Goitsemang had a 15% to 45% chance of passing the virus on to her daughter.

Very few babies now born in Selebi-Phikwe to women with the virus are HIV positive thanks to a national campaign to stop mother-to-child transmissions in a country that once had the highest HIV prevalence rate in the world.

[...]

Transmission rates have fallen from 40% in 1999 to below 1% last year, which the WHO called a “groundbreaking achievement”. Seven health districts recorded no transmissions in 2021.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-deve ... s-fall-who

[weatheriscool]

Children among dozens killed in Egypt church fire

Source: CNN

(CNN) Children are among at least 41 people killed, and 14 injured after a fire broke out at a church in Giza's Imbaba neighborhood in greater Cairo on Sunday, according to a spokesperson for the Egyptian Coptic Church citing health officials. It is unclear how many children were killed in the fire at at Abu Sefein church, but it was crowded with worshippers attending Sunday mass, Coptic Church spokesperson Archpriest Moussa Ibrahim said. One priest was among those killed, he said.

At least two officers and three civil protection service members were injured responding to the fire, Egypt's interior ministry announced in a Facebook post. The statement added that the fire started around 9 a.m. local time and was caused by an electrical failure in an air conditioning unit on the church's second floor.

Most of the deaths and injuries were caused by smoke inside church classrooms after the electric failure, the interior ministry said. Church officials also believe the fire was accidental, Ibrahim said. Egypt's Coptic community and churches have been a target of religious-based violence and attacks historically, with persecution and discrimination spiking since the toppling of Hosni Mubarak's regime in 2011.

"We are in continuous contact with the local authorities and the Health Ministry," the head of the Coptic Church, Pope Tawadros II said, according to the church spokesperson. Mariam Malak, 23, told CNN that she had left the church shortly before the fire broke out. "I left the church after Sunday mass and was on my way to work when my mom called me, she thought I was caught in the fire. I turned back and saw [the] church in flames. I just missed it by only a few minutes.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/14/africa/e ... index.html

[weatheriscool]

Fire at Cairo Coptic church kills 41, including 15 children
Source: AP

By SAMY MAGDY

CAIRO (AP) — A fire ripped through a packed Coptic Orthodox church during morning services in Egypt’s capital on Sunday, quickly filling it with thick black smoke and killing 41 worshippers, including at least 15 children.

Several trapped congregants jumped from upper floors of the Martyr Abu Sefein church to try to escape the intense flames, witnesses said. “Suffocation, suffocation, all of them dead,” said a distraught witness, who only gave a partial name, Abu Bishoy.

Sixteen people were injured, including four policemen involved in the rescue effort.

The cause of the blaze at the church in the working-class neighborhood of Imbaba was not immediately known. An initial investigation pointed to an electrical short-circuit, according to a police statement.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/middle-east- ... bfbe513aea

[caltrek]

Kenya Declares William Ruto as Its New President in an Election Drama That’s Far From Over
by Justin Willis and Emma Elfversson
August 15, 2022

Introduction:

(The Conversation) Kenya’s William Ruto was declared the winner of the August 9 election in the midst of chaotic scenes last witnessed on the eve of the infamous 2007-2008 post-election violence. Ruto, running under the Kenya Kwanza coalition, defeated Raila Odinga of the Azimio la Umoja coalition by polling 50.49% of the vote against Odinga’s 48.85%. The announcement followed days of confusion over the likely winner. We asked Justin Willis and Emma Elfversson to provide a quick assessment of the outcome.
________________________________________
What are your views about the electoral process?

Justin Willis: The days prior to the declaration of the presidential result were full of suspense. The decision of the Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission to make polling station results forms available on a portal but not to offer its own tally based on these created a sort of national maths puzzle – anyone with the necessary resources could work out the overall result for themselves.

The problem was that most of us (that includes me) don’t have those resources – 46,000 forms is a lot of data entry. So rival tallies circulated for several days. Then, as it seemed that the tallies were pointing to a narrow victory for Ruto, supporters of his rival Odinga began to allege that forms had been faked or altered.

Just before the chair of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission finally announced a Ruto victory, more than half of the members of the commission held an extraordinary press conference in which they spoke of their pride in having raised the standard of elections. But in somewhat contradiction to that, they expressed their unwillingness to endorse the results. They effectively urged Odinga to challenge the outcome in court.

Read more here: https://theconversation.com/kenya-decl ... er-188758

[caltrek]

U.S. Bombs Somalia and Indicates 13 al-Shabaab Fighters Were Killed
by David DeCamp
August 17, 2022

Introduction:

(Antiwar.com) The US launched an airstrike in Somalia on August 14, the second bombing within a week, signaling that the Biden administration is escalating the US war against al-Shabaab.

US Africa Command (AFRICOM) announced the airstrike on Wednesday and claimed it killed 13 al-Shabaab fighters. The command said the strike was launched against al-Shabaab members that were attacking Somali government forces in a remote location near Teedaan, Somalia.

AFRICOM said its “initial assessment” found that “no civilians were injured or killed,” but the Pentagon is known for severely undercounting civilian casualties in Somalia.

The last US airstrike AFRICOM announced in Somalia took place on August 9, and before that was July 17. The escalation comes after President Biden ordered up to 500 troops to be sent to the East African nation, reversing a Trump-era drawdown.

The Trump administration’s drawdown from Somalia repositioned troops in neighboring Djibouti and Kenya, allowing the drone war to continue. But Biden has launched significantly fewer strikes in Somalia compared to his predecessor.

Read more here: https://news.antiwar.com/2022/08/17/us ... -killed/

[caltrek]

High-Speed Internet On Kilimanjaro Lets Climbers Access Instagram (And, You Know, Life-Saving Aid)
by Dr. Katie Spalding
August 19, 2022

Introduction:

(IFL Science) On October 6, 1889, a German geology professor named Hans Meyer, an Austrian mountaineer called Ludwig Purtscheller, and a group of local guides from the nearby Moshi province all made history. As they climbed the final steps to the highest peak of Kilimanjaro, a mountain never known to have been scaled before, they must have felt a sense of wonder and satisfaction that few of us will ever know. We know what you’re thinking. If only they could have tweeted it.

Well, that historical injustice has finally been righted. High-speed internet service is now available on the slopes of Africa’s highest mountain, allowing would-be trekkers to Insta their way to the summit – or, you know, call for help before they join the ten or so people per year who die on the slopes.
Kilimanjaro was hooked up on Tuesday thanks to the state-owned Tanzania Telecommunications Corporation, with the country’s information minister Nape Nnauye calling the event “historic.”

“Previously, it was a bit dangerous for visitors and porters who had to operate without internet,” Nnauye said in a press event at the launch of the service. Now, though, visitors to the mountain can stay connected to the world below them up as far as the Horombo huts, at around 3,720 meters (12,205 feet) above sea level – although they’ll have to wait a little longer before they can tweet at the top, since internet access isn’t expected for the full 5,895-meter (19,341-foot) height until the end of the year.

Internet access has become a mainstay of mountaineering in recent years – for better or for worse. While over-reliance on smartphones has seen some would-be explorers guided up perilous and potentially fatal routes, even expert mountaineers say connectivity is crucial when things go awry.

Read more here: https://www.iflscience.com/high-speed- ... aid-64972


Tanzania.

(Kilimanjaro is located near the northern border.)

[caltrek]

Japan to Invest $30 billion in Africa to Develop Human Resources
by Susumu Imaizumi in Tunis and Akiyoshi Abe in Tokyo.
August 28 , 2022

Introduction:

(The Asahi Shimbun) TUNIS--Japan pledged to invest $30 billion (4 trillion yen) in Africa over the next three years to spur development with a focus on human resources to shore up startups as well as industries ranging from heath care to agriculture.

The announcement, made online by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Aug. 27, came at the business forum of the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development that opened here that day.

“Japan and Africa are ‘partners who grow together’ and who also work together to tackle the various social challenges faced in Africa,” Kishida said of the investment package to be financed by the Japanese government and private sector.

Conclusion:

China, the United States and Europe are raising their profiles in Africa as they have economic ties with African nations.

Japanese officials are hoping that the TICAD conference in Africa, its second following the 2016 session, will help revive African nations’ ties with Tokyo.

Read more here: https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14705153

[caltrek]

Shell Ruling in South Africa a 'Victory Against Capitalist Extraction and Destruction of Our Future'
by Jessica Corbett
September 1, 2022

Introduction:

( Common Dreams) Climate campaigners across South Africa and beyond celebrated a Thursday court ruling against Shell seismic blasting in search of fossil fuels along the country's Wild Coast, which opponents warned threatened both the local marine life and fishing industry.

Like its interim decision last December, the new ruling by the Makhanda-based court is a win "for the people and planet," and "sets an important precedent during this climate emergency," said Pooven Moodley, director of the group Natural Justice.

The judgment set aside the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy's 2014 decision giving Shell the right to explore local waters, concluding that it was not lawfully granted.

"The court was clear that communities need to be properly consulted and that environmental impact assessments are critical. The cultural and spiritual connection to the land and ocean featured strongly in the judgment," Moodley noted, adding that the decision "provides hope and momentum" for those standing up against other planet-wrecking projects.

Greenpeace Africa interim program director Melita Steele similarly called the ruling "proof that the world is moving into an era of social and environmental justice, where the voices of people are put before the profits of toxic fossil fuel companies."

Read more here: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022 ... ction-our

[caltrek]

How America Can Make the Most Out Of Its New Africa Strategy
by Komlan Avoulete
September 19, 2022

Introduction:

(Foreign Policy Research Institute via Eurasia Review) — The United States can mobilize tremendous resources for issues it cares about. This year, the Biden administration has given Ukraine more than US $54 billion in aid to resist Russia’s brutal invasion. These tremendous sums demonstrate America’s sincere commitment to Ukraine and its democracy.

America has long contended that Africa is important to US national security. But when it comes time for Washington to put its money where its mouth is, America often comes up short. The US-African Leaders Summit, scheduled for December 2022, will provide the Biden administration with an opportunity to demonstrate that the United States is ready to make concrete investments in its relations with African countries. Africans have attended many such summits hosted by the United States, France, and other countries. But with few exceptions, these summits have largely gone bust. Lofty rhetoric is rarely followed up with concrete action, and nothing changes.

If the summit—and America’s new sub-Saharan Africa strategy—are to be successful, the Biden administration will have to take full advantage of its expertise in technological innovation, cybersecurity, and health care to materially improve the lives of Africans. While US concerns about the rise of China and the activities of Russia in Africa are understandable, the focus of US policy on the continent must not be framed in terms of geopolitics, but on Africa’s development needs.

Real Change or More of the Same?

The US-Africa Leaders Summit appears set to break new ground. But unless it’s followed with concrete actions on the ground there’s a danger that it will be seen as just another meeting convoked by a great power that does nothing to address Africa’s needs.

Read more here: https://www.eurasiareview.com/19092022 ... analysis/

[caltrek]

‘Situation Under Control’ According to Burkina Faso Coup Leader
October 2, 2022

Introduction:

(Al Jazeera) Burkina Faso’s new military leadership said the situation in the country was under control and urged people to refrain from acts of vandalism targeting the French embassy.

The comments came on Sunday after security forces fired tear gas at dozens of rock-throwing protesters outside France’s embassy in Burkina Faso’s capital, as unrest simmers in the West African nation following its second coup this year.

Supporters of the coup leader gathered outside the building in Ouagadougou a day after he accused the deposed military chief Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba of hiding out at a French base to plot a “counteroffensive”.

“We want to inform the population that the situation is under control and order is being restored,” military spokesman Captain Kiswendsida Farouk Azaria Sorgho said on national television. He was flanked by coup leader Captain Ibrahim Traore and other armed and masked soldiers.

Sorgho called on people to “desist from any act of violence and vandalism … especially those that could be perpetrated against the French embassy or the French military base”.

Read more here: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10 ... h-embassy

[caltrek]

Rwandan Genocide Suspect Rebuffs International Court Trying Hate Speech Crimes
by Lisa Vives
October 4, 2022

Introduction:

(Eurasia Review) A Rwandan businessman and alleged genocidaire failed to appear in court, where he is being tried on charges of masterminding and financing the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Felicien Kabuga, 87, is accused of aiding and abetting hit squads who slaughtered ethnic Tutsis and with using a radio station known as Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines to incite hatred, according to the charges filed before a UN tribunal at The Hague.

Some 800,000 people, mostly of the Tutsi minority, were murdered during the genocide of 1994.

At the trial’s opening, the presiding judge said Mr Kabuga had decided not to appear in court or to follow proceedings via video link from his detention centre.

Mr Kabuga issued a statement, saying the court had refused to let him choose his own lawyer and he had “no confidence” in his current legal representative.

Read more here: https://www.eurasiareview.com/04102022 ... analysis/

[weatheriscool]

Nigeria boat accident kills at least 76 fleeing floodwater
Source: BBC News

At least 76 people have been reported dead after a boat accident in Nigeria's south-eastern state of Anambra.

The boat, which was carrying at least 80 people, capsized on Friday in the Ogbaru area in Anambra state.

Local media reports say those aboard the boat were heading to the Nkwo market in Ogbakuba before it capsized.

Boat accidents are relatively common in Nigeria, although most are blamed on overloading or poor safety measures.

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-6 ... gn=KARANGA

[caltrek]

WHO Director Says Tigray Conflict Is Health Crisis For 6 Million People And ‘World Is Not Paying Attention’
October 20, 2022

Introduction:

(UN News via Eurasia Review) The Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) urged the international community and the media on Wednesday to give the crisis in Ethiopia “the attention it deserves”.

Highlighting that there is no other situation globally in which six million had been kept under siege for almost two years, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that there is a very narrow window to prevent genocide in Tigray.

“Yes, I’m from Tigray, and yes, this affects me personally. I don’t pretend it doesn’t. Most of my relatives are in the most affected areas, more than 90 per cent of them”, he acknowledged during his regular press conference in Geneva.

“But my job is to draw the world’s attention to crises that threaten the health of people wherever they are. This is a health crisis for six million people, and the world is not paying enough attention”, he underscored.

Hostilities must end

The WHO chief echoed the words used by the UN Secretary-General earlier this week, in which he said that the situation in Ethiopia is “spiralling out of control”.

Read more here: https://www.eurasiareview.com/20102022 ... ttention/