Tag: Center

Ghana President Taps Retired Army Officer as Envoy to Junta-led Sahel States
Ghana President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday appointed [Larry Gbevlo-Lartey] a former national security chief as envoy to a new alliance formed by Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso…Juntas seized control in a series of coups in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger between 2020 and 2023 and severed military and diplomatic ties with regional allies and Western powers. Diplomatic relations between Ghana and Burkina Faso broke down in 2022 after former president, Nana Akufo-Addo, alleged it had hired Russian Wagner mercenaries, saying their presence on Ghana’s northern border was distressing. Mahama, 66, won the Dec. 7 presidential election by a wide margin to stage a political comeback in Ghana, the world’s number two cocoa producer, which is recovering from its worst economic crisis in a generation…”His appointment is the first in ECOWAS and it’s an attempt to rebuild trust… and start the process of reengagement and the return of the AES to the ECOWAS family,” [Emmanuel Kwesi Aning, an Accra-based security consultant] said. Reuters

West Africa’s Junta-led Nations Announce Deployment of a Joint Force as Extremist Violence Spikes
The junta-led West African countries of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali have created a joint force that will soon be deployed in the restive Sahel region, Niger’s defense minister said Wednesday, to face rising extremist violence…Following military coups in all three nations in recent years, the ruling juntas have expelled French forces and turned to Russia’s mercenary units for security assistance…However, the security situation in the Sahel has worsened since the juntas took power, analysts say, with a record number of attacks and civilians killed both by Islamic militants and government forces. The violence in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso has killed more than 3,470 people in the last six months while 2.6 million people are currently displaced, according to the United Nations refugee agency. After coming into power, the juntas in the three countries left the Economic Community of West African States, the nearly 50-year-old regional bloc known as ECOWAS, and created their own security partnership, the Alliance of Sahel States, in September last year. Some analysts described it as an attempt to legitimize their military governments amid coup-related sanctions and strained relations with neighbors. AP

Moroccan Truck Drivers Kidnapped in Burkina Faso Have Been Released
Four Moroccan truck drivers who were kidnapped in West Africa over the weekend were released in Niger. The drivers were the latest victims of insecurity in the Sahel, an arid swath of land south of the Sahara where militant groups such as the Islamic State Sahel Province have exploited local grievances to expand their ranks and presence. The four were transporting electrical equipment from Casablanca to Niamey, the capital of Niger, and had been on the road for more than 20 days along the 3,000-mile (5,000-kilometer) route when they were reported missing on Saturday, the secretary-general of Morocco’s Transport Union said…The drivers elected not to travel with a military escort on the route between northeastern Burkina Faso and western Niger. They went missing while traveling across the Burkinabe-Nigerien border, from the town of Dori to the town of Tera…Morocco has tried to deepen its political and economic ties in the Sahel and export more goods to countries such as Niger. AP

Tanzania’s President Hassan to Run in October Polls
Tanzania’s ruling party on Sunday nominated President Samia Suluhu Hassan as its candidate in general elections due in October in the east African country. Hassan took office in 2021 after the sudden death of her authoritarian predecessor John Magufuli. Her party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), held a general assembly over the weekend at the end of which it said it had named her as its sole candidate for the October poll. After taking power, Hassan was initially feted for easing restrictions Magufuli had imposed on the opposition and the media in the country of around 67 million people. But rights groups and Western governments have since criticised what they see as renewed repression. Politicians belonging to the main opposition Chadema party have been arrested and several opposition figures have been abducted and murdered. RFI with AFP

Mozambique’s Maputo Port Volumes Dip after Post-election Unrest
Mozambique’s largest port, Maputo, reported a 1% decline in volumes in 2024 mainly due to post-election protests that forced border closures and road blockages, [Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC)] said on Tuesday. The southeast African country was rocked by opposition protests after a disputed Oct. 9 vote won by Daniel Chapo and his Frelimo party, which has governed Mozambique since 1975. The unrest has left more than 300 people dead following a crackdown by security forces…The rail corridor from South Africa to Mozambique was also affected by the protests and blockages, paired with a derailment in October and November, which shut the line for a month, MPDC added. The Maputo port is handling growing volumes mainly driven by commodity exporters increasingly sending cargo through Mozambique to get around logistics bottlenecks in South Africa. Goods handled include coal, chrome, copper, and grains such as maize and wheat. Reuters

Sudan ‘Political’ Banknote Switch Causes Cash Crunch
Sudan’s army-aligned government has issued new banknotes in areas it controls, reportedly aimed at undermining its paramilitary rivals but causing long queues at banks, disrupting trade and entrenching division. In a country already grappling with war and famine, the swap replaced 500 and 1,000 Sudanese pound banknotes (worth around $0.25 and $0.50 respectively) with new ones in seven states…In Port Sudan, now the de facto capital, frustration boiled over as banks failed to provide enough new notes…Grocers, rickshaw drivers, petrol stations and small shop owners are refusing to accept the old currency, preventing many transactions in a country reliant on cash…[A]nalysts say it is less about economics and more about gaining the upper hand in the war between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who leads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). AFP

One Million People Have Fled Sudan War To South Sudan: UN
Over one million people have now fled the Sudanese war into neighbouring South Sudan, according to the United Nations, which said the figures illustrated the scale of the unfolding humanitarian crisis. Tens of thousands have been killed and more than 12 million forced from their homes since conflict erupted between Sudan’s army and a rival paramilitary group in April 2023. More than 770,000 people have fled through the Joda border crossing in the last 21 months, while tens of thousands more have crossed into South Sudan elsewhere, bringing the total to more than a million, according to new UN data on Tuesday. Most of the million people crossing the border are South Sudanese nationals who had previously fled from civil war in the world’s newest country, UN refugee agency UNHCR said in a statement. AFP

‘Living Through Hell’: How North Africa Keeps Migrants From Europe
Libya deported more than 600 men from Niger last month…The mass deportation is part of a common pattern: North African governments, funded by the European Union to tackle migration, using brutal tactics to block sub-Saharan Africa migrants from heading to Europe. The 613 men reached Niger’s closest town to the Libyan border on Jan. 3, disheveled and hungry, some barefoot and sick after months of detention and days of travel across the Sahara. Two of the men died shortly after arriving in Niger..[R]ights groups say the methods being used to keep sub-Saharan migrants from traveling to Europe include well-documented human rights violations, such as so-called desert dumps. Migrants have been abandoned in the Sahara without food or water, or kept in North African prisons where they face torture, sexual violence and starvation…Half a dozen men who were deported all said in interviews with The New York Times that they had been mistreated by the Libyan authorities. The New York Times

Libyan General Released after Arrest in Turin on ICC Warrant for Alleged War Crimes
A Libyan general wanted for alleged war crimes and violence against inmates at a prison near Tripoli has been arrested in the northern Italian city of Turin – and then released after an apparent mistake by prosecutors. Osama Najim, also known as Almasri, was detained on Sunday on an international arrest warrant after a tipoff from Interpol, a source at the prosecutors office for the Piedmont region confirmed. But Rome’s court of appeal did not validate the warrant issued by the international criminal court (ICC) after the arrest was declared to be “irregular” by the city’s attorney general because it had not been preceded by discussions with Italy’s justice minister, Carlo Nordio…La Stampa reported that Najim, who was wanted by the ICC for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as alleged rape and murder, is already on his way back to Tripoli. He was reportedly chief of Libya’s judicial police and director of Mitiga prison, a facility close to Tripoli condemned by human rights’ groups for the arbitrary detention, torture and abuse of political dissidents and migrants and refugees. It is not clear whether he is still in either role. The Guardian

Nigerian Green Groups Protest at Planned Return of Oil Drilling in Ogoniland
Nigerian environmentalists on Tuesday condemned a government plan to resume oil production in the restive Ogoniland, demanding a halt until meaningful talks with local communities are completed. Ogoniland, in Nigeria’s coastal Rivers state, is a flashpoint for pollution in the oil-rich Niger River delta region where a $1 billion cleanup was launched in 2018 following a comprehensive 2011 United Nations Environmental Programme study. More than 20 groups…have criticised the plan, saying it disregards the environmental and social damage caused by decades of oil extraction. In a 14-point demand issued on Tuesday, the groups slammed the government for initiating talks with a select group from the region, arguing it undermines efforts towards environmental justice and a cleanup of the heavily polluted environment…Ogoniland locals have a storied history of resistance to oil extraction on their land. Their struggle gained international attention in the 1990s with the execution of environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni leaders by the then-Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha. Reuters

Zambia Hopes Mining Will Trigger Economic Revival
Zambia is pinning its hopes on the mining sector for an economic revival after the worst drought in living memory caused a sharp slowdown in growth this year, its finance minister said on Tuesday. Situmbeko Musokotwane told an event on the economic outlook that new mines were opening imminently and old mines were re-investing to lift output…The government estimates last year’s copper production was over 770,000 tons, an increase on the 698,000 tons produced in 2023. Zambia wants to raise copper output to about 1 million tons by 2026 and further out to 3 million tons…The government has revised down its estimate for 2024 growth to 1.2% from the 2.3% forecast given in September due to the lingering effects of the drought, the presentation said…Zambian officials, including the secretary to the treasury and central bank governor, are in China to discuss some of the debt that still needs to be reworked, Musokotwane said. Reuters

Kenya Eases Travel Requirements for Nearly All African Visitors
Kenya will allow citizens of nearly all African countries to visit without needing prior authorisation, according to a new directive by the cabinet. Last year, Kenya introduced a “visa-free” policy that required most visitors to apply online for authorisation before leaving their country. But the introduction of the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), which replaced the visa requirement for all visitors, was criticised as a “visa under another name”. On Tuesday, a cabinet statement said the ETA would be dropped for “all African countries except Somalia and Libya – due to security concerns”…The move to facilitate travel within the continent is also being pushed by the African Union (AU). Under the updated system, citizens of most African countries will be allowed to enter Kenya and stay ETA-free for up to two months. Members of the East African Community, which include Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi, can however stay for up to six months in line with the bloc’s policy. BBC