Africa Now - Weekly Newsletter (Week 18, 2023)

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

COMMENTARY

How the Sudan crisis complicates the Egypt-Ethiopia dispute over the GERD dam

A peaceful resolution of the row over Ethiopia’s dam may hinge on who emerges victorious in Sudan’s power struggle. Click here to read... [2]

Kishida hopes to woo Africa away from China’s grip during tour

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is embarking on a four-nation tour of Africa to strengthen partnerships amid the ongoing decoupling between the U.S. and China. Click here to read... [3]

In 'new scramble for Africa,' Japan slips behind

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s one-week diplomatic tour of Africa — his first trip to the continent since assuming office — will be a chance to reaffirm Japan’s role in the region and stimulate private investment amid growing Chinese and Russian influence. Click here to read... [4]

To Counter China, Look to the Democratic Republic of Congo

By investing in cobalt, the U.S. can protect its strategic and economic interests while supporting human rights. Click here to read... [5]

NEWS

Sudan crisis: Ceasefire extended but fighting continues

Rival factions of Sudan's military agreed to renew a three-day ceasefire, shortly before it was due to expire. Click here to read... [6]

Shifting alliances in Sudan’s Darfur as new civil war fears rise

Locals in Darfur arm themselves, believing army-RSF conflict could reignite ethnic violence and open war in region. Click here to read... [7]

As Sudan’s crisis deepens, its neighbor South Sudan is ill-prepared for a human influx, warns IOM chief of mission

Around 95 percent of those who have arrived from Sudan so far are South Sudanese nationals, says Peter Van der Auweraert Click here to read... [8]

Over 20 000 cross from Sudan to Chad since fighting erupted- WFP

Humanitarian groups and Chadian authorities need urgent funding to support thousands of refugees fleeing across the border from neighboring Sudan, according to the World Food Programme. Click here to read... [9]

Japan’s PM to visit Egypt, other countries from Saturday

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is scheduled to travel overseas from April 29 to May 5 to visit Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique and Singapore. Click here to read... [10]

WTO Director-General Okonjo-Iweala to visit Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya

Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will visit Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya from 25 April to 4 May. She will meet leaders, policymakers and representatives from the private sector and civil society and underscore the WTO’s commitment to further reinforce its support to Sub-Saharan Africa. Click here to read... [11]

Algeria moves closer to Mali and Mauritania amid Tebboune's concern

The deterioration of its relations with key countries prompts the government to seek to strengthen relations with southern countries. Click here to read... [12]

Sahara: Turkiye Recalls Ambassador To Morocco Under Pressure from Algeria

Turikye’s Ambassador to Rabat Omer Faruk Dogan, who has been an outspoken supporter of Morocco’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over Western Sahara, has been recalled to Ankara, with converging reports suggesting that the decision comes due to pressure from Algeria. Click here to read... [13]

Beyond Elections: Libya Needs Unified Institutions and Reconciliation

The country’s conflict is far too complicated to be resolved by elections — a comprehensive strategy is needed to bring peace. Click here to read... [14]

Kenya cult death toll rises to 95 as government sets curfew

The latest death toll in Kenya’s cult investigation has risen to 95 as the government announced a dusk-to-dawn curfew on the ranch owned by a pastor who is accused of ordering his followers to fast to death. Click here to read... [15]

Another Kenyan pastor accused of 'mass killing of his followers'

Kenya's interior minister said Thursday that one of the country's highest-profile pastors would face charges over the "mass killing of his followers" just days after the discovery of dozens of bodies linked to another church. Click here to read... [16]

Suspected jihadists kill 33 Burkina Faso troops: Army

A contingent of troops came across "a complex, large-scale attack" in the east region, which also left 12 soldiers wounded, according to the army. Click here to read... [17]

Blasts in Mali kill and injure dozens amid resurgence of 'terrorist incidents'

Ten civilians and three soldiers were killed in a number of incidents across Mali on Saturday. The government says 88 jihadists were put out of action in what they are describing as a resurgence of "terrorist incidents." Click here to read... [18]

Rights Groups Call for Former Burundian PM to Get Fair Trial

Human rights organizations are calling on Burundi’s government to give former Prime Minister Alain Guillaume Bunyoni a fair trial. Click here to read... [19]

Algeria parliament approves law tightening control over the media

Algeria’s parliament has approved a new media law that tightens control over the work of journalists and imposes new restrictions. Click here to read... [20]

Uganda’s Museveni says being LGBTQ should not be criminalised

Latest recommendation suggests president is trying to tone down proposed anti-homosexuality law which would be one of the harshest in the world. Click here to read... [21]

South Africa Releases Its Largest Renewable Energy Tender of 3,740 MW Capacity

In a first such tender for the country on African continent, South Africa has issued its first large-scale tender aimed at procuring renewable energy. Click here to read... [22]

Ramaphosa says new power generation will end load shedding

President Cyril Ramaphosa has promised that new power generation will enable the country to get out of load shedding. Click here to read... [23]

South Africa's withdrawal from ICC in question

Both the South African government and governing African National Congress (ANC) on Tuesday sent out mixed messages regarding the country's position as to whether or not it should withdraw from the International Criminal Court. Click here to read... [24]

Head of regional force tackling east Congo violence resigns, Kenya denies

The Kenyan commander of a regional force set up to tackle militia violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo said he had resigned due to obstruction and threats to his safety, adding to doubts over whether the mission can be effective. Click here to read... [25]

EU launches program to support political stabilisation in Somalia

The European Union (EU) has launched a program aimed at supporting political stabilisation and reconciliation in Somalia. Click here to read... [26]

Nigeria again postpones first census in 17 years

Nigeria has postponed a census due to take place next week and a new date will be set by the incoming government, the information ministry said on Saturday as it announced the latest delay to the country’s first census in 17 years. Click here to read... [27]

Zimbabwe plans to launch digital currency backed by gold

Trust in Zimbabwe's currency is desperately low after people in 2008 had their savings wiped out by hyperinflation, which reached 5 billion percent, according to the International Monetary Fund, nearly a world record. Click here to read... [28]

AfDB signs $525,000 grant with Africa Fintech Network to strengthen fintech activities in Africa

The African Development Bank has signed a $525,000 grant agreement with Africa Fintech Network (AFN) for the setup of the Africa Fintech Hub(link is external). Click here to read... [29]

Sierra Leone counts down to introduction of new payment platform

Tomorrow will see a potentially significant development for the Sierra Leonean economy as the Bank of Sierra Leone officially launches the National Payment Switch, a system that, it is hoped, will move the country closer to achieving the objective of building a cashless economy. Click here to read... [30]

IMF approves immediate disbursement of about $153 million to Tanzania

The executive board of the International Monetary Fund on Monday approved the first review of Tanzania’s three-year extended credit facility, allowing immediate disbursement of about $153 million in budgetary support, the IMF said in a statement. Click here to read... [31]

Mali Receives Military Equipment Shipment From China

Mali has received a rare delivery of military materiel from China, “exclusively acquired on the military budget,” Defense Minister Sadio Camara said on Thursday. Click here to read... [32]

Germany to participate in EU military mission in Niger

Germany’s parliament approved on Friday deploying troops in Niger to take part in a new EU-led military training mission. Click here to read... [33]

Morocco’s power supply to the UK receives massive funding from the UAE

Xlinks First Ltd. has received £25 million from Abu Dhabi National Energy Co., also known as Taqa, and £5 million from Octopus Energy Group in order to provide roughly 8% of Britain's current energy needs through new solar and wind projects in Morocco. Click here to read... [34]

Mozambique President Greenlights $20 Billion TotalEnergies LNG Project

It is now safe for TotalEnergies to restart work on the $20-billion Mozambique LNG project, Mozambique's President Filipe Nyusi said on Wednesday, but the French supermajor says the decision to resume construction is up to all shareholders in the venture. Click here to read... [35]

Togo, Russia ink sport education cooperation agreement

Russia will help spur sports in Togo under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of sport education, inked this week. Click here to read... [36]

Nigeria kicks against ‘substandard specifications’ for African markets by Chinese firms

The permanent secretary stated that in certain circumstances, preferences are given to developed countries on the basis of specifications. Click here to read... [37]

Comoros refuses boats carrying undocumented migrants expelled from France's Mayotte

Comoros said Monday it had refused to allow a boat carrying migrants from Mayotte, where French authorities have announced a controversial operation against illegal migrants, to dock. Click here to read... [38]

Xi Jinping Holds Talks with Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba

On the afternoon of April 19, 2023, President Xi Jinping held talks at the Great Hall of the People with Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba who is in China for a state visit. The two heads of state decided to elevate the China-Gabon comprehensive cooperative partnership to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. Click here to read... [39]

Italian premier defends UK-Rwanda migration deal

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said a plan by the UK government to send asylum seekers to Rwanda was agreement between free nations, seeking to safeguard the safety of people and that it is wrong to call it a deportation, Reuters reports. Click here to read... [40]

Horn of Africa drought made 100 times more likely by climate change

Long-term droughts such as the one going on in the Horn of Africa region, especially in its southern parts, have been made 100 times more likely by climate change. Click here to read... [41]

Guinea-Bissau, first non-European country to sign environmental democracy treaty

Guinea-Bissau has become the first country outside Europe to join an international agreement on environmental democracy that holds governments accountable for environmental and human rights. Click here to read... [42]

Germany's colonial crimes in Namibia tackled on screen

Measures of Men tells the story of a German ethnologist who travels to what was German South West Africa in the early 1900s to study the country's indigenous peoples and harvest their skulls Click here to read... [43]

INDIA IN AFRICA

IAF aircraft rescues 121 Indians in a 'daring night operation' in conflict-torn Sudan

In a “daring night operation”, a C-130J 'Super Hercules' aircraft of the Indian Air Force rescued 121 Indians from a small airstrip at Wadi Seyidna airport. Click here to read... [44]

India Participates In BRICS Middle East North Africa Meeting

India participated in the Ninth BRICS Middle East North Africa (MENA) Meeting, on Wednesday, in Cape Town, under the chairmanship of South Africa. Click here to read... [45]

IIT Madras to set up its first international campus in Tanzania

IIT Madras is set to establish the first Indian Institute of Technology in Africa in Tanzania, with classes scheduled to begin in October. The new campus marks IIT Madras' first international campus Click here to read... [46]

Health ministers of Somalia, Nigeria visit AIIMS, Delhi

Health ministers of Somalia and Nigeria visited AIIMS, Delhi, on Friday and applauded its infrastructure and the research and training programmes underway at the institute. Click here to read... [47]

Two Eminent Indian-Origin Citizens Awarded Highest Honours in South Africa

Two South African Indian-origin citizens, the late struggle icon Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim and scientist Dr Aboubaker Ebrahim Dangor, were among the many recipients of National Orders when President Cyril Ramaphosa hosted the annual event in Pretoria on Friday. Click here to read... [48]

Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis in Mauritius

Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis meets island nation’s President Prithvirajsing Roopuna & PM Pravind Kumar Jugnauth on visit to Mauritius

Fadnavis unveils Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s statue in Mauritius

A 12-feet statue of Maratha warrior-king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was unveiled in Mauritius’s Maharashtra Bhavan on Friday to mark the strong bond between the two nations. Click here to read... [49]

Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis invites Mauritius industries to invest in Maharashtra

At a conclave organised by the Indo-Mauritius business forum, Fadnavis said that a forum too will be soon floated to facilitate investment between Mauritius and Maharashtra and the Maharashtra Industries Development Corporation (MIDC) has entered into an MoU with the Economic Development Board, Mauritius in this regard. Click here to read... [50]

Maharashtra & Mauritius sign MoU for one platform for funds

Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was present for the event organised by the Indo-Mauritius Business Forum. The MoU was signed between the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation and the Economic Development Board, Mauritius. Click here to read... [51]

Mauritius planning to launch pilot project for retail digital rupee late this year

Mauritius plans to launch the pilot phase of a digital rupee in November, Bank of Mauritius Governor Harvesh Kumar Seegolam announced. Many of the parameters of the prospective central bank digital currency (CBDC) are already in place. Click here to read... [52]

Ancient Statue of Buddha Found in Egypt Suggests Links with India

An ancient statue of Buddha has been discovered in the seaport of Berenice in Egypt, shedding further light on the trade links between India and Egypt during the period of Roman rule. The statue is believed to date back to the second century BC. Click here to read... [53]