VIF News Digest: International Developments (Africa), 11-17 Feb 2019
Bouteflika seeks fifth term as Algeria's president: BBC News, 11 February 2019

Algeria's 81-year-old President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will seek a fifth term in April's elections, he announced in a message published by state media. Mr Bouteflika has been in office for 20 years but has rarely been seen in public since he had a stroke in 2013. He insisted his "unwavering desire" to serve Algeria allowed him to "transcend the constraints of health concerns".

But critics say this makes it difficult for him to carry out his duties. He is confined to a wheelchair and has cancelled recent official meetings. Mr Bouteflika's last meeting with a senior foreign official was during a visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in September. An earlier meeting with her had been cancelled. Click here to read...

Kagame steps down, Egypt's Sisi takes the helm at African Union: Seychelles News Agency, 12 February 2019

Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who led an active, reformist tenure as African Union Chair, on Sunday passed the baton to Egypt, seen as more likely to focus on security issues than expanding the body's powers. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi officially took over the rotating post of ceremonial head of the AU at the start of a two-day summit in Addis Ababa.

The meeting highlighted the "links between the Mediterranean and Lake Victoria," as a metaphor for sub-Saharan Africa. "Egypt has an interest in Africa, they want to strengthen their position on the African continent and they don't want to be seen as a country only focused on the Arab world," said Liesl Louw-Vaudran, an analyst at the Institute for Security Studies. Click here to read...

Nigeria, Ghana enter EU blacklist for money laundering, 14 February 2019

Nigeria, Ghana, Saudi Arabia and Panama were named in a proposed European Union (EU) blacklist of nations seen as posing a threat because of lax controls on terrorism financing and money laundering, the E.U. executive said on Wednesday.

The move is part of a crackdown on money laundering after several scandals at EU banks. But it has been criticised by several EU countries including Britain, worried about their economic relations with the listed states, notably Saudi Arabia. Nigerian and Ghanaian officials are yet to react to the proposed blacklist. Click here to read...

United Nations-African Union Joint Task Force on Peace and Security holds Sixteenth Consultative Meeting in Addis-Ababa: africanews, 15 February 2019

The United Nations-African Union Joint Task Force on Peace and Security held its sixteenth Consultative Meeting at the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis-Ababa on 12 February 2019.

The AU Commission and the United Nations (UN) Secretariat were represented respectively by Commissioners Smaïl Chergui (Peace and Security), Minata Samaté-Cessouma (Political Affairs), and the Under-Secretaries-General Rosemary DiCarlo (Political and Peacebuilding Affairs), Jean-Pierre Lacroix (Peace Operations) and Hanna Tetteh (Special Representative of the Secretary General to the African Union). They were accompanied by other senior officials from the two Organizations including Under-Secretary General Bience Gawanas, Special Adviser on Africa to the United Nations Secretary-General and Ambassador Fatima Kyari Mohammed, Permanent Observer of the AU to the UN. Click here to read...

Eight killed in Boko Haram attack in Nigeria: Aljazeera, 16 February 2019

Boko Haram fighters have killed eight people in an attack in Nigeria's Northeastern city of Maiduguri, a leader of a civilian task force said. Two residents were shot dead and two suicide bombers blew themselves up in Friday's attack on Maiduguri's Jiddari Polo neighbourhood.
The incident comes a day after the group overran a military base north of Maiduguri on Thursday, stealing an armoured vehicle and torching buildings in the attack. "Several soldiers" went missing in the Thursday's attack, two military sources said on condition of anonymity. Click here to read...

Observers pool for Nigeria polls: ECOWAS, AU, Commonwealth, EU, UN: Africanews, 16 February 2019

Elections have become fairly routine across much of Africa. There has been on average six presidential polls per year since 2016. At the center of an average election are the candidates and their respective parties, the elections body, the voters, the security agencies and also crucially, the media.

But with these elections comes observer missions that have increasingly become key stakeholders in the bigger election enterprise. From the sub-region, continental and international blocs, teams are dispatched to ‘observe’ and to report on the good, the bad and what could be made better. Click here to read...

Libya remains a battleground eight years after Gaddafi revolt: Aljazeera, 17 February 2019

A modern and democratic state remains a distant dream in Libya years after the revolt against Muammar Gaddafi's authoritarian regime.
While no major celebrations are planned for the anniversary of the uprising which started on February 17, 2011 in the thick of the Arab Spring, Libyans profess no great nostalgia for the Gaddafi days in a country which has been sliding from crisis to crisis. Click here to read...

Many Egyptian troops killed or wounded in North Sinai: Aljazeera, 17 February 2019

Funeral prayers were held in Cairo and Sharqiya on Sunday to mourn the deaths of an officer and soldiers killed in an attack on Egypt's military in the Sinai Peninsula.

The Saturday's attack on the Egyptian army checkpoint in the restive Sinai had caused 15 casualties, while seven of the suspected Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) fighters were killed, the military said. Click here to read...

Ethiopia, Djibouti sign gas pipeline deal: africanews, 17 February 2019

Ethiopia and Djibouti have a signed a deal to build a pipeline to carry Ethiopian gas to an export terminal in the Red Sea state.
Djibouti’s Energy minister, Yonis Ali Guedi told Reuters late Saturday that the deal laid out ‘’ key terms that will serve as a basis’‘ for related concession contracts. ‘’ It is the most expensive project ever built in the Horn of Africa region’‘, he said adding that both parties have reached a deal in principle for mutual benefits. Click here to read...

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