Tag: Africa

Africa
Sahel

Sahel states defect from ECOWAS

Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso announced they are withdrawing from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), issuing a joint statement saying they had taken a “sovereign decision” to abandon the regional bloc of which they were founding members in 1975. The statement charges that ECOWAS has “drifted from the ideals of its founding fathers and the spirit of Pan-Africanism,” and is now “under the influence of foreign powers.” All three countries are led by military juntas after undergoing coups d’etat, which resulted in their suspension from the bloc. All three countries have also moved closer under their respective military regimes to Russia, whose Wagner Group mercenary force is backing up a new Malian government offensive against Tuareg separatist rebels. (Map: Wikivoyage)

Africa
Somaliland

Regional lines drawn over Somaliland conflict

Addis Ababa held talks on military cooperation with Somaliland, after announcing a controversial deal on sea access through the self-governing but unrecognized republic. As the talks began, Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud visited Eritrea (Ethiopia’s regional rival) seeking support for his harsh opposition to the deal, decried as a step toward recognition of Somaliland’s independence. President Mohamud also signed a law nullifying the New Year’s Day memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the governments of Ethiopia and Somaliland, which grants the landlocked regional power a corridor to Somaliland’s port of Berbera. The Somaliland government, based in Hargeisa, claims full sovereignty, and does not recognize Mogadishu’s jurisdiction over the territory. (Map: Somalia Country Profile)

Africa
wagner group

‘Blood gold,’ diamonds behind Russian war effort

Gold-mining operations in Africa under the control of the paramilitary Wagner Group are funneling money to the Kremlin for the Russian war effort in Ukraine, according to a new report by watchdog organizations. “The Blood Gold Report,” prepared by the Consumer Choice Center and Democracy 21, finds that Wagner has laundered some $2.5 billion in proceeds from its African operations since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, helping Moscow to ride out international sanctions. In the Central African Republic, Wagner is said to have exclusive operational control over the country’s largest gold mine at Ndassima in return for its services in propping up the regime. The European Union meanwhile announced  sanctions on Russia’s state-owned diamond giant Alrosa and its CEO, citing their “long-standing partnership with the Russian Armed Forces.” (Photo of CAR army troops wearing the Wagner Group insignia via Corbeau News Centrafrique)

Africa
Nigeria

Drone massacre in northwest Nigeria

The Nigerian military says it is investigating an army drone attack at a religious gathering on a village in northwest Kaduna state that killed 85 civilians and wounded more than 60 others. Residents of Tudun Biri village were holding festivities for the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, Eid-e-Milad an-Nabi, when the drone struck. Since 2017, hundreds of civilians have been killed in air-strikes carried out by the Nigerian military, ostensibly targeting armed rebel and bandit groups, according to monitors. (Map: Perry-Castañeda Library)

Africa
Daouda Diallo

Burkina Faso’s leading rights activist ‘disappeared’

Regional NGO alliance the People’s Coalition for the Sahel is demanding the immediate return alive of human rights defender Daouda Diallo, secretary general of Burkina Faso’s Collective Against Impunity & Stigmatization of Communities (CISC). The CISC announced that Diallo was abducted on a Ouagadougou street by at least four unidentified men in civilian clothes. Diallo’s CISC has been raising the alarm about ethnically targeted killings in Burkina Faso under the military regimes that have been in power since a January 2022 coup. It is believed Diallo may have been “requisitioned” by the armed forces to participate in the very counterinsurgency campaign that his group has been protesting. (Image: CISC via OHCR)

Africa
Niger

Niger junta pivots from the EU to Russia

The ruling junta in Niger has broken off a military partnership with the European Union that provided training and equipment for the counterinsurgency against jihadist rebels. The rupture is linked to the EU’s refusal to engage with the junta that took power in a July coup. Russian officials have meanwhile visited the country, signing documents to strengthen military cooperation. Russian support for other armies in the Sahel region has led to massive rights abuses, yet the EU’s own record was far from exemplary. The bloc spent large sums on Niger’s military but failed to implement measures to prevent abuses—resulting in civilian casualties that played into the hands of the jihadists. (Map: PCL)

Africa
Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso: junta pursues ‘total war’

Burkina Faso’s emergency aid and security challenges are deepening as the junta-led regime pursues an aggressive military campaign against jihadist insurgents, who have now extended their control to some 40% of the national territory. The country has faced armed insurgency since 2015, but fatalities and relief needs have hit record highs since army Captain Ibrahim Traoré seized power from a different junta last year, and launched a “total war” against the jihadists. Over two million people have been displaced, and 4.7 million require assistance, an increase of more than 1 million over last year. (Map: Perry-Castañeda Library)

Africa
flood

Why politicians shouldn’t play weathermen

Last month, Kenya’s President William Ruto announced that El Niño climate phenomenon, which has historically brought devastating flooding to the country, would not occur this year, contradicting weeks of warnings from meteorologists. Today, across the country, at least 60 people have died, over 50,000 more have been displaced, entire towns have been submerged, and hundreds of acres of farmland are under water as heavy rains associated with El Niño lash the region. And it could be even worse in neighboring Somalia, where nearly 1.2 million people have been affected, prompting the country to declare an emergency. The World Meteorological Organization predicts that this El Niño will last until at least April 2024, with impacts on food security worldwide. (Photo via Twitter)

Africa
Sudan

Is Sudan about to split in two?

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are ousting the army from military bases across the western Darfur region, leading to fears the country will be split in a similar way to neighboring Libya, which is ruled by rival governments. Even as the RSF has engaged in talks with the army in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, the group has launched attacks on the capitals of three of Darfur’s five states, leading to mass displacement and large civilian casualties. Last month, it took full control over Nyala and Zalingei (the capitals of South Darfur and Central Darfur), while last week it seized the main army base in West Darfur’s El Geneina. Over 1,000 people from the Masalit ethnic group were reportedly killed by RSF and allied militia fighters during the West Darfur takeover, which may amount to the worst civilian atrocity since Sudan’s current war erupted in April. RSF leaders are now threatening to seize El Fasher in North Darfur, which has been a safe haven in recent months, and has attracted hundreds of thousands of displaced people. (Map: PCL)

Africa
Mozambique

Mozambique: post-election protests turn deadly

Violence broke out in Mozambique’s capital Maputo between security forces and demonstrators protesting the results of nationwide local elections. Confrontations were also reported in the cities of Nampula and Nacala. Police are accused of using disproportionate force, including tear-gas and live bullets, and at least three people are reported dead, including a 10-year old boy. Demonstrations were called by the opposition Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO) after the National Elections Commission announced that the ruling Liberation Front of Mozambique (FRELIMO) won in 64 of the country’s 65 municipalities. RENAMO and other oppositions parties denounced the results, claiming there was fraud. RENAMO, a former guerilla army that reorganized as a political party after the end of the civil war in 1991, briefly returned to arms following contested elections in 2016. (Image: via Flickr)

Africa
Niger

Sanctions, hunger as Niger junta digs in

Three months after overthrowing the country’s elected government, Niger’s ruling military junta is continuing to crack down on critical media and peaceful dissent. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said in a joint statement that dozens of officials from the ousted administration have been arrested, and called on authorities to end arbitrary detentions. To try and force the regime to relinquish power, landlocked Niger’s southern neighbor Nigeria has shut its border and imposed stringent sanctions through regional bloc ECOWAS—including cutting off electricity supplies and blocking food shipments. The EU is preparing its own package of sanctions. Nigeriens are struggling with inflation and shortages of staple items; aid operations are also suspended. The junta has announced a three-year transition to civilian rule—far longer than regional leaders expected. (Map: PCL)

Africa
Sudan

Can Sudan talks make progress this time?

Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) resumed negotiations in Jeddah, four months after the US- and Saudi-mediated talks were suspended because truces were repeatedly violated. Saudi Arabia said the discussions will be based on previous agreements to facilitate humanitarian access and respect ceasefires, though the conflict parties appear to have widely divergent negotiating stances. The army said the talks don’t mean it will stop fighting, and the RSF—which controls most of the capital, Khartoum—has been battling on too. This week, it took full control over Nyala, the country’s second biggest city and the largest in the Darfur region. (Map: PCL)