It is easy to appreciate why, in Southern Africa, attitudes of students, converts, veterans and sympathisers of what one can loosely term ‘liberation politics usually oscillate between empathy and suspicion. Click here to read… [2]
Stakeholders on foreign relations and diplomacy have proffered ways Africa can play and dominate global politics stage. Click here to read… [3]
The post-colonial states in the Horn of Africa have been deeply influenced by their colonial past, with enduring impacts on statehood and identity politics. Click here to read… [4]
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) will resume peace talks this week in the Saudi port city of Jeddah, said a member of Sudan’s Sovereign Council. Click here to read… [5]
One year after the end of Ethiopia's Tigray conflict, complete peace remains elusive and a humanitarian crisis remains. Critics accuse the government of not keeping its promises. Click here to read… [6]
Although no timeline has been laid out to implement the plan, the draft has already revived the worst memories of Palestinians—mass displacement from their homes due to widespread conflict in the region in the late 1940s. Click here to read… [7]
Gambia's high court has sentenced a soldier to 12 years in prison for leading a foiled coup last year against President Adama Barrow's administration. Click here to read… [8]
Somaliland rejects UNSC statement or resolution suggesting any ATMIS’s mandate includes the Republic of Somaliland. Click here to read… [9]
Morocco welcomed the UN Security Council’s adoption of Resolution 2703 on the Western Sahara dispute on Monday. Click here to read… [10]
Morocco’s permanent representative at the UN Omar Hilale expressed satisfaction with Resolution 2703 on Western Sahara adopted on Monday by the UN Security Council. Click here to read… [11]
Four explosions in the city of Smara in Morocco-controlled Western Sahara late on Saturday killed one man and injured three others, Moroccan local authorities said. Click here to read… [12]
Fighting in a Libyan hill town has killed eight people since Sunday, a member of the municipal council and another resident said, adding that forces aligned with the Tripoli government had re-established control there on Tuesday. Click here to read… [13]
On the surface, Rwanda is not an obvious security provider, having endured one of the worst genocides in recent history just three decades ago. Click here to read… [14]
The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali has completed its accelerated withdrawal from three camps in the eastern Kidal region, a spokesman said. Click here to read… [15]
Liberia’s electoral commission on Tuesday scheduled a presidential election run-off for November after results showed that the two frontrunners, President George Weah and opposition leader Joseph Boakai, had failed to secure enough votes. Click here to read… [16]
SADC sitting Chairperson and President of Angola, João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, conveyed this message during a virtual SADC Extraordinary Summit on Tuesday. Click here to read… [17]
To the full-throated cheers of his supporters, Zambia's former President Edgar Lungu has announced that he is making a political comeback. Click here to read… [18]
Senegal's electoral commission on Tuesday asked that sponsorship forms be given to main opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, whose candidacy for the upcoming presidential election has been called into question over the past year amid a series of criminal charges. Click here to read… [19]
Six presidential candidates in Democratic Republic of Congo, including President Felix Tshisekedi’s main rivals, called on Tuesday for urgent measures to prevent potential fraud in the upcoming general election. Click here to read… [20]
Police suppressed violent protests in Mozambique on Friday as opposition supporters took to the streets to decry the results of local elections earlier this month which they say were rigged. Click here to read… [21]
Protests and associated clashes are likely across Tunisia through at least late November due to the political situation, high unemployment, rising inflation, and opposition parties' continued calls for demonstrations against the government. Click here to read… [22]
Uganda's army has killed six fighters from an Islamic State-linked group that shot dead a honeymooning couple and their guide in a national park two weeks ago, the military said on Wednesday. Click here to read… [23]
Political parties contesting the 2024 national and provincial elections (NPE 2024) have welcomed the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) strategies in place for a free and fair election. Click here to read… [24]
The NPE 2024 will be historic as independent candidates would, for the first time, be able to contest for seats at the national and provincial elections. Click here to read… [25]
The virtual Extra-Ordinary Summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Heads of State convened this week was a forerunner to an in-person meeting slated for Luanda in Angola on Saturday. Click here to read… [26]
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has requested the Senate's approval for nearly $8 billion in new debt to finance infrastructure, health, education, and security. Click here to read… [27]
"Our recommendation is for the country to keep up with the floating exchange rate. This is extremely important for Angola, since the floating rate works like a shock absorber for relevant external events". Click here to read… [28]
Niger's economy is on the brink of collapse due to sanctions and the suspension of international finance and aid following a military coup in July. Click here to read… [29]
Many parts of Ghana were plunged into darkness due to a lack of gas to power machinery used to generate electricity in the country. Click here to read… [30]
Burkina Faso has revised its mining code to enable it to take more in royalties in boom times after gold production fell. Click here to read… [31]
South Africa will be looking to get more out its trade ties with the US during next week’s African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) Forum, where member countries will showcase the continent’s industrial capability and its regional value chains. Click here to read… [32]
This decision is set to take effect on January 1, 2024, when the designation of these nations as beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries under AGOA will be terminated. Click here to read… [33]
Uganda on Wednesday criticised a U.S. move to eject it and other African countries from accessing a tariff-free trade programme, saying the action was to punish African countries that are resisting the imposition of the West's cultural values. Click here to read… [34]
The 20th African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) Forum, which will take place in Johannesburg next week, is set to widen the trade corridors between South Africa, Africa, and the United States of America. Click here to read… [35]
Today, U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa and member of the Senate Finance Committee, led a letter to Senate leadership alongside Senator Chris Coons calling for timely consideration of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) renewal process as the program’s 2025 sunset approaches. Click here to read… [36]
World leaders gathered in Beijing last week to mark the tenth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Launched in 2013, BRI activity has surpassed a trillion dollars, according to some estimates. Click here to read… [37]
Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee Wang Yi met with Oumar Demba Ba, Diplomatic Adviser to the President of Senegal, in Beijing on Monday. Click here to read… [38]
The Chinese government on Thursday handed over to Zimbabwe a new parliament building that was constructed and funded by China through a grant. Click here to read… [39]
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the Export-Import Bank of China (CEXIM) have signed a $600 million loan to fund loans and trade finance transactions. Click here to read… [40]
The International Monetary Fund is cautioning African nations about the possibility of a regional economic downturn and the ripple effects that China's slowing economy could bring. Click here to read… [41]
Namibia's government has ordered police to stop Xinfeng Investments from transporting lithium ore inside the country and from exporting it, accusing the Chinese miner of violating the country’s ban on critical raw mineral exports. Click here to read… [42]
Chinese companies were awarded licenses in the third quarter that could see $2.79 billion of investment flow into Zimbabwe, mostly in mining and energy as the government pushes to develop some of Africa’s biggest lithium deposits and end power outages. Click here to read… [43]
The European Union and the US will launch the groundwork for a strategic corridor to connect resource-rich Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia with the Atlantic Ocean via Angola. Click here to read… [44]
The European Union concluded a two-day forum on Thursday designed to woo the Global South with 3 billion euros ($3.16 billion) of signed investments in infrastructure, digital and climate projects as an alternative to China's rival scheme. Click here to read… [45]
Today, at the Global Gateway Forum taking place in Brussels, the EU signed three Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with partners to develop critical raw materials value chains and boost transport connectivity. Click here to read… [46]
On the eve of the Global Gateway Forum in Brussels, European Commission President Von der Leyen and Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani have unveiled the Team Europe Initiative. Click here to read… [47]
Germany's top leaders are visiting Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia to cement business ties and discuss new investment opportunities. Click here to read… [48]
Algeria and Germany have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish North Africa’s first green hydrogen facility. Click here to read… [49]
The German president has expressed "shame" for the colonial atrocities his country inflicted on Tanzania. Click here to read… [50]
Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla began the second day of a state visit to Kenya on Wednesday as survivors of colonial-era abuses criticised his failure to issue a full apology or propose reparations. Click here to read… [51]
Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Company has expressed interest in taking over a key Zambian copper mine that is up for sale, according to four people familiar with the matter. Click here to read… [52]
The World Bank approved a $1 billion loan for South Africa on Wednesday to help it address an energy crisis that has peaked this year with the country's worst electricity blackouts. Click here to read… [53]
A leading Turkish bank, Ziraat Katilim, has opened a branch in Mogadishu, becoming the first foreign bank to operate in Somalia in over a half-century, officials said. Click here to read… [54]
South Korea is looking to African countries to secure graphite as China tightens its exports controls over the key material used in electric-vehicle batteries. Click here to read… [55]
Spanish authorities say 1,325 migrants reached the country's Canary Islands off the western coast of Africa by boat this weekend — with one carrying a single-vessel record of 321 people. Click here to read… [56]
Benin is often regarded as the cradle of Voodoo, home to thousands of sacred forests, which believers say are vital to their religion which is rooted in nature. Click here to read… [57]
Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan will participate in the commemoration of the 189th anniversary of the arrival of indentured labourers in Mauritius on November 2. Click here to read… [58]
The military base New Delhi built in Agaléga Island of Mauritius, the proposed signing of the space cooperation deal & the visit of the Indian Navy’s INS Sharda to Port Louis are all intended to project India’s power in the Indian Ocean. Click here to read… [59]
The exercise followed the third meeting of the EU-India Maritime Security Dialogue on October 5 in Brussels. Click here to read… [60]
The fourth edition of the Goa Maritime Conclave (GMC) was hosted by the Indian Navy from 29 – 31 Oct 2023 under the aegis of the Naval War College, Goa. Click here to read… [61]
Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Sunday reviewed the USD 20 billion LNG Project in Mozambique on Sunday. Click here to read… [62]
Tourism from India to South Africa increased by 65 percent year-on-year in 2023, but is still below pre-pandemic levels, a senior minister has said. Click here to read… [63]
South Africa’s tourism minister is pushing for visa requirements to be eased or waived for Chinese and Indian nationals to boost visitor numbers from the world’s most populous nations. Click here to read… [64]
[68]
Links:
[1] https://www.vifindia.org/2023/november/06/africa-now-weekly-newsletter-week-44
[2] https://www.theafricareport.com/325220/in-southern-africa-mixed-empathies-for-palestine-arabs/
[3] https://guardian.ng/news/how-africa-can-dominate-global-politics/
[4] https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2023/10/24/navigating-identity-and-boundaries-challenges-in-post-colonial-state-formation-in-the-horn-of-africa/
[5] https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/sudan-s-warring-parties-to-resume-peace-talks/3029749
[6] https://www.dw.com/en/tigray-stumbles-towards-peace-a-year-after-war/a-67256279
[7] https://www.wionews.com/world/israeli-ministry-floats-idea-of-transferring-23mn-gazans-to-egypts-sinai-peninsula-653479
[8] https://www.africanews.com/2023/11/01/gambian-soldier-jailed-for-failed-coup-against-president-barrow/
[9] https://www.horndiplomat.com/2023/10/31/somaliland-rejects-unsc-statement-or-resolution-suggesting-any-atmiss-mandate-includes-somaliland/
[10] https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2023/10/358654/morocco-welcomes-un-security-council-resolution-on-western-sahara
[11] https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2023/10/358657/western-sahara-hilale-says-new-resolution-confirms-end-of-referendum-claims
[12] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/104799657.cms?from=mdr&utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
[13] https://theprint.in/world/fighting-in-western-libya-town-kills-eight-people/1826793/
[14] https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2023/10/29/rwanda-is-becoming-africas-most-active-security-provider/
[15] https://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay?newsID=1135774
[16] https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/25/africa/liberia-presidential-election-runoff-intl/index.html
[17] https://www.thezimbabwean.co/2023/10/sadc-endorses-zimbabwe-election-results/
[18] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-67254347
[19] https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20231101-senegal-electoral-commission-says-opposition-leader-sonko-should-be-given-sponsorship-forms
[20] https://theprint.in/world/congo-presidential-candidates-call-for-urgent-measures-to-save-election/1826273/
[21] https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/violent-protests-break-out-mozambique-after-local-elections-2023-10-27/
[22] https://crisis24.garda.com/alerts/2023/11/tunisia-protests-and-clashes-likely-to-continue-nationwide-through-at-least-late-november
[23] https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/uganda-army-says-it-killed-rebels-that-murdered-honeymooning-tourists-2023-11-01/
[24] https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/political-parties-want-president-ramaphosa-to-announce-election-date-soon-3a24d811-2849-4673-bf1a-ef9d0a1a3cc9
[25] https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/iec-unveils-your-democracy-own-it-theme-for-2024-national-and-provincial-elections-040030e4-496b-4630-a30a-4bd10c15c818
[26] https://www.news24.com/news24/africa/news/angola-to-host-sadc-leaders-on-saturday-for-a-detailed-discussion-on-security-in-the-region-20231031
[27] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/104895896.cms?from=mdr&utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
[28] https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/angola-should-let-currency-float-imf-officials-say-visit-2023-10-31/
[29] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/104833266.cms?from=mdr&utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
[30] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-67236078
[31] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-27/burkina-faso-targets-bigger-royalties-as-gold-production-drops
[32] https://mg.co.za/business/2023-10-26-agoa-forum-africa-to-assert-its-place-in-global-economy/
[33] https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/us-end-participation-gabon-niger-uganda-central-african-republic-trade-program-2023-10-30/
[34] https://www.reuters.com/world/uganda-denounces-us-plan-exclude-it-duty-free-trade-programme-2023-11-01/
[35] https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/minister-patel-20th-agoa-forum-to-boost-trade-links-between-south-africa-africa-and-the-usa-c0d68c32-949f-4b09-89c9-4ec9db53208d
[36] https://www.scott.senate.gov/media-center/press-releases/senator-scott-leads-call-to-renew-agoa-to-combat-chinese-and-russian-influence-in-africa-provide-certainty-for-us-businesses
[37] https://www.africanews.com/2023/10/26/beijing-lays-down-new-vision-for-belt-and-road-business-africa/
[38] https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-10-23/VHJhbnNjcmlwdDc1NDY1/index.html
[39] https://english.news.cn/africa/20231027/55206f43d9b6442c8fedeb578b779c75/c.html
[40] https://www.arise.tv/afreximbank-chinas-cexim-sign-600m-deal-to-fund-loans-trade-finance-transactions/
[41] https://www.voanews.com/a/imf-warns-africa-of-economic-vulnerabilities-as-china-s-economy-slows/7324531.html
[42] https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/namibia-orders-police-stop-chinese-firms-lithium-exports-2023-10-24/
[43] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-01/china-to-invest-2-8-billion-in-zimbabwe-in-lithium-energy
[44] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-25/eu-courts-africa-in-early-push-to-counter-chinese-spending
[45] https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-fixes-projects-global-south-rival-china-2023-10-26/
[46] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_5303
[47] https://solarquarter.com/2023/11/01/eu-launches-team-europe-initiative-to-develop-green-hydrogen-in-mauritania/
[48] https://www.dw.com/en/germany-seeks-investment-boost-in-africa/a-67219434
[49] https://solarquarter.com/2023/10/31/algeria-and-germany-collaborate-on-north-africas-first-green-hydrogen-plant/
[50] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-67285182
[51] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/104884852.cms?from=mdr&utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
[52] https://www.ft.com/content/70551b68-b964-4306-96f4-c4cdf7e1c9cb
[53] https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/power/the-world-bank-approved-a-1b-loan-to-help-blackout-hit-south-africas-energy-sector/104716407
[54] https://www.voanews.com/a/somalia-welcomes-first-foreign-bank-branch-in-over-half-century-/7333169.html
[55] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-23/south-korea-to-tap-africa-as-china-tightens-graphite-controls
[56] https://www.dw.com/en/spain-over-1300-african-migrants-reach-canary-islands/a-67180376
[57] https://www.africanews.com/2023/10/29/benin-deforestation-threatens-sacred-forests-of-voodoo-believers/
[58] https://theprint.in/world/muraleedharan-to-attend-mauritius-commemoration-anniversary-of-arrival-of-indentured-labourers-from-india/1825738/
[59] https://www.deccanherald.com/india/military-base-india-built-in-mauritius-ready-for-asset-deployment-indian-navy-ship-visits-port-louis-space-deal-likely-2750683
[60] https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-eu-carry-out-maiden-joint-naval-exercise-in-gulf-of-guinea-101698322624140.html
[61] https://indiannavy.nic.in/content/goa-maritime-conclave-gmc-%E2%80%93-2023-concludes
[62] https://theprint.in/world/mozambique-union-minister-hardeep-singh-puri-reviewed-lng-project-in-cabo-del-gabo-province/1824085/
[63] https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/tourism-from-india-to-south-africa-increased-by-65-but-still-below-pre-pandemic-levels-11597801.html
[64] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-28/south-african-visa-waiver-sought-for-chinese-indian-nationals
[65] http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?title=Africa Now - Weekly Newsletter (Week 44, 2023)&desc=&images=&u=https://www.vifindia.org/2023/november/06/africa-now-weekly-newsletter-week-44
[66] http://twitter.com/share?text=Africa Now - Weekly Newsletter (Week 44, 2023)&url=https://www.vifindia.org/2023/november/06/africa-now-weekly-newsletter-week-44&via=Azure Power
[67] whatsapp://send?text=https://www.vifindia.org/2023/november/06/africa-now-weekly-newsletter-week-44
[68] https://www.vifindia.org/author/Samir-Bhattacharya