Africa

Photo credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Russia Agrees to Strengthen Military Regime in Mali

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW (IDN) — During his first official visit to Moscow under the military rule in Mali, Abdoulaye Diop, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, held extensive discussions with his counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The discussions on November focussed on increasing bilateral cooperation in economic sectors. But particularly significant was Russia's military assistance to strengthen the position of the new government and to fight rising terrorism in the Sahel region.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; THE WORLD; Russia; 14 November 2021

Photo: Glencore heads a consortium of private lenders, which are negotiating loan restructuring among others with Chad. On its part, chronic food shortages and malnutrition continue to beset Chad’s population, 40% of whom live in absolute poverty. Collage of People of Chad. CC BY 2.0 and Glencore corporate name.

Oil and Water – Testing G20’s Faith in Private Creditors

By Alexander Kozul-Wright

Alexander Kozul-Wright is a consultant for the Third World Network (TWN) based in Penang, Malaysia.

GENEVA (IDN) — At the end of October, Glencore—the world’s largest commodities trader—revealed that core earnings were on course to top $3.2bn, eclipsing the company’s guidance expectations. For context, last year’s trading profits of US $3bn (before tax and interest) marked a record high.

In 2020, the Switzerland-based group took advantage of an unprecedented drop in oil prices to buy cheap barrels of crude and then sell them in futures markets for significant profits.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Sustainable Industrialisation; 13 November 2021

Photo: Sergei Lavro, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

Russian Experts Recommend New Policy Strategies for Africa

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW (IDN) — Senior policy experts have advised Russia to make its Africa policy a derivative of the country's overall foreign policy objectives taking into account the Continent's human capital and natural resources.

The 'Situation Analytical Report', as it is titled, was prepared by 25 policy experts, as part of a programme sponsored by the Russian Foreign Ministry. It was headed by Sergei A. Karaganov, Dean and Academic Supervisor of the Faculty of World Economy and International Relations of the National Research University's Higher School of Economics (HSE University). Karaganov is also the Honorary Chairman of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defence Policy.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; THE WORLD; Russia; 12 November 2021

Photo: Nadifa Mohamed (Created on October 5, 2010) CC BY-SA 3.0

British Somali Novelist Breaks Barrier to Win Nomination for Booker Prize

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — “Fortune Men” is the third novel by acclaimed novelist Nadifa Mohamed and the first by a British Somali to be shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize.

Her latest book tells the story of a notorious miscarriage of justice and the real-life wrongful conviction of British Somali sailor Mahmood Mattan for a 1952 murder in Cardiff, capital of Wales.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 09 November 2021

Photo source: Global Information Network

Black Voters Stray from ANC In Recent National Polls

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — The party that governed South Africa since the end of apartheid appears to have lost its grip on Black voters who turned away from the party of Nelson Mandela this month in large numbers.

For the first time in the country’s post-apartheid democracy, the African National Congress (ANC) received only 46% of—less than half of the national vote and an 11% drop from the last election—in polls for mayors and councillors.

Although the turnout ended up being slightly better than initially feared, at 12.3 million voters, it amounts to fewer than half of those registered.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 09 November 2021

How Effective Communication Between Africans Can Help Boost Intra-African Trade

By Mosh Matsena

The writer is the founder and CEO of a 100 per cent black female-owned company Africa Consulting, a South African-based strategic communications and business solutions agency.

NEW YORK (IDN | Africa Renewal) — January 2021 marked a historic event for African economic development—the launching of free trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The agreement promotes socio-economic growth and development in Africa through liberalised trade processes and structures.

: UN Bureau; THE WORLD; Africa; 05 November 2021

Photo: A group of pro-gay marchers in Ghana, dressed in bright clothing holding signs and rainbow flags. Source: GCN.

Archbishop Of Canterbury Gravely Concerned About Ghana Crackdown on Gays

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — A sweeping draft bill framed in the guise of “family values” has put a bullseye on Ghana’s LGBTQ community, proposing some of the harshest anti-LGBTQ laws on the African continent.

The bill gives LGBTQ members 2 options: Jail time or conversion therapy—practice which aims to change or suppress a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. It has been condemned by more than 60 associations of doctors, psychologists and counsellors worldwide.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 01 November 2021

Photo: Pro-democracy groups called for mass protest marches across the country on October 28 to press demands for re-instating a deposed transitional government and releasing senior political figures from detention. Source: AlJazeera.

Sudan Coup Leader Is Gambling with The Future – Say Africa Analysts

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Since the surprise coup by Sudan’s Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the nation’s international standing as a nascent democracy is endangered, essential debt relief and aid is threatened and peace with rebels in Darfur and the Nuba mountains has been jeopardized.

Prominent civilian leaders including Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok were put under house arrest.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 01 November 2021

Photo: A decade on, the so-called Arab Spring revolts in Libya have brought carnage rather than the longed-for freedom and progress: Source: France24

Need to Learn Lessons from NATO Overthrowing Libya’s Gadhafi

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — It’s 10 years since NATO hammered defenceless Libya and French jets drove the mercurial President Muammer Gadhafi into a drainage tunnel where members of a mob killed him. President Barack Obama, who had preached again and again of his abhorrence for any more military interventions, reversed himself, arguing that this intervention was necessary for humanitarian reasons since Gadhafi’s forces were mercilessly supressing an uprising.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 26 October 2021

Photo: Manzini nurses picketing against Police brutality and delivering their petition at Manzini regional police headquarters on October 26. Source: Swazi News

Protests for Wage Hikes and Back Pay Around the Continent

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — As American workers are demanding raises after years of stagnant wages, African workers are also seeking salary hikes, back pay and other benefits in a phenomenon dubbed "Striketober".

The official African response, however, has been anything but responsive. In Swaziland—renamed Eswatini, the home of Africa's last absolute monarchy—striking nurses and paramedics were met with a hail of bullets for demanding better pay at three hospitals. A spokesman for the government denied that security forces had used live ammunition or shot at strikers.