Africa News and Discussions

[Time_Traveller]

France backs Morocco in dispute over Western Sahara

29 October 2024

France's President Emmanuel Macron has told Morocco's parliament that he believes Western Sahara should be under Moroccan sovereignty, and has pledged to invest French money there.

Western Sahara is a territory on the north-western coast of Africa that has been the subject of a decades-long dispute.

It was once a Spanish colony, and is now mostly controlled by Morocco and partly by the Algerian-backed Polisario Front - which says it represents the indigenous Sahrawi people and wants an independent state.

France was the former colonial power in both Morocco and Algeria. It joins other nations including Spain, the US and Israel in backing Morocco's plan.

Lawmakers rose to their feet and applauded Macron on Tuesday when he said, "for France, this territory's present and future fall under Morocco's sovereignty".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1vdl92zlzqo

[weatheriscool]

[caltrek]

More on that: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/ma ... -AA1tkqmi



Botswana

[caltrek]

Sudan’s Civil War Has Left at Least 62,000 Dead by Our Estimate − but the True Figure Could be Far Higher
by Sarah Elizabeth Scales, Blake Erhardt-Ohren, Debarati Guha-Sapir, Dr. Khidir Dalouk, and Dr. Rohini Haar
October 31, 2024

Introduction:

(The Conversation) The ongoing war in Sudan has often been overlooked amid higher-profile conflicts raging across multiple continents. Yet the lack of media and geopolitical attention to this 18-month-long conflict has not made its devastation in terms of human lives any less stark.

Since fighting broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, both of which had been part of a power-sharing military government, the country has seen the displacement of more than 14 million people and the carving up of the country by geography and ideology.


And while we may never know the exact death toll, the conflict in Sudan is certainly among the deadliest in the world today.

As scholars of public health, conflict and human rights and Sudanese-American health workers, we are keenly aware of how fraught it can be to estimate mortality in war for a slew of practical and political reasons. But such estimates are of critical importance: They allow us to understand and compare conflicts, target humanitarian aid for those still at risk, trigger investigations of war crimes, bear witness to conflict and compel states and armed groups to intervene or change.

Read more here: https://theconversation.com/sudans-civ ... -242073


Sudan

[caltrek]

Protests Rock Mozambique Following Ruling Party’s Declaration of Victory
by David Nilson
November 5, 2024

Introduction:

(Amjambo Africa!) On October 9, more than 17.1 million Mozambicans went to the polls to choose the President of the Republic, as well as deputies, and provincial governors. On October 24, official results were announced: Frelimo, the incumbent party, led by Daniel Chapo as their presidential candidate, secured 70.67% of the votes; Eduardo Mondlane, from the Optimist Party of Mozambique (Podemos) , received 20.32%; the National Resistance of Mozambique party (Renamo), suffered a significant defeat, with their candidate Ossufo Momade obtaining only 5.81% of the votes, and Lutero Simango of the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM) garnered just 3.21%.

In terms of parliamentary representation, Frelimo won 195 out of 250 seats, ensuring a strong majority. Podemos made a surprising breakthrough, securing 31 seats. Renamo managed only 20 seats, while the MDM obtained four seats in the new Assembly of the Republic.

With this absolute majority victory, political analyst Calton Cadiado expects Frelimo to govern with ease in parliament. However, he argues that this outcome weakens Mozambican democracy. “These numbers in the Assembly of the Republic do not compel Frelimo to engage in dialogue or negotiate with other parties,” Cadiado observed.

The elections took place amid significant tension, with opposition parties alleging widespread fraud. Following the release of preliminary results by the National Elections Commission, Venâncio Mondlane, one of the presidential candidates, contested the outcome. Using social media, he called for a national march and strike to protest what he described as a lack of transparency in the voting and vote-counting process.

Calton Cadiado noted that that opposition parties began contesting the results based on suspicions of fraud, before anyone had provided concrete evidence. “There are lingering questions about the number of registered voters, continuing issues seen throughout the electoral process,” Cadiado said.

Read more here: https://www.amjamboafrica.com/protests ... -victory/


Mozambique

[weatheriscool]

Ghana's ruling party candidate concedes presidential election to opposition rival

Ghana’s former President John Dramani Mahama is set to return to office in the West African nation’s presidential election after the ruling party candidate conceded defeat
ACCRA, Ghana -- Ghana’s former President John Dramani Mahama is set to return to office in the West African nation’s presidential election after the ruling party candidate, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, on Sunday conceded defeat and voters vented anger at the government’s handling of the economy.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wi ... -116569261

[firestar464]

Sudan’s war is ‘deepening and widening’ a famine crisis, hunger monitoring report says

https://apnews.com/article/sudan-war-fa ... 8d9a096ea0

[weatheriscool]

[caltrek]

Ethiopian Citizens Eager for Launch of Mega Power Project
by Samuel Getachew
December 17, 2024

Introduction:

(Amjambo Africa!) MESRAKE, OROMIA, Ethiopia – Tadesse Bulcha, age 41, lives in a small village with a population of approximately 500 near the monasteries of Debre Libanos. A father of six, Bulcha says he has endured total darkness every night of his life, but is hoping his children’s lives will be different now that Ethiopia is set to launch a huge, 5.15-gigawatt electricity project next year. The project is expected to provide electricity to millions of citizens who are currently living off the electrical power grid.

The middle-age farmer says he has donated an equivalent of $500 (USD) to the project since 2011 to help fast-track its completion. Bulcha is one of many everyday Ethiopians who have donated an estimated $4 billion to the project.

“Having electricity would allow me to be a productive citizen and help our children feel safe enough to walk and study at night, and give us the modernization that I never experienced while growing up,” Bulcha said.

His nextdoor neighbor and friend, Eshetu Tadesse, a farmer, has been waiting for electricity for a long time, and believes it would be a game changer for him and others in his ancestral village.

“Such development would help change our lives, see us produce more as farmers, feed our families, enable us to sell the rest of our farm produce in the open market, and dream big dreams, instead of small dreams for us and our children,” he said, while taking a short break from supervising his farm.

Read more here: https://www.amjamboafrica.com/ethiopia ... project/

[weatheriscool]

[firestar464]

More on that by ProPublica:

https://www.propublica.org/article/trum ... gaza-sudan

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

[firestar464]

Can't find this elsewhere

[weatheriscool]

Sudan's Military Sweeps Across Capital, Hoping to Turn the War

Source: New York Times

At the battle-scarred presidential palace in the heart of Sudan’s shattered capital, soldiers gathered under a chandelier on Sunday afternoon, rifles and rocket launchers slung over their shoulders, listening to their orders.

Then they trooped out, down a red carpet that once welcomed foreign dignitaries, and into the deserted center of the city on a mission to flush out the last pockets of resistance from the paramilitary fighters with whom they have been clashing for two years.

Since Sudan’s military captured the presidential palace on Friday, in a fierce battle that left hundreds dead, it has taken control of most of central Khartoum, marking a momentous change of fortunes that is likely to change the course of Sudan’s ruinous civil war.

By Sunday, the military had seized the Central Bank, the headquarters of the national intelligence service and the towering Corinthia Hotel along the Nile.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/23/worl ... =url-share

[caltrek]

Sudan’s Civil War: What Military Advances Mean, and Where the Country Could be Heading Next
by Christopher Tounsel
March 25, 2025

Introduction:

(The Conversation) A series of advances by the Sudanese military has led some observers to posit that the African nation’s yearslong civil war could be at a crucial turning point.

Even if it were to end tomorrow, the bloody conflict would have left the Sudanese people scarred by violence that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions of people. But the recent victories by the military do not spell the end of its adversary, a rebel paramilitary group that still holds large areas in Sudan.

The Conversation turned to Christopher Tounsel, a historian of modern Sudan at the University of Washington, to explain what the war has cost and where it could turn now.

Read Christopher Tounsel’s discussion of the civil war here: https://theconversation.com/sudans-civ ... -253007

[caltrek]

Will Africa’s Young Voters Continue to Punish Incumbents at the Ballot Box in 2025? We are About to Find Out
by Richard Aidoo

April 10, 2025

Introduction:

(The Conversation) Voters in Gabon head to the ballot box on April 12, 2025, in a vote that marks the first election in the Central African nation since a 2023 coup ended the 56-year rule of the Bongo family.

It is also the first presidential vote to take place in Africa in 2025, to be followed by contests later this year in Ivory Coast, Malawi, Guinea, Central African Republic, Guinea-Bissau, Tanzania, Seychelles and Cameroon.

Of particular interest is whether these elections will continue the trend of last year’s votes. As the continent with the youngest population, Africa’s youth was crucial throughout 2024 to a series of seismic political shifts – not least the removal of incumbents and changes in the governing status quo in Ghana, Senegal and South Africa.

Indeed, analysis of the 2024 African Youth Survey – one of the most comprehensive continent-wide polls of people age 18 to 24 – and election results of that year show a clear lack of optimism among the youth.

Unemployment, the rising cost of living and corruption are primary factors driving youth dissatisfaction on the continent. For example, 59% of South African youth considered their country to be heading the wrong direction – and that’s not hard to imagine given that the country’s youth unemployment rate reached 45.5% in 2024. Not surprisingly, unemployment was a key factor in the election results. Meanwhile, widespread protests in Kenya and Uganda in the summer of 2024 were youth-led and sparked, respectively, by concerns over tax increases and corruption.

Read more here: https://theconversation.com/will-afric ... -251413

[caltrek]

Trump Gets Real Racist and Awkward with South African President
by Oliver Willis
May 21, 2025

Introduction:

(Daily Kos) President Donald Trump met with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office on Wednesday and angrily confronted him with false allegations of a “white genocide” in his nation.

Trump has been obsessed with the issue in recent weeks, even making exceptions for white immigrants from South Africa to come to America as supposed refugees, all while restricting migration for other nationalities.

Trump told aides to turn down the lights in the Oval Office and forced Ramaphosa to watch an edited video purporting to show evidence of mass murders targeting white Afrikaner farmers. Later, Trump leafed through a stack of printouts that he claimed was evidence of the practice.

But even more damning for Trump’s rhetoric is that multiple studies have shown that claims of a “white genocide” in South Africa are false. While the nation has a severe crime problem, the notion that white people there are being persecuted, let alone at the level of persecution Blacks faced during apartheid, is false.

One of the most high-profile promoters of the white-genocide myth is billionaire Elon Musk, who attended the Oval Office meeting with Ramaphosa. Musk is originally from South Africa and grew up during the waning days of apartheid.

Read more here: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/ ... maildkre

[zzz]

[weatheriscool]