Kenya’s President William Ruto has appointed his predecessor, former President Uhuru Kenyatta, as a peace envoy to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia.

As president, Kenyatta was previously involved in peace efforts in both countries, which are dealing with resurgent rebels and ongoing war. While Kenyatta’s new role as peace envoy has been welcomed, analysts say mediation in the DRC and Ethiopia will be no small challenge.

Ruto said Kenyatta accepted the task and will be working on behalf of Kenya.

Kenneth Ombongi, a senior lecturer at the University of Nairobi, said continuity is vital in finding a peaceful solution to a conflict.

“[Kenyatta] comes into it with some level of continuity which is important for dealing with delicate issues that touch on peace, reconciliation, and also post-conflict development… that’s extremely important,” Ombongi said. “He comes with a very clear memory of what has been going on and what the development has been.”

In April, Kenyatta hosted DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and some rebel groups operating in the east of the country for peace talks. East African Community leaders subsequently agreed to deploy regional troops to the eastern DRC in a bid to restore normalcy in the region.

In November last year, Kenyatta visited Ethiopia to work on peace efforts and bring together the government and rebel group Tigray People’s Liberation Front in the country’s north.

Professor Chacha Nyaigotti Chacha, an expert in diplomacy and international relations, said Kenya stands to benefit from the peace efforts it’s undertaking in the region. 

“This is a national, regional and international assignment and it’s important that assignment is undertaken because when these countries neighboring Kenya in the East Africa Community region, as well as the Horn region, when they are peaceful, then Kenya is also peaceful and Kenya can, for example, derive a lot of gains especially as far as trade, communication and transport are concerned,” Chacha said.

Ombongi said Kenyatta will likely get a cool reception from countries that didn’t like his foreign policy when he was president, especially Ethiopia.

“The relationship between Addis Ababa and Nairobi has been what we describe in archaic language –ish –ish, he said. “So he will face certain challenges but of course, there is a possibility that his status as a senior statesman can very easily actually work to his advantage.”

Calls for peace in the DRC and Ethiopia have grown, but the warring factions have yet to agree on the issues to be discussed or who will chair the peace process.

Chacha said Kenyatta will deal with rigid warring sides that are not afraid to walk out of the peace process and continue with the armed conflict.

“The challenges he will face are going to be challenges of the groupings in these countries that there is an antagonistic grouping of some who are belligerent,” he said. “They usually agree to talk but sometimes they don’t fulfill their commitment to ensuring that they can return to the peaceful coexistence in their countries.”

The U.S. government and the European Union have welcomed the appointment of Kenyatta and said they are ready to support the efforts to bring lasting peace to the two countries.
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In one of his first acts in office, Kenya’s new president, William Ruto, ordered cargo containers from incoming ships to be emptied at the port of Mombasa instead of in the capital, Nairobi. Ruto said he is carrying out a campaign promise, though there are concerns the move could overwhelm facilities at the Mombasa port.

In 2019, the Kenyan government shifted cargo clearance operations from Kenya’s Indian Ocean port of Mombasa to the inland cities of Nairobi and Naivasha.

This week, Ruto directed that the operations be returned to Mombasa.

“I will be issuing instructions for clearing of goods and other attended operational issues to revert to the port of Mombasa as I made a commitment to Kenyans,” Ruto said. “This will restore thousands of jobs in the city of Mombasa.”

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta had moved cargo clearance to Nairobi to increase use of the Standard Gauge Railway, which was built with a $4.5 billion loan from China. The move forced companies to pay transport fees to use the railway — a decision Kenyan officials saw as the best way to repay the loan.

Ruto’s decision, announced Tuesday, is welcomed by newly-elected Mombasa governor Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir, who said the need to repay the debt is not reason to kill business at his city’s port.

“We have been fighting for it for a long time and we said openly, even if it was to repay the SGR debt, there are other ways to repay it. It’s not a must to kill the economy of one part of the country.”

According to the Economic Survey of 2022, SGR usage increased by 22.6 percent in 2021 and made $108 million, up from $87 million in 2020. The increase is attributed to cargo shipments to Nairobi.

With cargo clearance operations shifting back to Mombasa, many people are concerned that the railway will lose business to trucking companies, making it difficult for the railway to pay its debt, and ultimately shifting the cost of its construction to taxpayers.

Some traders argued that historically the Mombasa port has been slow to unload and transport cargo containers.

Gerrishon Ikiara, an economics teacher at the University of Nairobi, predicts the Mombasa port will not be able to handle the increased responsibilities.

“Very shortly, we will start getting the impact of the delayed cargo and other inconveniences, overcrowding of Mombasa highway and corruption in the police office at every point.”

Governance and urban development expert Alfred Omenya is hopeful the problems can be overcome, if the government appoints good managers to run the port.

“I think the president did the right thing,” he said. “We hope that it’s not an ad hoc political action, but it will be an action that will be based on coherent planning, coherent strategy and coherent development of our country.”

In a worst-case scenario, congestion and corruption at the Mombasa port will make traders from neighboring countries flock to other ports, making Kenya lose much-needed revenue for developing and servicing its debt.
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Nigeria is facing a record reduction in oil production, oil cartel OPEC reports, dropping from the first largest producer in Africa to the fourth, behind Angola, Algeria and Libya.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries monthly oil market report for August showed that Nigeria’s production stood at 980,000 barrels a day, a decline of more than 100,000 barrels per day compared to July. 

The figure was about 50% of OPEC’s target for the west African nation in August. 

For decades, Nigeria has been Africa’s largest oil producer. But in recent years, theft and sabotage at production sites have hampered output. Petroleum authorities say more than 200,000 barrels are lost daily as a result, and that the trend is costing the country millions of dollars in revenue. 

Oil was once Nigeria’s biggest earner and contributor to national GDP, but the latest data shows information and communications technology and trade contributed more during the second quarter this year. 

Abuja-based oil and gas expert, Emmanuel Afimia, said he’s worried about Nigeria’s current situation. 

“At this particular point in time when the oil prices are rising, Nigeria is supposed to sit back and be enjoying revenue and inflows of forex [foreign exchange trading] through the sales and export of crude oil. But the reverse is the case, so it’s really a negative thing for the country falling from that position of being the biggest producer, Nigeria will slowly be losing its influence in the global oil market,” Afimia said. 

Nigerian authorities also are raising concerns. Last Friday, President Muhammadu Buhari said the situation was putting the economy in a precarious situation. 

And earlier this week, Nigerian lawmakers sent a delegation to oil-rich Rivers State to investigate the problem and report back their findings to the Senate. 

But oil and gas expert Faith Nwadishi said authorities must share the blame, too. 

“It’s a question of pointing one finger when four fingers are pointing back at you,” Nwadishi said. “If government was doing enough, I don’t think that we’ll close our eyes and see our major source of revenue being stolen up to 90 percent. I want to see a situation where government is taking more action than crying out.” 

Petroleum authorities and security operatives have been working to halt the oil theft. 

Raids in late August led to the arrest of more than 100 oil thieves and the recovery of millions of liters of crude oil and diesel. 

Mele Kyari, head of the National Nigeria Petroleum Company, said the clampdown is making progress.  

“What is most difficult to manage today and daring for us to live with is the issue of crude oil theft, [but] we’re not helpless and our efforts are paying off,” Kyari said.  

Authorities in August awarded a pipeline surveillance contract to a former militant who once stole oil and vandalized pipelines. The move was criticized by citizens, but officials say the former militant’s expertise will help prevent theft.  

 
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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will meet U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House Friday, with trade, energy, and security all on the agenda. What’s not officially on the program, but will likely be discussed, analysts say, are the two democracies’ differences over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Ramaphosa’s first visit to the White House comes as the Biden administration seeks to re-engage with Africa in the wake of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent visit to the continent, during which he launched Washington’s new Africa strategy.

During the trip in August, Blinken stressed that the U.S. sees Africa as an equal partner.

However, at their meeting in Pretoria, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor accused Western nations of “bullying” Africa in trying to get countries to condemn the invasion of Ukraine.

Bob Wekesa, director of the African Center for the Study of the United States at South Africa’s University of Witwatersrand, said the differences between the two countries were evident at the two top diplomats’ talks.

“At that meeting it was very clear that South Africa and the U.S. were on different paths and trajectories as regards many issues,” he said.

Wekesa said Ukraine will likely come up again when Biden and Ramaphosa meet Friday and predicted the two leaders will have a “difficult” discussion on the issue.

“The U.S., having taken a very clear position on supporting Ukraine, to kind of eject Russian forces from Ukraine, will be lobbying South Africa quite hard to kind of change [its] tune,” he said.

South Africa abstained from a U.N. vote earlier this year to condemn Russia’s invasion. Afterward, Biden phoned Ramaphosa. A White House statement after the call said Biden had “emphasized the need for a clear, unified international response to Russian aggression in Ukraine.”

Steven Gruzd, head of the African Governance and Diplomacy Program at the South African Institute of International Affairs, said Ramaphosa and Biden will discuss other issues as well, but added that the Ukraine topic cannot be avoided. 

“On the agenda will be trade and investment, issues like climate change and food security, energy, peace and security in Africa, and of course what’s not officially on the agenda but will certainly be talked about is the war in Ukraine and the differing positions of South Africa and the U.S. on that particular conflict,” he said.

Gruzd said he thought the Countering Malign Russian Activities in Africa Act, which passed in the U.S. House of Representatives and is now being considered by the Senate, would also come up in the two leaders’ conversation.

African countries see the act, which would sanction nations that trade with Russia, as an attempt to punish them for not voting with the U.S. on Ukraine.

In December, Biden is set to host the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington.
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Japan is the latest country to try to increase engagement with Africa in the face of China’s massive influence on the continent and amid perceived threats to the international order.

There has been a flurry of visits to the continent by top officials this year, including Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and European diplomats. The visits from Western leaders have been seen by many analysts as an attempt to counter Beijing’s clout, and to some extent, Russian influence.

Last month, Japan also sought to provide African countries with an alternative to Chinese lending and investment, pledging to spend $30 billion on the continent and stressing a focus on training African professionals, food production and green growth.

The pledge was made during the eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) held in Tunisia.

In his remarks at the event, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida criticized Moscow and took an apparent swipe at China.

“It is true that a series of contradictions of the global economy, such as inequality and environmental problems, are concentrated in Africa at this moment. In addition, we need to urgently deal with issues such as the food crisis caused by Russian aggression against Ukraine and unfair and opaque development finance,” he said.

Paul Nantulya, a research associate at the Washington-based Africa Center for Strategic Affairs who has participated in two TICAD conferences, said the reference to “opaque” development finance was “definitely a rebuke to China,” which has been accused of practicing “debt trap diplomacy” — lending heavily to countries that can’t repay in order to gain political leverage.

During TICAD, Japan also announced that some $1 billion would go toward support for African countries’ debt restructuring and promised that Japan “aspires to be a ‘partner growing together with Africa.’”

While there’s increasing consensus among economists that the debt-trap accusations don’t stand up, it’s still a common criticism leveled by the West and its partners and enrages Beijing. Numerous articles in Chinese state media have slammed Kishida’s remarks as a smear campaign and said Japan’s investment pledge had “selfish intentions.”

State publication Global Times said while China does not have a problem with other countries offering aid to African nations, “what China opposes is the vicious attempt by Western countries, including the U.S. and Japan, to discredit China, asking African countries to be “wary” of China at every turn.”

“African countries have their own judgment and do not need the West to teach them what to do,” the Global Times quoted Yang Xiyu, researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, as saying.

The amount Japan pledged at TICAD this year was less than China’s pledge of $40 billion at last year’s Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Senegal.

Japan-Africa trade, worth some $24 billion a year, according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, is also dwarfed by China’s, which amounted to a record $254 billion last year.

“I think lately, Japan definitely has been trying to strengthen its engagements in Africa and obviously … China is a strategic competitor to Japan,” said Nantulya. “There is an element of competition as far as Japan’s latest push in Africa is concerned.”

Akitoshi Miyashita, an international relations professor at Tokyo International University, echoed this idea.

“The recent TICAD conference was regarded by Tokyo as an important instrument to regain Japan’s presence in Africa in light of China’s growing influence in the region. In that sense, Japan’s ODA (official development assistance) in Africa has clear political purposes,” he told VOA.

However, he said, Japan is “losing an aid competition with China” because with large national debt and a shrinking economy, Japan cannot afford to provide Africa with the amount of money that China can. Japan also cannot provide aid to countries accused of serious corruption and human rights violations, whereas China’s loans are no-strings-attached — and preferred by some African countries.

Philip Olayoku, a Nigerian academic and member of the African Association of Japanese Studies, said he did not think Tokyo was trying to compete with China in Africa because it simply can’t and “does not have the kind of clout that it used to have.”

Instead, he said, Japan is trying to “consolidate its relationship, keep part of what it has, so that China doesn’t displace it.”

While FOCAC and TICAD are similar, analysts told VOA there are several key differences, namely that the Chinese model involves the Chinese state cooperating with African ruling parties directly, while the Japanese one is more multilateral, involving civil society, NGOs and international organizations like the United Nations Development Program and the African Development Bank.

“China’s aid in Africa tends to concentrate on the fields such as infrastructure and agriculture, but Japan’s ODA covers a broader range of development fields, including human development issues,” noted Shinichi Takeuchi, director of the African Studies Center at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.

Additionally, Japan tries to transfer knowledge and contribute to African self-sufficiency and has a post-war agenda of helping push for peace and democracy, analysts said. However, they noted that Japan also has an economic agenda, including trying to secure markets for its high-end products.

“It wants to promote activities of Japanese businesses in Africa. As Japan is facing a number of socio-economic challenges, including economic stagnation and [an] aging population, the government wants to benefit from economic opportunities in Africa,” Takeuchi said.

Tokyo also has political agendas in Africa, analysts said. Japan is pursuing a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, and China is its strong rival, Takeuchi pointed out. Additionally, African countries are the biggest voting bloc at the U.N., said Nantulya.

Tokyo is also concerned that African countries could side with China — as many already did on Ukraine — and against its interests in areas such as the Western Pacific where the two are in a dispute over the ownership of the Senkaku Islands.

“The Japanese are definitely worried that African countries will be mobilized to support Chinese moves, to support Chinese strategic positions on issues … and it’s one of the reasons why this current TICAD … is really focused on really reengaging African countries diplomatically,” said Nantulya.

Asked whether Japan’s $30 billion commitment to Africa could be seen as an attempt to compete with China, Marie Hidaka, counselor at the Japanese embassy in South Africa, responded, “Nowadays, there are various fora through which many countries engage themselves with Africa, but TICAD, launched by Japan, was the forerunner of such fora for African development.”

“The $30 billion as the sum of public and private financial contributions, which Japan announced during the TICAD 8 held in last month in Tunis, focuses on investment in people and quality of growth and aims for a resilient and sustainable Africa while solving various problems faced by the African people,” she said.
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Russia’s war on Ukraine has seen scores of hospitals and clinics bombed and frequent power cuts that can turn off lifesaving machines. Medical aid groups are using a Kenyan-manufactured breathing device for premature babies that works without electricity, helping save vulnerable newborns in countries affected by conflict.

Staff at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kisumu, Kenya, say this device — a bubble continuous positive airway pressure system, or bCPAP — brings some relief to those in respiratory distress.

Daisy Okech, a pediatric nurse at the hospital, said the device “helped us a great lot because before we had the machine there were babies who needed the CPAP, but we were not able to initiate. We were just using normal oxygen, but currently we have seen that there are babies who improve very well when we initiate CPAP.”

The device continuously delivers pressurized oxygen, making it easier for babies in respiratory distress to breathe. Workers say water bubbles in a jar signify that the user is breathing right.

Pressured oxygen source

Revital health care, a manufacturer in Kenya’s Kilifi County, and the U.S.-based Vayu Global Health Foundation took on mass production of the devices this year. Revital’s technical director, Krupali Shah, said the bubble CPAP just needs a pressured source of oxygen, such as a cylinder, to function.

“Once you have continuous 100% oxygen flowing in the blender, which is where the magic of the entire device is and is, literally, where the magic happens, it’s able to pull ambient air from the outside as well,” Shah said. “You can adjust the oxygen concentration between 30-100 before delivery to the baby. The blended air can be filtered, humidified, breathed in by the patient and breathed out. There is also a pressure generator jar which controls the pressure and keeps the baby’s lungs open.”

In August, the World Health Organization acknowledged that at least 25 facilities across Ukraine, 17 of which are perinatal centers, were using the bubble CPAPs provided by donors.

Officials say the device provides a non-invasive way of supporting newborns who are struggling to breathe. Doctors say oxygen blenders prevent lung and brain damage while giving babies pure oxygen.

Its inventor, American doctor Thomas Burke, told VOA that investing in the health of vulnerable newborns is key to controlling infant mortality.

“People actually have to make budget commitments, and it means that health systems have to prioritize babies,” Burke said. “I found in my 2 1/2 decades of work on maternal health that there is sometimes a lot of talk around saving mothers’ lives, but at the end of the day people aren’t willing to put finance behind saving mothers’ lives.”  

The bCPAP devices are available for about US $400 in Kenya.

The system is being used in at least 20 countries in Africa, as well as Belgium and the United States.

Nearly 1 million infants die annually from respiratory problems in low- and middle-income countries, according to the World Health Organization.  Advocates say more of the lifesaving machines are needed around the world.
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With monkeypox cases subsiding in Europe and parts of North America, many scientists say now is the time to prioritize stopping the virus in Africa.

In July, the U.N. health agency designated monkeypox as a global emergency and appealed to the world to support African countries so that the catastrophic vaccine inequity that plagued the outbreak of COVID-19 wouldn’t be repeated.

But the global spike of attention has had little impact on the continent. No rich countries have shared vaccines or treatments with Africa, and some experts fear interest may soon evaporate.

“Nothing has changed for us here. The focus is all on monkeypox in the West,” said Placide Mbala, a virologist who directs the global health research department at Congo’s Institute of Biomedical Research.

“The countries in Africa where monkeypox is endemic are still in the same situation we have always been, with weak resources for surveillance, diagnostics and even the care of patients,” he said.

Rich countries hoard vaccine

Monkeypox has sickened people in parts of West and Central Africa since the 1970s, but it wasn’t until the disease triggered unusual outbreaks in Europe and North America that public health officials even thought to use vaccines. As rich countries rushed to buy nearly all the world’s supply of the most advanced shot against monkeypox, the World Health Organization said in June that it would create a vaccine-sharing mechanism to help needy countries get doses.

So far, that hasn’t happened.

“Africa is still not benefiting from either monkeypox vaccines or the antiviral treatments,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s Africa director, adding that only small amounts have been available for research purposes. Since 2000, Africa has reported about 1,000 to 2,000 suspected monkeypox cases every year. So far this year, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified about 3,000 suspected infections, including more than 100 deaths.

In recent weeks, monkeypox cases globally have fallen by more than a quarter, including by 55% in Europe, according to WHO.

Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, head of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control, said the lack of help for Africa was reminiscent of the inequity seen during COVID-19.

“Everybody looked after their (own) problem and left everybody else,” he said. Adetifa lamented that monkeypox outbreaks in Africa never got the international attention that might have prevented the virus from spreading globally.

Rich countries have stretched their vaccine supplies by using a fifth of the regular dose, but none have expressed interest in helping Africa. WHO’s regional office for the Americas recently announced it had struck a deal to obtain 100,000 monkeypox doses that will start being delivered to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean within weeks. But no similar agreements have been reached for Africa.

“I would very much like to have vaccines to offer to my patients or anything that could just reduce their stay in the hospital,” said Dr. Dimie Ogoina, a professor of medicine at Niger Delta University in Nigeria and a member of WHO’s monkeypox emergency committee.

Since WHO declared monkeypox a global emergency, Nigeria has seen the disease continue to spread, with few significant interventions.

“We still do not have the funds to do all the studies that we need,” Ogoina said.

Research into the animals that carry monkeypox and spread it to humans in Africa is piecemeal and lacks coordination, said Mbala, of Congo’s Institute of Biomedical Research.

Last week, the White House said it was optimistic about a recent drop in monkeypox cases in the U.S., saying authorities had administered more than 460,000 doses of the vaccine made by Bavarian Nordic.

Cases drop in U.S.

The U.S. has about 35% of the world’s more than 56,000 monkeypox cases but nearly 80% of the world’s supply of the vaccine, according to a recent analysis by the advocacy group Public Citizen.

The U.S. hasn’t announced any monkeypox vaccine donations for Africa, but the White House did make a recent request to Congress for $600 million in global aid.

Even if rich countries start sharing monkeypox tools with Africa soon, they shouldn’t be applauded, other experts said.

“It should not be the case that countries only decide to share leftover vaccines when the epidemic is declining in their countries,” said Piero Olliaro, a professor of infectious diseases of poverty at Oxford University. “It is exactly the same scenario as COVID, and it is still completely unethical.”

Olliaro, who recently returned to the U.K. from a trip to Central African Republic to work on monkeypox, said WHO’s emergency declaration appeared to offer “no tangible benefits in Africa.”

In Nigeria’s Lagos state, which includes the country’s largest city and is hard hit by monkeypox, some people are calling for the government to urgently do more.

“You can’t tell me that the situation wouldn’t have improved without a vaccine,” said Temitayo Lawal, 29, an economist.

“If there is no need for vaccines, why are we now seeing the U.S. and all these countries using them?” he asked. “Our government needs to acquire doses as well.”
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Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi has called on Western energy companies to resume work in Cabo Delgado Province, saying security has improved around the town of Palma. But clashes are continuing between federal forces and other African allies against Islamist militants.

Addressing the Mozambique Gas & Energy Summit in Maputo Wednesday, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi assured foreign investors the security situation in troubled northern Cabo Delgado Province had improved.

He said locals were returning to the town of Palma and other areas they had abandoned because of terrorist attacks.

Nyusi urged Western energy companies to do the same. He said the success in combating the terrorists in the districts of Mocimboa da Praia and Palma improved stability since the attacks on the town of Palma.

But insurgent attacks last week spread to Mozambique’s northern Nampula Province.

Authorities said the militants attacked several villages, beheaded six Mozambicans, killed an Italian nun, abducted three people and torched scores of homes.

The Islamist militants are linked to Islamic State and call themselves al-Shabab, though they have no direct connection to the Somali militant group by the same name.

In March 2021, France’s Total Energies halted exploration of a major gas field and a $20 billion plant in northern Mozambique after Islamist militants’ attacks.

There was no immediate response from the energy companies to Nyusi’s call to return.

Total Energies’ CEO said in April the company did not expect to resume work in Mozambique, which has Africa’s third largest-known gas reserves, until 2023.

Cabo Delgado Province has suffered increasingly violent attacks by the insurgents since 2017, many targeting towns and communities near the gas project.

Critics blame the project for stoking the insurgency by not investing enough to develop the impoverished region.

The conflict has left thousands of Mozambicans dead and more than 800,000 displaced.

Troops from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community have helped retake towns from the insurgents but have not been able to contain or end the fighting.
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Ghana’s consumer inflation reached nearly 34% in August, the highest since 2001, despite a historic rate increase by the central bank.

Consumer inflation in the West African country climbed to 33.9% annually in August from 31.7% in July, according to new figures released by the statistical service Wednesday.

Addressing the media in Accra Wednesday, the head of the service, Samuel Kobina Annim, said the inflation rate was mainly driven by high fuel prices that are affecting transport fares and utility costs.

The surge in prices, high cost of living and the steep fall of the Ghanaian cedi sparked street protests in the capital in June.

Annim cautioned against focusing too much on bad news.

“We need to be careful when we are only looking at just the negative side of what potentially might happen to our economy going forward with all the increases and the global economy. Inasmuch as all those challenges are confronting us, we should also look at some positives that are happening in terms of government interventions.”

Last month, Ghana’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate to a record-high 22% in a bid to curb inflation.

The government is also in talks with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout of around $3 billion to strengthen the ailing economy.
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As the civil war in Ethiopia rages on, the head of the main hospital in the Tigray region’s capital says two airstrikes Wednesday morning have killed at least ten people.

The first airstrike hit Mekelle, the regional capital of Ethiopia’s Tigray region at around 7.30 a.m. Wednesday morning, according to Dr. Kibrom Gebreselassie, the director of the flagship Ayder hospital in the capital.

The Tigray region’s leadership and doctors at the hospital say the Ethiopian government is using drones for the latest attacks. VOA could not independently verify these allegations.

The second occurred shortly afterward. According to Dr. Kibrom, the attacks hit a “residential” part of the city, attacking civilians.

In total, he said, ten deaths have been confirmed so far. Hospital officials said that other cases were being rushed to surgery both at Ayder and the nearby Mekelle General Hospital.

A surgeon at Ayder Hospital told the Reuters news agency that the second strike hit rescuers who were trying to help people injured by the first attack.

Wednesday’s airstrikes are the latest of several to hit Mekelle since fighting resumed in Tigray in late August. The hostilities ended a truce declared by the federal government in March, which had allowed much-needed aid supplies to reach the northern region.

On Sunday, the Tigray regional leadership called for a cessation of hostilities and said they had set up a team of mediators ready to enter peace talks with the federal government, which has yet to respond to the statement.

Since then, heavy fighting has been reported along Tigray’s northern, southern and western borders.
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As Africa reflects on the legacy of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, Kenyans remember how a princess visiting the country in 1952 left a queen. Analysts note how Elizabeth helped steer the end of Britain’s empire and exploitative colonial rule. But while relations were repaired and improved under the monarch, colonialism left lasting wounds.

The queen’s accession to the throne came as African colonies clamored for independence and she had to supervise the elimination of the British colonial empire.

Macharia Munene, professor of history at the United States International University Africa in Nairobi, said the queen’s reign saw a transition from empire to commonwealth.

“She was able to adjust to the reality of the imperial decline,” Munene said, “and then transform that imperial decline to a good thing, something common that people can be part of, that is the Commonwealth.”

To some Africans, British colonial rule is synonymous with exploitation. They blame the queen, the representative of British interests, for atrocities during that period.

That includes Gitu wa Kahengeri, the secretary general of the Mau Mau War Veterans Association, who was detained during the fight for independence in Kenya.

“I personally will not forget that I was incarcerated for seven years,” he said. “I cannot forget I was put together with my father. I cannot forget I left my children for seven years without food, without education. That, I will never forget.”

But with territorial colonialism now decades gone, memories of British rule in Africa are fading, and people’s views of the queen have changed.

“She was many things to many people,” Munene said. “To the colonial subjects at the time of colonialism, she was the symbol of the evil that was colonialism. With independence, she was able to transform herself to a likeable person. And as a person, she was likeable.”

Queen Elizabeth was widely admired and seen as a role model by many on the continent. Among them is Benedict Yartey from Ghana.

“The legacy she has left will keep her name deeply rooted in the hearts of generations to come,” Yartey said.

Sophia Emmanuelle from South Africa was sympathetic about the queen’s death.

“For me, it’s just sad,” she said. “I can’t really say I take it personally, but I mean it’s sad for people around the world and especially for England.”

Tunde Kamali of Nigeria took a philosophical view of the queen’s death.

“I have never known any other ruler that lasted that long,” Kamali said. “So, for this now to have happened, it only means that every man has an end.”

Analysts say Queen Elizabeth’s biggest legacy is the creation of the Commonwealth. And with the death of the queen, the future of that legacy now lies with King Charles III.
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As Africa reflects on the legacy of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, Kenyans remember how a princess visiting the country in 1952 left a queen. Analysts note how Elizabeth helped steer the end of Britain’s empire and exploitative colonial rule. But while relations were repaired and improved under the monarch, colonialism left lasting wounds, as Juma Majanga reports from VOA’s Africa News Center in Nairobi, Kenya. VOA footage by Amos Wangwa.
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More than 50 African environment ministers are gathering in Senegal this week for the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment. Plastics and the harmful burning of waste are high on the agenda.

The conference is taking place in the wake of major flooding and drought throughout the continent, which have aggravated food insecurity, damaged vital infrastructure and cost fragile economies billions of dollars.

On top of these disasters is the issue of plastic pollution and the burning of waste, which releases methane and other harmful gases into the environment.

Richard Munang is the deputy regional director of the United Nations Environment Program’s Africa office.

“If that is not addressed, it will not only end up creating inconvenience in the cities, but at the same time the open burning is causing outdoor pollution. And so, converting that waste into opportunities like recycling plastic waste into plastic tiles, where young people can learn skills, will create jobs,” he said.

About 600,000 million Africans die from air pollution-related illnesses each year, according to the U.N. Environment Program.

The ministers in attendance will also discuss the development of an international agreement on plastic pollution — a major issue in African countries where waste management systems and anti-littering education are often lacking.

“We have to ensure that Africa calls out the major causes: the producers who cause the problem of plastic to take action in curbing plastic production, removing harmful substances in the production and looking at the redesign of the product,” said Griffins Ochieng, the executive director of the Center for Environmental Justice and Development.

John Kerry, the U.S. special presidential envoy for climate, is expected to attend the conference Wednesday and Thursday to discuss methane emissions, climate adaptation and waste management.

Badgie Dawda, the executive director of Gambia’s National Environment Agency says he hopes the event will allow attendees to create meaningful partnerships that span the globe.

“It is important for us to work as a team, look at areas of concern, and maximize how best we can work on those issues. The environment has no boundaries. What affects us here also goes to other parts of the world,” he said.

The conference will continue through Friday.
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An airstrike wounded at least one person on Tuesday in Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, a hospital official said, two days after Tigrayan forces said they were ready for a cease-fire with the federal government.

The strike hit the business campus of Mekelle University and Dimitsi Woyane TV station, which is run by the regional government, said Kibrom Gebreselassie, the chief executive officer at Ayder Referral Hospital. He cited a witness who arrived with a man wounded in the strike.

Getachew Reda, spokesperson for the regional government, said on Twitter that the business campus had been hit by drones.

Ethiopian military spokesperson Colonel Getnet Adane and government spokesperson Legesse Tulu did not respond to requests for comment.

The airstrike is the third to hit Mekelle since the nearly two-year-old conflict resumed late last month after a five-month cease-fire. Each side blames the other for the renewed fighting.

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which governs Tigray, said on Sunday it was ready for a cease-fire without preconditions and would accept an African Union-led peace process. 

Diplomats described the offer as a potential breakthrough. The Ethiopian government has not yet officially responded.

Former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, appointed as the AU’s chief mediator, met with the American envoy to the Horn of Africa region, Mike Hammer, on Monday, Djibouti’s former ambassador to Ethiopia, Mohamed Idriss Farah, who was also present, said in a tweet.

The TPLF dominated national politics for nearly three decades until Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018.

The TPLF accuses Abiy of centralizing power at the expense of Ethiopia’s regions. Abiy denies this and accuses the TPLF of trying to reclaim power, which it denies.

Journalists arrested

The conflict has also repeatedly spilled into the neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar.

Two Amhara journalists who publicly criticized the federal government were arrested last week, according to a police document seen by Reuters. The Amhara region, Ethiopia’s second most populous, has been a key part of Abiy’s powerbase.

Gobeze Sisay, the founder of Voice of Amhara, was accused of supporting the TPLF on social media. Meaza Mohamed, a journalist with Roha Media, was accused of encouraging Amhara people to allow the TPLF to pass through their areas, the police document showed.

“Amhara people, especially those close to the Tigrayan border — we are tired of war,” Gobeze said in a Facebook post a week ago.

Amhara journalists, politicians and militia members were among thousands arrested during a regional crackdown in May; some still remain in prison.

An Ethiopian government spokesperson, the head of the Ethiopian Media Authority and a police spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said last month it had documented the arrest of at least 63 journalists and media workers since the conflict erupted.
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Kenya’s new president, William Ruto, was sworn in Tuesday after a tightly contested election and a narrow win against his rival, Raila Odinga, who declined to attend the inauguration.

Tens of thousands of Kenyans and at least 20 heads of state gathered at Moi International Sports Center in Nairobi to witness the ceremony.

Many people tried to force their way into the stadium, and Kenya’s Red Cross communications manager Peter Abwao said first responders treated about 40 people with minor injuries.

“There were those who tried to jump over the fence and then some fell. Some sustained cuts,” Abwao said. “There were no major injuries as such, and they have been given first aid. Our teams are on the ground in case of anything, but the situation is calm.”

Ruto takes the reins of power from outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta, his former boss.

As deputy president, Ruto fell out with Kenyatta, who supported Odinga in last month’s election.

Odinga lost with 6.9 million votes to Ruto’s 7.1 million in an election marked by low voter turnout, a split election commission, and allegations of fraud by Odinga.

Despite supporting Odinga, Kenyatta welcomed the incoming president with a tour of State House, the Kenyan president’s official residence.

He urged Ruto to work for all Kenyans without favoritism.

President Ruto faces the daunting tasks of lowering a high cost of living and managing a massive debt after years of borrowing.

He vowed to work for all Kenyans, reduce external borrowing, and deal with corruption.
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Extremists allied with the Islamic State group have spread their attacks farther south into Mozambique’s most populous province, Nampula, including an assault on a Catholic mission in which an Italian nun was among those killed.

The extremists first struck the province earlier this month and have sustained the offensive, attacking rural centers and beheading some residents.

Their insurgency had been confined to Mozambique’s northernmost Cabo Delgado province, where an estimated 4,000 people have been killed and 950,000 displaced over four years.

The violence has also disrupted big economic projects, including one by the France-based TotalEngergies to produce liquified natural gas and the development of a large mine to extract graphite to make lithium batteries for Tesla motors.

The extremists’ push into Nampula comes despite the deployment for more than a year of a military force from the 16-nation Southern Africa Development Community, along with troops from Rwanda, in support of the Mozambican military.

The Islamic State Mozambique Province group has claimed responsibility for setting fire to two churches and more than 120 homes of Christians last week in Nampula province.

In their attack on the Catholic Mission of Chipene, the jihadi rebels shot and killed Sister Maria de Coppi and set fire to the church, health center and residential quarters, according to Mozambican reports.

At the Vatican Sunday, Pope Francis said he was remembering in prayer the 83-year-old Italian nun who had “served with love for nearly 60 years” as a Comboni missionary in Mozambique.

“The population is disoriented and suffers a lot because they live in uncertainty and do not know what to do, many are fleeing but do not know where to go,” the Archbishop of Nampula, Inacio Saure, said in comments carried by Agenzia Fides, the Vatican news agency.
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Nigeria has lost its position as Africa’s top oil producer to Angola, industry insiders say, and could soon become third after Libya.

Oil analysts say Nigeria’s production struggle is coming at the worst time, as oil prices have jumped, partly because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

According to the Nigerian oil regulation commission, the country’s oil production during August dropped to 972,000 barrels per day, down from about 1.1 million barrels per day in July.

That allowed Angola to pass Nigeria in monthly oil production for the third time this year. The other months were May and June.

Nigeria’s oil production has been declining steadily for months. Authorities blame rising crude oil theft and sabotage at production sites.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said recently that thieves from all levels of society, including religious groups, were stealing 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

Oil and gas expert Emmanuel Afimia said Nigeria’s its position as Africa’s biggest oil producer has consequences.

“[It] actually sends a wrong signal to the global oil market,” Afimia said. “The country may slowly be losing its influence in the global market, and it may be difficult for Nigeria to contribute to decisions in the global market as time goes on. And most importantly, buyers may start to panic, because if you look at the reasons behind the decline, the buyers will think Nigeria is slowly losing its grasp.”

The lost production also translates into billions of dollars in lost revenue. Global oil prices skyrocketed in March soon after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and oil is still trading at around $96 per barrel.

At that level, crude oil is trading 36 percent above Nigeria’s benchmark for its 2022 budget.

But in July, the NNPC reported zero revenue from crude oil exports, compared with $5.96 million earnings in June.

Last Friday, President Muhammadu Buhari instituted a Committee on National Economy and immediately discussed issues of oil theft with the new team.

He said the theft is putting the country in a precarious economic position.

“The fall in production is essentially due to economic sabotage,” the president said. “Producing at about half our OPEC quota has deprived us of much-needed revenue and foreign exchange. The government is working tirelessly to reverse this situation.”

Afimia said authorities must address theft and invest more in oil production before companies can raise monthly output.

“Once the country is able to increase its surveillance and improve security as well, it will really encourage existing firms to maximize their production. That confidence will be restored,” he said.

Last week, Nigeria’s oil workers union said massive crude oil theft was putting worker safety and jobs at risk and threatened to go on strike if the issue is not addressed.

Nigerian authorities say they have improved surveillance of oil assets, especially in areas prone to bunkering and vandalism.

This month, security authorities arrested 122 oil thieves and said operatives recovered nearly 36 million liters of stolen oil and 22 million liters of diesel.
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Ethiopians on Sunday marked Enkutatash, the start of their new year. Renewed fighting prompted a curfew in some areas close to the conflict, dampening celebrations. Reports that peace talks may start again have lifted people’s hopes, however. Henry Wilkins reports from Kombolcha, Ethiopia.
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Somalia’s military says an offensive in the central Hiran region has captured 20 villages that were occupied by the Islamist militant group al-Shabab. 

A Somali National Army commander, Captain Mohamed Ibrahim Daud, told VOA by phone Monday that army troops backed by armed locals have killed more than 100 al-Shabab fighters and also “liberated” 20 villages from the al-Qaida-affiliated group. 

He said the retaken villages include several key locations in Hiran region, including the small town of Fidow near Somalia’s border with Ethiopia. 

Daud said troops captured another 20 militants alive. 

He acknowledged that the army received air support during the operations, without naming a country.  

In a statement issued Sunday night, Somali Information Ministry said the operations were the first step in implementing the government’s vision of fighting terrorism and getting rid of al-Shabab “all over the country.” 

“The Somali government is committed to remove al-Shabab as a threat to the Somali people,” the statement said. 

Abdulkarim Abdulle, a Mogadishu-based independent security analyst, told VOA via WhatsApp that local militias are determined to work with the security forces to eliminate al-Shabab in the regions. 

He said the Macwisley — referring to local militia — is something that Somali government encouraged in the population, and they decided to liberate themselves from al-Shabab. Without them, Abdulle said, the operations could not succeed. 

Al-Shabab did not comment on the government’s claims, but said it carried out a series of bomb attacks in the Hiran region targeting Somali security forces. 

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declared a “total war” against al-Shabab in August 2022, after the group staged a deadly hotel siege in the capital Mogadishu that killed 21 people and wounded more than 100 others. 

 
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In Cameroon, officials say weeks of flooding along its northern borders with Chad and Nigeria have swept away entire villages, leaving thousands of people homeless. Aid efforts are underway with many schools, mosques and churches providing temporary shelter.

Heavy rains fall in Mokolo, a business and agricultural district on Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria. Cameroon officials describe Mokolo, which is also the capital of the Mayo Tsanaga administrative unit, as the breadbasket of Cameroon’s northern border with Chad and Nigeria.

Haman Adama is the spokesperson for people displaced by floods in Mayo Tsanaga administrative unit in Cameroon’s northern border with Chad and Nigeria. He says hunger looms in Cameroon’s northern border with Chad and Nigeria after floods in August and September destroyed sorghum plantations in Mayo Tsanaga and neighboring Mayo Danay, Mayo Sava and Diamare administrative units.

She says the impacts of the ongoing floods will be felt up to March 2023, if heavy rains continue to make it impossible for farmers to return to their plantations for the new planting season that begins in October.

Adama said several thousand civilians are seeking refuge in schools, hospitals, churches and mosques in towns and villages not threatened by floods.

Aid groups and humanitarian agencies are providing food and medical supplies to civilians who have lost their houses, plantations and animals to the flooding. But aid workers say they are unable to meet the growing needs of displaced civilians.

The government says the heavy floods are in part caused by seasonal rains and waters from the nearby Lakes Chad and Maga. 

Cameroon says a regional approach with Chad and Nigeria is needed to reduce the damage caused by floods.

Christophe Bring is the head of department for studies and projects at Cameroon’s environment ministry.

Bring says during Africa Climate Week in Libreville, Gabon from August 29 to September 2 African nations, the African Union and the United Nations made commitments to foster a common African regional climate action. Bring spoke via the messaging app WhatsApp from Cameroon’s capital Yaounde. 

Bring says during the climate week, African states identified causes of changes in regional climate patterns, proposed sustainable responses and prepared a common strategy to reduce the effects of climate change. He says Africa’s position will be presented to the world during the United Nations climate change conference known as COP 27 that will be taking place in Egypt in November.

Bring said the ongoing floods in northern Cameroon are caused by heavy rainfall resulting from tropical weather disruptions, deforestation and improper agricultural practices. He said thousands of families have gone homeless because they constructed houses and settlements in flood plains.

Cameroon officials say the northern border area with Chad and Nigeria hosts about 550,000 IDPs and about 70,000 Nigerian refugees.

Some of the displaced persons include civilians who fled conflicts over water between cattle ranchers and fishermen.
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Ethiopia’s Tigrayan forces called for an immediate cease-fire Sunday and said they would join an African Union-led peace process after three weeks of renewed fighting ended a fragile truce.

Tigrayan forces from Ethiopia’s northern region have said they are prepared to participate in an “immediate” cessation of hostilities followed by peace talks mediated by the African Union.

In a statement to mark the beginning of the Ethiopian new year, the Tigray region’s leadership called for a “comprehensive negotiated” cease-fire and said they had established a negotiating team that is “ready to be deployed without delay.”

“[T]he Government of Tigray is prepared to participate in a robust peace process under the auspices of the African Union,” the statement said.

The statement came as heavy fighting was reported along Tigray’s northern, eastern and southern borders.

The latest round of hostilities erupted on 24 August, bringing an end to a cease-fire agreed by the parties in late March. Each side blamed the other for starting the fighting.

Thousands have been killed and millions displaced since the conflict first broke out in November 2020.

The Tigray forces have previously rejected the African Union as a mediator, claiming its peace envoy, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, is too sympathetic to Ethiopia’s federal government and expressing a preference for talks in Nairobi overseen by Kenya and the U.S.

Their call for a cease-fire was welcomed by the AU, the European Union and the United Nations.

On Thursday, the U.N. said the fighting has halted much needed aid deliveries to Tigray and war-affected parts of the neighboring region of Amhara.

The AU chairperson described the cease-fire call as “a unique opportunity towards the restoration of peace in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia,” while EU foreign affairs head Josep Borrell said the EU was “ready to support” talks.

Ethiopia’s federal government has not yet responded to the statement from the Tigray region’s leadership, but it has previously said it is ready to participate in AU-led talks “anytime, anywhere” while also questioning Tigray forces’ commitment to resolving the conflict through dialogue.

 
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Chinese consumers will now have an opportunity to taste “green gold” — fresh avocados from Kenya. Some say this latest trade development is a boon for avocado producers and a step toward evening out an imbalance between the two countries, but some economists say more needs to be done. Kate Bartlett explains. Camera: Amos Wangwa
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A mine dam burst and sparked flooding that swept away houses and cars in central South Africa, officials said on Sunday, forcing residents to be evacuated.

Television footage showed a river of mud and water flowing away from the mine and into a nearby residential area, covering roads and sweeping houses away, in Jagersfontein, a town about 100 kilometers southwest of the Free State province capital, Bloemfontein.

“The mine dam in the area burst this morning… around 6:00 am (0400 GMT),” Palesa Chubisi, a spokeswoman for Free State premier Sisi Ntombela, said in a statement.

“The incident has swept away houses and cars,” she said, but did not provide figures.

Chubisi added no fatalities had been reported so far, but 11 people were taken to local hospitals with minor injuries.

A disaster management team was at the scene to determine the extent of the damage, but the cause was not yet known.

The provincial department of social development said it was assisting with the evacuation of those affected and coordinating relief efforts.

The flooding caused some houses to collapse “leading some members of the community to escape with only the clothes on their backs,” the department said in a statement.
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In Ethiopia’s Gambella region, a June attack on the capital by a rebel group, the Oromo Liberation Army, has raised fears of more civil war spreading in the country. VOA  spoke to local officials and analysts about what’s behind the violence and what it could mean for Ethiopia’s security.   

In Gambella city, security has been beefed up. Officials say local police have started working in cooperation with troops recently sent to the region by the federal government.  

A major attack by two rebel groups, the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) and the Gambella Liberation Front (GLF), caught the city by surprise in June. Local media said up to 37 people were killed. 

Analysts say it is the first time the Oromo conflict, a decades-old fight among local, federal forces and ethnic Oromo rebels, has reached Gambella city.  

One witness, civil servant Abdu Abubeker, recounts seeing the OLA enter the city.

He said the shooting began at around 6 a.m. No one was expecting it, so no one was well prepared, Abdu said the OLA and the GLF entered the city as far as the regional council building. He recalled that “they entered the city from three directions. I think the Gambella Liberation Front was leading the OLA.”  

Less than a week later, in the Oromia region, around 400 ethnic Amhara were killed by OLA militants. 

The rapid uptick in violence in what Human Rights Watch calls Ethiopia’s “other conflict” has led some to question if it constitutes a second civil war for the country. 

Information from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project shows that from August 2021 to July 2022, there were 3,784 deaths linked to the OLA, compared with 651 the previous year, a nearly five-fold increase.

William Davison, an analyst with International Crisis Group, a Belgium-based research organization, said the increased violence is the result of long-standing grievances related to Oromo self-determination and lack of political representation in Ethiopia’s federal system, especially since the current government came to power in 2018.

“I think that added fuel to the Oromo Liberation Army insurgency, after a failure to reintegrate those fighters and their rebellion.”

The Oromo comprise the largest ethnic group in the country. 

Asked if the conflict is as significant as Ethiopia’s headline-grabbing war with Tigrayan rebels in the north of the country, Davison said that it is a conflict in its own right.

“It probably doesn’t immediately threaten the regional government authority in Adama or the federal government authority in Addis Ababa, but it is affecting a huge number of people in Oromia, as well as leading to direct violence that’s killing combatants and civilians.” 

Adama is a city in Ethiopia’s Oromia region.

For now, Gambella is calm, but fewer than 10 kilometers beyond its outskirts, local police say there are regular firefights with the OLA.  

Local officials are keen to project stability.

Chankot Chote, head of the Gambella Regional State Peace and Security Office, said with the help of the special forces, federal police and regular police and the community, the situation has improved. He added that, although the OLA is trying to attack on the outskirts of town, they will never enter the city again.

The OLA is an offshoot of another rebel group, the Oromo Liberation Front, which signed a peace deal with the Ethiopian government in 2018.
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