Cameron’s National Day on May 20 has been marked by running battles between government troops and separatists who imposed a lockdown, crippling business in English-speaking western regions. The military says at least 28 separatists who vowed to disrupt celebrations in English-speaking regions of the majority francophone nation were killed in violent battles. President Paul Biya is attending commemorations.

Cameroon’s military sings at a ceremony to commemorate May 20 in the capital, Yaounde, pledging loyalty to state institutions and expressing the readiness of troops to defend the country’s territorial integrity.

The government said the parade marking Cameroon’s 50th National Day was attended by at least 30,000 civilians, led by President Paul Biya. The government said it reduced the time for the military parade to 45 minutes for strategic reasons.

However, opposition political parties, including the Social Democratic Front, said the ailing 89-year-old Biya could not stand up for two hours to honor the military during its parade, as has been the tradition in Cameroon.

The government said the National Day celebration was successful in Cameroon’s French-speaking regions. Separatists said they imposed a lockdown in English-speaking western regions to protest May 20 celebrations, also known as the day of National Unity between the English-speaking minority and the majority French-speaking nation.

Capo Daniel is deputy defense chief of the Ambazonia Defense Forces, which Cameroon officials call a leading separatist group. He says fighters stopped government troops from transporting French speakers to English-speaking western regions to give the impression that English speakers are happy with the central government in Yaounde. Capo says in the process many government troops were killed.

“Previously, we have seen the Cameroon government drive into our territory her own citizens to stage public celebrations of the 20th May,” said Daniel. “For this year, 2022, we have targeted the Cameroon forces, killing 24 of them. Across Ambazonia, our forces have signaled their presence to our populations by firing shots in the air to send a message that today [May 20] everyone should stay at home and observe a rejection of the Cameroon union with Ambazonia.”

Ambazonia is what separatists call the state they say they are fighting to create.

The government has denied its troops were transporting French speakers to English-speaking regions. The military says it lost six troops in battles within the past week and that 28 separatists who tried to disrupt May 20 activities were killed in several northwestern towns, including Oku, Kumbo, Bamenda and Nkambe.

Colonel Samuel Tabot Orock is a commander of government troops fighting separatists in Bamenda, the capital of Cameroon’s English speaking North-West region. Orock says the military made sure everyone who came out for celebrations was protected.

“Let the world, and Cameroon in particular, understand that the military in Bamenda know that the secessionist fighters will be doing everything in their powers to disrupt a successful 20th May celebration, that is why we are taking every single measure as far as security is concerned to make sure there is a hitch-free 20th May celebration in Bamenda,” Orock said.

Orock said running battles between government troops and separatists crippled activity in many northwestern towns and villages.

The government said prior to the day at least 35 people separatists suspected of preparing to commemorate the day were abducted by separatists in several towns of the South-West region including Mutengene and Tiko.

Bernard Okalia Bilai, the governor of the South-West region, spoke by telephone from Buea, capital of the region.

Bilai says local administrative authorities and civilians report separatists who abduct and threaten to kill people accused of disrespecting lockdown calls to the military. He says civilians have understood that separatist claims that fighters can create an independent English-speaking state in Cameroon are unfounded. 

On May 20, 1972, Cameroon organized what it called a constitutional referendum, during which a majority of its citizens voted to abolish the federal system of government that had existed since 1961 in favor of a unitary state. Separatists say there has been an overbearing influence of French in English-speaking western regions since the 1972 referendum.
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Most sanitary pads available for African women and girls are relatively expensive and classified as single-use plastics, which means some take hundreds of years to decompose. To help tackle this environmental problem, a woman-led Kenyan enterprise has created a low cost, biodegradable pad made from agricultural waste.

From a distance, you might think that Mary Nyaruai is simply disposing of agricultural waste at her home in Thika, on the outskirts of Nairobi.

But what she is actually doing is making biodegradable sanitary pads.

After facing difficulties finding safe-quality pads herself, Nyaruai thought of a solution using readily available raw materials.

“Maize is a staple in Africa and this is waste,” said Nyaruai. “So I normally go and collect it from the market. And this is also waste, pineapple leaves are waste, so I also collect them from the farms. So when you combine those two, you make a very beautiful pad that is soft. It delivers in comfort and also absorption and it is also sustainable, which is a brilliant thing.”

Once collected, the agricultural wastes undergo rigorous processes to break down the natural fibers and mold the raw material into biodegradable sanitary pads.

Nyaruai’s company is called Nyungu Afrika, loosely translated to “womb of Africa.”

Her pads are getting good reviews. Nyambura Maina is one of Nyaruai’s customers.

“It felt like I was sitting on clouds because the material is very different. Her pads are very soft, the absorbency is good,” said Maina. “It becomes really a life saver for yourself.”

In 2019, there was a widespread outcry on Kenyan social media questioning the quality of some pads on the market.

Kenya’s health ministry says it is attempting to maintain quality standards for the sanitary pads produced and sold in Kenya, to protect consumers as well as the environment.

Dr. Kepha Ombacho was involved in the development of Kenya’s official Environmental, Sanitation and Hygiene Strategic Framework.

“The strategy was broadly looking at sanitation being a person friendly issue. Now, the bigger thing, or the new thing in that strategy is that we were looking at empowering the individuals to be able to act,” Ombacho said.

Nyaruai hopes her innovation can help Kenyan women not only with their health, but with their financial well-being.

“Period poverty is a global crisis, but because Africa has a very large population of women who are marginalized and underserved, this is where period poverty really eats our women,” Nyaruai said. “This is a makeshift, small industry, so it is possible to be replicated in very many areas. Just to train the women how to, you know, pick the right raw materials and to process them and then to make the pads.”

And best of all, the pads are not made of plastic, which means they do no harm to the environment.

 
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The United States said Thursday it has determined that “Hotel Rwanda” hero Paul Rusesabagina has been “wrongfully detained” by Kigali, which handed him a 25-year prison term. 

Rusesabagina, who holds U.S. permanent residence and Belgian citizenship, has denounced Rwandan President Paul Kagame as a dictator and was sentenced by a court on “terrorism” charges. 

“The Department of State has determined Paul Rusesabagina is wrongfully detained,” a spokesperson for the agency said. 

“The determination took into account the totality of the circumstances, notably the lack of fair trial guarantees during his trial,” it said. 

The designation requires the State Department, which has earlier voiced concern about the case, to work to free him. 

Rusesabagina, then a Kigali hotel manager, is credited with saving hundreds of lives during the 1994 genocide, and his actions inspired the Hollywood film “Hotel Rwanda.” 

He has been behind bars since his arrest in August 2020 when a plane he believed was bound for Burundi landed instead in Kigali. 

His family in a statement voiced hope that the designation will bring “increased pressure” from the United States on Rwanda to free him. 

“Most importantly, Rusesabagina’s health is deteriorating, and his family fears that he will die in jail in Rwanda if something is not done by the United States and others to free him,” it said. 

“He is a 67-year-old cancer survivor who appears to have suffered one or more strokes in recent months,” it said, adding that visitors had recently noticed he was experiencing pain in his left arm. 

Rusesabagina’s family recently filed a $400 million lawsuit in the United States against Kagame, the Rwandan government and other figures for allegedly abducting and torturing him. 

Rusesabagina was convicted in September of involvement in a rebel group blamed for deadly gun, grenade and arson attacks in Rwanda in 2018 and 2019. 

 
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Families of people kidnapped from a train in Nigeria’s Kaduna state two months ago are protesting a decision by authorities to resume service on the railway next week.

Officials of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) said trains would begin running between the capital, Abuja, and Kaduna city again on Monday.

Relatives of kidnapped victims met Thursday morning to protest the planned resumption of train service on the Kaduna-Abuja line.

Authorities suspended service indefinitely on March 28, the day armed men blew up tracks in Kaduna and attacked a train. Nine people were killed during the attack and scores are still missing.

During Thursday’s protest, the spokesperson of the group, Abdulfatai Jimoh, said at least 61 people were believed to be held captive, including Jimoh’s wife.

He said the government has been insensitive to the families’ plight.

“Our relatives kidnapped are still in captivity and we want them to be freed first before they can start thinking of that,” he said. “We want the NRC management and the Ministry of Transportation to put adequate security measures in place to guarantee the safety of passengers before train services can resume. These are the minimum conditions we require from them.”

Idahat Yusuf’s two sisters, both in their 50s, are also among the abducted passengers. She does not understand why the NRC would restart train service.

“It’s a national pain, it’s not only the families’ pain, so why would they choose to move on like that?” she asked.

The NRC said the decision to resume operations was not a sign of insensitivity to the situation and said efforts to have the captives released were continuing.

Security experts said negotiations have been deadlocked since the kidnappers demanded that authorities release members of their gang in exchange for the abductees.

Jimoh said the families have been given few details about the talks.

“We have information from government sources that discussions are ongoing with the abductors,” he said. “We just don’t know the extent or how far they have gone in these negotiations.”

The kidnappers have freed only three abductees, including a pregnant woman who told local news organizations that she was freed out of pity.

Northern Nigeria has seen a wave of kidnappings for ransom over the past 18 months.

This week, police arrested 31 people on charges of abducting students from a school in Kaduna state last year. Authorities also recovered 61 firearms, 376 rounds of ammunition, 22 cartridges and $5,000 cash.
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The largest aid convoy to reach Ethiopia’s conflict-ridden Tigray region since the declaration of a truce in March arrived this week. While the effort marked progress for aid organizations scrambling to respond to the region’s humanitarian crisis, resources are spread thin as neighboring regions also require aid due to the conflict and severe drought. Linda Givetash reports from Semera, Ethiopia. Camera – Michele Spatari.
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Zimbabwean villagers displaced more than a decade ago to make way for a joint government and Chinese-run diamond mine are still waiting for promised compensation and proper housing. Columbus Mavhunga reports from Mutare, Zimbabwe.
Videographer: Blessing Chigwenhembe
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For months, only a trickle of aid has entered Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray, parts of which the U.N. says are likely in a state of famine. Some Tigrayans fleeing hunger are so hopeless, they tell of abandoning their families. Henry Wilkins reports from Sekota, Ethiopia
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A cursory Google search for “rosewood furniture China” brings up plenty of sites selling the luxury item, but most buyers are likely unaware that their treasured table or chair could be the product of a rampant illegal trade in the protected tree species — one which is decimating forests in West Africa, facilitating elephant poaching, and even aiding jihadi groups.

Between May 2020 and March 2022, China imported from Mali 220,000 trees’ worth —148,000 tons — of a type of rosewood known as kosso despite a ban on its harvest and trade in the troubled West Africa nation, a report released Wednesday by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) found.

The dark wood is used to make expensive antique-style furniture. It is so popular in China, where it is known as “hongmu,” or “red wood,” that some 90% of the world’s exports end up there, according to Haibing Ma, EIA’s Asia policy specialist. Vietnam is also a key buyer of the wood.

“Rosewood is a species traditionally and culturally valued by the Chinese, so there’s almost like an insatiable demand there,” he told VOA.

From 2017-22, China imported half a million kosso trees, worth about $220 million, from Mali, the agency found, with Ma noting that the trade “has already caused tremendous negative ecological, economic and social impacts in the sourcing countries.”

Rosewood used to be sourced mainly from Southeast Asia, but with those forests now over-logged, Chinese traders have turned to West Africa, notably Mali, a chronically unstable nation that has suffered two coups since 2020 and is battling a jihadi insurgency.

Mali regulations and trade

Mali had declared a rosewood harvesting ban in 2020, but that was lifted the next year. Since then, a “log export ban” has been in effect, but exports to China have continued, EIA investigators found, estimating that more than 5,500 shipping containers of kosso were exported to China from May 2020 to March 2022.

Most of the logging is occurring in protected areas such as forest reserves, in violation of Mali’s forest code.

According to the EIA report, both the illegal trade in kosso and an export monopoly granted to Générale Industrie du Bois SARL, a company run by a Malian entrepreneur, allegedly rely on “deeply entrenched corruption” that includes using invalid permits to ship the wood. EIA investigators also learned of civil servants receiving bribes to ignore logging and trafficking, the report said.

Trucks move the logs from Bamako, Mali’s capital, to the port of Dakar in Senegal. From there, they are shipped to China.

Emailed requests for comment to the Chinese Embassy in Bamako and to Mamadou Gackou, secretary-general of Mali’s Ministry of Environment, Sanitation and Sustainable Development, went unanswered.

Rosewood, ivory and jihadis

Rosewood trafficking is also a conduit for the smuggling of other goods, EIA found. Illegal ivory, including some from Mali’s nearly annihilated Gourma desert elephant, has been found inside the logs.

“It appears that the Chinese trader known locally as ‘Frank’ and his business partner, who carry out the largest rosewood trading operation in the country, have also been involved in ivory smuggling between Mali and China, starting in 2017 until at least 2020,” the report said. As of a couple of months ago, when EIA investigators spoke to Frank’s businesses partners, “they were still busy figuring out how to get a maximum of the kosso logs they had in the depot out of the country,” said Raphael Edou, Africa Program Manager at EIA.

Jihadis in Mali are using the timber trafficking issue as a means of propaganda, saying only they can stop the logging of the country’s precious forests, the EIA found.

“Supporters of the rebels have exploited the forest crisis and the frustration among the population in the Southern provinces as a way to promote their cause. They frequently allege that only the strict discipline of the jihadist can put an end to the rosewood crisis and the circles of grand corruption it has fueled,” the report said.

Responses to the logging problem

Beijing, Ma notes, has stipulated that all its foreign investment under its Belt and Road Initiative “should stick to the principle and the directions laid out in the Paris Agreement,” and that President Xi Jinping has stressed “China and Africa cooperation will never be at the cost of the interests of African people.”

The country must now walk the talk and stop the export of illegal timber from Mali, Ma said, adding, “As a responsible great power, China should make efforts to clean up these trade lines.”

China has taken action to stop logging in Gabon, where Chinese companies were linked to the illegal trafficking of timber in 2019. At that time, Beijing signed an agreement with the West African state to help fight illegal logging and develop forest management in Gabon. Since the two countries began cooperating, Gabon has seen a dramatic fall in illegal logging, according to Lee White, Gabon’s minister of water, forests, the sea and environment, as reported by the South China Morning Post.

Asked about what would happen to the loggers if the rosewood trade was shut down, EIA’s Edou said that they usually come from neighboring countries and that Malian communities resent their presence.

“According to our investigation, most of the forest communities in Mali have suffered and not benefited from the rosewood crisis. … Timber is commonly stolen from the communities’ forest area. Local leaders have raised on multiple occasions the problem: Others make money, they pay the price,” he said. Local residents end up losing their forests and receiving no money for the wood. Some communities even patrol their forests in hopes of catching the loggers themselves.

The EIA’s investigation comes as the secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), described as “an international agreement between governments” that aims to protect the survival of species traded globally, is deliberating a regional trade ban. In March, in response to West African countries’ request, a CITES meeting gave states until April 27 to demonstrate their exports were legal or declare a zero-export quota. If they failed to do so, they would face a trade suspension.

“The CITES secretariat is analyzing all information received. … It’s expected this will be completed by the end of this month,” CITES spokesperson David Whitbourn told VOA in an email response.

“When the analysis is complete, a recommendation to suspend commercial trade for Pterocarpus erinaceus (Rosewood) will be set in place for those Parties that have not responded or have not provided a satisfactory justification,” he added.
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A total of 1.39 million children in the Tigray region are currently missing out on education because of Ethiopia’s civil war, according to the United Nations.

While journalists are banned from entering Tigray, VOA was able to access the neighboring Amhara region, where schools are beginning to reopen, after Tigrayan forces that occupied much of the region withdrew in December.

But the occupation left deep scars. Residents in the town of Gashena say Tigrayan forces used the classrooms as a base, left graffiti on classroom walls, insulting the Amhara ethnic group and Ethiopia’s prime minister, and dumped bodies into a mass grave on school grounds.

The Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front has denied such accusations and called for an independent investigation.

One student, Ayten Mune, recounted returning to the school after the Tigrayan forces had left.

He said that when he returned to the school, there were bloodstains, broken desks, and broken computers here and there. The TPLF had used the school as a hospital, which is why there was so much blood, he said.

The deputy headmaster of the school, Getnet Habtamu, said he had to mobilize local authorities to exhume the mass grave filled with bodies of soldiers and civilians killed during the fighting because of the psychological impact it had on students.

He said students refused to attend because the school was a total mess and that there was blood all over the place. He added that the community worked together to bring the students back to school, but teachers had to go door to door to the students’ houses to persuade them to come back.

Children traumatized

Farther north, near the town of Sekota, the U.N. provides schooling for children displaced by the conflict, but many of them, like Bertukan Gebrat, have been traumatized from witnessing the fighting.

She said her brother was killed in an explosion while he was playing with his friend and that she had seen many bad things. “I even saw people killed after having their limbs cut off,” she said.

Yasmine Sherif, the director of Education Cannot Wait, a U.N.-funded nonprofit, said education can play an essential part in helping children like Bertukan and Mune build resilience to trauma.

“When you see family members, parents, siblings, rape, killing, injury, a child during the formative years see all this violence or are even the subject of this violence, will logically become traumatized and that’s why mental health and psychosocial services are another very existential, lifesaving component of education,” she told VOA via Zoom.

She added that while food security and access to water are essential to people displaced by war, education is also essential in the long term if countries are to build back effectively and avoid future conflict.

For the nearly 1.4 million students entering their third school year disrupted by war in Tigray, the consequences will likely be felt for the rest of their lives.
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Somalia’s newly-elected president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, says his government will focus on urgent issues including security, economic recovery, political stability, and debt relief during his first 100 days in office.

Mohamud was elected Sunday for the second time, defeating incumbent Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed. Mohamud returns to power after serving as president from 2012 to 2017.

“We want to implement what we want to do in my first 100 days in office. We want to reform the old legal framework and the structure of our security agencies; we want to federalize the security apparatus,” Mohamed told VOA Somali in an exclusive interview.

Battling al-Shabab, the al-Qaida-affiliated terror group that has stepped up its attacks in Mogadishu in recent months, is one of the biggest challenges that lies ahead for the president.

Defeating al-Shabab has remained beyond the grasp of Mohamud and every other Somali president since the group came into being about 15 years ago. Mohamud knows first-hand the danger al-Shabab poses, having survived several assassination attempts during his first term.

Mohamud, however, has voiced confidence that his country will turn the corner, saying securing Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, is one of the priorities in his first 100 days.

“To secure Mogadishu, we want to operate and secure it from its corridors such as the Lower and Middle Shabelle regions and inside the city we will establish a strong intelligence presence,” the president said. “We will ask for support and collaboration from anyone who is willing to help us to ensure the security.”

Hours ahead of the VOA exclusive interview, Mohamud welcomed word that U.S. special operations forces will again be based in Somalia to help in the fight against the terror group.

He thanked U.S. President Joe Biden in a tweet Tuesday, calling the United States “a reliable partner in our quest to stability and fight against terrorism.”

His re-election on Sunday follows nearly a year of political uncertainty marked by disputes between the president and prime minister and the federal and regional levels of government.

The turmoil nearly boiled over in February 2021 when parliament passed a motion to extend President Mohamed’s term by two years. Lawmakers reversed their decision in the face of strong pressure both domestically and abroad.

Despite assuming office with daunting tasks, Mohamud pledges to steer the country toward peace and reconciliation.

“To create political stability is also one of my priorities in my first 100 days. We must come up with an inclusive agreement with the leaders of the federal-member states that federalizes the most important issues, including security,” he said.

While he is in office, Mohamud said he will work on a national plan that would scrap the clan-based complex election formula and lead the country to a one-person, one-vote system.

“When I was handing over my presidency in 2016, I also handed over a detailed plan that would have led the country to a different voting system and now my plan is to work on that so that the county will not go back to the controversial clan-based power sharing system,” he told VOA.

Mohamud said he will soon nominate a prime minister and work on legal reforms designed to resolve the chronic power struggles, between Somali presidents and prime ministers, that derailed the efforts of the past governments and weakened cooperation among federal government institutions.
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Nigerian startups, mostly in financial technology, attracted nearly a quarter of the $5.2 billion invested in African startups last year. Timothy Obiezu profiles the mobile money service CrowdForce to examine what is attracting investors to Nigeria.
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African countries are being encouraged to use both soft and hard power to counter the growing threat posed by Islamic State on the continent. The U.S. government is giving more than $100 million to African states to overcome terrorism. Top U.S. security officials say African leadership and voices are needed to ensure security assistance is targeted to where it’s needed most.

Last week, security leaders from the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS pledged to support African security agencies in dealing with the terrorist activities of the Islamic State.

The coalition, which has 85 members, met in Morocco to discuss ways of dislodging fighters allied to ISIS from Mali, Burkina Faso, Mozambique and several other African countries.

Terror activities by these militants have increased in recent years, killing tens of thousands and displacing millions — creating a humanitarian crisis.

Chris Landberg. the State Department’s acting principal deputy coordinator for counterterrorism, says some African governments will receive millions of dollars to improve their efforts in fighting terrorism.

“So, we are increased in this every year, and we’re looking to use it to improve capabilities of our partnered civilian, law enforcement, and judiciary with the goals of disrupting and apprehending, prosecuting, and convicting terrorists across the continent,” he said.

Akinola Olojo, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, says the ISIS affiliates in Africa are different from each other and will require tailored strategies to defeat them.

“While we recognize that there seems to be a similarity at a certain level, in a different way we see that even the actors involved or the insecurity actors involved as well as the way they relate with communities, the way they sort of act against the state takes different expressions. And we need to understand these nuances in order to have approaches that adequately match what is manifesting in the different contexts,” he said.

The deputy Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS Doug Hoyt said countering the militants’ messaging is critical.

“So, the coalition itself will probably continue to launch platforms against what we see as the vulnerable youth certainly in the Sahara — in the Sahel and trans-Sahara region. So, what we’re emphasizing with communications is it’s not top-down, it’s bottom-up. So we start at the local level and we work with member governments and we tailor this messaging in language and customs and traditions and what’s going on here, and we very much want the African members out front on that,” he said.

The U.N. Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, an instrument meant to enhance the international effort to counter terrorism, calls for nations to address the conditions terror groups use to spread terrorism. It also aims at building the states’ capacity to prevent and combat terrorism while adopting measures to respect human rights and the rule of law.

Olojo says African security agencies were encouraged to use different ways to tackle terrorism apart from the usual military response.

“Hard responses have a role to play, of course, but then going beyond this to address governance gaps, addressing ideologies pushed by these affiliates, addressing issues of human rights violations,” he said. “Engaging communities more deeply or more effectively, having a dialogue on several levels within communities. All these components are things that are highlighted at this meeting and then we see how they fit into a broader approach.”

U.S. officials say the lessons used to weaken ISIS in Iraq and Syria can be apply in Africa but will need individuals present on the continent to get results.
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Zimbabwe is seeking international support to be allowed to sell its stockpile of seized ivory, saying the $600 million it expects to earn is urgently needed for the conservation of its rapidly growing elephant population which it describes as “dangerous.”

Officials from the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority showed ambassadors from European Union countries the stockpile of ivory tusks that have been seized from poachers and collected from elephants that have died.

The Zimbabwean officials appealed to the European Union and other countries to support the sale of ivory which has been banned since 1989 by CITES, the international body that monitors endangered species.

Zimbabwe has 130 tons of ivory and 6 to 7 tons of rhino horn, said Mangwanya.

Envoys from the Netherlands, Germany, France, Britain, Switzerland, Canada and the United States viewed the ivory tusks in heavily guarded vaults in Harare.

Swiss ambassador to Zimbabwe Niculin Jager, speaking on behalf of the envoys, emphasized the need to fight the poaching of elephants.

“Conservation and prevention of illegal wildlife trade is an international issue because of the involvement of criminal syndicates in illegal wildlife trade, hence there is need to strengthen international co-operation,” he said.

Later this month Zimbabwe will be hosting what it calls an “elephant summit” in which representatives of 14 African countries, as well as from China and Japan, will consider ways to manage the populations of the world’s largest land animal.

“We need assistance. These elephants are multiplying at a dangerous rate, 5% per annum,” the parks and wildlife agency’s director-general, Fulton Mangwanya, said during the tour.

Zimbabwe’s estimated 100,000 elephants are double the carrying capacity of its national parks. The overcrowded elephants are destroying the trees and shrubs that are vital for them and other wildlife, say parks officials.

Zimbabwe’s elephant population is getting so big that Mangwanya warned “it will be very difficult for us to do anything but culling which is opposed by everyone.”

Neighboring Botswana has the world’s largest elephant population with more than 130,000. Together Zimbabwe and Botswana have nearly 50% of the world’s elephants. The two countries say they are struggling to cope with the booming numbers and are pressing to be allowed to sell their stockpiles of tusks seized from poachers or removed from dead elephants.

Other African countries, such as Kenya, insist that all ivory sales should be banned to discourage any international trade in ivory.

In addition to banning ivory sales, CITES in 2019 also imposed restrictions on the sales of wild elephants caught in Zimbabwe and Botswana, a move that pleased some conservationists but dismayed officials struggling to manage their overloaded parks.

There is a flourishing illegal trade in ivory in which international syndicates fund poachers to kill elephants and saw off their ivory tusks. The ivory is then smuggled overseas, where there is a demand for ivory for jewelry and trinkets.

Increased poaching and loss of habitat have made Africa’s elephant populations more endangered, the International Union for Conservation of Nature said last year.

Zimbabwe and Botswana say they are ill-equipped to deal with poachers without the money from ivory sales, especially because earnings from tourism have dwindled due to COVID—19 related travel restrictions since 2020.

Zimbabwe has pledged to use “all” proceeds from ivory sales to fund conservation in its wildlife parks and to support communities that live near parks and “bear the brunt” of conflict with the wildlife, said Mangwanya. Zimbabwe argues that funds that benefit people who live near the parks will motivate them to support the fight against poaching instead of relying on it for their livelihoods.

Zimbabwe proposes a “once-off sale in this COVID—19 pandemic era,” Mangwanya said.

“There is a great market for valuable ivory and we can’t trade to generate financial resources for the implementation of elephant management plans,” Mangwanya said. “It’s now worse with COVID and with low business in tourism where we derive our revenue from. Where do we get the money to look after the resources?” (backslash)
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A colonel reputed to be close to Mali’s ruling junta has been arrested following what the authorities describe as an attempted coup, two sources said Tuesday. 

The junta late Monday announced that last week it had thwarted a would-be putsch led by army officers and “supported by a Western state.” 

The mysterious episode marks the latest bout of turbulence in the West African country, which has experienced two coups in less than two years. 

An official at the defense ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP: “Colonel (Amadou) Keita is among the arrested jihadists.” 

Keita is not well-known publicly but is reputed to have been among army officers who seized power in August 2020, later strengthening their grip in a second coup in May the following year. 

He is one of the 120 members of the National Transition Council (CNT) — a legislature appointed by the junta to pass laws pending a declared return to civilian rule. 

Keita is also said to be close to the CNT’s president, Colonel Malick Diaw, who is one of the most influential figures in the junta led by strongman Colonel Assimi Goita. 

“We have had no news of Colonel Amadou Keita since the 12th,” a close relative of his told AFP, also requesting anonymity. 

“Two of his comrades have told us that he has been arrested.” 

The relative gave no reasons for Keita’s disappearance. 

According to the junta’s statement read on state television late Monday, the coup bid happened on the night of May 11. 

Officers and junior officers were involved, and the attempt had the backing of a Western state, the communique said, without naming that country. 

It gave no further details about what happened and did not put forward any evidence but said arrests had been made. 

The military source told AFP on Tuesday that about 12 people had been detained. 

One of the poorest and most volatile countries in the world, Mali is battling a decade-old jihadist revolt that began with a regional insurrection and spread to Niger and Burkina Faso. 

Thousands of civilians and soldiers have died, and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes. 

Anger at the government’s failure to roll back the threat led to protests in 2020, culminating in the ouster of the elected president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. 

The country’s relationship with France — the former colonial power and its closest ally in the fight against the jihadists — last year went on a downward spiral. 

French troops are pulling out of Mali after the junta wove close ties with Russia, bringing in military support that France says are Russian mercenaries. 

 
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Somalia has elected a new president after a prolonged election impasse that nearly pushed the country into conflict. Somali parliamentarians elected former president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to replace Mohamed Abdullahi, commonly known as Farmaajo. Mohamud has assumed office and faces daunting tasks as he pledges to steer the country toward peace and reconciliation. Mohamed Sheikh Nor reports from Mogadishu. Camera: Mohamed Sheikh Nor  
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Somalia has elected a new president after a prolonged election impasse that nearly pushed the country into conflict.

Somali parliamentarians elected former President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to replace Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, commonly known as Farmaajo. Mohamud has assumed office and faces daunting tasks as he pledges to steer the country toward peace and reconciliation.

Somalia’s 2022 presidential elections attracted 39 candidates. After three rounds of voting by 328 MPs and senators, former President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud emerged victorious in the final round with 214 votes, more than enough to defeat incumbent Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, commonly known as Farmaajo.

Mohamud returns to power after serving as president from 2012 to 2017.

‘Thank you all,” he said. “And peace of Allah be upon you all.”

In Mogadishu, residents celebrated with the anticipation of a better future. The new administration has its priorities, with corruption being a key challenge, according to Abdurahman Nur Mohamed, known as Dinari, who was once the Somalian ambassador to South Sudan.

The new president must fight corruption, be responsible, be trustworthy, and serve as an example of virtue for the government, said Dinari. The new leader also must ensure the country is free of corruption, he said.

Supporters hope Mohamud’s experience will give him an advantage in tackling Somalia’s problems. Ahmed Dini, a founding member of Somali Peace Line, a nongovernmental organization that works for conflict resolution, believes the new president will make good use of his second chance as president.

Dini also said that the new president has the advantage of having already ruled the country. “He understands where we have stagnated and where we have improved,” he said.

On the streets of Mogadishu, people expressed optimism about Mohamud’s leadership, with many seeing him as one who understands the country’s history and complexities.

Mogadishu resident Mohamed Ahmed said that, while in office from 2012 to 2017, Mohamud made great strides in creating federal state institutions. “So, we expect him to complete the remaining work,” he said. “We are confident in him and trust him.”

The new president has received notes of congratulations and pledges of support from world leaders. In a brief speech, he promised to unite the country and work together with all levels of government.
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Working to achieve sustainability in textile production is one of the projects of the U.N. Environment Programme for this year as it celebrates its 50th anniversary. In Ghana, an entrepreneur is supporting this agenda by recycling waste textiles and rubber into shoes. Senanu Tord has details from Takoradi, Ghana.
Videographer: Senanu Tord Produced by: Rob Raffaele
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Somalia’s newly elected president is welcoming word that U.S. special operation forces will again be based in Somalia to help in the fight against the al-Shabab terror group.

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud thanked U.S. President Joe Biden in a tweet Tuesday, calling the United States “a reliable partner in our quest to stability and fight against terrorism.”

U.S. forces have been working for years with Somali forces in their efforts to contain al-Shabab, described by U.S. military and intelligence officials as the al-Qaida terror group’s wealthiest and most powerful affiliate. But in December 2020, former U.S. President Donald Trump ordered about 750 U.S. forces in Somalia to withdraw, instead having them fly in for periodic engagements.

The decision, however, became increasingly unpopular with U.S. military officials, who complained of having to “commute” to work, and with some Somali officials, who saw al-Shabab’s forces grow in the absence of a persistent U.S. presence.

“This was a wrong decision taken. Withdrawal was a hasty decision,” a senior adviser to Mohamud told VOA, ahead of the official announcement on Tuesday.

“It disrupted counterterrorism operations,” said the Somali adviser, who asked not to be named because his position in the administration has not yet been made public. “To reinstate and start with the new president is the right decision, and it came at the right time.”

U.S. officials, explaining the decision to deploy fewer than 500 troops to Somalia as part of what they describe as a persistent presence, agreed that the cost in waiting any longer would be high.

Al-Shabab “has unfortunately only grown stronger” since the December 2020 decision to no longer maintain an ongoing U.S. military presence in Somalia, a White House official said Monday, speaking on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss the new authorization.

Al-Shabab “has increased the tempo of its attacks, including against U.S. personnel,” the official said. “We’re concerned about the potential for al-Shabab’s upward battlefield and financial trajectory to generate more space for the group to plan and ultimately to execute external attacks.”

Intelligence gathered by various countries and shared with the United Nations’ terrorism monitoring team earlier this year also suggests al-Shabab has grown more powerful.

The estimates, published in February, indicate the al-Qaida affiliate now has as many as 12,000 fighters and can raise up to $10 million in revenue per month.

Taken all together, U.S. officials said it became clear that a consistent U.S. presence on the ground in Somalia was needed.

“This is the best way for us to continue what has remained a very valuable advise-and-assist and training mission,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters Monday.

While details are still being worked out, much of the U.S. focus is expected to be on helping the Danab Brigade, Somalia’s elite counterterrorism forces, that struggled even before the decision to withdraw U.S. forces in November 2020.

A 2020 report by the U.S. Department of Defense Office of Inspector General warned that despite some success, the Somali government had “not met milestones for the development of its security forces” and that most units “continue to rely on international support for operations.”

The lack of a persistent U.S. military presence on the ground in Somalia, combined with a cautious approach by the Biden administration, has also contributed to a decrease of U.S. airstrikes in support of Somali forces, something senior Somali officials hope will change with the imminent deployment of U.S. forces.

“Drone strikes and targeting the senior al-Shabab fighters is very welcome,” the Somali presidential adviser told VOA.

But U.S. officials have so far been noncommittal when asked whether more airstrikes are coming.

“I think we’ll just let the mission play out here,” the Pentagon’s Kirby told reporters. “I’m not going to be able to predict for you whether and how and to what degree activities like airstrikes are going to increase or decrease going forward.”

“The mission is not one of combat operations for our troops. It’s advise and assist,” he added.

Anita Powell contributed to this report.
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Ethiopia has expelled The Economist’s correspondent from the East African country, accusing him of taking a “misguided approach” to journalism, the weekly magazine said Monday.

The British magazine defended the work of its correspondent as “professional, unbiased and often courageous” while confirming an Ethiopian government statement on Friday ordering his expulsion.

“On May 13th Ethiopia’s government withdrew the press accreditation of Tom Gardner, The Economist’s correspondent in Addis Ababa,” the magazine said in a statement. The correspondent was given 48 hours to leave the country.

“The stated reason for Mr Gardner’s expulsion was that he had a ‘mistaken approach’ to reporting, and that he had in some unspecified way failed to live up to the professional ethics expected of a journalist,” The Economist said.

On Friday, Ethiopia’s media authority published, on Twitter, a letter addressed to Gardner announcing the withdrawal of his press accreditation and inviting the magazine to nominate a new correspondent to the country.

In May 2021, the Ethiopian authorities expelled The Times correspondent Simon Marks.

The Economist statement said that Gardner had visited Tigray, a northern region that has been plagued by armed conflict between the federal government and rebels since 2020.

“His reporting from Ethiopia, including on the conflict in the northern region of Tigray, has been professional, unbiased and often courageous,” the magazine said.

Earlier this month, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on Ethiopia to free two journalists that it said had been charged with “outrages against the constitution” and faced a possible death sentence.

Days before that, the head of Ethiopia’s Human Rights Commission, Daniel Bekele, issued a statement on World Press Freedom Day, voicing concern after the arrest by Ethiopian police of another journalist, Gobeze Sisay, a critic of the government.
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Mali’s military junta on Monday said it thwarted an attempted coup last week led by army officers and supported by an unnamed Western state.  

The statement read on state television said a “small group of anti-progressive Malian officers and non-commissioned officers attempted a coup in the night of May 11 to 12, 2022.”  

“These soldiers were supported by a Western state. The attempt was thwarted thanks to the vigilance and professionalism of the defense and security forces.” 

The statement gave few details on what allegedly happened.  

It mentioned arrests and said the detainees would be handed over to justice. Their identity and whereabouts were not revealed. 

It added that checks have been strengthened around the capital, Bamako, and at Mali’s borders. 

A military source speaking on condition of anonymity spoke of around 10 arrests and said others were underway. 

The government statement said “all necessary means” were being mobilized for the investigation and to find accomplices. 

No indication of the attempted coup that reportedly happened last week had surfaced until Monday evening. 

Mali has undergone two military coups since August 2020, when the army ousted elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.  

The West African state has been fighting a jihadist insurgency against groups affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group since 2012 in the north and center of the country.   

The fighting has also spread to neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso. 

The country’s military-dominated government has broken with traditional partner France and forged closer ties with Russia in its battle against the jihadists.   

It had pledged to return power to civilians by February 2022 but has since extended the timetable, incurring regional sanctions. 
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The global pandemic has pushed more than 55 million Africans into extreme poverty and reversed two decades of hard work in poverty reduction on the continent. The Economic Report on Africa for 2021 blamed the growing poverty on job losses, reduced income and the inability of households to manage the risks

In a 150-page report launched in Dakar, Senegal, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa said the coronavirus negatively impacted the continent’s economy. 

Speaking Saturday at the 54th session of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Hanan Morsy, deputy executive secretary of the commission, said the pandemic eliminated 20 years’ worth of achievements made in fighting poverty. 

“The implication for the continent, one of the most critical implications of COVID-19, has been the reversal of very hard-won gains that the continent has managed to achieve in terms of reducing poverty,” she said. “So, we’ve lost two decades of hard-won gains of reducing poverty in Africa due to the pandemic.” 

The economic decline caused by the lockdowns and the restrictions on people and the movement of goods has increased the number of newly poor on the continent by 55 million people and pushed 39 million others into extreme poverty. 

Morsy said millions of people are still vulnerable. She said between 30 million and 35 million jobs are at risk of reduced wages and working hours because of reduced demand and enforced lockdowns.

“The current reality is that the fiscal deficit has worsened, gender inequality remains significant and has accumulated during the pandemic even worse economic growth in both developed and developing economies are expected to decelerate in 2023,” she said.

The report also documents job losses, people earning less and the inability to manage the risks — making them more vulnerable. 

African governments have responded to the economic crisis by expanding their fiscal and monetary policies. 

Ken Gichinga, chief economist at Mentoria Economics, said Africa needs policies that can bring money to people and stressed areas such as food production, industrial value addition and services.    

“So, we need strong fiscal policies and monetary policies, but most importantly, we need policies that encourage business policies that encourage enterprise, which means things like VAT and taxation,” he said. “Those things need to be reduced so that we have money in the pockets of people so that there is demand for goods and services.” 

The economic commission researchers say the African Continental Free Trade Area can give countries opportunities to diversify their economies and reduce dependence on external partners and trade with each other more. 

Gichinga said African countries need to produce more goods to fashion economic growth. 

“We need to get these countries into production,” he said. “There has been a drop not only in productivity but in jobs and in wages. So, being able to bring the 54 countries back into production, that can stimulate the African economy and create jobs.”  

Economic experts are calling on African governments to create programs for social protection and provide short-term assistance to the most vulnerable communities. Africa is also encouraged to invest in health protection systems and create a policy for national health emergencies that can stand against future pandemics.
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U.S. President Joe Biden has authorized the redeployment of several hundred American troops into Somalia, two U.S. officials said on Monday, after Donald Trump ordered their withdrawal during his presidency.

Prior to Trump’s withdrawal, the United States had about 700 troops in Somalia focused on helping local forces defeat the al Qaida-linked al Shabab insurgency.

“President Biden has approved a request from the Secretary of Defense to reestablish a persistent U.S. military presence in Somalia to enable a more effective fight against al Shabab,” a senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said.

“This is a repositioning of forces already in theater who have traveled in and out of Somalia on an episodic basis since the previous administration made the decision to withdraw,” the official added.

Al Qaeda-linked insurgent group al Shabab is seeking to topple the government and establish its own rule in Somalia based on its strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.

Al Shabab frequently carries out bombings in Mogadishu and elsewhere as part of its war against the Horn of Africa country’s central government.

Somalia has endured conflict and clan battles with no strong central government since the fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. The government has little control beyond the capital and the African Union contingent guards in an Iraq-style “Green Zone.”

While the United States did not have troops in Somalia since Trump ordered their withdrawal in December 2020, the military has occasionally carried out strikes in the country and has had troops in nearby countries.
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The United Nations says Ethiopia’s war on Tigray region means more than 1 million children are entering their third school year without education. In neighboring regions, schools are reopening as fighters and displaced people that occupied them leave, but some face grim challenges, and their students, trauma. Henry Wilkins reports from Gashena, Ethiopia.
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Mali said Sunday it was withdrawing from a west African force fighting jihadists to protest its being rejected as head of the G5 regional group, which also includes Mauritania, Chad, Burkina and Niger. 

“The government of Mali is deciding to withdraw from all the organs and bodies of the G5 Sahel, including the joint force” fighting the jihadists, it said in a statement. 

The G5 Sahel was created in 2014 and its anti-jihadist force launched in 2017. 

A conference of heads of state of the G5 Sahel scheduled for February 2022 in Bamako had been due to mark “the start of the Malian presidency of the G5.” 

But nearly four months after the mandate indicated this meeting “has still not taken place,” the statement said. 

Bamako “firmly rejects the argument of a G5 member state which advances the internal national political situation to reject Mali’s exercising the G5 Sahel presidency,” the statement said, without naming the country. 

The Mali government said “the opposition of some G5 Sahel member states to Mali’s presidency is linked to maneuvers by a state outside the region aiming desperately to isolate Mali,” without naming that country. 

Mali has been since January 9 the target of a series of economic and diplomatic sanctions from west African states to punish the military junta’s bid to stay in power for several more years, following coups in August 2020 and May 2021. 

The junta has opted for a two-year transition while the Economic Community of West African States has urged Bamako to organize elections in 16 months maximum.  

Beyond Mali and Burkina, the G5 Sahel, composed of around 5,000 troops, includes Mauritania, Chad and Niger. 

The military coups in Mali and Burkina Faso are undermining the regional force’s opertional capacity, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a report to Security Council on May 11. 

“I am deeply concerned by the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the Sahel, as well as by the potentially debilitating effect the uncertain political situation in Mali, Burkina Faso and beyond will have on efforts to further operationalize the G5-Sahel Joint Force,” Guterres’ report said. 
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