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Bernard Avle hosts one of the biggest morning shows in Ghana. But scammers used artificial intelligence, or AI, to clone his voice to endorse a product. Analysts warn the same technology could be used to spread disinformation ahead of Ghana’s elections in December. For VOA News, Senanu Tord reports from Accra.
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Beijing — China has vowed to beef up its vast Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative, promising “high-quality cooperation” ahead of a summit with African leaders in Beijing starting Wednesday.

Africa is already a key Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) region, with Chinese companies signing contracts there worth more than $700 billion between 2013 and 2023, according to Beijing’s commerce ministry.

However, China’s investment in the continent has been slammed by critics who accuse the BRI of saddling countries with exorbitant debt or funding projects that damage the environment.

AFP looks at five key BRI projects in Africa:

Kenya’s incomplete railway

Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway — built with financing from Exim Bank of China — connects the capital Nairobi with the port city of Mombasa. It has cut journey times from 10 hours to four since opening in 2017.

At $5 billion, it is the country’s most expensive infrastructure project since it won independence more than 60 years ago.

But a second phase meant to continue the line to Uganda never materialized as both countries struggled to pay down BRI debts.

The project was also beset with corruption allegations, and environmental campaigners have taken issue with the route, which cuts through a wildlife park.

Kenya’s President William Ruto last year asked China for a $1 billion loan and the restructuring of existing debt to complete other stalled BRI construction projects.  

The country now owes China more than $8 billion.

Port facilities in Djibouti  

After China established its first permanent overseas naval base in Djibouti in 2016, it helped develop the east African country’s nearby Doraleh multi-purpose port.

The reportedly $590 million military base is strategically placed between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Beijing has said the base is used to resupply navy ships, support regional peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, and combat piracy, though its proximity to a U.S. military base has raised concerns of espionage.

Doraleh, meanwhile, is partly owned by China Merchants Port Holdings, but the conglomerate’s 23.5% stake raised eyebrows when it was awarded after the Djiboutian government seized control of the container terminal from UAE-based DP World.

DP World claims it was forced out to allow China Merchants to take over.

Africa’s longest suspension bridge

According to state broadcaster CCTV, BRI investment in Africa has helped build over 12,000 kilometers (7,500 miles) of road and railway track, around 20 ports, and more than 80 power facilities.

In Mozambique, China Road and Bridge Corporation built Africa’s longest suspension bridge, connecting the capital Maputo with its suburb of Katembe.

Previously, the quickest way across the Bay of Maputo was by ferry. Road travel required driving 160 kilometers (99.4 miles) on unpaved roads susceptible to flooding.

The bridge, which opened in 2018, cost an estimated $786 million, 95% of which was financed by Chinese loans.

But critics have suggested the project was overpriced and that interest rates on loans are excessive.

Minerals in Botswana and beyond

In recent years, BRI investment in Africa has shifted to mining the minerals needed to fuel China’s high-tech and green industries, such as electric vehicles.

In 2023, China invested $7.8 billion in mining in Africa, according to U.S.-based think tank the American Enterprise Institute.

That includes a $1.9 billion deal, reached last year, by state-owned MMG to buy the Khoemacau mine in Botswana, one of the world’s largest copper mines.

In July, Chinese firm JCHX Mining Management agreed to buy Zambia’s indebted Lubambe copper mine for just $2.

China has invested in cobalt and lithium mines in Zambia, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

But regional conflicts have proved an occasional barrier to Chinese investments. In July this year, authorities suspended all mining in part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, including where Chinese companies operate, to “restore order” there.

Coal and clean power

Chinese funding in Africa has included dozens of investments in power generation, leading to criticism of the BRI’s environmental impact.

In Kenya, Chinese companies were contracted in 2015 to build a coal-fired power plant close to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Lamu old town.

But Kenya’s government cancelled the project in 2020 after protests and opposition to its environmental impact.

In 2021, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced China would no longer support the construction of coal power plants abroad.

In July that year, Chinese funders pulled support from the $3 billion Sengwa coal project in Zimbabwe.

Instead, Chinese backers have funded the expansion of the country’s Kariba Hydroelectric Power Station, for $533 million.   

Chinese firms have accelerated investments in renewable energy projects. In Nigeria, Chinese loans are part-funding the $4.9 billion construction of the Mambilla hydroelectric plant, which will be the country’s largest power station.

A white paper issued by China’s State Council Information Office says the country will focus on using the BRI to support green transition projects.
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Niamey, — Torrential rains in Niger have killed at least 15 more people, regional authorities said on Sunday, the latest casualties of the downpours lashing the African nation.

Heavy rains have been drenching Africa’s Sahel region since June and the latest victims in Niger come on top of at least 217 people who have died across the country in that time, according to authorities.

More than 350,000 people have been affected and last week rising floodwaters nearly cut off the capital Niamey from the rest of the country before retreating.

The latest deaths occurred on Friday in the city of Maradi, the country’s economic capital whose eponymous region that has been one of the areas most affected by the rains.

“We have registered 15 human lives lost, we have also registered injured and heavy material damage”, regional governor Issoufou Mamane told public television.

Friday saw 150 millimeters (six inches) of water fall on the city in the space of 90 minutes, local television said.

Images broadcast on television showed water racing through the streets, touching off landslides and collapsing homes as it carried off cars, motorcycles and trees.

Drinking water and electricity supplies have been affected in some areas, according to broadcasters.

The downpours have also disturbed traffic on the main route linking Maradi to the city of Zinder.

Niger’s rainy season normally lasts from June to September and consistently brings a heavy death toll.

In 2022 there were 195 deaths and 400,000 people affected.

 
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Algiers — Algeria has been approved for membership in the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB), the country’s finance ministry has  announced.

The decision was taken on Saturday and announced by NDB chief Dilma Roussef at a meeting in Cape Town, South Africa.

By joining “this important development institution, the financial arm of the BRICS group, Algeria is taking a major step in its process of integration into the global financial system,” the Algerian finance ministry said in a statement.

The bank of the BRICS group of nations — whose name derives from the initials of founding members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — is  aimed at offering an alternative to international financial institutions like the World Bank and IMF.

Algeria’s membership was secured thanks to “the strength of the country’s macroeconomic indicators” which have recorded “remarkable performances in recent years” and allowed the North African country to be classified as an “upper-tier emerging economy,” the finance ministry said.

Membership in the BRICS bank will offer Algeria — Africa’s leading exporter of natural gas — “new prospects to support and strengthen its economic growth in the medium and long term,” it added.

Created in 2015, the NDB’s main mission is to mobilize resources for projects in emerging markets and developing countries.

It has welcomed several country as new members, including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Saudi Arabia. 
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Blantyre, Malawi — A 72-year-old woman has shot to music stardom in Malawi, challenging societal norms in a country where elderly people are often abused, tortured or even killed over false accusations of witchcraft.

Christina Malaya, now popularly known by her stage name, Jetu, is breaking the internet with her amapiano-style tracks.

Jetu started her music career last year, at the age of 71 — soon after the death of her husband, in central Malawi, where she was staying.

Relatives suggested she go to Blantyre to stay with grandchildren. Those grandchildren were “doing music,” she said, and asked her to join them as a way to overcome her loneliness and boredom.

Under the management of her grandson, musician Blessings Kazembe, popularly known as Emmu Dee, Jetu has released three powerful singles: “Wakalamba Wafuna,” “Chakwaza” and “Simunatchene.”

Her fans and admirers have crowned her the Malawian queen of amapiano — a subgenre of South African house music — which dominates the music scene in Malawi.

Jetu is excited that music has allowed her to go places she never dreamed of visiting, including Johannesburg and Cape Town when she performed in South Africa in June.

Her talent has earned her recognition as an ambassador for elderly people in Malawi, helping to reduce attacks and killings. Older people in Malawi are faced with attacks and killings on suspicion of practicing witchcraft even though Malawi law does not recognize witchcraft.

Andrew Kavala, executive director of the Malawi Network of Older Persons’ Organizations, told VOA that in 2023, his organization recorded 25 killings and 87 cases of violence, including setting fire to homes and assault. That was up from 2022’s 17 deaths.

So far in 2024, he said, 17 elderly people have been killed and 89 have been abused.

Kavala said his organization chose Jetu as an ambassador for elderly Malawians because of her strong appeal to youth, who studies show make 86% of the witchcraft accusations.

“We are trying to explore means through which Jetu can use her platform to convey the message to the youth, ‘Stop bullying, stop abusing elderly persons,’” he said.

Malawi’s youthful and renowned fashion designer Xandria Kawanga, owner of the House of Xandria fashion brand, has started to dress Jetu for events.

“Most people at her age have already given up or they feel they cannot do anything, entertainment or arts, because they are old now,” Kawanga said “So, I thought one of the best ways [to help] is to complement her art and to give her that push.”

Jetu and her grandson/manager, Emmu Dee, are working to promote their new song, which has a video that was was produced this month.
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ABUJA, Nigeria — Weeks of flooding have killed 185 people in Nigeria and washed away homes and farmlands, the country’s disaster management agency said, further threatening food supplies, especially in the hard-hit northern region.

The floods, blamed on poor infrastructure and badly maintained dams, have displaced 208,000 people in 28 of Nigeria’s 36 states, the National Emergency Management Agency said in an update Friday, triggering frantic efforts to evacuate hundreds of thousands to makeshift shelters.

Nigeria records flooding every year mostly as a result of failure to follow environmental guidelines and inadequate infrastructure. The worst floods the country has seen in a decade were in 2022, when more than 600 people were killed and more than 1 million people were displaced.

However, unlike in 2022 when the floods were blamed on heavier rainfall, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency predicted delayed or normal rains in most parts of the country this year and said the current floods were more a result of human activities.

“What we are doing is causing this climate change, so there is a shift from the normal,” said Ibrahim Wasiu Adeniyi, head of the central forecasting unit. “We have some who dump refuse indiscriminately, some build houses without approvals along the waterways.”

The Nigerian disaster response agency warned the flooding could get worse in the coming weeks as the flood waters flow downwards to the central and southern states.

“People [in flood-prone areas] need to evacuate now … because we don’t have time any longer,” said its spokesperson, Manzo Ezekiel.

In Jigawa, the worst-hit state, has recorded 37 deaths. The impact of the floods there has been “devastating,” and authorities are converting public buildings and schools as shelters for those displaced, according to Nura Abdullahi, head of emergency services in the state.

The floods have so far destroyed 107,000 hectares of farmland, especially in northern states, among the most affected and where most of Nigeria’s harvests come from.

Many farmers in the region are already unable to farm as much as they would like either because of decreasing inputs as families struggle amid Nigeria’s economic hardship or as a result of violent attacks that have forced them to flee.

Nigeria has the highest number of hungry people in the world, with 32 million — 10% of the global burden — facing acute hunger in the country, according to the U.N. food agency.

Resident Abdullahi Gummi in Zamfara state’s Gummi council area said the floods destroyed his family’s farmlands, which are their source of income. “We spent around 300,000 naira [$188] on planting, but everything is gone,” Gummi said.
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Berlin — The German army on Friday vacated an air base in junta-run Niger and flew its final troops home, completing a withdrawal from the restive Sahel nation.

At the end of May, Germany and Niger reached an interim agreement allowing the German military to continue operating its airbase in the capital, Niamey, until the end of August.

But negotiations to extend that agreement broke down, notably because the base’s personnel would no longer benefit from immunity from prosecution.

Senior German and Nigerien military officials read out joint statements announcing the completion of the withdrawal.

“This withdrawal does not mark the end of military cooperation between Niger and Germany, in fact the two sides are committed to maintaining military relations,” they said.

Five cargo planes carrying 60 German troops and 146 tons of equipment landed at the Wunsdorf air base around 6:30 pm local time (1630 GMT), where they were met by state secretary for defense Nils Hilmer.

Germany had operated the base in Niger since February 2016, and it once housed some 3,200 personnel.

Niger has been run by a military government since a coup d’etat in July 2023 ousted president Mohamed Bazoum, who has been held as a prisoner ever since.

The regime has turned its back on other Western allies such as France and the United States to turn towards Russia and Iran.

A similar shift has taken place in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso, which are likewise ruled by military leaders and faced with violence from jihadist groups. 
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ABUJA, NIGERIA — Nigeria’s decades-old oil pipelines are vital for transporting crude, but most are now corroded and vulnerable to leaks and vandalism. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation says it lacks the funds to fix these pipelines, sparking concerns about Nigeria’s oil production.

Oil fuels Nigeria’s economy, making up more than 90% of its export value. Pipelines are the veins transporting crude from production sites to ports and refineries.

But those pipelines have lost more than 3 million barrels of oil in the first five months of this year, according to data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission. That amounts to about $265 million or N400 billion, based on an average of $88 a barrel.

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s recent disclosure of a funding shortfall for pipeline maintenance could have serious consequences.

Faith Nwadishi, a leading Nigerian energy expert, raised the alarm about potential risks of this development.

“Why would they say that they have a shortage in funding, knowing that the pipelines are the vehicles for transmitting or transporting the crude that could actually bring in funds and revenue to the country? … When these things are not done, we are also encouraging oil theft. We are encouraging destruction of the environment, oil spillages that could come from these pipelines that are over aged,” Nwadishi said.

Although it remains a major oil producer, Nigeria is often behind on production targets because of theft and infrastructure challenges.

NNPC’s 2023 financial statements show it spent nearly $29 million or N45.88 billion, on pipeline security and maintenance nationwide.

Public policy analyst Jide Ojo blamed the maintenance shortfall on multiple factors, including corruption.

“Corruption is what is responsible for the funding challenge of NNPCL. … When things are shrouded in secrecy, it spaces room for abuse of office, corruption and all manners of malpractice. … For many decades, we didn’t even know how many liters of crude oil we were producing per day and there was a lot of impunity in that sector,” Ojo said.

Nigeria’s 2022 Petroleum Industry Act aimed to boost sector performance and attract investments, but progress has been minimal.

Ojo stressed the need for better reforms to strengthen public-private partnerships.

“Government needs to have better policy environment. … The enabling environment needs to be better enhanced,” Ojo said. “Don’t forget, there is what is called the ease of doing business. I think the federal government needs to do more on that ease of doing business, so that our investors can come and make money, and be able to invest without much concern about repatriation of their money.”

Nigeria removed its petroleum subsidy in May 2023 to conserve oil revenue, causing fuel prices to surge.

Pipeline inefficiencies add to pricing pressure, straining Nigeria’s fragile economy.

Nwadishi called for a lasting solution to the crisis.

“If these pipelines have outlived their relevance or their lifespan, they should be replaced. … There’s technology to monitor the pressures that come from the different pipelines, and the different points of intersection,” she said. “It could also help to know when there’s interference in the pipeline. It also further helps to determine where volumes are being lost, so that early repairs can be made, and it reduces cost.”
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geneva — The head of the World Health Organization believes mpox outbreaks in Africa might be stopped in the next six months, and he said Friday that the agency’s first shipment of vaccines should arrive in Congo within days. 

To date, Africa has received a small fraction of the vaccines needed to slow the spread of the virus, especially in Congo, which has the most cases — more than 18,000 suspected cases and 629 deaths. 

“With the governments’ leadership and close cooperation between partners, we believe we can stop these outbreaks in the next six months,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing. 

He said that while mpox infections have been rising quickly in the last few weeks, there have been relatively few deaths. Tedros also noted there were 258 cases of the newest version of mpox, with patients identified in Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Sweden and Thailand. 

Earlier this month, WHO declared the mpox outbreaks in Africa a global emergency, hoping to spur a robust global response to the disease on a continent where cases were spreading largely unnoticed for years, including in Nigeria. In May, scientists detected a new version of the disease in Congo that they think could be spreading more easily. 

Mpox, formerly called monkeypox, is related to smallpox but typically causes milder symptoms, including fever, headache and body aches. In severe cases, people can develop painful sores and blisters on the face, chest, hands and genitals. Mpox is typically spread via close skin-to-skin contact. 

WHO estimated about 230,000 vaccines could be sent “imminently” to Congo and elsewhere. The agency said it was also working on education campaigns to raise awareness of how people could avoid spreading mpox in countries with outbreaks. 

Maria Van Kerkhove, who directs WHO’s epidemic and pandemic diseases department, said the agency was working to expedite vaccine access for affected countries — given the limited supply available. 

Scientists have previously pointed out that without a better understanding of how mpox is spreading in Africa, it may be difficult to know how best to use the shots. 

Earlier this week, the head of Africa’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the continent was hoping to receive about 380,000 doses of mpox vaccines promised by donors, including the U.S. and the European Union. That’s less than 15% of the doses authorities have said are needed to end the mpox outbreaks in Congo. 
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China’s naval hospital ship, called the Peace Ark, is on a 13-nation tour of mostly African countries to provide free health care for locals. Over the past week, it was docked off the South African coast where the Western Cape province has a backlog of about 80,000 surgeries. Vicky Stark reports.
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U.S. Ambassador Meg Whitman has strengthened U.S. ties with Kenya, helping elevate the nation’s status to a major non-NATO ally. The U.S. has a long-standing, cordial relationship with Raila Odinga, Kenya’s veteran opposition leader.
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Lusaka, Zambia — Authorities in Zambia have announced measures to tighten enforcement of cybersecurity laws, saying the move is aimed at curbing online hate speech, propaganda, defamation and child abuse. But critics say the change is aimed at clamping down on freedom of expression.

Zambian Home Affairs and Internal Security Minister Jack Mwiimbu told journalists this week that the government has activated section 54 of the 2021 Cybersecurity and Cybercrimes Act.

“A person who with intent to compromise the safety of another person publishes information or data presented in a picture, image, symbol or voice or any other form in a computer system commits an offense and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years,” Mwiimbu said.

“The public is urged to adhere to the law and avoid social media posts that may make them come into conflict with the law,” he said.

Mwiimbu also warned administrators of social media platform WhatsApp to remove what he called illegal posts made in bad faith, saying they will be held responsible for any publication of such information.

Analysts say whatever the stated intentions of the cybersecurity crackdown may be, the wording of the law is broad, vague and could be used to stifle media freedom.

Lorraine Mwanza, chair of the Zambia chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa, said she dislikes the section of the cybersecurity law authorities say they will tightly enforce.

“This section is inimical to freedom, to freedom of expression, media freedom and meaningful accountability, especially on public officials who can easily invoke this section of the act,” she said.

In a statement on social media platform X, Musa Mwenye, the former attorney general and president of the Law Association of Zambia, joined the many who have spoken out against the Zambian government’s move.

Human rights activist Juliet Chibuta said the new measures are a violation of digital rights.

“Digital and other online platforms must be left open to allow citizens to participate,” she said. “Digital rights entail the ability for citizens to enjoy their rights of freedom of expression [and] access to information online without hindrance.”

The Southern Africa Center for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes, a human rights organization, criticized the online restrictions.

Arthur Muyunda, acting executive director of the group, said, “For them to invoke the section, it shows that they are also determined to shrink the civic space, which has already been shrinking using other laws. We appeal that they should reverse that invocation as it will suppress the voices of the people.”

During her visit to Zambia in 2022, Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard urged authorities to repeal legislation that can be used to clamp down on public dissent, including the Public Order Act and the Cybersecurity and Cybercrimes Act.

Callamard said the two laws have been used to suppress human rights, especially freedom of assembly and expression in Zambia.
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Harare, Zimbabwe — There is still no word on the fate of Zimbabwean journalist turned human rights activist Itai Dzamara, an outspoken government critic who disappeared nearly a decade ago, in March 2015.

Sheffra Dorica Dzamara, Itai Dzamara’s wife, said the family wants to know what happened.

Itai Dzamara disappeared March 9, 2015, while having his hair cut by a barber in his neighborhood of Glennorah. He was reportedly abducted by suspected state security agents.

Prior to his disappearance, he had been protesting outside the parliament building calling for the government of then-President Robert Mugabe to respect human rights and boost the moribund economy.

Sheffra Dzamara said answers need to be forthcoming.

“It’s almost 10 years without knowing where Itai is,” she said. “I don’t want to lie, it’s painful if I think about it and no one can tell what happened to him. He disappears from Zimbabwe and there is silence about it.”

“It’s really painful if I look at the kids,” she said. “The first one was 7 and the other one was 2 – they are now grown up. They now ask: ‘Where is our daddy?’ and no one can explain what happened to him?”

“It’s really painful,” she added, “because I have no answers.”

Sheffra Dzamara said she is the family’s sole breadwinner and that it is hard for the family to get by on roughly $300 a month.

Charles Kwaramba of the group Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said he got a court order in 2015 for police to search for Dzamara. But, he added, police have ignored the order.

“The investigation into Itai Dzamara’s disappearance is virtually dead,” Kwaramba said. “We have not received any reports or indications that the police are still pursuing any investigation into the matter. Previously we used to receive from police what they were doing, how they were doing it, the places they were going to, how they were conducting their search. But that stopped a long, long time ago. In some instances, we would meet with officials from the police. But that stopped a long time ago. … The state has completely abdicated that responsibility.”

This week, Paul Nyathi, a Zimbabwe Republic Police spokesperson, said he could not comment on Dzamara’s case.

Amnesty International has said it believes Dzamara is a victim of enforced disappearance. Lucia Masuka, head of Amnesty in Zimbabwe, said the government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa should make an effort to find the missing activist.

“Enforced disappearances are deployed as a strategy to silence activists, to silence those expressing dissent in this country, and the case that comes to mind is that of Itai Dzamara, well known for speaking out, against corruption, for speaking out against bad governance, and for leading peaceful protests,” Masuka said.

“The High Court had issued an order for authorities to investigate the case, bringing the perpetrators of this enforced disappearance to account and ensure that the families of those affected secure justice in all such cases,” Masuka said.

Several demonstrations to force Harare to reveal what happened to Dzamara have not yielded results.

Rights groups have harshly criticized Zimbabwe for human rights abuses for decades.
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nairobi, kenya — The U.S. government says it is set to expand the Lobito Corridor – a railway project that runs from Angola to Zambia through the Democratic Republic of the Congo – all the way to the Indian Ocean through Tanzania. The railway would connect African countries to global markets and enhance regional trade and economic growth, supporters say. 

Speaking to reporters online Wednesday, Helaina Matza, the U.S. acting special coordinator for the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, spoke about progress made on upgrading and extending the Lobito Corridor.

Matza, who just finished a weeklong trip to the DRC and Tanzania, said the trip focused on “relaunching our partnership with the DRC and engaging with the Tanzanian government and private sector on next steps towards extending the economic corridor to the Indian Ocean. As President [Joe] Biden has said from day one of the launch of this flagship effort, this corridor has never just been about building infrastructure. It’s about offering high-quality, sustainable infrastructure projects that deliver lasting economic growth.”

The U.S. government, with the support of the European Union, African financial institutions, and the governments of Angola, the DRC and Zambia, is working to rebuild and revive the Benguela railway line that the countries used to export materials and minerals even before independence.

The project will be financed by $250 million supplied by the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation.

U.S. officials say the improved railway line is meant to enhance export possibilities for Angola, the DRC and Zambia. The partly refurbished railway has already carried shipments of Congolese copper to Angola’s Lobito port for shipment to the city of Baltimore on the U.S. East Coast.

Erastus Mwencha, former deputy chairperson of the African Union Commission, said transport systems like the Lobito Corridor can help improve trade among African countries.

“One of the reasons intra-Africa trade is low is because of poor transport networks,” Mwencha said, adding that goods can sometimes be brought from Europe to Africa at more competitive rates than goods being moved from one African country to another.

But Mwencha is worried that the ports and railways used to export Africa’s raw materials remain largely the same as they were during colonial times, and that Africa is also still operating on a colonial-era business model.

“Are we going to follow the colonial model of just bringing these raw materials and minerals and exporting them, or are we going to add value?” he said. “To me, that’s the more important aspect.”

Studies show that a poor transportation network in Africa adds 30 percent to 40 percent to the cost of goods traded among African countries, hampering the development of the private sector.

Matza said the Lobito project would benefit not only the U.S. but also African countries and would facilitate business on the continent.  

“When you bring trade routes down from 45 days to 36 hours,” she said, “it opens up a whole new world for markets, and that’s what we’re testing here today: How can we help new agribusiness develop?  What are the right places to think about cold storage, warehousing, logistics?  What local food producers can we help support along the way?”

In addition to refurbishing existing lines, the project envisions adding 1,300 kilometers of railway from Zambia to Tanzania.  The project is slated to be finished by 2029.
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geneva — Breakthroughs providing for greater humanitarian access that were achieved in the first round of U.S.-mediated peace talks on Sudan are holding and expanding, the United States’ special envoy for Sudan said. The talks wrapped up in Geneva last Friday.

“We were able over a couple of weeks working intensively around the clock and with other partners and back in our capitals around the world for this ALPS [Aligned for Advancing Lifesaving and Peace in Sudan] group to be able to produce some very significant breakthroughs,” Tom Perriello told journalists at an online news conference Thursday.

He credited the ALPS group, which includes Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, the African Union and the United Nations, for negotiating the opening of two of three vital access routes “into areas of famine and acute hunger.”

“We were able to get agreement on the opening of the Adre border, agreements from the RSF [Rapid Support Forces] and SAF [Sudanese Armed Forces] to guarantee access along those routes,” he said, adding that negotiators received similar pledges from the warring parties of guarantee of access “across the Dabbah Road coming east from Port Sudan.”

“Both of those remain active and open now with dozens of trucks crossing. Nearly 6 million pounds of food and emergency relief are reaching areas in need. We need that to continue and to accelerate,” Perriello said. “And we are actively negotiating on a daily basis for additional expansions, including access through Sennar State into the heartland of Sudan.”

The negotiators estimate that the opening of the three routes combined would reach 20 million people with lifesaving food, medicine and other crucial aid.

The World Food Program reports that more than half of Sudan’s population — 26.5 million people — is suffering from acute hunger, including more than 755,000 people on the verge of famine.

Since the rival parties went to war in April 2023, the United Nations reports,  more than 18,800 people have been killed and more than 33,000 injured. The U.N. calls Sudan the world’s largest displacement crisis, noting that more than 12 million people have been uprooted from their homes — 10.7 million displaced inside Sudan and another 2 million as refugees in neighboring countries.

Considering the multiple dangers — the bombings, shelling, violence and abuse to which the Sudanese people are subjected every day — negotiators sought and were able to achieve another breakthrough on civilian protection.

“We were able to get a commitment to a code of conduct by the Rapid Support Forces with a deadline by the end of the month of being able to put that out publicly to all those fighting under their auspices,” Perriello said, adding, “We have made that same request of the army.” 

Still no peace accord

However, he noted that the Geneva talks failed to reach an agreement on the cessation of hostilities. 

“We, unfortunately, we see a lack of political will at the time for the parties to stop fighting, and in fact are accelerating. … We have to find a way to get the parties together to find an end to this war that is leading to the suffering of millions inside Sudan, as well as spilling over increasingly into neighboring countries,” Perriello said.

While the Rapid Support Forces sent a delegation, the Sudanese Armed Forces stayed away, citing concern about the presence of the United Arab Emirates at the negotiating table. The SAF alleges the UAE sent arms to the RSF, a claim the UAE denies.

Perriello acknowledged the difficulty of reaching a peace agreement with only one of the warring parties present. He said that despite this handicap,  agreements on humanitarian issues have been reached because he has been in regular contact with SAF representatives by telephone. These efforts “are continuing, and the engagement with both the RSF and the army is a daily engagement,” he said.

Given the level of urgency presented by the crisis in Sudan, Perriello said, nonstop negotiations to improve the desperate plight of the Sudanese people are continuing virtually 24/7 with all participants.

“I do think in addition to the stark scale of humanitarian suffering, you also now have a crisis that represents a real regional threat to instability,” he said. “We do believe ultimately there is no military solution to this conflict, and a mediated solution is the quickest way to ensure a stable and sovereign Sudan.”
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Beijing is sending international reporters to Chinese cities to showcase culture, technology and tourism. What’s missing, say analysts, is an uncensored picture of China and its human rights abuses. Victoria Amunga for VOA News has the story. Videographer: Jimmy Makhulo
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Yaounde, Cameroon — Journalists in Cameroon say attacks on reporters have surged as the country prepares for next year’s presidential elections. Ninety-one-year-old President Paul Biya, who has ruled the country for over four decades, may run again. Rights groups say six journalists have been assaulted by gunmen in the past weeks, while several reporters and a radio station have been ordered to stop broadcasting.

The Network of Cameroon Media Owners, or REPAC, says four of its members have been brutally attacked by men armed with rifles and machetes in Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde, in the last three weeks.

Emmanuel Ekouli, publisher of the weekly newspaper La Voix du Centre and Cameroon correspondent for Reporters Without Borders, which promotes and defends press freedom, was attacked by armed men in front of his home last week, according to REPAC.

Ekouli told VOA he was stabbed several times and that his telephone, recording equipment and laptop were taken.

REPAC said that last week armed men also tried to abduct its president, Francois Mboke, the publisher of the newspaper Diapason, but that his neighbors raised an alarm and the armed men escaped.

Xavier Messe, publisher of the Le Calame newspaper and Arsene Nkonda, publisher of the Identities newspaper, were also attacked by men with machetes this month. 

Besides the physical attacks on journalists, Cameroon media professionals say they are increasingly being silenced as Cameroon prepares for next year’s vote.

President Biya, who has ruled Cameroon for over four decades, has not said whether he will run in the October polls, but his supporters have called on him to seek reelection.

REPAC says Biya’s supporters, especially government ministers, are trying to intimidate the media organizations that criticize the president’s long tenure in power.

At RIS FM radio in the capital Yaounde, a guard told VOA that staff members, including journalists, have not been coming to work since armed policemen closed the station this month. 

Innocent Tatchou, the station’s information director and editor-in-chief, says he is certain that government officials, uncomfortable with RIS FM’s strong denunciation of endemic corruption, ordered Cameroonian police to close the media outlet without prior notice. He says RIS FM has filed a court complaint for the seal to be lifted so that the station can resume broadcasting.

Cameroon’s National Communications Council says RIS Radio and its station manager, Sismondi Barlev Bidjoka, were suspended for six months for broadcasting what the council claimed were unfounded and offensive statements against Biya’s top aide, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh.

Bidjoka has accused Ngoh of corrupt practices, a claim Ngoh denies.

Council President Joseph Chebongkeng Kalabubse denies allegations the government is using the council to silence journalists. However, he says some journalists need a refresher course on ethics. 

“In the days ahead, we will deploy council members to organize workshops and seminars to be able to sensitize and educate our peers on what is at stake and the expectations from them,” he said, speaking on Cameroon state Radio CRTV. “All these are measures which the council is taking to ensure that as we gear up towards the 2025 presidential elections, we will be able to live up to expectations.”

Cameroon’s Union of Journalists reports that two presenters of political TV programs were also attacked by unknown men this month.

Eyong Tarh, secretary general of the Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa, says African journalists and media organizations are often attacked before, during and shortly after elections because governments do not want reporters to expose the continent’s rampant corruption and theft.

“Whenever elections take place in Africa, international media, like the BBC, like the Voice of America and private media houses expose malpractices,” he said. “As a result, journalists, the media houses that are involved in such reporting usually go through so much intimidation from the governments.”

Human Rights Watch said in July that it is becoming increasingly difficult to speak freely in Cameroon, adding that as elections approach, authorities should fully respect Cameroonians’ freedom of expression.
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In an interview with VOA, U.N. experts say terror groups in Africa are increasing their use of drones to carry out operations previously only possible for nation-states. Reporter Henry Wilkins looks at how this makes the work of African states fighting insurgencies even more difficult.
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Johannesburg      — As the West clamps down on imports of green technology products from China, the world’s biggest manufacturer is looking for new markets, and that is a topic analysts say will dominate the agenda next month at a Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, or FOCAC, in Beijing.

The high-level meeting, held every three years, will be the first since the world emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic and China suffered its own economic slowdown. It also comes amid growing geopolitical rivalry and as China shifts the priorities of its global infrastructure-building project, the Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI, to what it has dubbed “the green BRI” and “small is beautiful” projects.

The theme of the meeting, which takes place from September 4-6, is “Joining hands to promote modernization,” and Lin Jian, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, said it will “open up new vistas for China-Africa relations.” One of these areas, according to China’s ambassador to South Africa, Wu Peng, will be “to support Africa’s green development.”

While many African countries — some of which are facing energy crises — will welcome help with their transition to renewables, Paul Nantulya, a research associate for the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Washington, explained that China also “benefits greatly.”

“If you look at green growth for instance, the technology which is marketed to African countries, which African countries have to buy, either through loan finance or directly through commercial entities, that’s one way in which China benefits,” he told VOA.

And China needs new buyers.

China’s overproduction woes

China is the largest producer of solar batteries in the world and in 2023 accounted for three quarters of global investment in overall green technology manufacturing, according to data from the International Energy Agency. It also produced more than half of the electric vehicles sold worldwide last year.

Its lead in these industries has resulted in rising competition with the West. The United States and European Union have enacted protectionist policies, increasing tariffs on products from China including electric vehicles, batteries, solar panels and critical minerals. Europe and the U.S. want to boost their own manufacturing and create jobs.

“We see China’s products are increasingly facing restrictions in the U.S. and Europe, and I believe China will be looking for alternative markets in Africa,” Cliff Mboya, an analyst with the Pretoria-based China Global South Project, told VOA.

However, he said African governments could use China’s woes on that front as a bargaining chip. While China is the continent’s biggest trade partner, it exports a lot more to Africa than it imports.

“We know that China previously promised more market access for African products, so as China looks for the African market for some of its products that are facing high tariffs and limitations in the West…it presents an opportunity to negotiate for more access of African products into the Chinese market,” Mboya said.

The West is concerned about possible “dumping” by China, in which it floods foreign markets with cheap exports to get rid of its global trade surplus. Mboya said that should also be a concern for African governments.

“We should also be able to negotiate and ensure it doesn’t lead to dumping of these products into the continent because we also need to create employment for our youth and also ensure that we are also able to produce some basic goods in the continent,” he said.

In sub-Saharan Africa, 70% of the population is under the age of 30, according to data from the United Nations.

Ambassador Wu didn’t mince his words when talking about the “sensitive issue” at an event in South Africa earlier in August.

“In 2023, China also produced nearly 9.5 million electricity vehicles, EVs, and exported nearly 1.8 million EVs to the world,” he said. “Some people blame China for so-called overcapacity.”

“Europeans or the U.S. already — or will — levy high tariff rates against these EVs.”

“Let’s wait and see alright? If they can catch up to produce more EVs, affordable for the customers in a very quick way…no problem. But if they don’t, I think it’s a little bit unreasonable,” he continued.

China, however, is facing a mismatch in supply and demand for its products. Last year, its solar cell production doubled global demand and in July, major solar panel company Longi Green Energy Technology logged a net loss of some $750 million.

“There’s significant parallels between the excess capacity China faces now in its clean technology sectors, as with the excess capacity a decade ago in heavy industry and infrastructure, which was when the BRI was initially launched,” Yunnan Chen, a researcher at London-based research group ODI, told VOA.

China used the BRI to “offshore” its domestic industries and build markets for its infrastructure in developing countries, and it is now doing the same with renewable energy, she added.

“Tariffs from Western markets is another accentuating pressure that will make middle-income emerging markets even more important for Chinese goods, and even for the offshoring of production lines and supply chains to be able to access EU and Western markets via third countries – as we’re already seeing in Vietnam and Mexico,” she said.

Pivot to Africa

Chinese Ambassador Wu said the FOCAC will focus the needs of African countries in the energy transition and that “China will encourage Chinese enterprises to invest.”

He said that new energy cooperation could become a growth driver and a highlight in economic and trade cooperation between China and South Africa specifically.

But Yun Sun, director of the China Program at the Stimson Center in Washington, said FOCAC’s focus on green technology and energy wouldn’t necessarily be a boon for Africa.

“It does not necessarily put Africa in an advantaged position in the global supply chain. For example, China has a number of lithium assets (mines) in Africa and that technically could be called green energy and technology cooperation between China and Africa,” she said.

“Traditionally, Africa had been a source of raw materials for China, such as oil and minerals. If now it is lithium and other critical minerals used for green energy, how is it different from before?” she added. “Mining and processing whose benefit for locals are debatable.”

Besides green technology, the analysts expect FOCAC will also focus on areas including agricultural modernization and trade, information technology and connectivity, and education and training. African leaders will also be looking to get a one-on-one with China’s leader, Xi Jinping.

Some African countries, which borrowed heavily from China and are saddled with debt, are facing pressure at home.

Kenya, for example, has been rocked by anti-government protests. But experts say they doubt African leaders will push for debt restructuring publicly, to avoid embarrassing China.
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