Africa

The announcement last week of a unilateral ceasefire in the Central African Republic is among recent positive steps in the country, the top UN official there told the Security Council on Monday, urging continued support for peace and reconciliation efforts. 

Anastasie Obama, a Cameroonian woman who set up her own smoked shrimp business, has been recognized by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Agency (FAO) as a Food Hero, for her contribution towards unlocking the potential of selling shellfish locally and abroad.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed the declaration of a unilateral ceasefire in the Central African Republic (CAR), his spokesperson said in a statement issued on Saturday.

An Ethiopian farmer has been talking about how avocados have transformed the lives of not just his family but also of people living in his community.

Displaced families in Nigeria’s northeast are “knocking on the door of starvation”, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.

An ambitious project to raise awareness about rising insecurity and mass displacement in the Sahel has resulted in an original musical score from Mali songwriter Vieux Farka Touré. 

Migrants and asylum seekers in Libya have been facing increasingly heavy-handed treatment from targeted security operations, that have resulted in at least one death and a steep increase in detentions. 

The United Nations on Friday welcomed the signing of a long-awaited Action Plan to withdraw mercenaries, foreign fighters and foreign forces from Libya, after years of fighting between warring factions across the oil-rich nation.

Following an in-depth analysis of the situation in Côte d’Ivoire, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, recommended on Thursday that countries hosting Ivorians end their refugee status, and help them to voluntarily repatriate, obtain permanent residency or began the naturalization process to remain.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday urged authorities in Ethiopia to allow vital humanitarian work there to continue, following the recent decision to declare seven of the Organization’s staff persona non grata and expel them from the country.

Africa’s film and audiovisual industries could create over 20 million jobs and contribute $20 billion to the continent’s combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the UN cultural agency, UNESCO, said on Tuesday in a new report highlighting this untapped potential. 

In northern Mozambique, worrying reports emerged on Tuesday that children as young as five have been shown how to handle weapons and indoctrinated to fight with insurgents.

The first round of food distributions to people in Afar and Amhara regions impacted by the spread of the conflict in northern Ethiopia has been completed, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday. 

Violence and access constraints in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continue to hamper humanitarian operations in a context where one in three people need assistance, the senior UN official in the country told the Security Council on Tuesday.  

The UN Secretary-General has condemned an attack against peacekeepers in Mali on Saturday which left one Egyptian ‘blue helmet’ dead, and four others seriously injured.

A Sudanese army officer with some of his troops deployed on the eastern Sudan border on 21 Dec 2020 (ST photo)

September 26, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese army repelled an attack by the Ethiopian army in the border area of Al-Fashaqa said a military statement on Sunday.

Al-Tahir Abu Haja, Sudanese army spokesman stated that the attack took place in Um Brakhit sector of the disputed area.

"The Sudanese Armed Forces had repelled the incursion attempt and forced the Ethiopian forces to withdraw," said Abu Haja in a short statement.

Relations between the two countries have been strained since November 2020 when the Sudanese army redeployed its troops in Al-Fashaqa recovering about 2 million acres of fertile land inside the Sudanese border cultivated with the support of armed militiamen.

Three months ago closed the road linking the two countries after an attack on the Sudanese army by Ethiopian militiamen.

On 22 September, local officials from the two sides met the Ethiopian border town of Metama to discuss the reopening of the crossing point.

The Ethiopian side requested to open the crossing point and called for joint cooperation to settle the issue of detainees from both sides.

A source close to the meeting said the Ethiopian officials spoke again about the presence of Tigryian fighters in the refugee camps a matter that the Sudanese side strongly rejected.

(ST)

September 25, 2021 (KAMPALA) - The government has given South Sudan a one-month ultimatum to waive visa fees for Ugandan nationals seeking to enter the country. This follows Uganda's decision to waive visa fees for South Sudanese entering Uganda which will take effect on October 1.

Speaking to the media, the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for East African Community Affairs Rebecca Kadaga said that South Sudan is expected to reciprocate this by October 31.

She says if South Sudan doesn't reciprocate the waiver, Uganda will reinstate the fees for South Sudanese as well.

According to Kadaga, the decision follows the summit of the East African Community Heads of State in Nairobi in February 2021, when President Salva Kiir appealed to the neighbouring countries for a visa waiver, particularly between South Sudan, Kenya, and Uganda.

According to Kadaga, the move is expected to facilitate trade and investment in the region.

Concerning the security of truckers along the Juba-Nimule route, the minister said that the different illegal roadblocks on the highways have been removed, while the Government of South Sudan has deployed in hotspots and security has been provided for Ugandans entering South Sudan.

(ST)

September 25, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - The Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) Saturday accused the military component of exploiting the political crises to spread chaos in the country and undermine the transition to civilian-led democratic rule.

The followers of Mohamed Turk, a tribal leader of the Hadandawa tribe who rejects the peace agreement for eastern Sudan, are blocking the roads and shut down the pipeline preventing the exportation of the Sudanese and South Sudanese oil.

However, the military component refuses to intervene to stop the security threat and protect the vital economic facilities.

Lt-Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan stated on Thursday that the eastern Sudan crisis should be resolved by Prime Minister Hamdok.

Speaking in a talk show on Sudan TVon Saturday, FFC leading members said that the military component is preparing to remove the civilian government through the insecurity in eastern Sudan and Kordofan.

"It is not necessary to topple the civilian government through weapons. This can be done by exploiting political issues in some regions to create chaos and insecurity. This is part of a strategy aiming to overthrow the civilian government," said Taha Osman, a member of the Empowerment Removal Committee.

Alwathiq al-Brair, Secretary of the National Umma Party, said sarcastically that they learnt for the first time from al-Burhan on Thursday that protecting the vital economic facilities is the responsibility of Prime Minister Hamdok.

"This is part of the core duties of the military component," he stressed.

The Sudanese Ministry of Oil on Saturday announced that the closure of oil terminals at Port Sudan affected the oil pumping from the production areas. The ministry added that the country has a stock for 10 days only.

The tribal leader now demands the cancellation of the eastern Sudan peace agreement and the establishment of a military government to replace the civilian-led government.

Gaafar Hassan a leading member of the FFC and the Unionist Alliance said they were surprised by al-Burhan.

Instead of condemning the putschists, he sought to justify the failed coup claiming that the government failed to settle the economic crisis, Hassan said.

"Al-Burhan's statements raised questions about their purpose," he added.

Hemetti attacks

Mohamed Hamdan Daglo "Hemetti" deputy head of the Sovereign Council and General Commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Mohamed al-Faki the spokesman of the collegial presidency who voiced his rejection of the military's guardianship of the democratic transition.

Hemetti asserted that would not sit with Al-Faki at the same table unless a political agreement was reached to allow the participation of new political forces in the government.

The military leader said that the criticism directed at the military was due to the military's call for a national accord involving more political forces in the transitional government.

Taha rejected calls for a "National Accord", saying it aims to weaken the civilian component.

"Accord with whom? All the revolution's forces have been united on September 8, except for two parties. Talking about other forces is part of the coup attempt because it aims to bring force similar to the previous regime," he said.

FFC leaders say this call for national accord coincides with the end of the term of al-Burhan at the chairmanship of the Sovereign Council as it should be chaired by a civilian next November.

(ST)

September 25, 2021 (JUBA) - Protests in eastern Sudan have affected the flow of oil to Port Sudan disrupting production in its northern oil fields, a South Sudanese minister told reporters Friday.

A pipeline that transports crude oil from the south to Port Sudan (Reuters)

Information minister, Michael Makuei Lueth said the protests, which broke out on September 17, led to the closure of oil terminals at Port Sudan, thus disrupting transportation of crude.

On Friday, a tribal group rejecting the Juba Peace Agreement in eastern Sudan closed the roads leading to the maritime ports on the Red Sea. On Sunday the Hadandaw group closed the Bashayer crude oil export terminal, located 25 km south of Port Sudan.

"With the closure of Port Sudan, we are not in a position to export our (crude) oil because if we don't export oil then we will be in crisis," he told reporters in the capital, Juba.

Land-locked South Sudan relies on Sudan to export its crude in a pipeline via Khartoum to the Red Sea. Around 30,000 b/d of South Sudanese crude goes to its northern neighbour for its direct use, according to S&P Global Platts estimates.

Makuei, however, said President Salva Kiir is in contact with authorities in Khartoum to help resolve the impasse to allow the smooth flow of crude to the key port.

South Sudan depends 98% on oil revenues to finance fiscal expenditure but mismanagement of oil revenues, conflict and the coronavirus affected production in northern oil fields with production falling below 300,000 barrels per day (bpd).

(ST)

September 24, 2021 (JUBA) - South Sudan President Salva Kiir has directed the cancellation of a $650 million sovereign guarantee loan, paving way for the country to engage international financial institutions.

In a letter dated September 24, 2021, the Executive Director of the Presidential Office informed Finance Minister Athian Dingg Athian that Kiir authorized the cancellation of the loan following mounting pressure on his administration to live up to the norms and practices of public financial performance.

“I write to you on the directive of his Excellency the President, Salva Kiir Mayardit, authorizing you to cancel with immediate effect the sovereign guarantee of 650 million dollars which has recently threatened to roll back gains we have made with our population and development partners”, wrote Jems Deng Wal Achien in a letter seen by the Sudan Tribune on Friday evening.

The letter cited the work of the public financial performance management oversight committee which draw membership from a host of the international financial institutions and key representatives of the key international donors.

It pointed to trust and policy credibility the government has reportedly built in the last years, resulting in the strengthening of the local currency over dollars.

The letter said that the involvement of the internationally supported oversight committee had resulted in the building of relations with key partners, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“With this issue resolved and behind us, you should be on your way to completing the Staff Monitored Program (SMP) review and moving to the next level of engagement with International Monetary Funds, World Bank, and African Development Bank,” reads the letter.

The SMP is an informal agreement between national authorities and IMF staff to monitor the country's economic reforms to redress its economy. Also, the IMF can work with the national authorities to build a track record of reform implementation under this agreement.

When the IMF monitored reforms are successfully achieved South Sudan can benefit from development programs funded by the World Bank agencies including the African Development Bank.

International financial institutions threatened to withhold loans if the government continues to borrow without disclosing the terms of the agreement to the public.

The SMP also includes reforms aiming to prevent money laundering and transparency in the management of the oil revenue which is the only source of income for the landlocked country.

(ST)