Africa

Several museums in Europe have talked of returning the looted artefacts - but where will they be housed in Nigeria?

The world’s first hijab-wearing supermodel talks to fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger about why she quit the industry.

Freed Tanzanian journalist Erick Kabendera says the country needs to tackle injustices which took place during John Magufuli's presidency.

"I have cried so much, my eyes can barely see," one mother tells the BBC after seeing her brother die.

Deteriorating economic conditions since 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic have fuelled an increase in domestic violence and forced marriage in Sudan, a UN-backed study has revealed. 

Attacks against so-called slaves in Mali are on the rise and authorities must do more to prevent them, two independent UN human rights experts said on Monday.

Almost every part of Nigeria is facing a security crisis - from kidnapping to extremist insurgencies.

Cameroonians who have been displaced by conflict and climate change in the north of the West African country are turning to aquaculture as an alternative source of income, thanks to support from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

After a lifetime in captivity, Joshi is going to live in the jungle in Congo-Brazzaville.

Some 52,000 people have been displaced by flooding in Burundi since March this year, following the rise of waters in Lake Tanganyika in East Africa and most need humanitarian assistance, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Kenya's Taekwondo star Faith Ogallo hopes to win a medal in Tokyo - to raise environmental awareness.

The government has said it will deploy 25,000 troops, but some residents are already taking action.

The interdependent tracks of implementing Libya’s ceasefire agreement, political progress and economic reform, are in danger of going into reverse, UN Special Envoy Ján Kubiš warned the Security Council on Thursday.  

COVID-19 deaths in Africa have risen sharply in recent weeks, amid the fastest surge in cases the continent has seen so far in the pandemic, the regional office for the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday. 

July 13, 2021 (JUBA) - The leadership of the SPLM/SPLA (IO) has assigned Col., Lam Paul Gabriel, as the official spokesperson of the armed opposition movement while Brig. General William Gatjiath Deng has been re-assigned to SPLM/SPLA (IO) headquarters.

Lam Paul Gabriel

“In reference to the mentioned subject, the SPLM/SPLA (IO) would like to inform its members and the public that Brig. General William Gatjiath Deng has been reassigned to the SPLM/SPLA (IO) headquarters with effect from 9th July 2021,” Puok Both Buluang, the acting press secretary in the office of the SPLM/SPLA (IO) chairman said in a July 13 release.

It added, “H.E Dr Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon, Chairman and Commander-in-Chief of the SPLM/SPLA (IO) has assigned Col., Lam Paul Gabriel, as SPLM/SPLA (IO) official spokesperson with effect from 9th July 2021".

No reasons were, however, given for the new changes within the SPLM/SPLA (IO).

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July 13, 2021 (WASHINGTON) – A new report has pinned the South Sudanese government of committing “extrajudicial killings, including ethnic-based killings of civilians, widespread sexual violence, and use of food as a weapon of war."

Joe Biden

The 2021 Report to Congress Pursuant to Section 5 of the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018 was released on Monday.

“In South Sudan, the State (Department) coordinated financial and political support to establish an African Union hybrid court to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity," the report read in part.

“The government has perpetrated extrajudicial killings including ethnic-based killings of civilians, widespread sexual violence, and use of food as a weapon of war. Non-government armed groups also perpetrated unlawful killings, rape, sexual slavery, and forced recruitment of children,” it added.

According to the report, the African Union and the United Nations have separately documented atrocities in the East African nation.

“In February 2021, Secretary Blinken stated those responsible for human rights violations in South Sudan must be held to account. The AU Commission of Inquiry and the UN Commission on Human Rights for South Sudan have documented atrocities,” the report read.

“State (Department) continues to support civil society documentation to further truth, justice, and accountability and advocate for a robust mandate for the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan to collect and preserve evidence. USAID supports civil society and independent media to promote political stability, peacebuilding, and citizen's participation in, and oversight of, peace agreement implementation,” it noted.

According to the report, the Joe Biden Administration is committed to promoting democratic values that underpin a stable international system critical to freedom, prosperity, and peace.

In May, the Security Council renewed the arms embargo, travel ban and assets freeze imposed on South Sudan for another year and extended for 13 months the mandate of the panel of experts tasked with helping to oversee those measures.

South Sudan, however, said the sanctions impede the implementation of its peace agreement.

(ST)

South Sudan's president Salva Kiir at the launch of Digitel mobile operator in Juba, July 12, 2021 (PPU)

July 13, 2021 (JUBA) - South Sudan president Salva Kiir has assured citizens of his government commitment to extend mobile telecommunication services to the remote areas of the country.

He was speaking at the launch of Digitel, a South Sudan-owned mobile operator in Juba on Monday.

“The installation of mobile service infrastructure is an ongoing process. Recently, people in Maper, Rumbek North County, and Pochalla in the Greater Pibor Administrative Area have connected to mobile network,” Kiir explained.

“I have been informed that in three weeks' time, Boma in the Greater Pibor Administrative Area and Kuron Peace village in Kapoeta county will also be connected to the mobile network”, he added.

The South Sudanese leader also lauded the private sector for supporting his government's efforts in directly intervening into the telecommunications sector.

“To demonstrate this seriousness in the desire to connect rural communities to mobile network, the government will explore option, including tax exemptions that will benefit importation of network equipment and other telecommunications tool,” he said.

According to the president, the equipment would help increase digital literacy programs to the next generation for an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) driven economy.

“The tax exemptions I am proposing will be done in collaboration with national revenue authority to ensure modalities for tax exemption are consistent with its mandate,” he stressed.

The president directed the Roads and Bridges ministry to coordinate with the National Communications Authority (NCA) to include provisions for telecommunications infrastructure in all road designs and construction to support the goal of extending digital services all over the country.

Digitel Network now becomes the third mobile operator in South Sudan alongside the South African-owned MTN and Kuwait-based mobile operator, Zain.

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July 13, 2021 (GEDAREF) - The Sudanese Armed Forces in Gedaref state last Sunday repelled Ethiopian militias that crossed the border into the eastern Sudan border area

The Executive Director of Basanda border locality in Gedaref state, Mamoun Abdel Rahim, said that the Ethiopian militiamen sought again to take control of the Sudanese areas that the army had previously chased them from it.

Abdel Rahim added that the Ethiopian militias wanted to control the border areas of Umm Diblo, Haskanet near the border to enable their farmers to cultivate it.

"The armed forces and reserve forces recover the Sudanese territory and expelling the Ethiopian militias that controlled fifty thousand acres in this area," he added.

Ethiopian government massed troops on the border areas with Sudan but their militiamen continue to sneak into the Sudanese territory.

Sudanese officials accuse the Ethiopian authorities of turning a blind eye to their attacks if they are not encouraging them.

Abdel Rahim stressed that the Sudanese army continues to conduct patrols to monitor the border and protect Sudanese farmers who resumed their activities.

Due to the border crisis with Ethiopia, coupled with the GERD dispute, the relationship of Sudan with Ethiopia has become severely strained.

Sudanese government and residents of the border areas accuse the former regime of allowing the Ethiopian farmers to seize their agricultural lands.

Also, Khartoum says that Ethiopian farmers are welcomed as foreign investors once the border markers are placed.

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July 13, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, headed Tuesday to Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, to participate in a mini African summit to highlight the need for an ambitious plan by the World Bank to support recovery in Africa.

Last May, World Bank President David Malpass said the Bank and donor countries should consider a supplemental replenishment of the International Development Association (IDA), the concessional lending arm as the coronavirus crisis continues to affect poor countries.

Malpass underscored that the depth of the COVID-19 pandemic had already rendered a record $82 billion IDA19 replenishment too small to help the poorest countries hit by the crisis.

In a statement released earlier this month, the WB said the Abidjan meeting will help identify key priorities for financing in Africa, that will top a financing package for an ambitious IDA20 replenishment.

Sudan's participation in this summit is the first of its kind in three decades, after Sudan's removal from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism.

The high-level meeting will be attended by African heads of state and government from Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mauritania, Madagascar, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda.

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July 13, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese pound continued on Tuesday to register gains against major currencies prompting panic among black market traders.

Traders who spoke to Sudan Tribune said that US dollar was sold at 450 pounds, Euro at 535 pounds, Saudi Riyal for 120 pounds and UAE Dirham for 121 pounds.

The improvement in the exchange rate reflected improved market supply relative to demand.

Sudan central bank has been regularly holding foreign currency auctions to feed commercial banks' needs in a sign that its forex reserves are stabilizing.

The East African nation devalued its currency last February to bring it to par with the black market which was a key requirement by donors and international financial institutions.

But the move is believed to have contributed to soaring inflation rate coupled with lifting subsidies on fuel.

Khartoum has also sought to lobby regional and international banks to lift all restrictions on money transfers by Sudanese expatriates particularly after the US removed the country from the list of states that sponsor terrorism.

Furthermore, Sudan has secured the blessings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which announced last month that it has admitted Khartoum into the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative.

This announcement paves the way for substantial debt relief and new funds which is hoped to further improve the forex situation.

The Sudanese pound has climbed from 490 to the dollar to 440 over the last 3 weeks.

According to Dubai-based Sky News Arabia TV, small traders in the currency black market are struggling to maintain their business as trading volumes plunged.

The TV said some traders have gone as far as abandoning foreign currency business altogether.

(ST)