A new year, a new Amandla
Ex-Rebel Running for President in Ivory Coast Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed Awarded Nobel Peace Prize Page 11
Egypt Faces Fresh Anti-Government Protests
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‘Nigeria Borrowed More in Last African Migration to U.S. is Fastest Three Years Than it Did in 30 Years’ Growing, In Spite of Trump Policies Nigeria’s debts, both foreign and local has climbed to over N25 trillion based on latest data from the debt management office. The vast majority of Nigeria’s recent debt exposures stem from China. As per the most recent spending plan presented by President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria will use nearly a quarter of its 2020 budget to repay debts the government owes locally and internationally
The Africa has the fastest-growing number of immigrants in the United States, according to a Quartz analysis of US Census Bureau data. The number of African migrants grew at a rate of almost 50% from 2010 to 2018. This is more than double the growth rate of migration to the US from Asia, South America or the Caribbean.
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Editorial Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Ghana: A Lost Opportunity? The recent national discourse on
comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) in Ghana schools has stirred emotions. The debate has been vigorous and healthy. It signifies that our democracy is becoming consolidated into maturity. Given the importance of sexuality education to children, we wished the President had directed the Ministries of Education and Health to address the concerns expressed by stakeholders and collaboratively refashion the program for implementation. The reworked program should have broader stakeholder consultation, adequate and age-appropriate resources, qualified trained sex education teachers, an effective public education campaign and scalable implementation guideline.Ideally, children will get all the information they need at home, from their parents, grandmothers and other elders. In certain communities, sexuality education is encapsulated in traditional rites of passage such as “bragro’ with the Akan, “dipo” with the Krobo, to name a few. These cultural and related practices introduce young people into adulthood. It is true in every sense that parents are best teachers but classroom education could come in handy for students. School should hold holistic, well planned and developed counseling programs. Nothing about comprehensive sex education prevents parents from
Publisher & Editor in Chief Kwabena Opong Deputy Publisher & Editor Kofi Ayim P. O. Box 7030 West Orange, NJ 07052 973-731-1339 / 201-704-5838 contact@amandlanews.com Amandla is a monthly publication of the Amandla Company. It is an associate member of the New Jersey Press Association. The publishers may not necessarily share the opinions and viewpoints expressed in the articles that appear in the publication.
teaching their kids their standards for moral behavior. If anything, having them learn the facts at school frees parents to focus on explaining their own personal religious beliefs and behavioral expectations. Formal sexuality education can improve the health and well-being of adolescents and young adults. A comprehensive sexuality program provides medically accurate information, recognizes the diversity of values and beliefs represented in the community, and complements and augments the sexuality education children receive from their families, religious and community groups, and health care professionals. Creating access to medically accurate comprehensive sexuality education by using an evidence-based curriculum and reducing sociodemographic disparities in its receipt remain a primary goal for improving the well-being of teenagers and young adults. Ideally, this education happens conjointly in the home and in the school. Sexuality education should be taught through the three learning domains: cognitive (information), affective (feelings, values, and attitudes), and behavioral (communication, decision-making, and other skills). It should cover healthy sexual development, gender identity, interpersonal relationships, affection, sexual development, intimacy, and body image for all adolescents, including adolescents with disabilities, chronic health conditions, and other special needs. The various dimensions of healthy sexuality comprise the anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry of the sexual response system; identity,
orientation, roles, and personality; and thoughts, feelings, and relationships. The political hypocrisy about sexuality education in Ghana should stop. It’s reported that sexuality education has been part of the curriculum at least since 2012 when the National Democratic Congress (NDC) received funding from development agencies in the United Kingdom to incorporate sexuality education in Ghana. However, the NDC has become the leading critic of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on the CSE. It is also reported that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) also received funding from Sweden for sexuality education in our schools. We at Amandla do not advocate for blind adoption of foreign-developed programs for local implementation. Ordinarily, we would encourage our leaders to be wary of foreign aid to Africa and Ghana given that certain foreign aid has inimical objectives. However, given the importance of sexuality education, the current CSE developed by the United Nations
Education, Scientific and Culture Organization (UNESCO) should serve as a framework to developing a refashioned sexuality education that has broad public support. Lessons should be drawn from the successful implementation of policies under the erstwhile Acheampong Regime’s implementation of popular program such as “Ghana Moves Right” in 1974 and the implementation of initiatives such as “Operation Feed Yourself” initiatives. Few people will quibble that the implementation of these initiatives was very successful due to broad public consultation and education on the airwaves, TV, drills in schools, etc. We hope that implementation of sexuality education would include such similar strategies. We think the opportunity is not totally lost, and that the government would re-fashion the CSE and try to implement it again. We also encourage Ghanaians to not relent but continue to engage in the political process for policies that affect them.
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North America Africans Should Tell Their Own Stories – Ghana’s President KOFI AYIM
The President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa AkufoAddo, has urged Africans to tell their own stories because no other people would tell it like it is. He quoted one of Achebe’s popular sayings, “If you don’t like someone’s story, write your own,” to buttress his argument. The President made this assessment in a talk hosted by the Center for African Studies, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers Global, and the Christie and Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum under the theme “From Poverty to Prosperity: The Africa We Want” on September 21, 2019. He paid glowing homage to the legendary Chinua Achebe, the man described as the “Father of Modern African Literature,” who authored several epic novels including “Things Fall Apart,” “No Longer at Ease,” “Arrow of God,” “A Man of the People,” and “Anthills of the Savannah,” amongst others. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo analogically compared the erroneous notion of Africa as a country instead of a continent with 54 sovereign nations to the tendency of many to see the poor as a mass of people whilst seeing the rich as individuals. He quickly added that, irrespective of that ignorant perception, “we also know that there is an Africa to which we all identify, and which we carry with pride, and, sometimes, with wounded pride.” He said Africa not being recognized as 54 separate countries is immaterial to its development. “It is not a problem of geography
we face, ours is a problem of poverty.” “Unemployment is the greatest source of insecurity,” he emphasized. He said that if Africans work harder to transform the lives of Africa’s peoples, the continent will be accorded the respect it deserves. He lamented that the respect Africans crave will be a mirage so long as unemployment continues to fuel the harrowing trek that Africa’s youth make across the Sahara and the Mediterranean Sea, rather than staying at home to build our economies. “Our young people must acquire the skills that run modern economies. When they are skilled, they would not have to risk drowning in the Mediterranean Sea, they would be head-hunted and treated with dignity.” He suggested that because poverty is inherent in the daily lives of Africans, Africa must accept the fact that it cannot win the battle against poverty if there are wars and political instability. It has to spend its riches in and on Africa. “All the evidence shows that there is enough money in our continent to fund our development needs.” The dispiriting part of the story is the fact that Africans bear some responsibility for taking these monies out of Africa and into western countries. According to the report on the illicit flow of funds (IFFs) from Africa from a panel chaired by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, Africa loses more than $50 billion annually through illicit financial outflows. The report revealed further that, between the years 2000 and 2008, $252 billion, representing 56.2% of the illicit flow of funds from the continent, was from the extractive industries, including mining. He opined that the destinies of Africans in the diaspora and on the continent are irrevocably linked and challenged the former to step up to the plate to shape the continent’s
President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo speaks at Rutgers Univeristy on September 21, 2019. development. “I believe that the African diaspora has a critical role to play. Many of their members have the expertise, and would have the empathy to drive change far more quickly and smoothly than other people,” he suggested. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo pointed out that political independence did not bring the hoped-for dividend of economic prosperity. “In the past fifty years, wars and famine and military adventurism have combined to reinforce the image of Africa as a troubled continent, and we have been unable to make economic and political advances as rapidly as we should have,” he added. He conceded that post-colonial Africa did not seem to get its politics right long enough to develop its economies, which eventually compromised the economic strength needed to withstand exploitation and undermining of the land, culture, and language by other people. He remarked that his government, among other things, has identified human resource training as a cardinal component of breaking the vicious cycle of poverty into prosperity. “The emphasis is on education and skills training, and we are all agreed that is the surest way to getting
a skilled working population that can compete with the rest of the world,” he commented. He said Ghana now offers free education up to senior high school level so that nobody loses out because of lack of money. Nana Akufo-Addo hoped that the coming into force of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement would bring a definite change in atmosphere and an increased trade between African nations. He posited that the dynamic and young population of Africa positions the continent for a robust economic development and prosperity in the not too distant future. The fifth president of the Fourth Republic of Ghana concluded his lectures with a quote by Chinua Achebe: “A man who calls his kinsmen to a feast does not do so to save them from starving. They all have food in their own homes. When we gather together in the moonlit village ground, it is not because of the moon. Every man can see it in his own compound. We come together because it is good for kinsmen to do so.” That is the spirit of Africa that we bring to the world, the President added.
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North America African Migration to the United States is the Fastest-Rising—In Spite of Trump CHIDINMA NWOYE / DAN KOPF
Africa has the fastest-growing number of immigrants in the United States, according to a Quartz analysis of US Census Bureau data. The number of African migrants grew at a rate of almost 50% from 2010 to 2018. This is more than double the growth rate of migration to the US from Asia, South America or the Caribbean. It’s worth noting the higher growth rate of Africans is partly influenced by the relatively smaller African migrant communities compared with the size of longer-established communities from Central America, for example. This is true even among African communities. While Nigerians remain the largest population group of African immigrants in the US, Cameroon leads the list in terms of rate of growth. The number of Cameroonianborn migrants in the US doubled to 80,000 in 2018 compared with 2010, with much of that growth occurring in the last several years. This makes the Cameroonian population the fastest growing in the US. These numbers are based on survey results and are likely to be accurate within 10,000 people. The so called Anglophone crisis in Cameroon, where the government’s crackdown on protests by Englishspeaking citizens has fueled a separatist movement in the predominantly French-speaking country is likely partly responsible for the spike. The protests against the Francophone-led government have led to violent battles in recent years, causing Cameroonians to flee the country. But the increase doesn’t just stem from Africans and Cameroonians seeking asylum or refugee status, it also comes from those coming to the US to further their education.
According to the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, from 2006 to 2014, the number of African students pursuing post-secondary degrees abroad grew 24%, rising from about 343,000 to 427,000. It rose 9% from 2013 to 2014 alone. Africans have also benefited from the US Diversity Visa Lottery Program, better known as the “Green Card lottery.” Countries like Ghana, which is also among the top five African countries with a fast-growing immigrant population in the US, had the highest number of applicants than any other country in 2015 and at least a million applicants in 2016. The US State Department sets regional quotas every year and in 2017, the largest number of visas (about 19,000) went to citizens of African countries. However, recent moves by the
Trump administration could affect these trends. His administration has been accused of using “workarounds” to limit legal migration from certain regions of the world including Africa and the Caribbean. One of such policy is restricting who can apply for a diversity visa by mandating that all applicants have valid passports. Immigrant advocates say this development could deter applicants from the developing world. “This seems like a backdoor strategy to discourage low-income people from applying for the diversity visa lottery; we know that this president
has expressed strong preference for immigrants that are wealthy, white and European,” said Amaha Kassa, executive director of the nonprofit, African Communities Together. While it remains to be seen how new US immigration policies will impact the flow of African migrants, Kassa says that any declines in the numbers will likely be temporary. “This is a detour because I don’t think majority of Americans agree with Trump’s restrictionist agenda. “As long as African migrants have children who are becoming citizens and voters, over time we will become a more welcoming and inclusive society.” Quartz
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North America Federal Court Strikes Down Trump’s ‘Racist Wealth Test’ Designed to Punish LowIncome Immigrants JULIA CONLEY
Immigrant rights groups applauded a federal judge’s ruling on Friday that struck down President Donald Trump’s proposal to put even more barriers in front of immigrants by labeling them “burdens” to the U.S. government. U.S. District Judge George Daniels issued a preliminary injunction on Trump’s “public charge” rule, which would have allowed immigration caseworkers to deny visas or green cards to undocumented immigrants if they are seen as likely to use government assistance such as SNAP benefits. The proposed rule, previously set to go into effect on October 15, “is simply a new agency policy of exclusion in search of a justification,” Daniels wrote in his ruling. “It is repugnant to the American dream of the opportunity for prosperity and success through hard work and upward mobility,” the judge added. Make the Road New York was among the advocacy groups which, along with several states and cities, filed nearly a dozen lawsuits challenging the rule after it was introduced last year. The group hailed Daniels’s decision as “a major defeat for the Trump administration’s unlawful tactic to impose a racist wealth test on our immigration system.” “People should be able to access vital and life-saving benefits without having to worry if they could remain with their families,” co-executive director Javier Valdes said in a statement. The federal government has labeled certain undocumented immigrants as “public charges” for more than a
century; in the 1990s, the Clinton administration enforced a rule allowing the label to be applied only to immigrants who would use cash benefits. Trump proposed extending the rule to people who may need Medicaid, SNAP benefits, public housing assistance, or other benefits. As Common Dreams and other outlets reported last year, providers of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) reported that the president’s proposal led to fewer applications for benefits, as families likely feared being targeted by Trump’s anti-immigration agenda. “The big concern for all of us in the WIC community is that this program is really about growing healthy babies,” Rev. Douglas Greenaway, president and CEO of the National WIC Association, told Politico at the time. Some advocates pointed out Friday that Daniels’s ruling came just ahead of
another federal court decision on Friday barring Trump from enacting his antiimmigration policies. A U.S. District Court in El Paso, Texas ruled that Trump violated the law when he declared a national emergency in order to build a border wall
separating the U.S. from Mexico. “Good news,” the legal services non-profit RAICES tweeted. “The Trump administration has suffered two HUGE loses today in its campaign to dramatically overhaul the nation’s immigration system.”
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North America Will Panama Become the New Libya for African Migrants? LAUREEN FAGAN
Another 200 migrants were rescued on the Mediterranean Sea on Wednesday, this time as they attempted to make the crossing from Morocco into Spain. These migrants from sub-Saharan countries, traveling in three boats, are the latest in the all-too-familiar story of Africans who travel through Libya and other nations, desperately seeking to reach Europe, even as the European Union crafts policies to prevent them from crossing the sea. The same principle is at work along the southern border of the United States, where immigration policies and enforcement under President Donald Trump have become increasingly draconian. In recent months, that’s affected African migrants who – finding the Mediterranean routes too dangerous or inaccessible – have turned to the Central American pathways into Mexico in order to reach the U.S. in greater numbers. While Africans have been choosing this alternative route for several years, they’ve only recently come under more scrutiny. As they encounter new barriers to U.S. entry and become trapped on the Mexican side of the border, they’re also becoming more frustrated and restless. Media and migrant aid groups report clashes between Mexican police and security forces, and the African migrants caught in transit. “Over the past week, people of African and Haitian origin have staged protests in front of the Siglo XXI migratory station in Tapachula, Chiapas, located on the southern border of Mexico,” said one such organization, the Alianza Americas network for immigration groups, in a blog post on Wednesday. “The protests follow a change in Mexican immigration policy that has largely fallen under the international radar.”
Mexico’s policy changes In the past, if African migrants were passing through Mexico from the southern border, they were issued a temporary permit that allowed them to be in the country for 20 days. The permit protected them from deportation and allowed them to remain legally, long enough to continue travel to the northern border with the U.S. where – despite the difficulty in
Migrants wait at the Siglo XXI immigration detention center in Tapachula, Mexico. Most of them have come from Brazil or Ecuador, in a long and very dangerous journey that they hope will end in the United States.
succeeding – they could make their cases for asylum. That’s no longer the case, Alianza America explains. The permits they’re getting now will only allow them to seek permission to remain in Mexico, or to leave by the same southern border they crossed when they entered. While the details may be different, it’s essentially the same practice that African migrants experience on their own continent where Europe is off limits, they’re trapped in Libya, or they can go back to Eritrea or Nigeria or The Gambia. “This is clearly an example of the (Mexican President) López Obrador administration acting as de facto migration police, enforcing the Trump administration’s attempts to limit access to asylum in the United States,” said Alianza Americas. “The African people seeking asylum are very visibly impacted because they are essentially stranded in Chiapas, Mexico, with no access to protections.” Similar situations are reported in other cities including Tijuana, which is on Mexico’s northern border near the U.S. city of San Diego. Observers say Mexican authorities are targeting the African migrants who, because they are prevented from entering the U.S., have decided to stay in the Mexican city. “On a recent Saturday in Tijuana, there were 90 Cameroonians lined up to get on a waiting list to request asylum that has swelled to about 7,500 names,” the Associated Press reported
in June. “Also on the waiting list are Ethiopians, Eritreans, Mauritanians, Sudanese and Congolese.”
U.S. targets Panama as a chokepoint On the U.S. side, the latest move from the Trump administration is to try and reach a deal with the nation of Panama wherein “extracontinental” asylum seekers – in other words, Africans and Asians – would be sent back to Panama if they had traveled through the small Central American country in the first place. U.S. officials traveled to Panama last week to discuss the possibility and, according to the Department of Homeland Security, meet with other Central American ministers to advance “efforts to collaborate on regional safety and security.” There’s a good reason for why it’s Panama, a longtime U.S. ally on the isthmus that connects the North and South American land masses. That’s because African immigrants in particular – from Somalia or Cameroon or Democratic Republic of Congo – are flying into South American nations and then making the trek through the tropical Darién Gap that connects Colombia with Panama and its only route north. The stories from Darién are often as horrific as those of the African migrants trying to reach Europe or the Gulf states, because human traffickers have the same disregard for them.
Migrants are raped or robbed, beaten and killed. Their families are extorted. Their bodies are thrown overboard at the river crossing. They are forced to navigate difficult jungle passages, avoiding the regional armed groups. Yet for all the attention given to African migrant suffering on the shores of the Mediterranean, little care was given to the plight of Africans trying to reach the U.S. At least, not until their numbers began to shoot up as they have this year, and U.S. officials found themselves relocating those who entered to places like the U.S. states of Texas or even the Canadian-border state of Maine, where some 300 people – many of them Congolese – are living. Now the U.S., caught in the grip of Trump’s anti-immigration priorities, wants to seal off the route that brings so many Africans to its doorstep. Advocates of the xenophobic approach warn of the African invasion, the same way they have amplified fears of the Salvadoran or Honduran one. Mexico already appears to be on board with the Trump “third country” approach. Next it may well be Panama that becomes the new Libya, an African migrant holding cell outsourced by the Global North, and the world already knows what will happen next. Africa Times
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North America African Languages Are the Fastest Growing in the United States CHIDINMA IRENE NWOYE
Newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau spotlights African languages among the top ten fastest growing languages spoken at home in the U.S. The list featured three groups of African languages: Swahili and other Central/Eastern/Southern African languages; Yoruba, Twi, Igbo, and other Western African languages; and Amharic/Somali. Analysts credit the development to recent immigration trends. Although African immigrants make up a small share of the nation’s immigrant population, their overall numbers have doubled every decade since 1970, according to the Pew Research Center. Africans now make up 39% of the total foreign-born black population, up from 24% in 2000. The immigration population growth in the U.S. has slowed down in recent months. But president Donald Trump’s infamous “shithole” comment about African countries and the recent rise in the removal of Africans from the U.S. has not deterred African migrants from seeking refuge in the U.S. In June 2019, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officials recorded an unprecedented rise in African migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, arriving at a rate of 30 to 40 people a day. Majority of these asylum seekers are from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola.
Trump Will Deny Immigrant Visas to Those Who Can’t Pay for Health Care CAMILO MONTOYA-GALVEZ
Newly released data from the U.S. In its latest crackdown on legal immigration, the Trump administration announced October 4th it is planning to reject visa applications from immigrants the government determines will not be able to pay for health insurance or cover health care costs in the U.S. The new requirement is set to go into effect November 3. In a late-night proclamation signed by President Trump, the White House said the government will only
Somali youths playing basketball in Minneapolis
This is not a trend that is expected to change drastically anytime soon. The number of Latino migrants living in the U.S. surpass sub-Saharan African immigrants and, consequently, Spanish is still the fastest-growing nonEnglish language in terms of the population of speakers. The share of people who speak English at home fell from 78.4% in 2016 to 78.1% in 2018, according to recently released data from the US Census. African languages, however, are among the fastest-growing languages with regards to the speed of growth, and the continued flow of Africans
Westwards remains significant to the trend. The continent’s mushrooming under-30 population, particularly those between the ages of 18 and 25 have considered emigrating, and North America is a top destination for the 22 percent who want to leave. This desire to migrate is highest in West and Central Africa. Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania, Senegal and Kenya are among the principal countries of origin for sub-Saharan African migrants to Europe and the United States, which explains why Swahili, Yoruba and Igbo
are leading the African cohort on the Census Bureau’s list of fastest-growing languages. This trend is already having an impact on the U.S. In the upcoming 2020 census, the country will, for the first time, have printed guides in three additional African languages—Igbo, Yoruba, and Twi. The previous census in 2010 had guides printed in five African languages all of which were from East and South Africa. Quartz
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North America accept immigrant visa petitions made abroad if the applicants demonstrate that they will have the ability to secure health insurance within a month of their arrival in the U.S. If that’s not possible, then petitioners would need to prove they have the financial resources to pay “reasonably foreseeable medical costs” — a standard not defined in the order. The order claims U.S. hospitals and health care providers are not being reimbursed for treating those who are uninsured. “The costs associated with this care are passed on to the American people in the form of higher taxes, higher premiums, and higher fees for medical services,” the proclamation reads. According to the order, the new requirement will not apply to people who already hold immigrant visas, asylum seekers, refugees, children of U.S. citizens living overseas or holders of special visas for Iraqi and Afghan nationals who helped U.S. forces in those countries. “This administration is just fixated on the erroneous notion that immigrants are zapping taxpayer resources,” Doug Rand, a former White House official under President Obama, told CBS News. “So, they are kind of looking under every rock they possible can for
any way to exclude people who aren’t wealthy.” Rand, who co-founded Boundless Immigration after leaving the Obama administration, called the change “very sweeping” in nature, saying it would apply to many of the approximately half a million people who typically apply to immigrate to the U.S. every year. Other immigration experts said the new requirement represents the latest effort in a larger campaign by the administration to overhaul the nation’s legal immigration system. “The administration is on-the-record wanting to cut legal immigration, and particularly wanting to cut legal immigration of lower-skilled, lowerpaid immigrants who are probably less likely to have health insurance coverage,” said Randy Capps, director of U.S. programs research at the nonpartisan think tank the Migration Policy Institute. Earlier in the summer, the administration rolled out the final version of a “public charge” regulation, which would make it easier for the government to deny green cards and temporary visas for legal immigrants who use public benefits like food stamps and government-subsidized housing. Capps told CBS News that Friday’s proclamation will go “much further” than the public charge rule in terms
of health-based restrictions on people seeking to immigrate to the U.S. The administration is hoping to accomplish this, he added, by rolling out an abrupt executive order that will not be subject to feedback prior to implementation — unlike the public charge rule, which is expected to take effect later this month. “Without any public comment or regulatory process at all, (the president) is just going to put that out there,” Capps said, suggesting that the lack of a rule-making process for the change might become a liability in court for the administration. Capps said the proclamation does not outline a concrete path for visa petitioners to prove they will either obtain health insurance or cover all medical costs in the U.S. The order instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to establish “standards and procedures” for U.S. consular offices to determine whether applicants satisfy the new requirements. The State Department did not immediately respond to questions regarding what — if any — steps the agency is taking to comply with the proclamation. Immigration advocates were quick to denounce the announcement, saying it represents yet another effort by the Trump administration to penalize
low-income immigrants. “The Trump administration today launched two more shameless attacks on low-income people and immigrants, by proposing dramatic cuts to life-saving food stamps and seeking to prevent immigrants lacking access to health insurance — of which the administration works constantly to deprive them —from entering the country on immigrant visas,” Javier Valdés, co-director of the immigrant advocacy group Make the Road New York, and city council member Carlos Menchaca said in a statement. In his order, Mr. Trump invoked the same provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act that his administration used to announce the travel ban against predominately Muslim countries in 2017, as well as a sweeping asylum restriction on migrants who crossed the border illegally between ports of entry that is currently held up in court. But Rand, the Obama White House official, noted that Mr. Trump cited national security concerns for the past two restrictions. “Here, there’s not even a gesture at national security,” he said. “It’s just saying ‘well, it’s bad for the health care system when people are uninsured.’” CBS News
Business & Technology
Rwanda Releases First Smartphone Made Entirely in Africa MELISSA LOCKER
Rwanda’s Mara Group has grand ambitions. The company hopes to help turn Rwanda into a regional tech hub, and it just got one step closer to completing that mission. This week, the company released two smartphones, earning Mara Group the title of the first smartphone manufacturer in Africa. Rwanda President Paul Kagame has announced Africa’s “first high tech smartphone factory,” CNN reported. While smartphones are assembled in other African nations (Egypt, Algeria, and South Africa all have assembly plants), according to Reuters, those companies all import the components. But at Mara, they manufacture the phones from the motherboards to the packaging, which is all done in the new factory. Kagame made the announcement in a press conference on Monday in
the capital of Kigali. The phones, called Mara X and Mara Z, are the first “Made in Africa” models. Both run on Google’s Android operating system. While the company admits they are a little more expensive than other options, like the popular Tecno brand
phones made by a Chinese-owned company, they hope customers are willing to pay a bit more for quality and Made in Africa pride. The facility is “an important step” for Rwanda, which has worked to transform itself into an economic innovation leader.
They hosted the World Economic Forum on Africa in May 2018, and work is reportedly well underway on the Kigali Innovation City, which will house innovation labs and provide training and funding for technology companies. Fast Company
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Business & Technology
Africa Must Take Leading Role in Data Economy VERE SONGWE
Technology has broken down barriers and ensured freedoms for millions in a way no other invention has before. At last month’s meeting of the UN General Assembly, 91 world leaders listened to US President Donald Trump rebuke China from inside the room, but hundreds of millions of people viewed the speech on their smart devices across the globe. However, the challenge for heads of state is to ensure that technology ushers in an age of prosperity for all citizens worldwide rather than an era of domination by a few, an all too familiar story. This can only be achieved by improving the governance of data — how information is collected and shared — and guaranteeing that all citizens have equal appreciation of, access to and control of, the new data economy. Harnessing the potential of technology and the data economy is essential to meeting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in Africa, from assisting development and accelerating prosperity to ending poverty Unless positive action is taken, however, Africa could easily fall further behind Decisions taken by African leaders and policymakers over the next few years on embracing the data economy will determine the scale of the benefits the continent and its people will realise Rather than drilling for oil, Africa should be building for the data economy Data is now the world’s biggest, most expensive and most important commodity and no society can afford to ignore its potential. The Brexit saga has shown Europe, if not the rest of the world, that integration is far better than disintegration Asia continues to integrate and to construct a union with new trade agreements like the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, and the Mercosur trade deal between the EU and the South American bloc — Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay — has finally been agreed after 20 years of talks Trade and integration remain an important part of a global solution
for building a prosperous world. Africa is already taking a leadership role on integration, with the recent adoption of African Continental Free Trade Area agreement Now it must also do so on the data discussion African countries can claim a new and more influential position in the changing world order as the international community collectively seeks to design a new multilateral architecture for collaboration on data. Africa already has the tools with which to navigate the shifting global patterns, including its young population whose information, data and innovation will be sought by all. There a number of steps African policymakers can undertake in order to lead the data conversation They should make an intelligent bet on technology (as they have done on trade), allowing it to guide politics rather than vice versa They can embrace the innovation of Africa’s youth and reject scaremongering African leaders should create a common intellectual property rights agency to protect the continent’s valuable assets. Economics tells us monopolies are neither fair nor efficient; data monopolies are unlikely to be any different Given the global nature of the data economy and the cross-border capabilities that exist to collect and trade data products and services, global institutions like the UN, its affiliated organisations and the Bretton
Woods institutions all have a central role to play in shaping global policy that will promote data harmonisation and interoperability, while still ensuring the collective interests of Africa.
But African leaders should learn from previous trade agreements, take a seat at the table and lead on world ecommerce and data negotiations. Financial Times
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West Africa
Nigeria ‘Nigeria Borrowed More in Last Three Years Than it Did in 30 Years’ ADEYEMI ADEPETUN
At current levels of over N25 trillion, it means that Nigeria has borrowed in three years more than it borrowed in 30 years previously, and the country to remain peaceful and get the economy working better, it must return to the basics of federalism, as the foundation of her national enterprise. A former Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), Prof. Anya O. Anya, who stated this, noted that the political challenge is how to operationalise Chapter II of the Constitution, as the fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy. Speaking in Lagos, yesterday, at The Niche Newspapers yearly lecture, themed: “Business and Accountable Governance: The Obligation of Leadership,” Anya said Nigeria’s economy is faced with two fundamental obstacles. While the economy is growing at a miserly rate of two per cent, the population is growing currently at 3.8 per cent nearly double the economic rate of growth. This showed that there is a fundamental dissonance between demography and the economy, he told guests, which included Nigeria’s former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Dr. Christopher Kolade, as chairman; Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, among others. Making reference to the Debt Management Office (DMO), Anya noted that the agency informed that Nigeria’s debt as of 2015 was a little over N12 trillion, but is now over N25 trillion. “Much of the extra loans have been applied to recurrent expenditure given that most state governments could not even pay salaries. Indeed, it has been alleged that we spend 60-70 per cent of our total earnings in servicing debts that is paying interests (not re-paying loans),” he stated. He said despite these, the normal metrics of economics continue southward, stressing that unemployment, inflation, productivity are not giving Nigerians any cheering news either. He pointed out that although the empanelling of an Economic Advisory
Council is a step in the right direction, there is a need to face the gravity of the current situation. “In this context, we must appeal to our leaders to wean themselves from an emerging attitude that is not helpful in our present circumstances, the tendency, to reply without deep reflection and usually with opinions rather than facts to any comments on our economy or other affairs often occasioned by new facts from research, whether from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, foreign and local respected think tanks.” Anya said the issue of trust is also critical in governance, noting that absolute trust in a leader is vital. “A leader who will lead in an era of change must enjoy total confidence and trust of the citizens.” According to him, the current social crisis is as frightening, given the economic crisis with tales of banditry, armed robbery, kidnapping, insurrection, militancy and the rampaging herdsmen. “As an aside, it is also important to observe that the campaign against corruption is an important issue on this matter in order to tackle the disease and not merely the symptom.” Anya said two facts give him confidence that Nigeria can face the new challenge to rebuild a new country and these are; “our youths are doing fantastic things: unremarked and uncelebrated. Beyond the hordes of the unemployed and the uneducated are also battalions of brilliant men and women who do the unexpected that often challenge their peers in other nations. To challenge and incentivise them should be the current priority. They are there if we look carefully.”
While asking where were the likes of Aliko Dangote, Jim Ovia, Ernest Azudialo-Obiejesi, Leo Stan Ekeh, Aig Imoukhede, some 25 years ago, Anya celebrated them, as they are all products of the modest economic reforms that came after the debacle of the Structural Adjustment Programme particularly in the oil industry, banking and technology. He said Nigeria was able to
engineer reforms in the private sector with incentives but did not institute an equivalent system in the public sector, which had since worsened by the repudiation of the principles of merit, competitiveness and the pursuit of excellence in the public sector despite constitutional provisions and the federal character principle. The Guardian
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West Africa
Ghana Ghana’s Second Lady Samira Bawumia Receives Top UN Award The Second Lady, Hajia Samira Bawumia, has been named the first of seven global honourees by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforAll), in partnership with Ashden. This is in recognition of her contribution towards mobilising action for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7; the call for universal access to modern reliable, renewable and affordable energy for all by 2030. Get Digital Versions of Graphic Publications by downloading Graphic NewsPlus Here. Also available in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store The Seven For 7 is an annual event hosted by SEforAll, an international organization launched by former UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, to drive action towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7), and the Paris Agreement; together with
Ashden, a London-based charity focused on improving lives, through sustainable energy and development. The event was hosted after the 2019 Climate Action Summit and a high-level meeting on Universal Health Coverage at the United Nations General Assembly. Seven For 7, this year, looked at the interlinkage between health and energy, while bringing into focus, individuals and initiatives that are making headway in the areas of clean fuels for all, cooling for all, powering health care and outdoor air quality. It is estimated that, in Ghana, eight out of ten people cook with solid fuels such as wood and charcoal, leading to significant impacts on health, gender equality and the environment. The toxic emissions from cooking this way lead to about 18,000 premature deaths per year. As a Global Ambassador for the Clean Cooking Alliance, Hajia Bawumia is championing the adoption of clean cooking solutions, particularly among women and girls, in Ghana, Africa and across the world. The Clean Cooking Alliance is a non-profit organisation hosted by the United Nations Foundation to spearhead the adoption of clean and efficient
cooking solutions, in households and institutions, across the world. Mrs Bawumia, through her not-for-profit organisation, Samira Empowerment and Humanitarian Projects (SEHP) has also provided critical interventions in the areas of health, education and women’s empowerment. Her organization aims to reduce the high rates of maternal and child mortality in Ghana by distributing birth kits to underprivileged expectant mothers and by providing
medical equipment and pharmaceuticals to selected health facilities across Ghana. Receiving the award, the Second Lady commended the organisers for acknowledging her contribution to global climate action. She indicated that the issue of access to clean cooking solutions is an environmental, health and developmental issue. As such, it should be given all the attention it deserves. Daily Graphic
Ivory Coast Ex-Rebel Chief Soro to Run for President in 2020 Former Ivory Coast rebel leader Guillaume Soro, also an ex-president of the country’s parliament, said Friday he will run in the 2020 presidential poll. Next year’s election is a key challenge for the West African country after its disputed 2010-2011 ballot ended in violence between rival supporters that left 3,000 people dead. Soro headed rebels fighting against then President Laurent Gbagbo in the country’s civil war in 2002. The revolt cut the former French colony into a rebel-held north and government-controlled south, triggering years of unrest. Gbagbo was later ousted after refusing to concede defeat to his archrival Alassane Ouattara in the 2010 election. “I’ve decided, I am a candidate in 2020,” Soro told RFI radio and France 24 television, saying he would make an “official declaration” once he had returned to Ivory Coast. Although a former prime minister
Former parliament speaker and ex rebel leader, Guillaume Soro says he will run in Ivory Coast’s 2020 presidential vote
and aide to President Ouattara, Soro lacks the support of any of the three main political parties in Ivory Coast. He has created his own group, Generations et peuples solidaires (GPS) or “Generations and people in solidarity”, and says that like French President Emmanuel Macron, he could surprise political experts. “I have decided to take my destiny
in hand,” Soro said. “I am 47 years old and I think I will go it alone.” Despite accusations that he had backed a brief army mutiny in January 2017, Soro said he saw “absolutely no reason” why the judiciary would prevent his candidacy. Ivory Coast has long been west Africa’s top economic performer and is the world’s leading cocoa producer.
But it has struggled with political tensions since Gbagbo refused to step down despite an election defeat in 2010, sparking deadly clashes. Later, in 2012, rebels-turned-soldiers protested in Bouake and Abidjan, and briefly brought the country to a standstill. The government agreed to an amnesty. AFP
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Volume 18 Issue 10
East Africa
Kenya World Bank Warns Kenya Over $85.7b debt Ceiling NJIRAINI MUCHIRA
The World Bank has warned Kenya against piling up more debt than the country can repay, even as Parliament this week approved to raise borrowing ceiling to Ksh9 trillion ($85.7 billion). A World Bank report released on Wednesday warns that Kenya is drifting towards debt distress, owing to the government’s huge appetite for expensive loans. The Kenyan Parliament, on the same day when the WB report was released, approved the National Treasury’s push to raise the borrowing cap from about 50 per cent of GDP to an absolute figure of Ksh9 trillion. The possibility of Kenya sliding into distress is classified as ‘moderate’ having risen from ‘low’ in recent years, driven by the government’s rapid uptake of loans that saw the total public debt hit Ksh5.7 trillion ($54.3 billion) by June this year. Public debt stands at 62 per cent of gross domestic product and could hit 70 per cent of GDP in the near future if the government continues to borrow at the current rate, ultimately meaning that Kenya would have crossed the threshold to debt distress. “It is important that future debt
Somalia U.S. Reopens Embassy in Somalia After 28 Years HARUN MARUF
The United States has reopened its embassy in Somalia. The previous one had been closed in January 1991 during the country’s civil war. The new embassy building is located on the grounds of Mogadishu’s international airport. “The re-establishment of Embassy Mogadishu is another step forward in the resumption of U.S.-Somali relations,” read a statement issued by the embassy. U.S. Ambassador to Somalia Donald Yamamoto described the re-establishment as a “significant and a historic day that reflects Somalia’s progress in recent years.” He said the embassy will “enhance cooperation, advance U.S. national strategic interests, and support our overall security, political, and economic
management adopt measures to ensure debt is not accelerating. One of the measures is to ensure that in the planned fiscal consolidation the government must stick to a path that seeks to reduce debt from 62 per cent of GDP towards 55 per cent in the medium term,” said Peter Chacha, World Bank senior economist. Mr Chacha was speaking in Nairobi after the World Bank released the Africa’s Pulse Biannual Report for October. He added that Kenya must find ways to resuscitate the private sector to grow revenue collection instead of overrelying on the agricultural sector and public investments in infrastructure to drive economic growth. The number of sub-Saharan Africa countries falling into debt distress or at high risk of external debt default has almost doubled in the past six years, driven by increased borrowing especially of non-concessional loans. During the period, the share of foreign currency—denominated public debt increased by 12 percentage points from 2013, to 36 per cent of GDP in 2018, partly reflecting the surge in Eurobond issuance. Kenya, Ghana and Benin have this year raised $2.1 billion, $3 billion and $549 million respectively in sovereign bonds. Cape Verde, Mozambique and Sudan’s public debt has already surpassed 100 per cent of GDP. Despite the growing threat of debt distress, Kenya and other East African countries are in the top percentile of growth performers in sub-Saharan development goals and objectives.” The U.S. had maintained a diplomatic mission in Mogadishu since December last year. The announcement coincided with the conclusion of Somali Partnership Forum, a two-day meeting between Somali leaders and international community held in Mogadishu for the first time. During the meeting, the U.S. Agency for International Development announced nearly $257 million in new humanitarian assistance to Somalia. The new humanitarian package brings U.S. total assistance to Somalia to just under a half-billion dollars this year. Participants also discussed Somalia’s scheduled 2021 elections. Representatives from the international community pressed the government to improve relations with its regions, adopt an electoral law by December, and complete a constitutional review by June 2020. As leaders of the Somali government and representatives from 50
Kenya’s National Treasury in Nairobi. There has been a rise in government borrowing since President Uhuru Kenyatta came to power in 2013— a jump that some politicians and economists say is saddling future generations with too much debt.
Africa projected to attain a GDP growth averaging 4 per cent amid deceleration across the continent. The report shows that Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda are among 10 countries whose growth will exceed 4 per cent in a year when overall growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to rise to 2.6 per cent in 2019 from 2.5 per cent in 2018. “Growth was solid and steady among countries in East Africa although (it) eased somewhat in Ethiopia and Kenya due in part to drought,” says the report. Rwanda and Ethiopia are, notably, among the fastest-growing economies with GDP expansion exceeding 7 per cent.
Rwanda’s growth accelerated due to strong construction activities while the agricultural sector continued to expand. In Uganda, the fiscal deficit is expected to widen owing to increased spending on infrastructure financing and lower revenue mobilisation while Tanzania has managed to maintain its fiscal and external accounts relatively under control. The World Bank has downgraded the growth by 0.2 percentage points from its 2.8 per cent growth forecast in April, stating that apart from the debt quagmire, factors like rising trade tensions between the US and China and climate shocks would adversely affect growth in the continent. The East African
countries were meeting in Mogadishu, Al-Shabab militants carried out a new attack just 30 kilometers away. At least six Somali government soldiers were killed and eight others were injured in two roadside explosions in a Mogadishu suburb. A senior regional official who did not want to be named told VOA Somali that an improvised explosive device hit a Somali military convoy in the vicinity between Afgoye town and Elasha Biyaha. Soldiers retrieved the dead and wounded from the explosion and left the scene of the attack only to be hit by a second explosion down the road. Among the dead are two military officers, the source said. The soldiers are members of the Danab (Lightning) Special Forces trained by the United States. Danab spearheaded recent gains by the government in the Lower Shabelle region where troops retook several towns, including Awdhegle, Braire, Sabiib, Anole and El-Salin. Danab forces also helped to foil
Monday’s attack by al-Shabab on Ballidogle airport. Ten militants were killed after attempting to storm the base, which is used by U.S. troops in Somalia. The United States military gave more details about the Ballidogle attack. The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) said an American soldier was treated for a concussion injury sustained as a result of the al-Shabab attack. AFRICOM also confirmed conducting one airstrike during the operation, rather than two as previously reported. The U.S. military also confirmed carrying out a separate strike near the town of Kunyo Barrow in the Lower Shabelle region Sept. 30, killing one militant. AFRICOM did not identify the individual targeted in this operation. Fifty-four strikes were conducted by the U.S. in Somalia to date according to AFRICOM. Voice of America
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East Africa
Ethiopia Nobel Peace Prize Goes To Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed SCOTT NEUMAN
The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed “for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation” in resolving the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea, the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo said Friday. Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chairwoman of the five-member committee that made the award, credited Abiy with a peace initiative aimed at ending two decades of conflict between the two east-African neighbors that began over border disputes in 1998 only a few years after Eritrea gained independence. “When Abiy Ahmed became prime minster in April 2018, he made it clear he wishes to resume pace talks with Eritrea,” she said. “In close cooperation with the president of Eritrea, Abiy Ahmed quickly worked out the principles for a peace agreement to end the long no peace stalemate between the two countries.” When Abiy took office, he freed political prisoners and managed in the same year to sign a peace deal with the Eritrean leader, Isaias Afwerki — agreeing in the process to cede disputed land to his country’s erstwhile enemy. “Peace does not arise from the actions of one party alone,” ReissAndersen said. “When Prime Minister Abiy reached out his hand, President Afwerki grasped it, and helped to formalize the peace process between the
two countries.” “Additionally, Abiy Ahmed has sought to mediate between Kenya and Somalia in their protracted conflict over rights to a disputed marine area. There is now hope for a resolution to this conflict,” she said. “In Sudan, the military regime and the opposition have returned to the negotiating table. On the 17th of August, they released a joint draft of a new constitution intended to secure a peaceful transition to civil rule in the country. Prime Minister Abiy played a key role in the process that led to the agreement,” Reiss-Andersen added. As NPR’s Eyder Peralta noted in December, “Seemingly overnight, [Abiy Ahmed] opened up a democratic space — allowing foes, allies and regular Ethiopians a chance to speak their minds — after decades of authoritarian rule.” Several names were considered top contenders for this year’s prize,
including Greta Thunberg, the 16-yearold Swedish climate activist. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong were also under consideration. The selection committee consists of five people selected by Norway’s parliament.
Since 1901, there have been 100 Nobel Peace Prizes awarded to individuals and 24 have gone to organizations. This week, 12 Nobel laureates have been named and 11 of them have gone to men. The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences will be awarded on Monday. NPR
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Volume 18 Issue 10
Volume 18 Issue 10
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October 15, 2019
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Southern Africa
Zimbabwe Pensioners Sleep Outside Zimbabwe Banks as Savings Vanish Again RAY NDLOVU
As hundreds of pensioners line up outside a bank in central Harare in the hope of collecting their pensions, military veteran Elias Nyabunzi has a sense that he has seen this all before. If there is cash available, he will collect the equivalent of just $26, down from the $400 he was getting a few months back. A decade ago when he went to collect the lump sum he was also entitled to after 25 years in the army he was given just $1. The rest had been eaten away by hyperinflation, he was told. “It buys nothing,” the 62 year-old says of the pension as he stands under a purple blossomed jacaranda tree wearing a faded England track suit. Pensioners in Zimbabwe, who are estimated to number about 500,000, are among the hardest hit in an economy that’s stagnated for almost 20 years, a result of a botched land reform program and a profligate central bank printing press. Abrupt changes in the currency system have wiped out savings twice in a decade and, according to the government, the economy has halved in size. While pensioners have little choice, in total about a quarter of the population of 16 million has left. This June the authorities suddenly banned the use of foreign currencies and reintroduced the Zimbabwe dollar, which has since plunged 59% against the U.S. dollar.
As hundreds of pensioners line up outside a bank in central Harare in the hope of collecting their pensions, military veteran Elias Nyabunzi has a sense that he has seen this all before.If there is cash available, he will collect the equivalent of just $26, down from the $400 he was getting
That’s a problem in a country where almost everything is imported. In 2009 the opposite happened when the Zimbabwe dollar was abolished after a bout of hyperinflation. Now, many pensioners have had to sell their assets, take in lodgers or depend on remittances from their children, who’ve emigrated to find work. Those with no other financial lifeline live from hand to mouth. “I live like a destitute,” says Patrick Nyanhewe, 78, a former waiter who spent 36 years at the country’s leading hotels, and cant afford to pay for essential medical equipment. He has asked a lobby group, the Zimbabwe Pension and Insurance Rights Trust, to fight for what he believes he is due. The group estimates that the
national pension industry is worth $22 billion. The Insurance and Pensions Commission, the industry regulator, says its worth about a third of that. The commission didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. It is “to justify the low benefits that they are paying through understating the size of the industry,” Martin Tarusenga, ZIMPIRTs general manager, said in an interview from his office in Harare’s city center. Currency changes and an inflation rate that was estimated at 300% by the International Monetary Fund in August, aren’t the only threats to pension value, says Tarusenga. The pension industry is riddled with poor management, use of improper accounting methods and a lack of
proper record keeping, he added. The pension trust has sued the government over its decision to halt the publication of annual inflation figures and has objected to the value of the pensions being switched to Zimbabwe dollars from the U.S. currency. In a televised state of the nation address on Oct. 1, Mnangagwa promised that parliament would pass the Pension and Provident Funds Bill. “It is designed to ensure compliance with international standards,” he said. “The ultimate objective is to protect policyholders and pensioners so that they fully enjoy their rights and benefits.” That’s cold comfort for Morgan Moyo, who fought as a guerrilla in Zimbabwe’s liberation war in the 1970s and later served in the army. “We never thought that we would be suffering like this,” the 65-year-old said. “If you see a person who looks destitute, hungry and with worn-out shoes and clothes, you know that it’s a pensioner.” He and Nyabunzi were among those lining up in the early hours of the morning outside a branch of the Central African Building Society where elderly women huddle under blankets before the 8 a.m. opening of the bank. When the doors open Elizabeth Msengwa, the branch manager, breaks the news that cash is in short supply. Only the first 500 in the line will be handed numbered cards by the bank’s security guards, and given Z$80, the equivalent of just over $5, mostly in coins. “We have to try and make sure everyone gets something,” she says Bloomberg
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Volume 18 Issue 10
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North Africa
Libya What is the future of Libya? MICHAEL O’HANLON
While world leaders remain confused and divided and, most of all, usually indifferent over the future of Libya, its municipal leaders point the way forward. Aided by nongovernmental organizations like Humanitarian Dialogue, they are doing what outside powers have so far failed to do in coming up with a realistic agenda for the country of six million, eight years after the overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi left it in chaos. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization had a major hand in that operation to depose the former strongman, while outside powers in Europe and the Middle East continue to do more harm than good today, since they support opposing actors within Libya, stoking more conf lict and instability. For its part, the United States under President Trump oscillates between supporting the Government of National Accord under Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, which is anything but that, though it does at least have backing from the United Nations, and the forces of eastern strongman General Khalifa Haftar and his equally misnamed Libyan National Army. European countries including Italy, France, and Germany meanwhile attempt to organize grand national conferences on Libya within their own countries, but such convenings wind up being more like boondoggles than serious international attempts at conf lict resolution. What is needed in Libya, by contrast, is a realistic model for governance and security that builds on current realities on the ground. Focusing too much on the central government, such as it is, or the other central government of Haftar, such as he would have it, will not work. Nor will a regional approach that creates a system like in Bosnia of autonomous areas based on the three traditional subentities of Libya. Rather, the action should be at the city level, where the meaningful action has been for years, as a combination of brave patriots and dedicated foreign assistance workers have kept the country af loat by
The United Nations warns escalating violence and a deepening humanitarian crisis in Libya is pushing the country closer toward a return to the full-scale civil war that overthrew former dictator, Muammar Gaddafi in 2011
doing what they can one town or city at a time. A new framework for Libya should seek to harness this local energy and governance, formalize it, and take it to the next level of effectiveness. That is the best way to help Libyans. It is also the best way to protect other countries from mass migration and terrorism that at times emanate from Libya. Starting this spring, the recent tradition of numerous militia battles in Libya has coalesced into a fight between the two main groups noted above. Forces led by Sarraj have strengthened and come together in the face of an acute threat posed by Haftar, such that a stalemate in and around Tripoli has resulted. The spring offensive by Haftar gained steam by taking advantage of the disaffection of many in the south with their meager share of oil revenues being provided by Sarraj. His efforts to portray all his opponents as Islamist extremists persuaded President Trump to lend him rhetorical support in the spring. Egypt, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, provide Haftar material support, with most parties effectively ignoring the United Nations arms embargo. What can be done? Here is what we propose, building
on a report on Libya led by the Brookings Institution, “Empowered Decentralization,� to which we contributed earlier this year. Outside powers should pressure Haftar to pull back forces from Tripoli. They should also enforce the United Nations arms embargo. There is an opportunity here for Saudi Arabia and other supporters of Haftar to improve their international reputations with such an effort at peace. The focus of outside assistance, and internal Libyan governance, should shift to local municipalities. This recognizes that the most effective political unit today is cities across Libya, more so than the national government or three main historical regions, as recent dialogues involving dozens of mayors and other local leaders have proven. This approach requires a fair distribution of oil revenues and aid f lows to major municipalities in Libya provided they used those funds effectively and transparently, with oversight provided by a board composed of Libyans and technocratic foreigners so as to inspire confidence and trust. This approach has considerable promise in Libya, which has significant oil supplies and therefore wealth. While militias and political actors do sometimes have tribal
proclivities, they generally lack the kind of toxic ideological or sectarian motivations that can worsen cycles of violence in much of the region. They are driven more by competition for their share of state wealth, as well as control of the neighborhoods and cities that matter to them. There are good reasons to think they can be incentivized to cooperate because doing so is in their own financial interests. The prospects for such a strategy would also be enhanced by the authorization and deployment of an observation force approved by the United Nations, assuming a request for such a force had been issued by key Libyan actors. Given Libyan national pride and patriotism, that force must focus on the protection of specific assets, institutions, and locations, and monitoring of the agreed pullback of forces and ceasefire accord. Because the situation in Libya today seems so hopeless, little thought is being given to how the current crisis might in fact be turned into an opportunity. Nothing is guaranteed, of course, and ultimately Libyans will have to be willing to take the brave steps necessary for such a strategy to have a chance, but there is now a realistic chance for peace. The Hill
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Volume 18 Issue 10
North Africa
Egypt Egypt Arrests More Than 1,000 After AntiSissi Protests Egyptian authorities have arrested more than 1,000 people, two rights groups said Wednesday, in the wake of rare anti-government protests last week. The Egyptian Center for Freedoms and Rights said 1,003 had been arrested, while the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights reported the figure of 1,298 detained. Two prominent academics were detained on Tuesday, relatives and lawyers said. Since ascending to power in 2014, Egypt’s general turned president Abdel Fattah el-Sissi has imposed himself as an uncontested leader, stamping out opposition despite criticism by human rights groups. His government has taken no chances and arrested more than 600 people after hundreds of Egyptians protested against his rule last week. The rare demonstrations followed an appeal by Mohamed Ali, an Egyptian businessman exiled in Spain, to topple Sissi. The construction contractor has posted videos accusing Sissi of corruption and the military of wasting public money on building luxury properties. The president has dismissed the allegations as “lies and slander”. He has also warned against the dangers of protesting, describing the 2011 revolution that unseated longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak as a “mistake”. Sissi, a champion of relative stability in a turbulent region, commands the support of Western powers. US President Donald Trump regularly lavishes him with praise. On Monday, he hailed him as “a great leader” who brought “order” to Egypt. A former army chief, Sissi stormed to the presidency in 2014 polls with 96.9 percent of the vote, a year after he led the military in ousting Egypt’s first freely-elected civilian president, Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood. Whether people love or loathe Sisi, regard him as a bulwark of stability or an autocrat, he is an undisputed political force in Egypt. Under Sissi, authorities have silenced all forms of political opposition in a sweeping crackdown on Brotherhood and Moris supporters as well as secular and liberal activists.
Even prominent novelists, actors, and singers who express the slightest criticism of his rule have not been spared. In the run-up to his 2018 re-election, he swept aside all token opposition parties, becoming the only real choice on the ballot paper. He won with 97 percent of votes, official results said. In April, he further cemented his grip on power with a snap referendum to approve constitutional changes to allow him to remain president until 2030. Sissi was born in November 1954 in El-Gamaleya neighborhood in the heart of Islamic Cairo. He graduated from Egypt’s military academy in 1977, later studied in Britain and the United States, and became military intelligence chief under Mubarak. As Egypt’s leader, Sissi is often seen microphone in hand, presiding over public ceremonies. Speaking in Egypt’s Arabic dialect, sometimes laughing in the middle of his own lengthy speeches, he
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
projects an image of father of the nation. He is fond of telling Egyptians they are the apple of his eye, stressing he is there only to serve the people. Regularly invoking stability as a cornerstone to achieving prosperity, he has made the fight against “terrorism” a priority. Many Egyptians see him as the right man to lead the country after years of political, security, and economic turmoil that followed Mubarak’s ouster. A father of four whose wife has recently been thrust into the spotlight with the corruption revelations, Sissi is described by those close to him as a pious Muslim. But he is also reported to have a strong sense of his own importance, with audio recordings leaked by Islamist-leaning media pointing to a large ego. In one leak, Sissi recalls a dream about the late president Anwar Sadat, which he saw as an omen that he would one day become powerful himself. Ironically, it was Morsi who
appointed Sissi defense minister and commander-in-chief of the armed forces in 2012. In June 2019, Morsi died, collapsing in court after six years in custody. In July 2013, Sissi ended Morsi’s turbulent single year in power and cracked down on the Islamist’s supporters, with hundreds of people killed in weeks. On August 14, 2013, security forces killed more than 700 people in Cairo when they dispersed sit-ins by proMorsi protesters. Human Rights Watch said the “mass killings of protesters” that day amounted to “probable crimes against humanity”. Since Morsi’s removal, tens of thousands of his followers have been jailed, and hundreds sentenced in rapid mass trials condemned by the United Nations. Sissi has also launched a military campaign against Islamic State group fighters in the north of the Sinai Peninsula. But so far he has been unable to quash the insurgency. On the economic front, he has launched a package of austerity measures agreed with the International Monetary Fund that have included cutting energy subsidies, introducing value-added tax and floating the pound. International human rights groups have repeatedly accused him of committing serious violations to silence dissent. During his first presidential campaign, he said “talking about freedoms” should not take precedence over “national security”. Egypt needed “20 to 25 years to establish a true democracy”, he said. Associated Press
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October 15, 2019
Amandla
Volume 18 Issue 10