But one thing seems unlikely to change: his dislike of patient, principled diplomacy as a means to peace and his preference for transactional politics and populist gestures.

This brings openings and perils in some areas in Africa.

Eight years ago, the Obama administration was working with the African Union (AU) to change United Nations (UN) rules for funding peacekeepers to put African missions on a firm financial basis.

The AU Commission worked with the UN and other multilateral organisations to construct an “African peace and security architecture” that ranged from proactive diplomacy to avert looming conflicts through to coordinated mediation efforts and peacekeeping operations, all underpinned by norms and principles enshrined in the UN Charter and the AU Constitutive Act.

How long ago that seems.

Plans for more robust peacekeeping evaporated in the transition to the first Trump administration.

Since then, no new UN or AU peacekeeping missions have been authorised. Several – including in Darfur, Sudan and Mali – have been closed, and others scaled down.

The Biden administration did not reverse the trend

The idea of “liberal peace” – that peace, democracy, justice and open markets all go together – had long been a powerful strand in US global strategy.

The AU embraced its multilateralism but recoiled from being lectured on human rights and democracy and were divided on Western military interventions such as in Libya.

Some African leaders preferred Trump’s candour and focus on results

The “Trump Doctrine” for the Middle East and Africa swept aside multilateralism in favour of transactional deals with American allies in Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and, above all, Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed set the strategy of the Abraham Accords, and Trump basked in the glory when Arab countries signed up.

Trump’s other consistent positions were hostility towards China’s influence on the continent and aversion to deploying American soldiers.

At the request of Egypt’s President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi – described by Trump as “my favourite dictator” – then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin took charge of mediating Egypt’s dispute with Ethiopia over the Nile waters.

The immediate issue was how much water would be retained by the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam as it approached completion.

As the talks faltered, Washington put its thumb on the scales, suspending aid to Ethiopia, while Trump suggested that Egypt might “blow up” the dam.

America recognised Morocco’s claim over Western Sahara in exchange for Rabat signing the Abraham Accords and thereby recognising Israel.

In the era of “liberal peace”, an agreement to end a civil war was the drafting of a democratic constitution, along with measures for disarming and demobilising rival armies, transitional justice and reconciliation, and aid-funded programmes to deliver a peace dividend for the afflicted populace.

The first Trump administration preferred direct deal-making, whereby autocrats cut a private bargain over the counter. Scholars call this the “illiberal peace”.

Trade, aid, security: What does Trump’s win mean for Africa?

When then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Sudan after the popular revolution that led to the ousting of military-Islamist ruler Omar al-Bashir, his main agenda was a simple trade: America would lift sanctions when Sudan agreed to sign the Abraham Accords.

In October 2020, the White House announced that President Trump had “brokered a historic peace agreement” between Israel and Sudan.

On the heels of deals with Bahrain and the UAE, and weeks before Americans voted in the presidential election, this was Trump’s “October surprise”.

It came too late to save Sudan from the economic crisis that crushed its democratic experiment and fell away after Trump lost to Joe Biden.

But it’s fair to assume that the second Trump administration will continue this way.

The exact alignments and deals are impossible to predict, and much will depend on the individuals appointed to key positions. But the “liberal peace” is now dead and buried.

Sudan is currently Africa’s largest war and its biggest famine for decades. There is no sign that Trump is concerned.

The biggest obstacle to peace is that the UAE supports one side with weapons and cash while Egypt and Saudi Arabia back the other. There is no prospect for peace while this continues.

For those Arab powerbrokers, Sudan is just one element in their geostrategic calculations, ranked below Israel-Palestine, Iran and relations with Washington.

But if there is a reshuffle of the Middle Eastern political cards, a bargain over Sudan might be a by-product, even an opportunity for Trump to bask in the glow of an unexpected peacemaker.

It will not bring an end to violence, let alone usher in democracy, but it would open the space for serious negotiations.

A similar calculation holds for Ethiopia and its fractious relations with an Egypt-led coalition that includes Eritrea and Somalia.

Along with an array of African leaders, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is heavily reliant on Emirati largesse. Tensions in the Horn of Africa would be reduced if Egypt and the UAE align their strategies.

The Biden administration’s policy towards the Horn of Africa was neither committed to principled multilateralism, nor ready to use its leverage with the Gulf states.

Its envoys could only grasp for minor wins such as pauses in the fighting or opening checkpoints for aid convoys.

The tangled wars in Sudan, Ethiopia and their neighbours cry out for bold action – and if he were so minded, Trump might cut the Gordian Knot.

But the risks of a conflagration are high.

The Trump White House will not be likely to restrain bellicose tendencies by Middle Eastern powerbrokers or African leaders, and – especially during the US policy vacuum of the next few months – any one of those leaders could launch a war, confident that America will not respond.

In his first term, Trump showed no interest in the US military footprint in Africa.

Apparently on a whim, he ordered the withdrawal of American troops from Somalia, where they were involved in the war against the jihadist group al-Shabab – a decision reversed by the Biden administration.

It’s unlikely that Trump will pay attention to the Pentagon’s operations against jihadists there or in the West African Sahel, unless there is a high-profile incident with American casualties.

And America’s Middle Eastern allies will be keen for the US to retain its military base in Djibouti.

Reports of collusion between Yemen’s Houthis and al-Shabab, heightening risks of attacks in East Africa or on shipping in the Indian Ocean, may rekindle US interest in military operations.

Alternatively, missions could be outsourced to allies such as the UAE or private military contractors.

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The Apia Ocean Declaration was unveiled at the conclusion of the 27th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

It urges all 56 Commonwealth nations to safeguard the ocean against serious challenges such as climate change, pollution, and overexploitation.

The Declaration emphasizes the importance of acknowledging maritime boundaries in the face of rising sea levels.

It aims to protect 30% of the oceans and restore damaged marine ecosystems by 2030, while also prioritizing the swift completion of the Global Plastics Treaty.

Additionally, it advocates for the ratification of the high-seas biodiversity treaty, the creation of coastal climate adaptation strategies, and enhanced support for sustainable blue economies.

Samoa’s Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa stated in a release from her office that it was appropriate for “our first ocean declaration” to be made in the Blue Pacific continent, as climate change is acknowledged as the foremost threat to the safety and welfare of our people.

https://www.africanews.com/

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U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a new report that amid record levels of armed conflict and violence, progress over the decades for women is vanishing and “generational gains in women’s rights hang in the balance around the world.”

The U.N. chief was assessing the state of a Security Council resolution adopted on Oct. 31, 2000, that demanded equal participation for women in peace negotiations, a goal that remains as distant as gender equality.

Guterres said current data and findings show that “the transformative potential of women’s leadership and inclusion in the pursuit of peace” is being undercut — with power and decision-making on peace and security matters overwhelmingly in the hands of men.

“As long as oppressive patriarchal social structures and gender biases hold back half our societies, peace will remain elusive,” he warned.

The report says the proportion of women killed in armed conflicts doubled in 2023 compared with a year earlier; U.N.-verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence were 50% higher; and the number of girls affected by grave violations in conflicts increased by 35%.

At a two-day U.N. Security Council meeting on the topic that ended Friday, SimaBahous, head of the U.N. agency promoting gender equality known as UN Women, also pointed to a lack of attention to women’s voices in the search for peace.

She cited the fears of millions of women and girls in Afghanistan deprived of an education and a future; of displaced women in Gaza “waiting for death”; of women in Sudan who are victims of sexual violence; and of the vanishing hopes of women in Myanmar, Haiti, Congo, the Sahel region of Africa, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Yemen and elsewhere.

Bahous said 612 million women and girls who are affected by war “wonder if the world has already forgotten them, if they have fallen from the agenda of an international community overwhelmed by crises of ever deeper frequency, severity and urgency.”

The world needs to answer their fears with hope, she said, but the reality is grim: “One in two women and girls in conflict-affected settings are facing moderate to severe food insecurity, 61% of all maternal mortality is concentrated in 35 conflict-affected countries.”

As for women’s participation in decision-making and politics in countries in conflict, Bahous said it’s stalled.

“The percentage of women in peace negotiations has not improved over the last decade: under 10% on average in all processes, and under 20% in processes led or supported by the United Nations,” she said.

U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed announced the launch of a “Common Pledge on Women’s Participation in Peace Processes,” and urged governments, regional organizations and others involved in mediation to join the U.N. in taking concrete steps toward that end. The commitments include appointing women as lead mediators and team members, promoting direct and meaningful participation of women in peace processes, consulting women leaders at all stages and embedding women with expertise “to foster gender-responsive peace processes and agreements,” she said.

Many U.N. ambassadors who spoke at the council meeting focused on the lack of “political will” to promote women in the peace process.

“We’ve seen how the lack of political will continues to stand in the way of the full implementation of the commitments entered into by member states,” Panama’s U.N. Ambassador Eloy Alfaro de Alba said Friday.

https://www.africanews.com/

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The annual African Mining Summit in France, Mining on Top Africa (MOTA) is a premier conference that will bring together industry leaders, government officials, investors and stakeholders to discuss the future of the sector mining on the continent ”, indicates the presentation file for the event received by our editorial staff. It takes place from July 3 to 4, 2024, in Meliá, in the French capital. Its objective is to stimulate mining collaborations and partnerships between Europe and Africa, for sustainable and inclusive development on the African continent.

The opening ceremony of this important mining summit will see the presence of eminent African ministers, notably those from “ Ghana, Senegal, Benin and Chad ”, we read in the document cited above. Alongside them, there are stakeholders from the mining industry from countries such as Gabon, Ivory Coast, Guinea, France, Germany, South Africa, Algeria, Morocco, Belgium, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Mozambique and the Netherlands.

Trades

During the two-day conference, crucial issues related to the African mining sector will be at the center of discussions. Participants will address, among other things, points on “ mining partnerships for successful long-term projects and respecting commitments and exploring new paths. Establishing sustainable and environmentally friendly value chains while simultaneously maximizing production. Energy transition and mining; access to Africa’s critical minerals “, reveals the MOTA 2024 presentation file.

In addition to the key issues cited above, other discussions will look at “ the future of investment and innovative financing for the mining sector in Africa; the adoption of new transformative mining technologies across Africa; the importance of integrating sustainability and ESG (Environment, Society, Governance) criteria in the mining industry,… ”

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In a new report, it says one in four children are experiencing severe food poverty, with 65 per cent of them live in just 20 countries of which about 59 million are in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Child Food Poverty: Nutrition Deprivation in Early Childhood” analyses the impacts and causes of dietary deprivation among the world’s youngest people in nearly 100 countries, and across income groups.

It warns that millions of children under the age of five are unable to access and consume a nutritious and diverse diet to sustain optimal growth and development in early childhood and beyond.

Children who consume, at most, two of eight defined food groups are considered to be in severe child food poverty.

Four out of five children in this situation are fed only breastmilk/milk and/or a starchy staple, such as rice, maize, or wheat.

UNICEF says meals for young children should include not only fresh fruits and vegetables, but also nutrient-dense foods such as eggs, fish, poultry, or meat.

Without a nutritious and diverse diet, they are 50 per cent more likely to experiencing wasting, a life-threatening form of malnutrition.

“Children living in severe food poverty are children living on the brink. This can have an irreversible negative impact on their survival, growth, and brain development,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.

The report warns that the effects of growing inequities, conflicts, and the climate crisis have pushed food prices and the cost of living to record high levels.

Nearly half of all cases of severe child food poverty are among poor households where income poverty is likely to be a major driver.

About 97 million children, or 54 per cent, live in relatively wealthier households, among whom poor food environments and feeding practices are the main drivers of food poverty in early childhood.

Several factors are fuelling the crisis, including food systems that fail to provide children with nutritious, safe, and accessible options, families’ inability to afford nutritious foods, and parent’s inability to adopt and sustain positive child feeding practices.

In many contexts, cheap, nutrient-poor, and unhealthy ultra-processed foods and sugar-sweetened beverages are aggressively marketed to parents and families and are the new normal for feeding children.

These unhealthy foods and beverages are consumed by an alarming proportion of young children experiencing food poverty, displacing more nutritious and healthier foods from their daily diets.

UNICEF is calling on governments, development and humanitarian organisations, donors, civil society, and the food and beverage industry to take urgent action to end child food poverty.

It wants them to transform food systems so that nutritious, diverse, and healthy foods are the most accessible, affordable, and desirable option for caregivers.

UNICEF also urges them to leverage health systems to deliver essential nutrition services to prevent and treat malnutrition in early childhood, including support for community health and nutrition workers to counsel parents and families on child feeding and care practices.

It also wants them to activate social protection systems to address income poverty through social transfers (cash, food and vouchers), in ways that are responsive to the food and nutrition needs of vulnerable children and their families.

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The Magistrates Court in the capital, Lusaka, jailed them for periods ranging from 7 to 11 years.

The court also fined them between $1,500 to $3,000 after they pleaded guilty to charges of computer-related misrepresentation, identity fraud and illegally operating a network or service on Wednesday.

A man from Cameroon also received a prison sentence and fine on the same changes.

They were part of a group of 77 people, the majority of them Zambians, arrested in April over what police described as a “sophisticated internet fraud syndicate.”

Cybersecurity analyst Ali Kingston Mwila said, “in the past we have seen criminals walking away freely after committing such or similar crimes.”

Director-general of the Drug Enforcement Commission, Nason Banda, said investigations kicked off after authorities noticed a spike in the number of cyber-related fraud cases and many people complained about inexplicably losing money from their mobile phones or bank accounts.

Officers from the commission, police, the immigration department and the anti-terrorism unit in April swooped on a Chinese-run business in an upmarket suburb of Lusaka, arresting the 77, including those jailed Friday.

Authorities recovered over 13,000 local and foreign mobile phone SIM cards, two firearms and 78 rounds of ammunition during the raid.

The business, named Golden Top Support Services, had employed “unsuspecting” Zambians aged between 20 and 25 to use the SIM cards to engage “in deceptive conversations with unsuspecting mobile users across various platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram, chat rooms and others, using scripted dialogues,” Banda said in April after the raid.

The locals were freed on bail.

Mwila said questions remain unanswered thus far in this particular case.

“Looking at the crime as it stands, we have not been told how much they have stolen, we have not been told as well those guns and ammunition they had, how they have been used,” he added.

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Senegal’s former Prime Minister Amadou Ba has congratulated rival opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye for winning the presidential election.

Provisional results after Sunday’s vote, showed Faye, with about 53.7% and Ba with 36.2% based on tallies from 90% of polling stations in the first-round vote, the electoral commission said.

On Monday, ruling coalition candidate Ba, called Faye to offer his congratulations, a government spokesman told journalists.

“In light of presidential election result trends and while we await the official proclamation, I congratulate … Faye for his victory in the first round,” Ba said in a statement.

Senegal’s outgoing President Macky Sall also congratulated opposition candidate, Faye as his successor on Monday, hailing “a victory for Senegalese democracy.”

Sall, who did not stand after wins in 2012 and 2019, said he “salutes the smooth running of the election” and “congratulates the winner, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who the poll trends show as winning.”

Several opposition contenders had also conceded defeat to Faye during the night, including Anta Babacar Ngom, the only woman running.

Reporting from Senegal’s capital Dakar, Al Jazeera’s Nicholas Haque said that this victory for Faye comes on his birthday.

“Faye is turning 44 today and he has now been congratulated for winning this incredible unprecedented election,” he said.

“Remember just ten days ago Faye was in prison. He spent over eleven months in prison for a Facebook post that authorities deemed subversive. Now he went from political prisoner to the next President of Senegal…and he promises sweeping changes to the country,” Haque added.

Millions in Senegal took part in the vote to elect the country’s fifth president.

The polls followed three years of political turbulence that sparked violent anti-government protests and buoyed support for the opposition.

Ba was the candidate backed by outgoing President Macky Sall, who is stepping down amid a drop in popularity after two terms in office marred by economic hardship.

Faye was thrust into the centre of Senegalese politics more than a week after he was released from prison along with his mentor Ousmane Sonko, who was disqualified from standing in the election because of a defamation conviction.

He has not spoken publicly since he cast his vote. He owes much of his success to the backing of Sonko.

Faye and Sonko, two former tax inspectors, have campaigned together under the slogan “Diomaye is Sonko”, promising to fight corruption and prioritise national economic interests.

Their message is particularly popular among young voters in a country where more than 60 percent of people are under 25 and struggle to find jobs.

A peaceful transition of power in Senegal would mark a boost for democracy in West Africa, where there have been eight military coups since 2020.

Some of the military rulers who seized power have cut ties with traditional power brokers in the region such as France and the United States, and turned instead to Russia for help in their fight against armed groups that operate in countries near Senegal.

Many hope the vote will bring stability and an economic boost to Senegal, which is set to start producing oil and gas this year.

“I am happy to see there is a wind of change,” Tall, who joined revellers during the night as supporters waved Senegalese flags, lit flares and blasted vuvuzelas, told the news agency Reuters.

“It is wonderful because democracy has won. Many thought it would not happen,” he said, only wishing to give his first name.

Earlier, Alioune Tine, founder of the think-tank Afrikajom Center and Amnesty International’s former regional director for West and Central Africa, said a victory for Faye is a good sign for democracy in Senegal.

“Democracy was sick with political violence, with state violence, with death,” Tine told Al Jazeera, referring to the political violence of the last few years. He added that Sonko being unable to contest elections further showed that democracy was ailing.

Official results are expected to be announced by the Dakar appeals court on Friday.

The electoral commission has not yet communicated on the tallies counted so far out of 15,633 voting stations.

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The protesters, predominantly young people and schoolchildren, brandished placards bearing slogans such as “Down with ECOWAS. Long live AES.”

The Alliance of Sahel States (AES), a newly formed organization including Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, was highlighted as an alternative by the protesters. This move comes after months of escalating tensions between the three coup-affected nations and ECOWAS, reaching a boiling point with the sudden announcement of their withdrawal on Sunday.

In a joint statement, the juntas of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso accused ECOWAS of a lack of support and denounced the “illegitimate, inhumane, and irresponsible” coup-related sanctions imposed on them. Notably, ECOWAS released a statement asserting that it had not been formally notified of the decision to withdraw.

This unprecedented move marks the first instance in ECOWAS’s nearly 50 years of existence that member states are withdrawing in such a manner. Analysts have expressed concern, considering this development as a severe blow to the regional bloc and a potential threat to the stability of the West African region.

Critics, including many of Mali’s politicians and former officials, view the junta’s decision as a step backward in terms of regional integration. The move has sparked widespread disapproval within the country, raising questions about the implications for Mali’s diplomatic relationships and its standing in the international community.

As the situation unfolds, the repercussions of Mali’s exit from ECOWAS are expected to reverberate across the region, casting a shadow over the bloc’s ability to address security threats and maintain regional cohesion.

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The CTR attributes this “significant and continuous decline” in the workforce to the “security crisis that came with the Anglophone conflict.” Indeed, since the conflict started in late 2016, CDC’s facilities and employees have become targets of separatist militants. Incidents such as the incineration of company packaging units, conversion of plantations into separatist base camps, and attacks resulting in severe injuries or fatalities to employees have plagued the CDC. The insecurity prompted a halt in the company’s operations in mid-2018, only to resume nearly two years later. The situation has gradually worsened with the accumulation of salary arrears due to the CDC’s financial difficulties resulting from the Anglophone crisis.

“The operational challenges faced by CDC hinder meeting its financial commitments, resulting in an overall increase in its indebtedness. Social debt has increased due to the 17.78% rise in salary arrears as of December 31, 2022, despite government support, and the accumulation of unpaid social security contributions, which have risen by 15%. As of June 30, 2023, salary arrears amounted to FCFA35.7 billion, and the social debt to the National Social Security Fund (CNPS) stood at FCFA 26.7 billion,” CTR said.

With a monthly payroll estimated at FCFA 2 billion, according to figures disclosed during a board meeting on December 27, 2018, this volume of salary arrears corresponds to approximately 17 months of unpaid wages. Considering the financial assistance allocated by the state to public enterprises in the 2024 budget, personnel expenses were estimated at FCFA 16.09 billion in 2022, equating to FCFA 1.34 billion per month.

With cumulative losses of FCFA 38.7 billion between 2019 and 2021, as reported by the CTR, CDC emerges as the Cameroonian company bearing the heaviest toll of the ongoing separatist war in the Northwest and Southwest regions

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From electrifying performances at the FIFA World Cup to the introduction of a new Grammy category, African music is experiencing a transformative breakthrough, overcoming longstanding structural challenges.

The new Grammy category, “Best African Music Performance,” set to be awarded this Sunday, symbolizes a significant acknowledgment of regional musical traditions. This recognition encompasses “recordings that utilize unique local expressions from across the African continent,” reflecting the richness and diversity of African music.

Sub-Saharan Africa emerges as the fastest-growing region for recorded music revenues in 2022, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s Global Music Report 2023. This surge is fueled by newer genres like Afrobeats and amapiano, which blend distinct West African styles and South African kwaito, respectively.

The Grammy category highlights various African music genres, including Afrobeat, Afropop, soukous, shaabi, chaabi, benga, bongo flava, fuji, and high life. These genres, deeply rooted in cultural expressions, reverberate across dance floors not only on the continent but worldwide.

Streaming platforms play a pivotal role in pushing African music beyond borders. Afrobeats streaming on Spotify alone has witnessed a remarkable growth of over 500% since 2017. Hit tracks like Nigerian artist Rema’s “Calm Down” and South African sensation Tyla’s “Water” exemplify the global success and impact of African artists.

LeriQ, a Nigerian producer influential in Burna Boy’s Grammy-winning album “Twice As Tall,” emphasizes the uniqueness of the African sound, emphasizing rhythm and feelings over technicalities. This distinctive approach to music resonates with the continent’s young and culturally vibrant population, which is set to comprise a quarter of the world’s population by 2050.

Despite the global appeal, challenges persist, such as limited purchasing power and infrastructure constraints. However, with increasing attention from major record labels and a commitment to developing local talents, the industry is poised for further growth.

African music is not only a source of entertainment but also a powerful tool against repression and injustice. Songs from the continent have become megaphones amplifying voices against repressive governments and societal injustices.

As the industry gains global recognition, there is optimism among industry insiders like Efe Omorogbe, a music executive, who sees the vast potential of African music. The continent’s music, from Cape Town to Cairo and even in the diaspora, has become a cultural force impossible to ignore, and the introduction of a Grammy category affirms its undeniable significance on the world stage.

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