Category Archives: Africa

Rise of far right makes reparations debate tough, says Cape Verde president

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José Maria Neves says governments should still try to have such conversations and build solutions using diplomatic corridors

Cape Verde’s president, José Maria Neves, said the rise of rightwing populism has made it difficult to hold a serious debate about colonial reparations but argued that should not stop governments from having those conversations behind closed doors.

In an interview with the news site Brasil Já, published on Wednesday, Neves said debating reparations in the “public arena” could lead to more political polarisation in countries such as Cape Verde’s former coloniser, Portugal, where the far right is on the rise.

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ANC leaders propose government of national unity after losing majority in South Africa

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Party says it has reached out to opposition leaders after election result as it looks to form coalition

An influential committee in the African National Congress (ANC) has recommended the party form a government of national unity, as the group tries to build a coalition after losing its parliamentary majority in South Africa for the first time since it swept to power at the end of apartheid.

The second largest party, the pro-business Democratic Alliance (DA), has ruled out working with the fourth-largest, Marxist-inspired Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). However, some analysts said that the lure of power may end up bringing most of the largest parties together.

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EU expected to impose sanctions on six Sudanese military figures fuelling war

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Exclusive: Rivals from two forces fighting to control Darfur region would be subject to asset freezes and travel bans

The EU intends to impose sanctions on six Sudanese military figures who are fuelling the conflict that has led to one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, European diplomats have said.

EU foreign ministers meeting later this month are expected to approve sanctions against six individuals from the rival forces who have been fighting for control of Darfur, the vast, largely arid region of western and south-western Sudan.

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UK galleries rushed to diversify art after Black Lives Matter, artist says

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South Africa-born painter Gavin Jantjes says institutions tried to buy work they ignored decades earlier

British arts institutions deployed “kneejerk” and “stopgap” responses in the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter movement as they attempted to avoid criticism for the lack of diversity in their collections, according to the artist Gavin Jantjes.

The South Africa-born artist, who was a key figure during the British black art movement of the 1980s, told the Guardian that under-pressure organisations approached him to buy work that they had ignored since it was made decades earlier.

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South Africa’s ANC faces tough decisions after losing majority

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Party will have to pick coalition partners and then try to reform itself in response to declining support

South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party has lost its three-decade electoral majority in devastating fashion. As the former liberation movement faces the task of building a coalition government, it remains to be seen how it will respond to the message sent to it by voters.

The ANC’s vote share collapsed from 57.5% in 2019 to 40.2% in last week’s elections, amid chronic unemployment, degraded public services and high rates of violent crime.

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Nigerian unions shut down national grid and airports as indefinite strike begins

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Electricity substations shut down, flights suspended and parliament gates blocked in protest over minimum wage

Nigeria’s main labour unions have shut down the national grid, disrupted airline operations and blocked the gates to parliament as they began an indefinite strike over the government’s failure to agree a minimum wage.

A minimum wage of N30,000 (£15) a month, agreed in 2019, expired this April. The unions are asking for an increase to N494,000 (£257).

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Final results in seismic South Africa election confirm ANC has lost majority

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ANC says demands that President Cyril Ramaphosa must step down is ‘no-go area’ as rival Jacob Zuma stokes fears of violence

Final results from Wednesday’s seismic South Africa elections have confirmed that the African National Congress (ANC) party has lost its majority for the first time in 30 years of full democracy, firing the starting gun on unprecedented coalition talks.

The ANC, which led the fight to free South Africa from apartheid, won just 159 seats in the 400-member national assembly on a vote share of just over 40%. High unemployment, power cuts, violent crime and crumbling infrastructure have contributed to a haemorrhaging of support for the former liberation movement.

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South Africa to embark on new political path after ANC loses majority

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After 30 years in power, the African National Congress, which took 40.2% of the vote, must engage in tricky coalition talks with rivals

The African National Congress’s (ANC) three decades of political dominance in South Africa has come to an end after it was announced that it had won just 40.2% of the vote in last week’s general election.

The ANC’s dramatic decline – the first time it has failed to win a majority of the votes since Nelson Mandela led it to victory in the first democratic election in 1994 – will lead to a chaotic round of coalition negotiations, with all of its potential partners posing difficulties.

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Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda admission sparks legal action from detained asylum seekers

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Migrants seek redress for ‘immense distress’ from deportations now thrown into chaos by election announcement

Asylum seekers detained by the Home Office and threatened with deportation to Rwanda are set to take legal action against the government after Rishi Sunak admitted that no flights will take place before the general election.

The Home Office started raiding accommodation and detaining people who arrived at routine immigration-reporting appointments on 29 April in a nationwide push codenamed Operation Vector.

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Which parties could South Africa’s ANC go into coalition with?

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Collapse in support means ANC may not reach 50% vote share needed to rule alone. Which parties are contenders for coalition?

South Africa is facing the uncertain possibility of a coalition government after a collapse in support for the ruling African National Congress party in Wednesday’s election meant it probably will not reach the 50% vote share needed for it to rule on its own. Here is a guide to the three main contenders for coalition partners:

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South Africa: Zuma’s new party upends election as ANC reels from vote collapse

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Ex-president’s uMkhonto we Sizwe party erodes vote share of African National Congress, which has been in power for three decades

South Africa is facing the uncertain possibility of a coalition government after the former president Jacob Zuma’s new party upended the country’s elections, contributing to the African National Congress party’s vote share collapsing well below half, with more than two-thirds of voting stations counted.

By late afternoon on Thursday, the ANC, which has governed South Africa with a large majority since Nelson Mandela led it to power 30 years ago after the end of apartheid, had 41.8% of the vote.

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Nigeria takes up case of its Teesside University students ordered out of UK

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High Commission to meet leaders at university after currency crash in home country meant students couldn’t pay for tuition

Delegates from the Nigerian high commission in London are to meet bosses from Teesside University to discuss the treatment of a group of students who were ordered to leave the UK after failing to meet tuition repayments.

The Nigerian students were left distressed and in some cases suicidal after they were involuntarily withdrawn from their courses and ordered to leave, in what has been described as a “serious diplomatic issue”.

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ANC looks set to lose majority in watershed moment for South Africa

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Early election count puts African National Congress on 42% of the vote, compared with 57% in final tally in 2019

South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party looks set to lose its majority for the first time since it swept to power at the end of apartheid, in a watershed moment for the country, as support for the former liberation movement collapsed below 50% in partial results.

With 31.1% of votes counted by early evening on Thursday, South Africa was on the precipice of an era of national coalition government. The ANC had 42.3% of the vote, with the pro-business Democratic Alliance on 25% and the Marxist-inspired Economic Freedom Fighters on 9%.

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Egypt tight-lipped over Israeli takeover of Gaza buffer zone

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Cairo seeks to keep lid on public anger and avoid escalation as IDF moves into Philadelphi corridor in breach of 1979 peace accord

Egypt has reacted with a wall of silence to the Israeli takeover of a buffer zone in southern Gaza, in apparent defiance of a decades-old peace agreement, as Cairo sought to keep a lid on simmering public anger while also avoiding an escalation in tensions with Israel.

Israel said on Wednesday that its forces had gained “operational” control over the Philadelphi corridor – the Israeli military’s code name for the 9-mile-long (14km) strip of land along the Gaza-Egypt border. Under the terms of the 1979 peace accord between Egypt and Israel, each side is allowed to deploy only a small number of troops or border guards in a demilitarised zone that stretches along the entire Israel-Egypt border and encompasses the corridor.

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Nigeria to host first Lassa fever treatment trials for 40 years

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The viral disease kills 5,000 people a year in west Africa, and has been described as an epidemic threat to global health

Clinical trials for the first new treatment for Lassa fever in almost 40 years are planned to be held in Nigeria this year.

The neglected tropical disease kills about 5,000 people a year and is endemic in west Africa.

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Nigeria’s rushed reversion to old national anthem met with incredulity

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Post-colonial anthem dropped in 1978 reinstituted with little debate amid escalating economic crisis

Nigeria has reverted to a national anthem it dropped nearly 50 years ago after lawmakers replaced the current one, prompting widespread criticism over the lack of public consultation on the change.

The country’s president, Bola Tinubu, confirmed the law on Wednesday, a day after it was approved by both chambers of Nigeria’s national assembly, which is dominated by the governing party. The federal lawmakers introduced and passed the bill in less than a week – an unusually fast process for important bills that usually take weeks or months to be considered.

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‘I just need change’: voters voice discontent as South Africa goes to polls

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ANC majority in national election at risk for first time since 1990s as unemployment, corruption and power cuts erode support

In the heart of Soweto, at the president’s home voting station, support for the African National Congress (ANC) was everywhere as South Africa went to the polls, with many voters wearing the party’s bright yellow and speaking of their families’ generational loyalty to the movement that fought to end apartheid.

However, even here, there were voters who had turned against the ANC, as it risked losing its majority in national elections on Wednesday for the first time since Nelson Mandela led it to power in South Africa’s first fully democratic vote in 1994.

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South Africa elections: voting under way amid grim national mood

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Ruling African National Congress party could lose majority for first time since apartheid ended 30 years ago

Explainer: what are the issues and will the ANC lose its majority?

South Africans are voting in what are expected to be the most competitive elections since the end of apartheid, which could result in the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party losing its majority for the first time since Nelson Mandela led it to power 30 years ago.

The national mood is grim owing to some of the world’s highest rates of unemployment and inequality, power cuts, water shortages and violent crime. Younger generations do not feel the same gratitude and loyalty to the ANC as many of their parents and grandparents do, for leading the successful fight for multi-racial democracy.

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Kenya begins public hearings into alleged abuses by UK troops

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British soldiers stationed in Kenya have been accused of rights violations and offences including murder

Kenya has launched public hearings into allegations of human rights violations and abuses of power by British troops based in the former colony.

The British Army Training Unit Kenya (Batuk) is an economic lifeline for many in the central town of Nanyuki, where it maintains a permanent base, but soldiers stationed there have also been accused of committing offences including murder.

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Rwanda’s top UK diplomat oversaw use of Interpol to target regime opponents

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Exclusive: Johnston Busingye formally appointed days after UK agreed Rwanda asylum deal with Paul Kagame in 2022

Rwanda’s top diplomat in the UK oversaw the use of the international justice system to target opponents of the country’s rulers around the world, the Guardian can reveal.

New details of the Rwandan government’s suppression of opposition beyond its borders add to concerns about the regime at the heart of Rishi Sunak’s asylum policy.

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