28 July 2021
Equatorial Guinea: Finally an end to Teodorin Obiang’s impunity? “The top appeals court in France is due to rule on a conviction handed to the son of Equatorial Guinea's president for using public money to fund his lavish lifestyle.” If all goes well, the assets of the President’s son (who is also vice-president of Equatorial Guinea) could be redistributed to people living in his country. Unrelatedly to this, Great Britain last week imposed sanctions on Teodorin Obiang for corruption.
BBC Africa Live 28 July 2021. 7:38
South Sudan: Having documented “(s)poradic clashes (…) in different parts of the country pitting government forces and different opposition armed groups” including skirmishes between government forces and the National Salvation Front (NAS) in Central Equatoria and violent attacks in different centres in Upper Nile State and Central Equatoria on camps where forces are being trained for the formation of a unified national army, ceasefire observers think that the implementation of the revitalised agreement and especially the ceasefire is in danger. “In April, the UN Security Council warned of a risk of a return to a large-scale conflict in South Sudan, due to the slow implementation of the peace agreement” signed by President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar, now First Vice-President, in September 2018.
BBC Africa Live 28 July 2021. 8:08
Kenya: Several NGOs have put in place “catch-up” centres for out-of-school girls aged 10 to 19 in several counties of Kenya. Thus “(t)housands of girls in rural Kenya who have dropped out of school are getting a second chance at education”. Mothers can come to school with their babies, the centres being equipped with creches and childminders. “Girls can be reintegrated back into formal education, take apprenticeships or do some certified courses once they graduate. They can also write business proposals and (…) starter kits (are provided) for them”.
BBC Africa Live 28 July 2021. 17:09
Kenya: Great Britain is “stepping up its counter-terrorism and military support” for Kenya including “efforts to prevent extremism in coastal areas which are vital for Kenya’s tourism industry” (and are a prime destination for British tourists). “Thousands of British troops train each year in Kenya in preparation for deployment to arid conflict zones.”
BBC Africa Live 28 July 2021. 16:02
Nigeria: Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, leader of the (Shia) Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), and his wife, arrested in 2015 after deadly clashes between IMN followers and security forces, and detained ever since have been acquitted by a high court in northern Nigeria which dismissed the charges brought by the Kaduna state government. They have been released.
BBC Africa Live 28 July 2021. 18:50
27 July 2021
Malaria: German drug firm BioNTech, which has made billions from anti-Covid-vaccines, believes it can develop a malaria vaccine that will be ready for clinical trials in 2022. Advances in “MRNA technology used to develop the Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccines” are reportedly responsible for BioNTech’s optimism.
BBC Africa Live 27 July 2021. 18:46
Zimbabwe: In the midst of Rhodesia’s struggle for freedom, an art gallery was opened in Harare in 1975 by artist Helen Lieros and her husband and former policeman Derek Huggins. Improbably, it still exists. It has since been the venue of approximately 500 exhibitions (also of book launches) and has been “teaching, mentoring and supporting the production of new art”, also “produc(ing) and publish(ing) a visual art magazine under the title of Gallery”. The two founders died about a week ago, Helen Lieros a few days before her husband. The article tells the story of their gallery.
https://theconversation.com/building-an-art-gallery-in-the-midst-of-war-in-zimbabwe-164973
Booker Prize longlist: The South African writers Damon Galgut (“The Promise”) and Karen Jennings (“An Island”) and the Somali/British writer Nadifa Mohamed (“The Fortune Men”) are among the 13 on the Booker Prize longlist. The shortlist will be published on 14th of September. The winner – to be announced on 3rd of November – will get 50,000 GBP.
BBC Africa Live 27 July 2021. 10:22
Côte d’Ivoire: 8 mosques in Tengréla, Kouto, Sorobango, Samatiguila, M’Bengué, Kong and Kaouara in the country’s north have been granted UNESCO World Heritage status. They are “highly important testimonies to the trans-Saharan trade” and are the best conserved among 20 such mosques that remain where there were hundreds before.
BBC Africa Live 27 July 2021. 19:22
Côte d’Ivoire: Former president Laurent Gbagbo, recently returned to Abidjan after having been acquitted of war crimes at the International Criminal Court, is to meet President Alassane Ouattara today Tuesday in the interest of peace and reconciliation. In 2010, violence after elections won by Ouattara over Gbagbo had killed 3,000 and displaced up to a million.
BBC Africa Live 27 July 2021. 8:08
Internet: The global internet dominance of the US – according to the author and his colleagues’ estimates “U.S. corporations, nonprofits and government agencies could block a cumulative 96% of content on the global internet” – is likely to be reduced in future. Such a “splinternet” could endanger the stability of the internet. And there are other dangers…
https://theconversation.com/fight-for-control-threatens-to-destabilize-and-fragment-the-internet-162914
Tunisia: The President has declared a one-month-long night-time curfew. He has also dismissed some ministers after sacking Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi on Sunday. The UN has called for dialogue.
BBC Africa Live 27 July 2021. 6:38
Nigeria: The lawyers of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the separatist Indigenous People of Biafra, have taken Nigeria and Kenya to the African Union's commission on human rights because of the circumstances of his arrest and extradition.
BBC Africa Live 27 July 2021. 7:20
Hepatitis: 70 million Africans are infected and 200,000 die each year from hepatitis. “The childhood vaccine given at birth is effective, but in many rural and remote parts of Africa over 40% of children are still unable to get the vaccines when they need them.” With Covid, it has become more difficult than before to get.
https://theconversation.com/this-is-no-time-to-neglect-hepatitis-70-million-africans-are-infected-165030
Rwanda: Venant Rutunga, arrested in the Netherlands in 2019 because suspected of complicity in the genocide (orchestrating the killing of around 1,000 Tutsi), has been extradited to Kigali. The 72-year-old had fought against his extradition in vain.
BBC Africa Live 27 July 2021. 15:04
Mozambique: A jihadist base at Awasse close to coastal Mocimboa da Praia is reported to have been conquered by Rwandan and government troops after a fierce battle. If true, this could make it easier to retake Mocimboa da Praia from the jihadists who have held it for a year.
BBC Africa Live 27 July 2021. 18:59