13 October 2022
Sudan/Honour killings: Honour killings – though not a tradition (“not embedded within Sudan’s society”) – are on the rise: 11 killings of young women by family members have been recorded so far in 2022 (with many more, no doubt, going unrecorded). “In some cases, women have been killed for using a smartphone, with a relative suspecting they were sending messages to a boyfriend.” Where fathers are implicated in the murders, they get light sentences because considered the families’ breadwinners. Is religious extremism behind the honour killings?
BBC Africa Live 13 October 2022. 7:57
Western Sahara: In Africa and elsewhere, the Western Sahara is losing ground diplomatically. On the continent, this is partly a result of Morocco’s fertiliser diplomacy (offering fertiliser in times when there is a shortage on world markets because of the Ukraine war) and despite the fact that “the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (…) last month condemned the presence of Moroccan military forces in Western Sahara as an illegal military occupation in violation of international law”.
https://issafrica.org/iss-today/sadr-grows-theoretically-stronger-but-diplomatically-weaker
Mozambique: The author’s and colleagues’ household survey in 9 rural villages in Cabo Delgado (north of the country) revealed that snake bites in the area and in all of Mozambique had been underestimated: snake bites need to be multiplied by 10, deaths from snake bites by 30 or more. They calculated that by a conservative estimate, “every year at least 69,261 people are victims of snakebite; at least 8950 result in death, meaning that one in eight snakebites is fatal.” Most snake bites occur during rainy season on farms.
https://theconversation.com/mozambique-had-no-data-about-snakebites-our-new-study-filled-the-gap-and-the-results-are-scary-192106
Somalia/Puntland: The city and port of Bosaso in Puntland in the country’s north profited greatly from civil war in Somalia from which they were somewhat distant. This also created a large measure of autonomy from the federal government in Mogadishu. In the “early 1990s, Bosaso had the only relatively safe port in Somalia” – but this advantage has eroded since and the modernisation and upgrading of the port is necessary so as to “ensure Puntland keeps a significant position within the fragmented political landscape of Somalia.” There is hope for such a revamp since the Emirates-based Dubai Ports World (DP World)’s return to Bosaso in July 2022.
https://theconversation.com/somalia-puntland-state-port-is-getting-a-revamp-this-is-key-to-its-future-191159
Johannesburg/informal sector: The city’s approach to informal traders is restrictive and is dominated by “evictions, relocations, harassment of traders and confiscation of their stock”. But such punitive measures don’t fit the official discourse about the importance of street trading – so “appropriate, practical and inclusive management approaches” need to be developed.
https://theconversation.com/johannesburgs-informal-traders-face-abuse-the-citys-world-class-aspirations-create-hostility-towards-them-190781
Nigeria: In what is a major blow to the federal government, an appeal court has ruled that separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu – leader of the banned separatist organisation Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) – was illegally arrested abroad (in Kenya) in 2021 and that his extradition had also been illegal.
BBC Africa Live 13 October 2022. 19:26
12 October 2022
Burkina Faso/Russia: Wagner Group’s appeal in West Africa and Burkina continues unabated “despite its links to massive civilian casualties and allegations of grift surrounding the group’s acquisition of major long-term mining concessions”. In the absence of analysis and trustworthy information, and with absurd rumours circulating on social media, anti-French sentiment could benefit Russia and Wagner Group under Burkina Faso’s new regime.
https://theconversation.com/burkina-faso-coup-raises-questions-about-growing-russian-involvement-in-west-africa-191909
Nigeria/USA: 21 Benin Bronzes from the Smithsonian, one from the National Gallery of Arts and one from the Rhode Island School of Design have been handed over to the Nigerian Minister of Information and Culture in Washington. “The items were among thousands of artworks known as the Benin Bronzes stolen from the Benin Kingdom in present-day Nigeria by British colonialists in 1897.”
BBC Africa Live 12 October 2022. 6:35
Somalia: Al-Shabaab has consistently pursued or said it pursued three goals: getting rid of foreign troops (be they from the US, Ethiopia or the African Union), implementing its salafist interpretation of Sharia and defeating the Somali federal government and federal member states, presenting itself as an alternative, offering services in justice and dispute mediation and offering protection in exchange for the taxes it imposes. Since Hassan Mohamud’s recent election, there is a new emphasis on eliminating Al-Shabaab, not only weakening it. In this, local militias are to play a more important role. Whether this new approach proves successful remains to be seen.
https://theconversation.com/what-drives-al-shabaab-in-somalia-foreign-forces-out-sharia-law-in-and-overthrow-the-government-191366
West Africa’s oceans: Fishery resources are in decline, coral reefs and seashells are being lost, coasts erode, sea levels rise. The factors causing most problems are 1. Plastic waste, 2. Oil spillage and oily waste, 3. Illegal fishing by foreign trawlers, 4. Ocean acidity, 5. Bioinvasion (mostly caused by shipping and maritime activities). To try and improve matters, four protocols to the 1981 Abidjan Convention (Convention for the Co-operation in the Protection and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the West and Central African Region) have been adopted: the Grand Bassam Protocol (aims to combat pollution from activities on land), the Pointe-Noire Protocol (for integrated coastal zone management), the Calabar Protocol (for sustainable mangrove management) and the Malabo Protocol (on environmental norms and standards related to offshore oil and gas activities). Will they improve things?
https://theconversation.com/the-5-biggest-threats-to-west-africas-oceans-and-what-to-do-about-them-190128
South Africa: Small-scale farmers – mostly black – are much less productive than big farmers – mostly white. According to the article’s author, government help should refocus on “improving farmers’ access to information, technology, skills and markets”.
https://theconversation.com/south-africas-small-scale-farmers-still-cant-find-a-place-in-the-food-value-chain-190927