01 March 2023
Nigeria: Bola Tinubu of the ruling APC will become the country’s next president – he obtained 36% of counted votes (Atiku Abubakar of the PDP 29%, Peter Obi of the Labour Party 25%). The article gives detailed results, also state by state in an interactive graphic.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-64760226
Nigeria: Voter turnout at Saturday’s elections was extremely low at 27%. Of the 93 million who registered to vote, Bola Tinubu was elected by not even 10%. According to the article, the reason for the low turnout was not voter apathy (or 87 million would not have gone through the complicated procedure of collecting their voter cards) but rather “problems on voting day” like voting not starting on time, voting not taking place at all in some opposition strongholds, voter intimidation and even ballot-box snatching. Are the opposition candidates thus right to call the elections rigged?
BBC Africa Live 01 March 2023. 17:11
France/Congo-Kinshasa: Anti-French sentiment is spreading – civil society groups held protests outside the French embassy in Kinshasa against Macron’s visit later in the week. Paris is accused of siding with Rwanda which is supporting the M23.
BBC Africa Live 01 March 2023. 11:06
Rwanda/Mozambique: After an extradition deal between the two countries, Rwandan refugees in Mozambique are afraid they’ll be persecuted
BBC Africa Live 01 March 2023. 17:39
Tunisia/Côte d’Ivoire/Guinea: After Kaïs Saïed’s “inflammatory comments”, Conakry and Yamoussoukro have sent aircraft to Tunisia to repatriate their citizens. “Dozens of Guineans and Ivorians have sought refuge in their countries’ embassies. Some have reported being physically assaulted.”
BBC Africa Live 01 March 2023. 17:12
28 February 2023
Nigerian Elections: With results from about half of Nigeria’s states known, Bola Tinubu, the ruling APC party’s candidate is so far in the lead with 39% of the votes, Atiku Abubakar (PDP) is second with 31% and Peter Obi (Labour Party) is third with 20%. PDP and Labour Party have criticized Inec (Independent National Election Commission) for its handling of the electronic voting system and call for the election – “a sham” – to be cancelled.
BBC Africa Live 28 February 2023. 18:59
Nigeria/Women: “(E)ducation for girls, gender-based violence, representation of women in politics, maternal health, and women’s economic empowerment” need more attention from the authorities. The article gives a brief overview over all of these concerns, showing how “(w)omen’s rights exist only on paper in Nigeria”.
https://theconversation.com/womens-rights-exist-only-on-paper-in-nigeria-five-core-issues-a-new-president-needs-to-address-urgently-199994
South Africa: Not having done enough to prevent money laundering and terrorism funding, South Africa has been “grey listed” by the Financial Action Task Force FARF (the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog). On the list, it joins African countries Congo-Kinshasa, Mali, Nigeria and Mozambique. The grey listing will tend to decrease financial inflows from abroad and foreign direct investment as banks “will have to vet their clients and the sources of client income better before they invest” and that costs money. Cost of capital will also likely increase for South Africa. Pretoria now has until January 2025 to improve matters by means of additional legislation, additional funding for investigative authorities and effective and speedy prosecution of those at fault.
https://theconversation.com/south-africa-has-been-grey-listed-for-not-stopping-money-laundering-and-terrorism-funding-what-it-means-200696