21 June 2022
ECOWAS integration & migration: The EU’s interest in erecting barriers to migration and its cooperation with ECOWAS member countries in that respect may harm ECOWAS integration that had progressed well before. Freedom of mobility – instituted by the 1979 protocol on free movement of persons – is a cornerstone of regional integration. Building “hard borders” does not favour integration.
https://theconversation.com/west-african-borders-have-got-firmer-with-eu-help-what-it-means-for-local-interests-183925
Intermediary cities & development: Smaller cities are closer to rural areas than big ones, their contribution to development and poverty reduction is thought to be more important. Intermediary cities are likely to grow fast in future, investment in infrastructure would best be made now. The article makes suggestions how this could be funded and financed.
https://theconversation.com/africas-smaller-cities-are-usually-overlooked-they-shouldnt-be-185014
Climate Change/Deforestation and Human Rights: Since Bolsonaro took over, deforestation in Brazil has accelerated tremendously. The rights of people who used to live in the forests are not respected. “Deforestation in Brazil offers a preview of the impact that climate change will have on human rights, both in Latin America and elsewhere in the world.” The submission of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris in 2015 already dealt with this topic (see “Understanding Human Rights and Climate Change” – https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/ClimateChange/COP21.pdf)
https://theconversation.com/the-amazon-rainforest-is-disappearing-quickly-and-threatening-indigenous-people-who-live-there-185085
Kenya: Faced with many people enquiring about or offering to sell their kidneys, the country’s top public hospital has had to clarify that organ sale is strictly prohibited – kidneys can only be donated, not sold.
BBC Africa Live 21 June 2022. 6:13
Ghana/Pan African Heritage Museum: According to plans, a six-storey-structure will be finished by August 2023 at Pomadze Hills in Winneba, about 60 km west of Accra. A digital version of the Pan African Heritage Museum was recently launched. It is to bring “all African heritage together under one roof” and will, amongst other things – in the words of the Ghanaian president – “provide a natural residence and resting place for all the looted cultural artefacts of our continent” to be returned to Africa.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61631437
Egypt/Saudi Arabia: The two countries have signed deals which are together worth almost 8bn USD, amongst them one worth 1.5bn USD for a wind power plant in Egypt.
BBC Africa Live 21 June 2022. 16:56
20 June 2022
Nigeria: Kidnapping is rife in Nigeria – over 3,000 were kidnapped in the first half of 2021, 571 in January 2022. Kidnappings happen for ransom, for ritual (body parts; for sacrifices), for strategic bargaining (to force government or multinationals to make specific concessions) and for child abduction (besides ransom and ritual, this may be for illicit adoption). Kidnappings for ransom are by far the most widespread form, with more than 18m USD paid as ransom between January 2011 and March 2020. Often well-planned, “ransom value” determines the targets: “the child of a wealthy family has a high kidnap ransom value. The only child of an affluent household has even greater value”. The article’s author makes recommendations how to counter kidnappings.
https://theconversation.com/whos-at-risk-of-being-kidnapped-in-nigeria-184217
Ethiopia: In 6 farming villages in Gimbi district in western Oromia (about 300 km west of Addis), violence of Oromos against Amharas on Saturday is thought to have caused the death of at least 250 villagers – some say many more. “The Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) has denied responsibility and said the government’s ‘retreating soldiers’ were behind the attacks.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61864392
Congo-Kinshasa: Anti-Rwandan sentiment threatens to boil over in the country. “Scenes of people carrying machetes while hunting for Tutsis in the capital, Kinshasa, and other major towns circulated on social media over the weekend.” The social media were also used for revealing the whereabouts of Tutsis. In Goma, last week, Rwandan-owned shops were looted after an anti-Rwandan demonstration.
BBC Africa Live 20 June 2022. 7:42
Lumumba/Congo-Kinshasa: The death of Lumumba radicalized Congolese students who went on to demand true decolonisation and refused Mobutu’s politics. In the article’s author’s view, this laid the ground for his downfall even if that only came decades later. And even today, students are unlikely to fall for the Belgian king’s lukewarm expression of his “deepest regrets” about the past and his urging to “look towards the future” together.
https://theconversation.com/how-patrice-lumumbas-assassination-drove-student-activism-shaping-the-congos-future-185170