04 January 2022
Sudan: Whilst pro-democracy activists are planning new protests against military rule, the UN envoy to the county is not happy with Abdalla Hamdok’s having resigned as, according to him, “it plunged Sudan into further uncertainty”; he called for a “meaningful and inclusive dialogue”. Head of state General al-Burhan in the meantime repeated that the army – the “nation’s safety valve” – will “protect the democratic transition”.
BBC Africa Live 04 January 2022. 8:27
Guinea: According to opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo, the “Collective of Political Parties” – more than 1000 parties – has agreed a timetable for transition and will jointly request the return to civilian rule of the junta. On Monday, the United States had US removed Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from its duty-free trade programme AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity ActA) over rights violations and recent coups.
BBC Africa Live 04 January 2022. 5:49
Mali: The 250 to 300 “desert-adapted” elephants, now reduced to tiny refuges by humans, are among the last of a population that once stretched across the Sahel. “And their numbers have almost been halved by the poaching that accompanied the lawlessness of the 2012 coup.” The Mali Elephant Project has been looking for possibilities of human-elephant cohabitation since 2003, bringing local communities together in 2010 and proposing a solution modelled on traditional governance systems: “A committee of elders set the rules of resource use and teams of young ‘ecoguards’ would patrol to ensure the rules were respected. The ecoguards also conducted activities such as building firebreaks and planting trees.” Firebreaks meant that abundant pasture was available close by, people could sell fodder and grazing/water access rights and their own animals were healthier/more productive. “(P)rotection of forest from exploitation by outsiders meant wood, forage, wild foods, medicines and other forest products could generate income from schemes managed by women’s associations.” It works well.
https://theconversation.com/malis-elephants-show-how-people-and-nature-can-share-space-in-a-complex-world-166999
03 January 2022
Nigeria: Ashleigh Plumptre, who plays football for Leicester and was a 25 times English youth international, will play for Nigeria from now on – all the paperwork has been done and all the clearances obtained. Ashleigh Plumptre has a Nigerian grandfather.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/africa/59859239