18 November 2021
Nigeria: Motorbike-riding gunmen have killed another 21 and looted food on Tuesday night in villages in Sokoto state (North-west). In the meantime, the death toll of the Monday attack on Illela town on the Niger border has risen to 43. The deployment of thousands of security forces has not been able to stop the wave of killings by armed gangs in the North-west.
BBC Africa Live 18 November 2021. 6:17
Djibouti: With 90% of Ethiopian goods passing through Djibouti’s port, the impact of the war in Ethiopia on Djibouti’s economy has been dramatic. With trade reduced to a trickle – 20% of what it used to be – losses are thought to amount to 1.7bn USD.
BBC Africa Live 18 November 2021. 17:28
Kenya: First cold, then hot: after a series of anti-refugee measures (the most important being the announcement of the closure, six months from now, of Kakuma and Daadab refugee camps housing half a million), the President has signed “a new refugee bill that allows asylum seekers easier access to education, and opportunities to integrate and earn a living”.
BBC Africa Live 18 November 2021. 8:28
17 November 2021
Ethiopia: The US State Department is urging US citizens to leave Ethiopia immediately. There would not be a mass evacuation even if the security situation worsened. So far, “the US has held off approving sanctions against the warring parties, because peace negotiations are still active.”
BBC Africa Live 17 November 2021. 4:44
Covid: The consequences of school closures are dramatic, be it on the economic or on the psychological level. On top of that, inequalities grow, as the well to do-students are much less hurt, having good internet access, while the poorest will pay the heaviest price.
https://theconversation.com/the-cost-of-covid-what-happens-when-children-dont-go-to-school-171606
Nigeria/Rape: Nigerian authorities have declared a ‘state of emergency’ on sexual and gender-based violence. But that has not changed much. According to an Amnesty International report “the failure of authorities to tackle the rape crisis has emboldened perpetrators and silenced survivors” and “rape continues to be among the most prevalent human rights violations in Nigeria”. Rapists often pay bribes to stop police from investigating. Many “cases of rape go unreported due to pervasive corruption, stigma and victim-blaming”.
BBC Africa Live 17 November 2021. 15:48
Nigeria: Buhari is “a leader who has abdicated the duties and responsibilities of leading”. He’s shown that with the #EndSars protests last year. And you certainly should not expect federalisation from him. By name, Nigeria is a federation, but it has become strongly centralised and power has become “distant, unresponsive and insufferably corrupt and inefficient.” And Buhari’s agenda of fulanisation runs contrary to nationhood and unity.
https://theconversation.com/nigeria-is-a-federation-in-name-only-why-buhari-isnt-the-man-to-fix-the-problem-171133
Kenya: The Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) is an umbrella organisation for 43 community conservancies in the north of the country. The Oakland Institute, a US-based policy think-tank, is accusing the NRT “of dispossessing communities of land in the name of conservation” through intimidation and violence and says that “its armed ranger units have engaged in human rights abuses”, ethnic violence and extrajudicial killings.
BBC Africa Live 17 November 2021. 11:25
Sudan: If it had not been for the putsch, al-Burhan was meant to hand over the leadership of the Sovereign Council to a civilian today. Another day of protests against the putsch is under way. Telephone and internet connections have been switched off by the authorities.
BBC Africa Live 17 November 2021. 0512:05
Violences faites aux filles/Niger : Depuis hier, mardi, et jusqu’à demain, jeudi Union Africaine et ONU organisent le 3e Sommet des filles africaines à Niamey. Le sommet traite surtout des violences faites aux filles et aux femmes, entre autres les mariages d’enfants et les MGF/excision.
https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20211117-niger-un-sommet-pour-trouver-une-solution-durable-aux-violences-faites-aux-femmes
ECOWAS: Senior officers of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) have started a 3-day summit in Abidjan today, Wednesday. While discussing the Barkhane withdrawal and AU’s offer to send 3,000 troops to the region, they will “assess current operations and reflect on the prospects for improving security in the Ecowas zone”.
BBC Africa Live 17 November 2021. 16:56