🇩🇪🇫🇷🌍 Germany and France support 'two permanent seats in the security council' for Africa

German and France have issued a joint support for "two permanent seats in the security council for the African continent".

The German and French Foreign Ministers, Annalena Baerboc and Catherine Colonna respectively, said the move will improve Africa's bilateral relations with other countries on matters of security.

The Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat for his part stated that issue of securing permanent seat by Africa at the UN Security Council is not only timely but also crucial.

#Germany #France

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🇱🇾🇹🇷 GNU will not suspend Libyan-Turkish Oil and Gas MOU despite court's decision

"Libyan Government of National Unity (GNU) will respect and implement a memorandum of understanding with Turkey on oil and gas exploration in Libyan territorial waters," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

The minister also stressed "The GNU has informed us that the memorandum remains in force."

Previously, the Tripoli Court of Appeal decided to suspend the implementation of the Libyan-Turkish Oil and Gas memorandum of understanding.

#Libya #Turkey

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🇪🇹🇫🇷 Ethiopia and France have signed a €32m grant agreement to support the reconstruction of areas in northern Ethiopia

During her visit to Ethiopia, French Foreign Minister have signed a grant agreement of €32m to support ongoing reconstruction efforts in the northern parts of Ethiopia.

Part of the money (€28m) will be allocated for the first project to support the rehabilitation of the electrical network in the war affected areas and €4m co-funded with the EU will focus on food security with short term support to agricultural activities in Amhara, Afar and Tigray states.

#Ethiopia #France

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🇸🇩 Signatories of the Sudan's framework agreement meet to forge a more inclusive peace agreement

Sudanese authorities sought to gather a broader consultation base to finalize a roadmap to democracy. Signatories of the latest framework agreement met in Khartoum.

The meeting spokesperson outlined the highlights of the first of several planned workshops aimed at paving the way to a more inclusive peace deal. He said the process' main objective was "to broaden the base of consultations between the various Sudanese and Sudanese actors at this stage so the final political agreement would represent not only the signing powers but also the widest base of the Sudanese people."

#Sudan

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🇺🇸🇸🇩 US Ambassador to Sudan urges holdout groups to join talks

The US Ambassador to Sudan has urged former rebel groups who did not take part in a post-coup political deal to join talks seeking to restore civilian rule.

"There are groups that have remained outside the framework political agreement so far. I think it's important to note that the process remains open for them to come in. Our understanding is that efforts continue to try to find a way to meet a situation where they feel like they could join the process and we would certainly urge them to consider doing that", the US ambassador said.

Last month, military leaders and some civilian factions agreed on the first of a two-phase political process aiming to end the political turmoil that resulted from a military coup led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

#USA #Sudan

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🇨🇩 M23 Rebels agree to continue withdrawal in the eastern DR Congo

M23 rebels have agreed to continue their "orderly withdrawal" from conquered territory in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said.

Kenyatta, who plays a mediating role in this conflict, spoke with M23 officials, according to a press release by the former president released after the meeting. "They also agreed to continue to respect and cooperate with the East African Regional Force which has begun to take control of the areas from which the M23 has just withdrawn," he added.

These withdrawals of the M23 follow the decisions of a summit which, on November 23 2022, had asked for a ceasefire and the departure of the rebels from the areas conquered for a year.

#DRC

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🇲🇦🇩🇿 Polisario Front members meet in Algeria to discuss leadership elections

Polisario movement (rebel movement in Western Sahara) members met on Friday in a refugee camp in Algeria to discuss leadership elections. The Polisario's current head Brahim Ghali, 73 years old, appears to enjoy the vital backing of Algeria and is expected to be re-elected at the gathering.

The Sahrawi Polisario Front, backed by Algeria, has called for a referendum on self-determination in Western Sahara. Morocco controls almost 80% of the resource-rich territory and has proposed an autonomy plan under its sovereignty.

The rift in opinions regarding the status of Western Sahara has already led to the diplomatic breakdown of relations between Algeria and Morocco.

#Morocco #Algeria

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🇺🇬🇨🇳🇹🇷 Uganda drops Chinese firm from railway deal, eyes Turkish rival

Uganda has terminated its contract with Chinese firm China Harbour and Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC) to build a railway to the Kenyan border and is now considering a deal with a Turkish company.

In 2015, the Uganda signed an engineering, procurement and construction contract with CHEC to develop the Standard Gauge Railway project, which will use the international standard rather than a narrower gauge sometimes used in the region.

The 273-kilometre railway line, estimated to cost $2.2 billion, would link the capital Kampala and Uganda's border with Kenya. Uganda is however frustrated with China's unwillingness to provide funding for the project and is now courting Turkey's Yapi Merkezi to take up the job.

#Uganda #China #Turkey

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🇱🇾 Libyan Presidential Council Chairman Muhammad Manfi has called on the President of the High State Council, Khaled al-Mechri, and the speaker of House of Representatives, Aguila Saleh, to hold a tripartite meeting in Ghadames to discuss the constitutional framework for the elections, as part of the initiative to resolve the Libyan crisis.

#Libya

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🇹🇩 Chad's bilateral creditors to improve debt relief offer if needed

Chad's official bilateral creditors will make up any shortfall in commitments from its private lenders to a plan to cut the country's debt servicing costs if those costs become unmanageable, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.

The official creditors - China, France, Saudi Arabia and India - are expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on a debt agreement for Chad.

Should private creditor contributions to such an arrangement not bring Chad's debt servicing costs to below 14% of state revenues, "official creditors will contribute more in proportion of the debt service due to each official bilateral creditor," the IMF report said.

#Chad

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🇲🇦 Morocco's economy to grow 3.3% in 2023

Morocco's economic growth is expected to recover to 3.3% in 2023 after 1.3% in 2022, driven by domestic demand, the statistics agency HCP said.

The forecast assumes an average crop output after the worst drought in decades, a drop in foreign demand for goods and oil prices at $90 per barrel.

Inflation, driven by imports, would stand at 1.9% in 2023 from 5% in 2022, HCP said. The fiscal deficit would widen to 5.2% of GDP in 2023 from 3.9% this year, on the back of lower tax revenue and higher spending on subsidies and social safety nets.

#Morocco

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🇷🇼 IMF chief to visit Rwanda during a visit to Africa

International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva will visit Rwanda later this month after traveling to Zambia.

Georgieva on Thursday said she would visit Zambia the week after next, but her visit to Rwanda has not been previously reported.

Rwanda was the first African country to receive IMF funding under its new Resilience and Sustainability Trust. The IMF in October reached a staff-level agreement with Rwanda on a 36-month financing package valued at $310 million. At the time, the IMF said the funding would help the country move forward with its economic reforms and build resilience against climate change.

#Rwanda

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🇹🇿 Tanzania opposition leader going to return after rally ban lifted

Tanzania’s opposition leader and former presidential candidate Tundu Lissu has said he will return home this month from exile in Europe to “write a new chapter” after the government’s decision to lift a ban on political rallies.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan lifted the six-and-a-half-year ban on political rallies last week, part of her reconciliation strategy after taking over the presidency in March 2021 following the death of her predecessor John Magufuli.

Lissu initially left the country in 2017 to seek treatment abroad after he was shot 16 times, mostly in the lower abdomen, in an attack by unknown attackers in the administrative capital Dodoma in September that year.

#Tanzania

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🇸🇴 The regional head of the IS was killed in Puntland

In Somalia, the Puntland Autonomous Region forces have announced the elimination of the Islamic State's leader in the region. Abu Bara al-Amani was killed in a failed attack on a security garrison in Bari district. His associates were killed along with him. Al-Amani had been involved in planning attacks and recruiting.

Notably, the day before, the IS resources reported the first attack on security forces in Puntland in a long time. According to the group, one soldier was killed in the attack.

According to security forces, IS has one of its main operating bases in Puntland, where it attacks government forces and al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab fighters.

#Somalia

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🇩🇯 New details have been released regarding $1B deal to set up rocket and satellite launch site in Djibouti

The deal, signed by Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh, and the Chinese firm Hong Kong Aerospace Technology earlier this week, will pave the way to develop infrastructure for the planned site.

Construction could be finished as early as 2027, according to President Guelleh, and once the 30-year co-management contract with Hong Kong Aerospace Technology has ended, the infrastructure will be handed over to Djibouti.

Djibouti's proximity to the equator makes it an attractive location from which to launch satellites that can take advantage of Earth’s rotational speed and reduce the amount of fuel needed for their ascent.

In the wake of this deal African space experts have highlighted the fact that no African country has launched a satellite from Africa, but now there will possibility to do so.

#Djibouti

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🇫🇷🇪🇬 The Paris prosecutor's office didn't find evidence regarding the role of a French military mission in the deaths of civilians in Egypt

The unit for crimes against humanity of the Paris judicial court will not investigate the "Sirli" case. So decided the unit's prosecutor, to whom a complaint of crimes against humanity, complicity and torture had been sent against those responsible for the Egyptian-French anti-terrorist operation bearing that name.

Conducted during the second half of the 2010s in the desert area between Egypt and Libya, this mission seems to have caused the death of many civilians in air strikes. This is what the two American NGOs behind the complaint, Egyptians Abroad for Democracy and Codepink, claim.

The decision to dismiss the case was received by the organizations' lawyers a few days ago. The letter from the prosecutor mentions, by way of explanation, an "insufficiently characterized offence".

#France #Egypt

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🇿🇼 Zimbabwe police arrest 25 opposition members ahead of presidential election

Zimbabwean police on Saturday fired teargas at an opposition party gathering in Harare and arrested 25 of its members, including two members of parliament.

The arrests come after a wave of violence against opposition supporters in rural Zimbabwe.

Police confirmed the arrests of members of the Citizens Coalition for Change, Zimbabwe's main opposition political party, and said a detailed statement would be released following investigations."It was an unsanctioned gathering according to the local authorities. I am receiving numerous reports that people were beaten, we will release a full statement in due course," police spokesperson Paul Nyathi said.

#Zimbabwe

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