🇸🇳 Senegal court orders opposition leader Sonko to be reinstated on electoral list

A Senegal court has ordered jailed opposition leader Ousmane Sonko to be reinstated on the electoral register, a ruling that could pave the way for him to run in a February presidential election, Sonko's lawyer Cire Cledor Ly said.

"We have confidence in the justice system. This decision doesn't surprise us. We were just afraid that they might use force against us. But this country won't go anywhere if justice doesn't work," he said.

Sonko came third in Senegal's 2019 presidential election, and he is seen as a main opposition challenger in the race to succeed President Macky Sall.

#Senegal

@africaintel

🇿🇦 South Africa seeks bids for 7,615 MW of new power generation

South Africa launched three bidding rounds for 7,615 megawatts of new power generation from renewable energy, natural gas and battery storage, part of efforts to overcome record power outages crippling economic output.

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy said in a statement it had issued three requests for proposals (RFPs) for independent power producers to generate 5,000 MW of renewable energy, 2,000 MW from gas and 615 MW from battery storage.

To date 90 renewable energy projects have completed construction and are operational, adding 6,180 MW of capacity to the grid, while nine projects representing more than 1,000 MW are currently under construction, energy minister Gwede Mantashe said.

#SouthAfrica

@africaintel

🇸🇩🇸🇸 Sudanese fleeing conflict killed in South Sudan

Two men who fled conflict in Sudan have been killed in South Sudan after the vehicle they were travelling in was stopped at gun-point, the UN refugee agency says.

The vehicle was surrounded by armed youths who forced all the people onboard to alight. The gunmen then abducted and killed two men aged 21 and 62, the UNHCR said.

The motive is unclear, but the UN agency said the attack "puts into question our entire strategy" of transporting Sudanese refugees to a newly opened camp in Wedweil in northern Bahr el Ghazal state.

More than 438,000 people have arrived in South Sudan since conflict broke out in Sudan in April between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

#Sudan #SouthSudan

@africaintel

🇱🇷🇺🇸 Liberia minister hits back over US corruption allegations

Liberia's outgoing Finance Minister Samuel Tweh has dismissed as false US allegations that he was involved in "significant" corruption.

The US put him on a sanctions list on 11 December, barring him and his immediate family from entering the country.

Two lawmakers and their families were also placed on the list.

The three men were accused of "abusing their public positions through soliciting, accepting, and offering bribes to manipulate legislative processes and public funding”, the US Treasury said.

Tweh said they had been "summarily accused and rendered guilty without any due process of law". The decision to sanction them was intended to weaken the outgoing ruling party as it prepares to provide strong opposition to the incoming administration of Joseph Boakai, Tweah added.

#Liberia #USA

@africaintel

🌍 Pan-African company Jumia pulls out of food delivery service

Pan-African e-commerce company Jumia has announced that it will end its food delivery service by the end of the year because the business has proved to be unprofitable.

The decision affects all of the seven countries where it provides the service - Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Ivory Coast.

Jumia said in a statement that food delivery was "a business with very challenging economics", and it decided to focus on the physical goods side of the business, where mobile phones are the most ordered item on the company's platform.

Jumia was the first Africa-focused tech firm to list on the New York Stock Exchange in 2019 - about seven years after it was launched in Nigeria by two French entrepreneurs.

#Africa

@africaintel

🇳🇬💰 Nigeria "must take additional measures" for the economy said the World Bank

The World Bank recognises the efforts made by the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to improve Nigeria's economic situation, but insists on the need for further reforms, in a half-yearly report.

It is "time to turn the corner by implementing fiscal and monetary measures in the short and medium term", recommended Shubham Chaudhuri, the Bank's Director in Nigeria.

he institution is expecting "results" in the continent's largest economy, which is also one of the countries with the highest poverty levels.

Tinubu's reforms were "essential" and "going in the right direction", according to the World Bank, but "additional measures need to be taken", starting with remedying the "lack of transparency on oil revenues" and the gains made to public finances by the end of fuel subsidies.

#Nigeria #WorldBank

@africaintel

🇪🇹 Ethiopia asks bondholders for debt relief early

Ethiopia's finance ministry said on Friday that it was asking its international bondholders to offer early, "likely once and for all" debt relief, as it hurtles towards default having missed a coupon payment.

It said in a statement that it recognised risks to bondholders from the approach. It said it was ready to discuss "possible mitigants, including a loss reinstatement provision" that would return bondholders to their previous position if there was a need to renegotiate the agreement in the next two years.

#Ethiopia

@africaintel

🇨🇩🇺🇸 Eastern Congo ceasefire extended for two weeks, US official says

The parties to a ceasefire in parts of the eastern DR Congo have agreed to a two-week extension, according to a senior U.S. official.

"There has been a two-week extension to the ceasefire in eastern DRC," according to Reuters.

Such a deal, which was not previously reported and could not be independently verified with the parties, would come ahead of Democratic Republic of Congo's December 20 general elections.

However, even it proves real, previous ceasefire did not even last a day and was violated by both parties.

#DRC #USA

@africaintel

🇳🇬 Nigeria Supreme Court blocks release of separatist leader

Nigeria's Supreme Court on Friday overturned a judgment by a lower court that dropped terrorism charges against separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu, ruling that he should stay in detention.

Kanu, a British citizen who leads the banned Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), disappeared from Nigeria after skipping bail in 2017. He was arrested in Kenya in 2021 and charged with terrorism.

Supreme Court Judge Lawal Garba ruled that Kanu's seven-count terrorism trial at a lower federal court should continue.

Kanu's IPOB campaigns for the secession of a part of southeastern Nigeria where the majority belong to the Igbo ethnic group, and carries out many terrorist acts in the region. Nigerian authorities have labeled IPOB a terrorist organisation.

#Nigeria

@africaintel

🇿🇦 South Africa security forces ramp up clampdown on illegal miners

Security forces in South Africa have ramped up a clampdown on illegal miners.

On Thursday, dozens of army and police searched shacks, seizing mining equipment in the Soul City settlement near Kagiso, west of Johannesburg, AFP reporters saw.

More than 70 people, mostly undocumented migrants, were held over two days in the area, which lies near disused gold mines, the provincial police commissioner told.

Some were arrested for drug dealing and possession of illegal firearms, he added.

Along with high unemployment and illegal immigration, rampant crime has become a key political issue ahead of general elections next year.

President Cyril Ramaphosa revealed that over 250,000 arrests were made and 3,200 firearms seized since authorities launched a crackdown on criminality in May.

#SouthAfrica

@africaintel

🇲🇿🇫🇷 Mozambique signs $5 billion hydro-project accord with EDF-led consortium

Mozambique has signed an accord with a consortium led by French power giant EDF to build the new $5 billion Mphanda Nkuwa hydropower project, the government said, as it seeks to harness energy from one of Africa's largest rivers.

The dam and hydropower plant will be built along the Zambezi River in Tete province to the north of Mozambique, and will generate 1,500 megawatts of power in the first phase.

"This is the first concrete step for Mozambique to capitalise on the immense hydropower potential of the Zambezi River and the country's other energy resources," Mozambique Energy Minister said.

The winning consortium led by EDF consists of TotalEnergies and Sumitomo Corporation, and will develop, build and operate the Mphanda Nkuwa hydropower project.

#Mozambique #France

@africaintel

🇲🇿 Famous Mozambican journalist was murdered near capital

Mozambican journalist João Chamusse has been found dead outside his home on the outskirts of the capital, Maputo, in a suspected murder.

Local media say he was killed by unknown assailants and that neighbours heard him screaming for help in the early hours of Thursday.

Chamusse, the co-owner and editor of Ponto por Ponto, a privately owned online weekly newspaper, contributed commentary critical of the government on a local TV station.

The Committee to Protect Journalists says it is "deeply disturbed" by the killing of the journalist and calls authorities in Mozambique to "thoroughly" investigate the incident.

#Mozambique

@africaintel

🇹🇩 Campaigns end for Chad's referendum on new constitution

Campaigns for the forthcoming Chad constitutional referendum are expected to end on Friday.

On Sunday, Chadians will be voting in the referendum that is widely seen as a move to consolidate power by transitional leader Mahamat Deby.

The “yes” vote is expected to win the constitutional referendum after a well-financed campaign by the ruling junta against a divided opposition. Even the opposition leader Succes Masra has endorsed the draft constitution, giving legitimacy to the document and increasing the likelihood of its passage in the referendum.

For those calling on citizens to vote "yes", Chad should be a decentralised unitary state, arguing that a federation could further divide the country.

Those calling for a "no" vote are in favour of the country's transition to a federal state, saying that a federation could help the territories develop autonomously.

#Chad

@africaintel

🇷🇼 Rwanda eases nightlife restrictions for festive season

Rwanda's government has relaxed operating restrictions for bars, nightclubs and other entertainment establishments during the festive season.

The restrictions on all "non-essential services" were imposed in September by the authorities to curb "noise pollution" and public disturbance.

But the state-run Rwanda Development Board now says that between 15 December and 17 January bars can stay open until 02:00, with restrictions removed on Fridays, weekends and public holidays.

“The end of the year festive season has begun, and the government of Rwanda wants people to celebrate and enjoy,” the board said.

#Rwanda

@africaintel

🇸🇩 Sudan's RSF advances on Wad Madani as eight-month-old war spreads

Sudan's army was trying to hold off attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Friday near Wad Madani, a major city that had been sheltered from fighting and taken in hundreds of thousands of civilians during eight months of war.

Clashes in the area, about 170 km southeast of Khartoum, threaten to open a new front.

A takeover of densely populated Wad Madani, where some government and aid services have relocated, would likely trigger massive displacement and deepen a humanitarian crisis.

The RSF, a paramilitary force that has recently gained momentum with takeovers of major cities, said that it was seeking to destroy army strongholds and that citizens in Wad Madani and surrounding El Gezira state should be reassured.

#Sudan

@africaintel

🇸🇳 In Senegal 4 soldiers were killed in an anti-tank mine explosion

Four Senegalese soldiers were killed when their vehicle hit an anti-tank mine in Casamance — region plagued by the independence rebellion.

The incident, which also left "three injured", occurred "during a mission" in North Bignona, near the Gambian border.

For several months, the army has been carrying out security operations against rebels from the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) who are demanding the independence of this border region of Gambia and Guinea-Bissau.

#Senegal

@africaintel

🇳🇪 West Africa court orders reinstatement of ousted Niger leader Bazoum

A West African court ruled on Friday that the ousted president of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, and his family were arbitrarily detained and called for a return to democratic rule through his reinstatement.

The Niger coup was widely condemned, led to sanctions from the ECOWAS, and prompted widespread calls for Bazoum's release and his return to rule. Bazoum and his family referred their case to the ECOWAS Court of Justice in September.

Ecowas also has finally suspended Niger's membership after the ruling military junta refused to reinstate deposed Bazoum.

Another attempt by ECOWAS to gain a better bargaining position with Niger, nothing more. Especially considering the Bazoum was abandoned by France and the US.

#ECOWAS #Niger

@africaintel