Mozambique’s Zinave National Park has received nine female white rhinos from South Africa in a major conservation operation aimed at restoring the species more than 40 years after its local extinction, the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC) has reported.

The relocation was carried out by ANAC, the Peace Parks Foundation and Exxaro Resources, with support from the South African authorities. 

The restoration of the ecological system of the park started in 2022, “with the reintroduction of the first rhinos,” park administrator Antonio Abacar said.  

Abacar noted the transfer strengthens efforts to restore biodiversity and further reinforces Zinave’s position as Mozambique’s only national park home to the Big Five – the lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard, and rhinoceros. 

The arrival of the animals increases Zinave’s white rhino population to 39. The park is also home to 22 black rhinos, with both species now breeding in the reserve. 

“By returning the white rhinos to Zinave, we are not only guaranteeing the future of a keystone species, but also restoring the balance of ecosystems and creating investment opportunities in the wildlife economy,” Pejul Calenga, ANAC Director-General, said as quoted by AIM. 

Zinave National Park, established in 1973 in Mozambique’s southeastern Inhambane Province along the southern bank of the Save River, spans about 4,000 square kilometers and forms part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area linking protected ecosystems across Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. 

Other African countries have also been working to restore rhino populations lost to poaching. In April, Uganda began reintroducing southern white rhinos to Kidepo Valley National Park, 43 years after the species was wiped out there. The first two animals were moved from Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary as part of a phased plan to relocate eight rhinos, according to the Uganda Wildlife Authority. 

Sudan’s poverty rate has risen to 73%, its human resources minister said on Tuesday. 

Speaking during a press conference in Cairo, Sudanese Human Resources Minister Moatassim Ahmed Saleh announced plans to launch 500,000 youth projects and expand support for female-led businesses as part of efforts to create jobs and restore livelihoods.

Authorities have also established 15 partnerships to support female-led businesses.

In November, around 23 million people were living below the World Bank’s poverty threshold of $3.00 per day, Saleh estimated. “The poverty rate in Sudan rose from 21% to 71% due to the war, according to official reports,” he said. 

Saleh said the government has adopted a five-year plan for 2026-2030 aimed at supporting more than three million small businesses, with over 10,000 projects already prepared for beneficiaries. He also called on Sudanese living abroad to return and take advantage of economic opportunities.

The conflict has devastated local economies and forced millions to flee their homes. 

The poverty crisis has been exacerbated by the collapse of the Sudanese pound, which recently hit a record low against the US dollar. Banking expert Waleed Dalil told Sudan Tribune the currency’s decline reflects the broader impact of the war, which has crippled key sectors of the economy.

In April, Sudan Tribune estimated that direct drone attacks on civilian targets had killed between 480 and 500 people and injured more than 1,200 others since the start of 2026.

The Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak has spread to another health zone in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), raising the nationwide total of affected zones to 26, the country’s Public Health Emergency Operations Center (COUSP) reported on Tuesday.

As of June 9, the authorities confirmed two Ebola cases in the Tchomia health zone of Ituri Province. The area is situated on the shores of Lake Albert near the Ugandan border and is roughly 50 kilometers south of Bunia, the capital of Ituri Province.

With the addition of Tchomia, 18 of Ituri’s 36 health zones have now recorded Ebola cases. The affected areas include Aru, Aungba, Bambu, Bunia, Damas, Gety, Kilo, Komanda, Lita, Logo, Mambasa, Mangala, Mongbwalu, Nizi, Nyankunde, Rimba and Rwampara.

According to Health Minister Roger Kamba, DR Congo had registered 635 confirmed Ebola cases as of June 9.

In a separate update, the minister announced eight new recoveries, bringing the total number of people who have overcome the virus to 30.

Last week, the Congolese Health Ministry reported that 340 tons of medicine and medical supplies had been delivered to Ituri and North Kivu provinces through a World Bank-funded project, in addition to 150 tons previously transported with UNICEF support.

The agency's experts were among the first to arrive in Uganda in late May to assist the local authorities. Russian-developed PCR tests for the Bundibugyo strain and mobile laboratories have since been deployed in both Uganda and DR Congo.

The joint US-Israeli military strikes on Iran and Tehran’s regional retaliation could give the African Union (AU) an opportunity to cement its identity as a defender of the UN charter and international law, but, as African experts argue, it seems to have missed it.

Dr. Wafula Okumu, executive director of The Borders Institute, says the AU’s reaction to the Iran crisis clearly showed that the continental body suffers from what he describes as a “crisis of consistency”.

According to Okumu, the AU Commission chairperson’s “softly-worded” statement on the US-Israeli attack on Iran and its sharp condemnation of Iran’s reaction portrayed Africa as succumbing to “selective Chartersim,” a practice it has long condemned in others.

“The AU appeared not keen on outrightly calling out the US and Israel for attacking Iran. It seemed to be taking a safe and neutral position, but its reaction to Iran’s retaliation lacked the tone of a peacemaker,” Dr. Okumu told RT.

Dr. Okumu notes that the AU’s “unsettling silence” on the breach of Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter, which prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, appeared to be justifying the actions of the aggressors (the US and Israel) against the victim of the aggression (Iran).

He explains that by adopting a posture of neutrality between an aggressor and a victim of that aggression, the AU “inadvertently weakened the very legal norms it purports to uphold.”

“The AU was simply not bold enough to call out the US and Israel for infringing on the sovereignty of Iran,” he said.

‘The current geopolitical settings are confusing for Africa’

Nicodemus Minde, a peace and security governance researcher at the Institute for Security Studies in Nairobi, says Africa is good at the “art of selective application of principle’,’ especially in situations where powerful global players are the aggressors.

Minde argues that it was wrong for the AU to describe Iran’s retaliation as a violation of sovereignty, while failing to apply the same language when condemning the attacks by the US and Israel.

“The AU is a victim of unjustifiable inconsistency. There is nothing wrong with lawfully defending a victim against an aggressor. Africa must move from the periphery and be a bold, universal defender of the rule of law and sovereignty,” said Minde.

According to Minde, as much as it is right for the AU not to take sides in global crises, it is only right for it to side with the law while protecting its interests.

“The current geopolitical settings are complex and confusing for Africa, and the only thing that can shield Africa from being swallowed into the current global conflicts is by defending the law and speaking against violations committed by either the East or the West,” said Minde.

He called for the formulation of a common foreign policy among African Union member states to help the continent navigate shifting geopolitics with principled consistency.

Chepkorir Sambu, a peace and security researcher and law lecturer at Kenya’s Kabarak University, explains that for the AU to become an effective foreign policy actor on the global stage, it should firmly ground its actions in international law and consistently defend the UN Charter.

Sambu says the AU and its leadership should stop living under the unspoken fear of the US and other Western power players, and instead openly call them out when they are wrong.

“What the AU needed in the US-Israel versus Iran crisis was not taking a pro-Iran or anti-West stand, but simply being pro-rule-of-law. We cannot appear to be subtly supporting the actions of the aggressor while loudly condemning the victim,” she argues.

She added, “Africa must be explicit in reaffirming Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter on the prohibition on the use of force as the cornerstone of international law. A violation is a violation, whether being committed by the US or Iran.”

Sambu argues that the AU should apply the same legal and moral standard to all breaches of sovereignty, regardless of the actor. Condemning Iran’s retaliation is legitimate, but it is legally and morally incoherent without a prior, and equally strong, condemnation of the initial attack.

‘Africa has the power to be the voice of reason’

Dr. Okumu says the time is ripe for Africa’s voice to dominate the global stage and that it matters now more than ever, especially as the world fragments amid great-power competition.

He says Africa should speak with a clear, principled, and unwavering voice, and be part of the geopolitical shifts and realignments without fear.

“Africa, through the AU, must avoid the trap of political expediency and embrace the disciplined legal consistency that is the true source of its authority. The continent has the power to be the voice of reason on the globe, and that power must be exercised,” Dr. Okumu concluded.

Four African countries have taken steps to repatriate their citizens due to safety concerns in South Africa as tensions continue to rise.

This comes after an anti-illegal migrant group has been going around different cities across South Africa and has delivered a June 30 deadline for undocumented migrants to leave. 

On Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation amid growing tensions over illegal immigration. Ramaphosa announced that the Department of Home Affairs, the Border Management Authority (BMA), the South African Police Service (SAPS), and other law enforcement agencies will intensify efforts to identify and deport undocumented foreign nationals residing illegally in South Africa.

He said illegal immigration was not the cause of all the country’s challenges and problems, adding that immigration was a global issue and not one faced by South Africa alone.

Several countries have heeded the call of their citizens who do not feel safe in South Africa. 

Malawi

A total of 150 Malawian nationals began their journey back home from South Africa under a coordinated voluntary repatriation exercise, after the first two buses departed from the Western Cape on Saturday, June 6, 2026.

Upon arrival in Malawi, authorities say the returnees will undergo administrative processing and reintegration procedures as part of the government’s structured support plan.

Ghana

In a statement released on Monday, the Border Management Authority (BMA) confirmed that 663 Ghanaian nationals were processed for repatriation from South Africa to Ghana through OR Tambo International Airport over the weekend, with nine passengers later offloaded after being declared medically unfit to travel.

BMA spokesperson Mmemme Mogotsi said the repatriation process was coordinated through the Port Management Committee (PMC), comprising various government stakeholders responsible for facilitating lawful and orderly movement across the port of entry.

“On Saturday, June 6, 2026, a group of 332 Ghanaian nationals was brought to OR Tambo International Airport by the Ghanaian High Commission in Pretoria for repatriation,” Mogotsi said.

She said during immigration processing, 321 travellers were found to have overstayed their allocated period of stay in South Africa by 30 days or longer.

Mozambique

A group of 141 Mozambican nationals left South Africa on Sunday through the Lebombo Port of Entry, BMA confirmed. The repatriation operation was facilitated by the Embassy of the Republic of Mozambique in South Africa, which transported the individuals from Mossel Bay to the Lebombo Port of Entry using three buses.

“A total of 168 Mozambican nationals and one South African citizen arrived at the port for processing. The South African citizen was refused departure after indicating that he intended to accompany the group to visit family in the Republic of Mozambique without following the appropriate travel arrangements,” Mogotsi said. 

She said of the Mozambican nationals processed, 141 individuals, comprising 97 males and 44 females, were undocumented and were accordingly deported in terms of the Immigration Act.

Nigeria

The Nigerian government has confirmed it will be repatriating 1,000 of its citizens from South Africa; however, it has postponed flights until Wednesday, June 10.

According to a report from a local news channel, TVC News Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved five evacuation flights, and the first flight is expected to transport over 270 passengers. More than 500 people wishing to leave South Africa have been screened and cleared.

First published by IOL

A manhunt is underway in South Africa’s Gauteng province for the gunmen who opened fire in a marginalized residential area, killing at least 12 and injuring nine others, South African Police Service (SAPS) wrote on X on Wednesday. 

The attack took place late Tuesday night at Jumpers, an informal settlement in Cleveland, east of Johannesburg.

According to investigators, officers responding to reports of shots fired shortly after 11 PM local time found multiple victims suffering from gunshot wounds. Eleven people – eight men and three women – were declared dead at the scene, while another male victim died after being hospitalized. 

“At least nine other victims were transported to various medical facilities for treatment of gunshot wounds,” authorities said.

A large-scale manhunt is now underway, with detectives, forensic specialists and crime intelligence units deployed to track down those responsible. Authorities have not announced any arrests, and the motive behind the attack remains unclear as the investigation continues.

South Africa remains one of the world’s most violent countries despite a recent decline in crime. SAPS data for October–December 2025 shows that 6,351 people were murdered nationwide during the three-month period, an average of nearly 70 killings per day. 

#sapsGP [POLICE LAUNCH MANHUNT FOLLOWING MASS SHOOTING THAT CLAIMED 12 LIVES IN CLEVELAND]#SAPS in Gauteng has launched a manhunt for suspects following a mass shooting that claimed the lives of 12 people and left several others injured at Jumpers Informal Settlement in… pic.twitter.com/Pw7cH3M6of

— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) June 10, 2026

In addition, Gauteng province, where the latest mass shooting occurred, accounted for the highest number of murders nationwide, with 1,536 killings reported during the three-month period.

The government has stepped up efforts to tackle crime in recent months. In February, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced increased spending on peace and security, with funding set to rise from 268.2 billion rand ($14 billion) in 2025/26 to 291.2 billion rand ($16 billion) by 2028/29.

Russia intends to help Africa build a new economic order and remains committed to supporting the continent’s development, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has told RT.

Speaking during a visit to Moscow, Samia said Russia has historically supported African liberation movements and remains engaged in the continent’s development efforts. 

“Russia has an intention to support Africa to develop the new economic world order,” she stated. 

The president said relations between Tanzania and Russia are built on decades of cooperation dating back to the country’s independence. She noted that the Soviet Union was among the first states to recognize Tanzania and that the bilateral partnership is now entering a new stage focused on economic development.

The Tanzanian leader identified digital transformation as one of the most promising areas for future cooperation between the two countries. She said the government is prioritizing the expansion of online public services and is looking to strengthen technical expertise in a number of advanced industries.

Among Tanzania’s long-term goals is the development of nuclear energy capabilities based on the country’s uranium resources. Samia said the project will require highly qualified specialists, creating opportunities for cooperation with Russian educational and scientific institutions.

Agriculture is expected to become one of the main drivers of future trade growth, Samia said, adding that Tanzania is also seeking to attract more Russian visitors, with direct Air Tanzania flights between Moscow and Dar es Salaam expected to strengthen tourism and business ties.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s High Military Court has sentenced all 54 defendants to death in a long-running case involving the murder of two UN experts.  

The victims, investigator Michael Sharp, a 34-year-old American, and expert Zaida Catalan, a 36-year-old Swede, were killed in 2017 while investigating violence in the conflict-ridden Kasai region. The Congolese court found that the pair had been lured into an ambush, accused of being traitors, and executed.

The verdict was delivered on Friday at Ndolo military prison in Kinshasa. Among those convicted was former Congolese army officer Colonel Jean de Dieu Mambweni, who previously served on the staff of the 21st Military Region.

Mambweni was initially sentenced to ten years in prison in 2022 for failing to assist people in danger and disobeying orders. However, judges later concluded that he had played a direct role in arranging the operation that led to the deaths of the UN investigators. 

Sharp and Catalan were investigating reports of mass killings in Kasai when fighters linked to the Kamuina Nsapu militia stopped them at a bridge near the village of Moyo-Musila on March 12, 2017. They were then led into a remote wooded area, where they were killed. Their remains were found 16 days after the attack.

The death penalty is legal in DR Congo. Although courts continued to hand down death sentences, a de facto moratorium in place since 2003 meant they were routinely commuted to life imprisonment. The government ended the 21-year suspension of executions in March 2024, restoring capital punishment in practice.

Former Kenyan Chief Justice David Maraga was arrested alongside several activists during a protest against plans affecting Nairobi National Park, local media reported on Monday. 

Demonstrators opposed the proposed excision of a 75-acre section of the park, which is intended to make way for a parking facility capable of accommodating more than 1,000 vehicles, and a separate plan to relocate the Nairobi Animal Orphanage to a site near the Bomas of Kenya complex.

Maraga, who is running for president under the United Green Movement (UGM) next year, joined hundreds of protesters, arguing that protected land should not be altered without clear justification.

“Our national heritage and environment must be safeguarded from greed and unnecessary destruction without public participation,” Maraga wrote on X.

Reuters reported that riot police fired tear gas to disperse scores of demonstrators. Officers arrested at least nine people, including Maraga.

The dispute centers on Nairobi National Park, Kenya’s oldest national park, which was established in 1946. The protected area is home to lions, rhinos, giraffes and other wildlife, and has repeatedly been at the center of public campaigns against infrastructure and development projects.

The latest rally is not the first protest to hit Kenya in recent weeks. Last week, hundreds of people took to the streets of Nanyuki to oppose a proposed US Ebola quarantine facility at Laikipia Air Base. According to reports, two people were killed during the unrest.

On May 28, 2026, France’s National Assembly voted unanimously to repeal the Code Noir – the 1685 royal decree that institutionalized slavery across France’s colonies. Tears were shed at the podium, speeches vibrated with hard-won dignity. Then the doors of the Palais Bourbon closed, and nothing changed. It should be noted: The symbolic without the substance is nothing but memorial theater. France owes a debt it has never paid, and a unanimous vote, however moving, does not begin to settle it.

Two hundred and fifty-four deputies repealed a decree that reduced human beings to the legal status of ‘moveable goods’ to be bought, sold, inherited, and mutilated. The vote was unanimous. France rarely finds such unity, and here, that unity served above all to mask the emptiness that follows.

Let us be precise though: This document carried no legal force since the abolition of slavery in 1848. Repealing it in 2026 means removing a legal corpse from the statute books. Symbolically necessary, without question the persistence of these royal edicts in French law was, as Macron himself admitted, “a form of offense.” But presented as a major act of justice, this vote amounts to a political sleight of hand. France has not repaired. France has deleted a line of text.

The question of reparations burns conspicuously on the lips of the bill’s rapporteur, Max Mathiasin, who chose to address it in a “broader framework” – a phrase that, in the vocabulary of French politics, has historically meant ‘not now, not here, perhaps never’. The debate took place, we should note, a few steps from a marble statue of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the minister of Louis XIV who drafted the Code Noir. He has not been moved.

“What does it mean to repeal the Code Noir in 2026 if the overseas territories continue to be viewed from Paris as distant peripheries?” Emeline K/Bidi, a French lawyer and politician who represents Reunion’s 4th constituency in the assembly, said.

In 2001, the Taubira Law recognized the transatlantic slave trade and slavery as ‘crimes against humanity’. It was a landmark achievement, fought for over years against significant political resistance. Twenty-five years on, what remains of that recognition? An annual commemoration on May 10. Presidential speeches. And a republic that still names streets, schools, and public buildings after the men who organized the deportation and torture of millions of human beings.

Here lies the unbearable paradox of the French Republic: It acknowledges the crime, votes to repeal its founding texts, and in the same breath continues to honor those who designed the system.

The Haitian affair

To understand the full scale of France’s unredeemed debt, one must look at Haiti. In 1825, under direct threat of military bombardment, French King Charles X extorted from the young Haitian Republic of the first free Black nation in the world, born from the only successful slave revolution in history, an “independence debt” of 150 million gold francs.

Some figures: 150 million gold francs imposed on Haiti in 1825 = 16× the country’s GDP.

90 million gold francs was the “renegotiated” amount in 1838, still ruinous.

Over a century of financial subjugation to French creditors – €0 in reparations paid by France to descendants of enslaved people to date.

The enslaved and their descendants were thus forced to compensate their oppressors. France compelled the victims to pay their torturers. This post-colonial extortion locked Haiti into structural financial dependence for more than a century. The Haitian people having already paid with their blood and their freedom were made to pay again with their future.

France remains one of the nine states, along with the UK, to have voted against the 2022 UN Human Rights Council resolution 51/32 calling on states to deliver restorative justice for slavery and colonialism. It is a deliberate political choice.

France also abstained, alongside the UK and EU states, when the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in March recognizing the transatlantic slave trade and the enslavement of Africans as among the gravest crimes against humanity.

Slavery is not ancient history. It lives on in the poverty rates of Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Reunion, in unemployment figures that systematically exceed those of metropolitan France, in the persistent health and educational disparities that no post-war republic has managed or truly tried to close.

Martinican activist Dieudonnee Boutrin, a descendant of enslaved people, said it plainly after the National Assembly vote: “It changes nothing. Black people are still looked at the same way.” She called for a “real reparations program,” funding for education, the active transmission of history, and the dismantling of systemic racism. Not symbolism, but structural, funded, accountable change.

As French Green MP Steevy Gustave stated, “No vote alone can repair centuries of shattered lives. We are not descendants of slaves. We are descendants of human beings born free, then reduced to the worst – reduced to slavery.”

What can actually be done

Acknowledging Haiti’s debt can open a negotiated restitution process in direct consultation with Haitian civil society. A national reparations fund should be established for descendants of enslaved people in France’s overseas territories, covering education, economic development, and public health. An independent commission of historians, jurists, and community representatives should be set to quantify the harm and propose binding measures. The statues honoring the architects of slavery beginning with Colbert at the Palais Bourbon, should be removed, while history of slavery and colonization should be integrated into national school curricula as a core chapter of French identity, not a footnote.

The vote of May 28, 2026 was necessary, long overdue, and genuinely moving for those who lived it. But it has already been co-opted, turned into a showcase for a Republic that watches itself perform goodness without ever paying the price of its guilt.

Restorative justice is a moral, legal, and political obligation. France should choose whether to remain permanently in the theater of the symbolic or to finally enter the era of repair.

South Africa’s Border Management Authority (BMA) has intensified screening and surveillance measures at ports of entry to prevent the Ebola virus from entering the country, as a deadly outbreak continues to spread across parts of Central Africa.

The outbreak has claimed at least 61 lives and resulted in 359 cases, with the vast majority concentrated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

As health authorities work to contain transmission and communities grapple with fear, disruption and uncertainty, concerns have been raised about the potential risk to neighbouring countries. However, the BMA has moved to reassure South Africans that screening and monitoring systems remain active and vigilant at all ports of entry.

“BMA Port Health Officials implement necessary screening measures at the Ports of Entry which include monitoring of conveyances arriving from international arrivals, and in this case, priority will be given to flights from the affected countries (DRC and Uganda) to ensure compliance with International Health Regulations (2005),” said spokesperson Mmemme Mogotsi.

“Should Port Health identify any suspected or ill traveller on arrival, the Provincial Department of Health in that particular province will be notified, which will then trigger a coordinated response to that case or suspected traveller,” she said.

According to health expert Dr Angelique Coetzee, South Africans should remain concerned but not alarmed. “The number of suspected cases has now dropped significantly after investigations ruled out many people who initially appeared to fit the case definition,” she said.

However, she warned that the World Health Organisation’s primary concern is not necessarily the current number of cases, but the circumstances surrounding the outbreak.

“What the World Health Organisation is most concerned about is not so much the current numbers, but the late detection of the outbreak, the ongoing conflict and insecurity in these affected areas,” Coetzee said. She highlighted the challenges facing containment efforts, including population movement across borders and difficulties accessing some affected communities.

She added that the risk to the average South African remains low, although health authorities must remain vigilant when assessing travellers arriving from affected regions. “Ebola is fundamentally different from Covid-19. Ebola generally requires direct contact with bodily fluids.”

Coetzee said there was no need for panic, but stressed that continued vigilance, strong public health systems and international cooperation would be essential as the outbreak evolves.

First published by IOL

South Africa has announced a sweeping new crackdown on illegal immigration, including faster deportations, tougher penalties for employers hiring undocumented migrants, and tighter border controls. 

On Sunday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said authorities would set up dedicated courts to handle immigration cases and speed up the deportation of undocumented migrants.

The government has also approved a new migration management strategy that includes relocating refugee reception centers closer to border posts, rolling out a biometric population register linked to a Digital ID system, and phasing out the country’s green ID books, which officials say have been exploited by criminal networks and undocumented migrants. 

Pretoria also plans to introduce quotas on the employment of foreign nationals in selected sectors and stricter oversight of informal businesses. 

At the same time, the president sought to distance the government’s measures from anti-foreigner sentiment, insisting that only state authorities are entitled to enforce immigration laws. 

Ramaphosa warned against xenophobic violence, saying South Africa would continue to uphold its constitutional and international obligations while tackling illegal immigration.

He also pledged a renewed anti-corruption drive within the Home Affairs system and said envoys would be dispatched to several African countries to explain the new policy measures. 

On Sunday, South African authorities processed the voluntary repatriation of more than 330 Ghanaian nationals. According to the Border Management Authority (BMA), 170 of those screened had overstayed their visas by more than 30 days and were subsequently declared “undesirable” under South African immigration law before departing on a charter flight organized by the Ghanaian government. 

Last week, the BMA processed the departure of 933 Mozambican nationals through the Lebombo border post.

The Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) has surpassed 500 confirmed cases, according to the latest figures released by the National Institute of Public Health. 

On Sunday, the authorities recorded 515 confirmed infections and 91 deaths across the provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu, bringing the overall case fatality rate to 17.7%. More than half of all patients remain under isolation or hospital care, while only 12 people have officially recovered.

The epidemic remains overwhelmingly concentrated in Ituri province, which accounts for 487 of the 515 confirmed cases – nearly 95% of the total. 

The outbreak is being fueled by a combination of insecurity, population displacement, and cross-border movement, the authorities stated. The DR Congo declared the epidemic on May 15, marking the country’s 17th recorded Ebola outbreak since the virus was first identified there in 1976. Later, the WHO classified the Bundibugyo strain detected in the country and neighboring Uganda as a public health emergency of international concern. There is currently no approved vaccine.

In addition, the agency reported 16 confirmed cases and one death in neighboring Uganda.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and Africa CDC announced a joint $518 million Ebola preparedness and response plan for Africa, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday. The program will focus on emergency coordination, disease surveillance, laboratory testing, infection control, patient care, community engagement, and logistics support.

“This plan is designed for the period from June to November of this year,” Tedros said.

The joint project “gives the continent a clear path to act with speed and unity to save lives, support the affected countries, and protect neighboring communities,” Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya said.

Four suspects are expected to appear in the Welkom Magistrate’s Court in South Africa’s Free State province, following their arrest for attempting to sell an endangered pangolin for R80,000 ($5,000).

The suspects, aged between 47 and 62, face charges of contravening the National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004 and the Animals Protection Act 71 of 1962.

A pangolin is a solitary, nocturnal mammal easily recognised by the tough, overlapping keratin scales that cover its body.

Pangolins are considered the world’s most heavily trafficked wild mammals. They are poached for their meat and scales, which are highly sought after on the black market for use in traditional medicine, pushing the species toward extinction.

Head of the Hawks in the Free State, Major General Mokgadi Bokaba, commended the officers for the swift arrest of the poachers and ensuring that the endangered species do not face total extinction.

First published by IOL

One quarter of the world’s population will be African by mid-century, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan said on Friday.

Speaking at the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, Hassan highlighted Africa’s growing demographic and economic weight.

“By 2050, one in four human beings on this planet will be African,” she said in her opening remarks. “Africa will be the only continent still adding workers to the global labor force on a large scale. Africa will host nine of the world’s 20 fastest-growing economies.”

Hassan also pointed to the potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area, saying that once fully implemented it would become the world’s largest market by population. The agreement, signed in 2018, seeks to create a continent-wide free trade zone by easing the movement of goods, services, and investment across all 55 African Union member states.

Africa is destined to grow. 

UN projections show the global population reaching 9.66 billion by 2050, with Africa accounting for roughly 2.5 billion people.

According to UN data, fertility rates across Europe averaged about 1.4 births per woman in 2023, well below the replacement level of 2.1.

The trend has also become a major concern for Russia, where the fertility rate stood at 1.4 in 2024. In response, Moscow has introduced a range of measures aimed at boosting births, including direct payments to mothers, expanded maternity benefits, and additional financial support for families.

Starting Monday, Russia will also launch new tax relief programs for families with two or more children.

Сlashes erupted in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu for a second consecutive day on Thursday, as security forces and opposition supporters exchanged fire ahead of a planned anti-government rally.  

Residents reported heavy gunfire, explosions, and civilians fleeing affected neighborhoods, while no official casualty figures were immediately released. 

Former Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire accused government forces of attacking opposition representatives in Mogadishu on Wednesday. In a post on X, Khaire claimed President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud had ordered security forces to target opposition gatherings. 

“We are under attack. For the second time in less than 24 hours, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has directed armed forces against our peaceful gatherings,” Khaire wrote.  

“The incidents were not the organization of peaceful public demonstrations, but rather coordinated armed acts that directly threatened the security, order and stability of the capital,” AP reported the police as saying. 

Fighting eased later on Thursday after mediation efforts involving Somalia’s intelligence chief and Khaire reportedly produced an agreement to halt hostilities.  

The rally was intended to protest what opposition leaders describe as constitutional violations and President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s alleged efforts to extend his grip on power. Tensions escalated after Mohamud announced in May that he would remain in office until May 2027, a move that critics say undermines Somalia’s political process. 

Algeria, Nigeria, and Niger have launched a new phase of construction aimed at completing the Algerian section of Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP), a major energy project designed to carry Nigerian gas to international markets through North Africa, APS reported on Thursday. 

The ceremony took place in Algeria’s Adrar region and was attended by senior officials from the three countries. The event came a day after the project’s steering committee approved the final feasibility study and endorsed its recommendations, clearing the way for the next stage of implementation. 

First proposed more than 15 years ago, the 4,000-kilometer pipeline is designed to transport between 20 and 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually from Nigeria through Niger to Algeria, where it would be linked to existing infrastructure for delivery. The project has been stalled primarily by security concerns across the Sahel region, compounded by financing challenges and shifting regional politics. 

“This project means a lot to the three countries in terms of industrialisation and job creation,” Ekperikpe Ekpo, Nigerian minister of state for petroleum resources, said as quoted by The Sun.  

The move comes after Algeria and Niger agreed in February to restart work on the long-delayed project following talks in Algiers between Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Niger’s military leader Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani. Tebboune said at the time that construction would resume after Ramadan, with Algeria’s state energy company Sonatrach leading implementation. 

Africa is seeking investment and equal partnerships, Tanzania’s minister for Planning and Investment in the President’s Office, Kitila Mkumbo, has said.

Speaking at the Russia-Africa Business Dialogue at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) 2026 on Thursday, Mkumbo argued that the continent has much to contribute to the global economy and can be a full-fledged partner.

“We are tired of constant sanctions and repeated aid cuts, but we are not interested in aid alone. We want to build partnerships, we want investment,” he said.

Mkumbo stressed that African countries are undergoing a transformation that could make them some of the world’s fastest-growing economies in the coming years. He also called for deeper economic cooperation with Russia, saying Moscow has an important role to play in Africa’s development. 

A recurring theme throughout the discussion was Africa’s drive for greater sovereignty across key sectors, including food security, logistics, finance, and digital infrastructure.

PhosAgro CEO Alexander Gilgenberg pointed to a challenge facing African agriculture: Soil nutrient deficiencies. He said many African soils lack boron and zinc, adding that the company offers fertilizer solutions tailored to these needs. 

Gilgenberg stressed the importance of improving farmers’ knowledge of fertilizer use, noting that PhosAgro has been working with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization to provide training and education programs for farmers across the continent.

Addressing the continent’s energy needs, Nikita Gusakov, the senior vice president of the Russian Export Center, said Moscow is ready to support African countries through both major power infrastructure projects and smaller-scale generation solutions.

“Overcoming the energy deficit is a fundamental condition for industrialization and improving quality of life. Russia is ready to help meet this need,” Gusakov said.

The 29th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is being held June 3-6.

South Africa’s Border Management Authority (BMA) says it has successfully processed the repatriation of 933 Mozambican nationals through the port of Lebombo on Wednesday.

BMA spokesperson Mmemme Mogotsi said 349 of those processed originated from the Lindela Holding Facility and were transported by the Department of Home Affairs through its deportation programme, while the remaining 584 travelled from Mossel Bay through arrangements facilitated by the Mozambican High Commission.

Mogotsi said the operation was coordinated through an integrated approach involving BMA Immigration Services, Port Health Services, Law Enforcement and Border Guard functions, working in collaboration with the Department of Home Affairs, the Department of Social Development, the South African Police Service and Mozambican authorities.

“All travellers underwent the required immigration processing, including identity verification, biometric checks and immigration status assessments, in accordance with South African immigration legislation and border management procedures,” she said.

Mogotsi said 38 minors formed part of the group and were processed with the assistance of the Department of Social Development to ensure compliance with all applicable child protection and cross-border movement requirements.

“As part of the BMA’s mandate, all persons were screened and processed in accordance with health, security and immigration protocols before being permitted to proceed through the Port of Entry,” she said.

Mogotsi said 926 individuals successfully departed South Africa for Mozambique at the conclusion of the operation. However, seven individuals were not permitted to depart following immigration processing and verification.

“These cases included individuals who did not meet the prescribed requirements for cross-border movement, individuals whose nationality or immigration status required further verification, and cases involving minors where the required supporting documentation was not available,” she said.

“The management of cross-border movement must be conducted in a manner that is lawful, orderly and consistent with South Africa’s immigration framework”.

He said the BMA remains committed to facilitating legitimate travel while ensuring compliance with immigration legislation and safeguarding the integrity of our ports of entry.

‘‘We will continue to work closely with our regional counterparts to promote safe, orderly and regular migration, while protecting the security interests of South Africa and the region,” he said. 

Meanwhile, the Government of Malawi said it was preparing a voluntary repatriation programme for Malawian nationals affected by recent attacks and demonstrations targeting African migrants in parts of South Africa.

“The Government will soon commence a voluntary repatriation exercise for Malawian nationals that have requested Government support for their return home,” the ministry said, stressing that the programme would be voluntary and only available to citizens who had requested assistance.

First published by IOL

On June 3-6, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan is paying a state visit to Russia and taking part in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

In recent years, Tanzania has been a growing priority for Russia, which is unsurprising: it is a politically stable country with access to the Indian Ocean, a rapidly growing economy, and significant resource potential. Moreover, Russia has a long history of contacts with this part of East Africa, which began long before the current rapprochement.

A Zanzibar native’s journey through the Russian Empire

One of the first official documents establishing contacts between Russia and the territories of modern-day Tanzania was the 1896 agreement on trade relations between the Russian Empire and the Sultanate of Zanzibar – the center of the Swahili civilization and Indian Ocean trade networks. The document defined privileges in trade and the possibility of appointing consuls.

However, the Russian Empire’s interest in Zanzibar became apparent even earlier: in 1892, after the Brussels Anti-Slavery Conference, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs discussed the Russian Empire’s participation in the work of the International Bureau in Zanzibar and the possibility of establishing a permanent diplomatic agency there.

In Selim’s notes, Moscow is depicted as a major trade center, with goods from Syria, Persia, and Bukhara. He was interested in markets, merchants, prices, carpets, karakul fur, skins, silver, tea, roads, hunting, climate, and Muslim communities. He was amazed by the white nights in St. Petersburg, the Volga River, the Siberian banya (steam sauna), the sudden changes in weather, and the presence of Muslims in the distant land of the ‘wazungu’ (Swahili for ‘whites’).

In Samara, Barnaul, and other places, he recorded the locals’ reactions to seeing a black man for the first time. “In Altai, the peasants greeted my bwana (Swahili for ‘master’) who rode in front, but not in the same way as me; they greeted me as if I were the sultan himself... I am black, they had never seen anyone like me, so they thought I was the master.”

Relations with the USSR: Socialism, education, and geology

The political history of relations began in the era of decolonization. In December 1961, Tanganyika gained independence, and diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union were established almost immediately. Events unfolded even more dynamically in Zanzibar. In January 1964, a Marxist revolution took place there, leading to the fall of the sultanate and the establishment of the People’s Republic of Zanzibar.

Revolutionary Zanzibar quickly came to the attention of Moscow. Contacts existed even before the revolution. Soviet publications, including those in Swahili language, were distributed in the archipelago, and young Zanzibaris were sent to the USSR to study – among them was the future prime minister of Zanzibar, Abdullah Kassim Hanga. After the revolution, a group of Soviet military specialists and translators were sent to train Zanzibari troops at the Chukwani camp.

The country’s first president was Julius Nyerere (previously president of Tanganyika) – one of the most prominent African leaders of the decolonization era, an intellectual, publicist, and the author of the concept of ‘Ujamaa’ (Swahili for ‘brotherhood, unity’). In 1967, this policy was enshrined in the Arusha Declaration that outlined the principles of African Socialism and Self-Reliance.

Nyerere’s socialism was deeply rooted in the notions of communality characteristic of many African societies. Moscow viewed Nyerere’s ideas with caution. In the 1960s, the Soviet Union saw ‘Ujamaa’ as an independent African model of socialism that was markedly different from the Marxist-Leninist ideas familiar to Moscow and partly consonant with the Chinese socialist experience.

Under Nyerere, Tanzania pursued an independent foreign policy and was not perceived by the USSR as a direct ally. On several occasions, the positions of Dar es Salaam and Moscow diverged considerably: for example, Nyerere supported Biafra in the Nigerian conflict and condemned the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. However, the differences did not lead to a rupture of relations. On the contrary, Nyerere’s proactive foreign policy, aimed at supporting anti-colonial movements throughout Africa resonated with Moscow.

By the early 1970s, Dar es Salaam became one of the largest centers of African liberation movements, with representatives of Mozambique’s FRELIMO, Namibia’s SWAPO, South Africa’s ANC, and other organizations operating there. Tanzania’s stance in the struggle against colonialism and racist regimes was met with respect in Moscow. It became an important partner of the USSR in East and Southern Africa.

In the following decades, the two countries developed ties in the fields of education, technology, medicine, geology, and military cooperation. Education became one of the most notable areas of cooperation. By the time the USSR collapsed, at least 1,599 Tanzanian citizens had graduated from Soviet universities and technical institutes. Some of the graduates went on to become well-known political figures and renowned specialists in the social and humanitarian fields.

Esther Daniel Mwaikambo, Tanzania’s first female doctor, received her medical degree from the Patrice Lumumba Peoples’ Friendship (RUDN) University in Moscow. She later became one of Tanzania’s leading pediatricians, a professor, and the organizer of several major medical initiatives.

Another important initiative was the training of technical personnel. In 1969, the USSR and Tanzania signed an agreement to send Soviet teachers to Tanzanian schools and colleges. Soviet specialists worked in the secondary education system, helping equip educational institutions and train local personnel. In 1986, with Soviet assistance, Mbeya Technical College, which still operates today, was opened in the city of Mbeya in the south of the country.

In 1969, Tanzania signed an agreement with the Soviet association Technoexport to conduct large-scale geological exploration. Soviet specialists mapped territories in the central and western parts of the country, as well as prospected for gold and non-ferrous metals in the Lupa and Mpanda districts.

The 1975 World Bank Mining Sector Review called this contract the largest project of its kind undertaken by Tanzania at that time. Technoexport’s estimate for the Lupa region was 33,988 kg of ore gold, approximately 1.1 million ounces.

Modern-day ties: From wheat to uranium

After the collapse of the USSR, bilateral relations saw a significant decline. However, the human and professional ties built over the previous decades did not disappear. Specialists educated at Soviet universities continued to work in Tanzania, and contacts between graduates remained. Russia has also maintained the long-standing tradition of teaching the Swahili language. The Russian Center for Science and Culture (Russian House) has operated in Tanzania since 1990.

In the late 2010s, Russia’s general engagement in Africa grew, and Tanzania – a large and politically stable country with a rapidly growing population, access to the Indian Ocean, reserves of gas, gold, coal, and uranium, and the potential to develop transport corridors deep into the continent – was seen as a natural partner.

Trade flowing through the Dar es Salaam, Tanga, and Mtwara ports that link the coast with Zambia, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and other countries in the region makes Tanzania an important part of East Africa’s economic connectivity and explains interest in it as a potential logistics hub for the re-export of Russian goods.

Political contacts have also intensified. Tanzania participated in both Russia-Africa summits (in 2019 and 2023). Russian and Tanzanian representatives hold regular talks on energy, agriculture, geology, healthcare, and personnel training.

In February 2026, Tanzanian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Thabit Kombo visited Moscow and held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, conveying a message from Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan to the Russian leadership. In May 2026, the third meeting of the intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation was held in Arusha. Direct flights between Moscow and Zanzibar will be launched this year.

Trade structure also remains narrow: grain and fertilizers constitute the bulk of Russian exports. In 2024, Russian wheat exports to Tanzania reached $252 million, accounting for approximately 67% of Tanzania’s imports in this category, while fertilizer exports totaled $37 million, or approximately 10% of Tanzania’s total fertilizer imports. However, there are also long-term economic projects, primarily in the field of mineral extraction.

The largest Russian project in modern Tanzania is the Mkuju River uranium project in the Ruvuma region. It is being carried out by Mantra Tanzania, a subsidiary of Uranium One Group and its parent shareholder, the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom.

The project has a long history: a mining license was obtained back in 2013, and in July 2025, Rosatom announced the launch of a pilot uranium ore processing facility which is expected to reach full capacity by 2029. In Tanzania, it is considered one of the most promising mining projects. It is developing in a fairly competitive environment: Tanzania traditionally works with a wide range of external partners – from China and Western countries to regional and international financial institutions.

Such is the foundation of Tanzania’s approach to external relations: encouraging cooperation without sacrificing independence. This approach, expressed in a desire to develop relations with various external partners while maintaining room for individual choice, was established under Julius Nyerere and has been maintained throughout the country’s relations with the USSR, China, Western countries, and nations in the region.

Nyerere himself formulated this approach in a clear way: “No nation has the right to make decisions for another nation; no people for another people.” This concept remains important for Russia-Tanzania relations to this day. Historical memory, the Soviet educational legacy, and political sympathy create favorable conditions for cooperation, but do not replace its practical aspects.

A planned Ebola treatment center in Kenya should be available to all patients in need rather than exclusively serving US citizens, Nigerian professor of virology Oyewale Tomori has told RT. 

Addressing reports that Americans infected with Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) could be treated in Kenya, the chairman of the West Africa National Academy of Sciences said he had no concerns about the facility’s ability to safely contain the virus. However, he argued that access to treatment should also extend to Kenyans and others in the region. 

“If that center is open, it should be open to everybody, not just Americans,” Tomori said. “If any Kenyan gets any infection, it should be treated in that place.” 

Tomori suggested that treating Ebola patients in Kenya rather than the US could be justified by shorter transportation times, allowing patients to receive care more quickly. 

The comments come amid protests over the proposed US Ebola quarantine facility at Laikipia Air Base near the central Kenyan town of Nanyuki. Despite a Kenyan High Court order halting the project, Reuters reported, citing an anonymous US official, that around 20 flights carrying medical equipment and specialist personnel landed at the base between May 23 and May 31.

The death toll from an attack by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist militant group that originated in Uganda, has risen to 21 in the town of Mbau, located in North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo). 

The increase in casualties follows the discovery of additional bodies on the outskirts of the town in the aftermath of the assault, a local news agency reported on Thursday. 

Mbau came under a deadly attack overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday. According to preliminary accounts collected by local outlet Actualite from survivors, ADF fighters operated in three separate groups during the raid. 

The militants reportedly targeted the neighborhoods of Matete, Kithoho, and Mamuli, where they also set fire to homes and motorcycles. 

According to the publication, ADF militants have killed more than 40 people in attacks across the town of Mbau and the wider territory of Beni over the past three days. Several civilians were also abducted during the assaults and remain in captivity. 

The latest violence comes as the DR Congo continues to face a worsening security crisis. The M23 rebel group remains in control of parts of the country, contributing to ongoing armed clashes and deepening humanitarian challenges. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised ties with Tanzania as developing “intensively,” as he welcomed his counterpart from the African nation, Samia Suluhu Hassan, for talks in Moscow on Wednesday. 

Putin noted that this year marks the 65th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries, adding that bilateral trade increased by 25% last year and stressing that economic cooperation should continue to expand. 

According to the Russian leader, opportunities for growth exist across a range of sectors, including energy, geological exploration, transport, logistics, healthcare and education.

“[Bilateral relations] have always developed at a good level and intensively,” Putin said. He noted that the Tanzanian president had chosen Russia for her first state visit abroad after taking office in November. 

She also expressed gratitude for Russia’s role in Africa’s liberation movements and stressed Moscow had made an important contribution to Tanzania’s development over the decades.

“We [Tanzania] have been working with Russia to date and with the much development we are talking in my country, Russia has got a great contribution on it,” the Tanzanian leader said.

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s visit to Russia this week elevates relations between the two countries to a new level, reflecting the rapid growth in bilateral cooperation in recent years, Andrey Maslov, head of the Center for African Studies at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics, has said.

Speaking to RT, Maslov noted that Tanzania has maintained an independent political course for decades, resisting outside interference and preserving key elements of its socialist legacy after the 1990s.

“Tanzania successfully combines rapid economic growth with political resilience and stability,” he said.

Strong economic performance is supported by growth in tourism, agriculture, mining, and transport, the expert noted, adding that “tourism alone generates nearly $4 billion annually” and other sectors “continue to steadily expand.” 

Maslov pointed to tourism as one of the main areas in bilateral relations. Around 17,000 Russian tourists visited Tanzania last year, he said, adding that flows are expected to multiply when direct Air Tanzania flights are launched between Moscow and Zanzibar from July 2. 

Speaking about the Mantra uranium project in southern Tanzania, which is being developed by the subsidiary of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, Maslov noted that the Tanzanian authorities and President Samia Suluhu Hassan personally “have secured all the necessary conditions for its implementation, paving the way for the birth of a new uranium mining industry in the country.” 

Maslov also highlighted expanding cooperation in standardization, certification, and pharmaceutical production.

At the same time, he warned that rising import costs remain a key challenge for Tanzania amid the ongoing crisis in the Persian Gulf, which has pushed up fuel and fertilizer prices. 

“Fortunately, Tanzania remains largely independent of food imports. At the same time, the nation ranks among the continent’s leaders in digitalization and financial sector development,” he added.

Samia’s trip marks the first visit by a Tanzanian leader to Moscow in more than half a century. The previous high-level visit took place in October 1969, when Julius Nyerere, the first president of the African state, traveled to the Soviet Union.

The US is preparing to drastically scale back visa services across Africa, reducing the number of diplomatic missions authorized to process applications from nearly 50 to just 20, the Associated Press reported on Monday, citing the State Department.

According to the report, US diplomats and consular officials were informed last week that visa operations would be consolidated into a limited number of regional hubs as part of a broader restructuring of consular services on the continent.

While non-hub embassies and consulates will remain open, they will reportedly focus on services for US citizens, emergency consular assistance, diplomatic visas, and select cases deemed to be in the national interest.

Responding to the planned overhaul, the State Department told AP it regularly reviews overseas operations to ensure resources are aligned with US priorities and national interests. 

The move is part of the Trump administration’s wider effort to tighten immigration controls. Citizens of 11 African countries already face a complete suspension of both immigrant and non-immigrant visas, effectively barring general entry into the US.

In March, Somali immigrants and advocacy groups sued the Trump administration over its decision to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalia. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced in January that conditions in the country had improved sufficiently to terminate the designation, which had been in place since 1991 due to the conflict involving the Al-Shabaab militant group. TPS allows eligible foreign nationals to temporarily live and work in the US if they are unable to return safely to their home countries.

South Africa’s new vehicle market maintained its upward momentum in May, recording its strongest monthly sales performance since 2013, the country’s automotive industry association has said.

According to the Automotive Business Council, aggregate new vehicle sales increased by 12.8% year-on-year to 51,071 units. The result extended the market’s run of consecutive monthly growth and kept year-to-date sales firmly in positive territory.

Passenger car sales rose 16.3% to 36,871 units. Dealer sales accounted for 90.1% of total volumes, while the vehicle rental industry contributed 5.3%, indicating demand across multiple sales channels.

Despite the positive sales momentum, Sithole warned that affordability pressures are likely to remain a key consideration for households and businesses.

The South African Reserve Bank increased the repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.00% at its May meeting, pushing the prime lending rate to 10.50%.

Sithole said higher monthly repayments could affect affordability, particularly for first-time buyers and smaller business operators, and encouraged consumers to fully understand the impact of interest rate changes before entering into finance agreements.

Fuel costs are also expected to place additional pressure on consumers. Petrol prices are set to increase from 4 June, driven by movements in global oil prices and the partial reversal of temporary fuel levy relief introduced in April.

While higher financing costs and fuel prices may weigh on demand, the vehicle market has shown resilience through a challenging economic period. Improved household and business confidence, ongoing vehicle replacement cycles and fleet renewal activity continue to support sales across segments.

First published by IOL

Hundreds of Kenyans gathered in the streets of the town of Nanyuki on Monday to protest a proposed US Ebola quarantine facility at Laikipia Air Base. 

Video shows groups of young protesters marching toward the entrance of the air base while chanting anti-Ebola slogans. Demonstrators also blocked roads and set tires on fire. According to the BBC, two people were shot dead during the unrest. 

The demonstrations took place just days after Kenya’s High Court ordered a halt to the US-supported plan. The facility was intended to accommodate American citizens who may have been exposed to the virus, as part of an effort by the Trump administration to keep the disease out of the US. 

Washington’s announcement in parallel of a new Ebola aid plan, made as the outbreak continues to spread in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), prompted a legal challenge from the Katiba Institute. According to the US Department of State, the US wants to allocate $13.5 million to strengthen Kenya’s readiness to respond to a potential outbreak. 

On Sunday, Kenyan Health Minister Aden Duale said that the planned quarantine facility was intended to serve “everyone” and would not have been reserved solely for US citizens. 

Meanwhile, healthcare experts in the US, including former officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), urged the US Congress on Monday to overturn the initiative. In a letter to lawmakers, the experts warned that the project presents “significant clinical, ethical, operational and legal challenges.” They said that establishing temporary quarantine and treatment facilities abroad while response efforts are already strained could set a “dangerous precedent.” 

On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) reported that a total of 1,077 suspected cases and 246 probable deaths had been recorded since May 15, when DR Congo declared its 17th Ebola outbreak. The epidemic has been attributed to the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there are currently no approved vaccines or targeted treatments available. 

Russian wheat exports to Kenya have climbed 10% year-on-year this season, the Russian agriculture export agency Agroexport reported on Monday.

According to the agency, shipments reached around 1.4 million tons by late May, already surpassing the roughly 1.3 million tons delivered during the entire previous season. The current figure is second only to the record 1.7 million tons shipped in the 2023/24 season.

“Kenya remains one of the key markets for Russian wheat suppliers in Africa,” accounting for about 7% of the country’s grain exports to the continent, the agency reported.

The figures come amid broader growth in Russia’s agricultural trade with Africa. Last week, Agroexport adviser Alexander Yakuba said Russian agricultural exports to African countries have increased by 22% over the past five years, exceeding $5 billion in 2025.

Russian wheat exports to Egypt rose 19% this year, while supplies to Sudan jumped 78%. Shipments to Cameroon reached 137,000 tons worth $32 million in 2025, up 3.2 times year-on-year, while exports in the first four months of 2026 totaled 93,000 tons valued at more than $20.5 million, according to the agency.

Separately, analysts at railway operator Rusagrotrans have told Interfax that the leading importers of Russian wheat are the MENA countries, “where it is difficult to compete with Russia due to its logistical proximity to these markets.”

The South African Department of Home Affairs has dismissed as fraudulent a notice circulating on social media that falsely claims residents of Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State province, can receive rewards of up to R5,000 ($300) for reporting undocumented foreign nationals.

The notice, dated May 26, 2026, was addressed to “all citizens and residents of Bloemfontein” and purported to have been issued by immigration authorities. It claimed members of the public could qualify for monetary rewards for information leading to the identification, location or apprehension of undocumented migrants.

However, Home Affairs has categorically denied the authenticity of the document.

“The notice currently circulating is fraudulent and did not originate from the Department of Home Affairs,” the department said in a post on X. 

FAKE NEWS ALERT: The notice currently circulating is fraudulent and did not originate from the Department of Home Affairs. Neither the Department nor the Minister of Home Affairs offers monetary rewards to members of the public for reporting undocumented foreign nationals.

We… pic.twitter.com/HCWjviKABF

— HomeAffairsSA 🇿🇦 (@HomeAffairsSA) May 29, 2026

It further clarified that neither the department nor the Minister of Home Affairs offers monetary rewards to members of the public for reporting undocumented foreign nationals.

“We encourage the public to verify information through official channels before sharing it. Let us all play our part in promoting accurate information, responsible engagement, and respect for the rule of law,” Home Affairs said.

The fake notice has emerged amid ongoing national discussions around immigration enforcement and undocumented migration, issues that have frequently generated heated debate on social media platforms.

The department warned that the circulation of false information can fuel public confusion and undermine trust in official government communications.

Home Affairs has advised the public to rely on its verified communication platforms for official announcements and updates.

First published by IOL

Ethiopians began voting on Monday as the country launched its seventh general election, with voters electing members of the federal parliament and nine regional state councils. 

Polling stations opened at 6 AM nationwide, with long queues forming early as citizens headed to cast their votes, local news agency ENA reported.

More than 54 million people are registered to vote in the election. Over 10,000 candidates from 42 political parties, including the ruling Prosperity Party led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, are contesting seats at the federal and regional levels, with voting taking place at roughly 52,000 polling stations across the country.

Voting is not being held in the Tigray region due to ongoing instability following the 2021-2022 conflict, while polling in eight constituencies in Amhara has been suspended because of security concerns related to the Fano armed group.

#Ethiopia The process has officially started - Uhuru Kenyatta Head of the African Union Election Observation Missio pic.twitter.com/SUs2qnMhkI

— Mohamed N Jama Hawd And Reserve Area (@Mahamed81443729) June 1, 2026

Some opposition figures have questioned the competitiveness of the election. Merera Gudina, a veteran opposition politician and leader of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), told the BBC that his party was participating only “symbolically” and primarily to avoid losing its legal registration. Mistreselasie Tamrat, secretary of the Coalition for Ethiopian Unity (CEU), said opposition parties had been unable to campaign effectively in the Amhara and Oromia regions due to a lack of what he called “enabling conditions.”

Ethiopia is a parliamentary republic, meaning the composition of the federal parliament will determine the formation of the next government and the selection of the prime minister. Speaking to African Initiative news agency, Andrey Khrenkov, a senior researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that the most likely outcome is the preservation of the dominant position of Abiy’s ruling Prosperity Party.

As China doubles down on its economic presence in Africa, the relationship is entering a new phase that goes beyond bricks and mortar.

The Beijing Action Plan 2025-2027 includes support for 30 infrastructure connectivity projects across Africa, while countries such as Kenya and Uganda are already reviving Chinese-backed transport links, such as the Standard Gauge Railway extension and the Rironi-Mau Summit highway toward the Uganda border.

For analysts watching the continent’s financial future, these developments matter not only because they move goods but also because they may create the commercial architecture for a parallel payment system built around China’s Digital RMB (digital yuan/e-CNY), potentially giving African economies a faster, less dollar-dependent way to trade.

The Western-dominated global payments system, centered on SWIFT and intermediary banks, has long been criticized for high transaction costs, delays, and vulnerability to geopolitical pressure. But as China expands its digital cross-border payment system while deepening ties with Africa, analysts say the platform could mark a significant shift in how the continent moves money across borders.

Michael Owuor, a development and transnational organized crimes expert based in Nairobi, observes that for many countries in Africa, China’s digital yuan is “slowly redefining traditional geo-commerce relationships by providing alternative financial platforms for trade.”

“For African economies, this new cross-border platform has the potential to accelerate regional and continental trade systems, reduce exposure to Western-controlled financial systems and politically engineered economic sanctions, and strengthen financial inclusion that the continent has been yearning for,” said Owour, who works at the Global Centre for Policy and Strategy (GLOCEPS), a think-tank based in Nairobi, Kenya.

According to Owuor, for Africa, a region that is deeply integrated into China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and is increasingly reliant on digital financial solutions, the digital yuan offers diverse opportunities.

“This platform is part of China’s broader push to make it easier for global businesses and consumers to transact directly in yuan without defaulting to reserve currencies like the US dollar,” Owuor told RT.

Faster and cheaper

Owuor notes that the grounding of China’s digital yuan in blockchain technology can make cross-border settlements faster, cheaper, and more transparent.

“Digital RMB’s blockchain-driven architecture reduces cross-border settlement times to mere seconds, unlike traditional SWIFT transactions, which often take 3-5 business days and involve multiple intermediary banks. This results in high fees at each stage of payment processing and delays in executing transactions,” Owuor told RT.

The digital RMB platforms cut settlement times to near real-time and can reduce costs by 40-60% or more.

Further, Owuor argues that its efficiency is particularly transformative for developing economies where cross-border payment delays and high costs have long hindered trade, investment, and capital transfer.

“The embedded smart contracts in this system automatically enforce regulatory requirements, reduce risks of fraud, and enhance transparency,” he adds.

Joseph Kimotho, a Nairobi-based independent consultant and development finance specialist, argues that punitive economic actions by the Trump administration towards Global South countries have “inadvertently spurred demand for alternative financial platforms”.

“It is no secret that there is growing skepticism towards the US dollar’s dominance in global trade. Washington’s weaponization of the tariff policy as a tool for economic and political sanctions makes the Digital RMB a promising and welcoming option,” Kimotho told RT.

Kimotho suggests that China’s payment system offers an alternative, particularly for countries “seeking to insulate themselves from US sanctions and dollar dependency” while securing their presence in international trade.

“This is likely to inform action by central banks in the Global South to hold the yuan as part of their foreign reserves,” he supposes.

‘Africa must guard against over-reliance on a single currency’

Isaac Shinyekwa, head of trade and regional integration at the Kampala-based Economic Policy Research Centre, notes the entry of digital Yuan into Africa could catalyze its integration with continental payment infrastructures, such as the Pan-African Payment and Settlement Systems (PAPPS).

“The entrenchment of PAPPS in regional and continental trade, coupled with strategic collaboration with the RMB cross-border payment platform, could enable African nations to bypass SWIFT for intra-regional transactions while reducing costs and delays,” he told RT.

Shinyekwa adds that efficient cross-border payment systems are imperative for the Africa Continental Free Trade Area, which aims to create a single market of 1.3 billion people.

“The Digital RMB’s speed and low cost could facilitate faster capital movement and thus boost intra-African trade. The adoption of it by Africa could accelerate regional integration, reduce exposure to US sanctions, and enhance financial inclusion and commerce,” Shinyekwa said.

“It is imperative to carefully navigate regulatory, technical, and geopolitical challenges and opportunities, including users’ and country data rights. Africa must guard against over-reliance on a single currency or system, thus avoiding new forms of financial dependency,” Owuor concludes.

Ghana’s parliament has approved legislation introducing prison terms of up to five years for individuals who promote, sponsor, or advocate LGBTQ activities, while also banning the funding of related groups and initiatives.

The Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, also known as the Anti-Gay Bill, would also impose prison terms of up to three years for people engaging in same-sex relations, as well as sentences ranging from three to five years for those found to be promoting, sponsoring, or deliberately supporting LGBTQ activities. The legislation, which was approved on Friday, is expected to be signed into law by Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama.

Parliament first passed the bill in February 2024 and forwarded it to then-President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for assent, but the legislation ultimately did not become law.

The legislation has also drawn condemnation from abroad. In 2024, the US said it was “deeply troubled” by the decision, which “would threaten all Ghanaians’ constitutionally protected freedoms of speech, press, and assembly.”

Ghana’s move follows similar developments elsewhere in Africa. In April, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye signed a law tightening penalties for same-sex relations and criminalizing the promotion and financing of homosexuality. The legislation has been criticized by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk as “harmful.” It increases prison terms for what authorities describe as “unnatural acts” from one-to-five years to five-to-ten years, and raises maximum fines to 10 million CFA francs (around $17,680).

In 2023, a similar law was passed in Uganda, making it illegal to identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer. In response, Washington imposed travel restrictions on officials from the East African country and expelled it from a duty-free program.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has visited the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), which is currently battling a severe Ebola outbreak. 

The outbreak began in DR Congo’s northeastern Ituri Province around two weeks ago. To date, it is believed to have claimed the lives of 223 people, with 906 suspected cases reported, according to estimates by the WHO.

Ghebreyesus met with senior officials and expressed confidence that the country is fully capable of containing the latest outbreak. The WHO chief warned other nations against border closures and travel bans, which have been implemented by several countries in the region, arguing that such measures only “discourage transparency.”

The WHO chief urged local residents to exercise caution when burying victims of the outbreak and to seek medical help early if they display symptoms.

The optimism expressed by the WHO chief, however, has been met with skepticism from independent observers and humanitarian groups. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) pointed to the unusually rapid spread of the disease, saying its teams on the ground have witnessed “a response that has not yet caught up to the rapid spread of the epidemic.”

“Two weeks after the declaration of the Ebola outbreak in Ituri Province, the situation is deeply alarming and a legitimate source of anxiety for communities and frontline health workers alike. Never before has an Ebola outbreak recorded so many cases so soon after its declaration,” MSF Deputy Director of Operations Alan Gonzalez said, warning that “nobody knows the true scale and severity of this outbreak.”

The outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain of ebolavirus, a rare and highly lethal variant with a reported mortality rate of between 25% and 50%. No approved vaccines or specific treatments exist for the strain. The virus is believed to spread through direct contact with infected bodily fluids.

The leader of South Africa’s opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, Julius Malema, has labelled ongoing marches against illegal immigration as “Afrophobia,” saying migrants from the continent are not responsible for the country’s unemployment crisis and service delivery problems.

“Poor Africans from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Nigeria, Somalia, or elsewhere on the continent are not responsible for unemployment, inequality, or collapsing public services,” Malema said.

He was speaking at the South African Communist Party’s (SACP) Conference of the Left in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni, on Friday.

Malema said the conference convened at a decisive historical moment characterised by economic instability, political uncertainty and what he described as the visible collapse of the global capitalist order.

According to him, global capitalism no longer attempts to justify itself morally or philosophically. Malema argued that societies organised around commodification reduce people to “mere cogs” in the pursuit of profit, leading to ecological destruction, racism, misogyny, militarisation, xenophobia and authoritarianism.

He said millions of workers remained trapped in debt despite being employed, while young people obtained education only to face unemployment.

Turning to South Africa, Malema argued that while political apartheid had ended, “economic apartheid” remained intact through unequal land ownership, financial concentration and white control of strategic sectors of the economy.

Malema said crime, gender-based violence, drug abuse, gangsterism and social decay could not be separated from unemployment and economic insecurity. He criticised what he described as superficial analysis that blamed migrants for South Africa’s problems.

He added that the future of African liberation depended on continental solidarity, regional industrialisation and coordinated resistance against global systems of extraction and dependency. Malema also addressed tensions between the ANC and the SACP following the formation of the Government of National Unity after the 2024 general election.

Relations between the alliance partners have deteriorated sharply since the SACP criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC leadership for including the DA and FF Plus in the GNU.

The SACP has also announced plans to contest the upcoming local government elections independently, while maintaining it is not leaving the tripartite alliance.

Among those attending the conference were representatives of the MK Party, Pan Africanist Congress, AZAPO, United Africans Transformation, NUMSA and SANCO.

First published by IOL

Kenya’s High Court halted a US-backed plan to build an Ebola quarantine facility at the country’s Laikipia Air Base intended for Americans potentially exposed to the virus.

The court order on Thursday came shortly after Washington announced a new initiative, as the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) continues to spread. According to the US Department of State, Washington plans to commit $13.5 million to support Kenya’s Ebola preparedness. 

The petition filed by Kenya’s Katiba Institute argues that the project could create a public health risk in a country that has not reported any Ebola cases. The court certified the application as urgent after the petitioner alleged an “imminent threat to life” if interim orders were not granted, according to the court decision.

The US has taken other measures to limit the risk of Ebola spread. Washington recently imposed emergency entry restrictions on foreign nationals who had visited DR Congo, Uganda or South Sudan, while US citizens returning from those countries could only enter through Washington Dulles International Airport.

The outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain of the virus and has raised concerns across the region because there are currently no approved vaccines or targeted treatments available.

However, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday reported the first confirmed recovery of the outbreak. The agency’s technical officer Anais Legand said that a patient who tested positive for Ebola recovered and was discharged from hospital on May 27 after receiving two negative test results.

At least 16 schoolgirls have been killed and dozens injured after a fire tore through a dormitory at a boarding school in Kenya, the authorities have said.

The blaze broke out shortly after midnight on Thursday at Utumishi Girls’ Academy Senior School in the town of Gilgil, Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen confirmed.

The fire started at around 12:45 AM in a second-floor dormitory housing students at the school, which has an enrollment of more than 800 girls. Seventy-nine students were injured in the incident and taken to hospital. Most have since been discharged, while seven remain hospitalized in stable condition, Murkomen said.

Emergency crews, including county security teams and firefighters, managed to bring the blaze under control by about 3:00 AM.

The identification of the victims is ongoing with the involvement of health officials and investigators from the DCI.

Kenyan President William Ruto expressed condolences to the victims’ families, saying the country is mourning the loss of young lives.

“Our hearts and prayers are with the families who have lost their beloved daughters,” Ruto wrote on X. He added that the government’s priority is assisting survivors and supporting affected families while investigators work to determine the cause of the fire.

The tragedy is the latest in a series of deadly school fires in Kenya that have repeatedly raised concerns over safety standards in boarding schools. In September 2024, at least 21 boys were killed after a dormitory caught fire at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri County. The victims, aged between ten and 14, were asleep when the blaze broke out.

South Africa recorded 989,329 international tourist arrivals in April, marking the country’s strongest monthly year-on-year tourism growth so far this year despite ongoing global aviation disruptions linked to the conflict in the Middle East.

Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille on Wednesday welcomed the sharp increase in visitor numbers, with the latest Statistics South Africa International Tourism Report showing arrivals surged by 19.5% compared to April 2025.

The April figures pushed total international arrivals for the first four months of 2026 to 3 899 358, an increase of 14.1% compared to the same period last year. This translates to an additional 482 935 international arrivals between January and April.

“This is our highest monthly year-on-year increase since the start of the year,” said De Lille.

The minister pointed to strong growth from several international markets, particularly Singapore and Brazil. Arrivals from Singapore increased by 70.5% to 938 visitors in April, while Brazil recorded a 37.5% rise with 5 953 arrivals.

The tourism sector is also expected to receive a boost from new international air routes scheduled to launch in the coming months.

Brazilian carrier LATAM Airlines is set to introduce three weekly direct flights between São Paulo and Cape Town in July, after bringing forward its original September launch date because of increased demand.

The latest tourism data shows consistent monthly growth throughout the year so far. South Africa recorded 1 133 533 international arrivals in January, followed by 864 534 in February and 911 962 in March.

The Tourism Ministry said the continued growth reflects the resilience of South Africa’s tourism industry despite mounting pressure on global aviation networks and rising travel costs internationally.

First published by IOL

Russia has historically maintained close ties with Africa, head of the African Union’s Counterterrorism Research Center, Idriss Mounir Lallali, has told RT. 

African countries and Moscow share common principles, including sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of states, values that resonate strongly across the continent, Lallali stated.

“Russia has historically been very close to Africa, whether it is through the liberation movements, whether it is through capacity building training, military doctrine, exchanges with African member states,” he said.

Uganda’s ambassador to Russia, Moses Kizige, told RT that Moscow supports Kampala in areas ranging from security to immigration systems and personnel training.

Oita Etyang, head of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), argued that African countries must increasingly rely on their own capacities and resources, while remaining open to support from international partners.

“It is important now that we start looking at ourselves inwardly, mobilize our own resources, and then we can get support, additional support from Russia and other partners,” he noted.

The comments were made on the sidelines of the International Security Forum held from May 26 to 29 in Moscow, where more than 180 delegations from foreign states and international organizations were represented.

The US is ramping up efforts to prevent Ebola from reaching the country, as concerns grow over an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), where the disease has caused a suspected 220 deaths.

Speaking at President Donald Trump’s cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration is determined to stop the virus from entering the country.

“We cannot and will not allow any cases of Ebola to enter the United States,” Rubio said, describing the outbreak response as “the number one priority of our foreign policy.”

Rubio said the US has “surged assistance” to contain the outbreak overseas, and that several federal agencies are coordinating efforts to track potential carriers before they reach the border.

According to Reuters, US officials are in talks with Kenya about opening a facility to isolate Americans exposed to the virus in the region.

“Any arrangements regarding international health cooperation will be guided by Kenya’s national laws, public health regulations, biosafety and biosecurity standards, and the government’s responsibility to safeguard the health and welfare of Kenyans,” Duale said in a statement.

The discussions come as Washington introduces emergency restrictions targeting foreign nationals who recently visited DR Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan. US citizens returning from these countries are only allowed to enter through Washington Dulles International Airport. This follows reports that an American doctor who tested positive for Ebola while working with a medical group in DR Congo is being treated at a hospital in Germany.

Around 300,000 traditional health practitioners in South Africa remain effectively unregulated due to years of delays in implementing key provisions of the law, creating a prolonged regulatory failure in the sector, the South African Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Health said on Tuesday.

The committee said the failure to operationalise the Interim Traditional Health Practitioners Council of South Africa has left a legal and regulatory vacuum nearly two decades after the Traditional Health Practitioners Act of 2007 was passed.

Committee chairperson Faith Muthambi said the situation was no longer acceptable.

”It cannot be acceptable that Parliament passed legislation in 2007, established a statutory council in 2014, and 12 years later the core provisions of that law remain unimplemented,” Muthambi said.

MPs warned that the absence of regulations and a functional national register means there is no effective system to verify or monitor practitioners, leaving communities exposed to unregulated and potentially harmful practices.

Lawmakers said the funding model, which assumes financial sustainability through registration fees, is unrealistic given that many practitioners operate in economically vulnerable and rural communities.

The committee further raised concerns over what it described as the council’s inability to demonstrate measurable progress in regulating the sector or protecting indigenous knowledge systems.

It also flagged the lack of integration of traditional medicine into broader health reforms, including the National Health Insurance framework, and the absence of dedicated budgets for research, intellectual property protection and product development.

Public safety concerns were also highlighted, including continued reports of fraudulent medical certificates and the inability to take action against unregistered practitioners.

”The non-existence of a practitioner register renders the council unable to fulfil its core mandate of protecting the public,” the committee said.

”When individuals are appointed to an institution, they inherit its history and its failures. Accountability does not reset with new appointments,” Muthambi said.

The Department of Health and the council told MPs that delays stemmed from regulatory backlogs, procurement challenges and capacity constraints, and confirmed that an amendment bill is being processed to formalise the council and extend its mandate.

However, the committee rejected the explanations as insufficient and has demanded detailed written submissions, including financial statements, regulatory timelines and a clear implementation plan to establish a fully functional authority.

First published by IOL

Another airport has opened in Ethiopia as the government continues its drive to expand regional air links.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Wednesday officially inaugurated the new Negele Borena Geda Airport in the south of the country, marking Ethiopian Airlines’ 24th domestic destination, according to his statement on X.

The new airport is designed to handle larger and more advanced aircraft, including the Boeing 737 Max. Ethiopian Airlines is expected to begin operations immediately, with three weekly flights.

Abiy said the project is aimed at improving access to the southern region.

“Every new runway we build bridges a gap, unlocks regional economic potential, and brings our people closer together,” the prime minister stressed.

The inaugurated airport is one of four new domestic airports Ethiopian Airlines announced earlier this year as part of a broader expansion drive aimed at improving connectivity across the country.

In March, local media reported that the carrier planned to launch new hubs in Negele Borena, Gore Mettu, Mizan Aman, and Debre Markos. Ethiopian Airlines CEO Mesfin Tasew said the projects would expand the airline’s domestic network from 23 to 27 destinations.

The expansion comes as Ethiopia advances plans for Bishoftu International Airport, which is expected to become Africa’s largest aviation hub. Construction began in January after the mega-project was unveiled in 2025 to ease growing pressure on Addis Ababa Bole International Airport.

Health authorities across Africa are struggling to contain an Ebola outbreak, centered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo).

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 900 suspected Ebola cases have now been registered across the DR Congo, including 101 laboratory-confirmed infections. In neighboring Uganda, health authorities have confirmed five cases and one death linked to the virus.

Although the WHO continues to assess the international threat level as low, it has raised the risk assessment inside the DR Congo from “high” to “very high.”

The outbreak has revived international concern not only because of Ebola’s deadly reputation, but also because it involves the rare Bundibugyo strain.

The latest outbreak has primarily affected eastern regions of the DR Congo, where healthcare systems already face pressure from armed violence, mass displacement, and limited infrastructure.

The WHO has classified the outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern, reviving memories of past Ebola epidemics that overwhelmed fragile healthcare systems and triggered international alarm.

The current epidemic, officially declared on May 15, is the DR Congo’s 17th recorded Ebola outbreak since the virus was first identified in 1976. The virus was first detected during two simultaneous outbreaks – one near the Ebola River in what was then Zaire, now the DR Congo, and another in Nzara, in present-day South Sudan.

How dangerous is the Ebola virus? 

During outbreaks involving the Zaire strain, fatality rates have historically reached between 70% and 90%.

The second-largest Ebola epidemic in history occurred in the DR Congo between 2018 and 2020. The outbreak was also caused by the same Ebola virus strain. According to final WHO reports, 3,481 cases were recorded in the eastern provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, while 2,299 people died during the epidemic.

What is the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola?

The Bundibugyo virus is among the rarest known forms of Ebola, first identified in Uganda in 2007. However, according to the WHO, fatality rates in previous Bundibugyo outbreaks ranged between 30% and 50%, which is lower than for the Zaire strain.

What makes the current outbreak concerning is the absence of an approved vaccine and therapeutics targeting this strain. As of 2026, two WHO-approved Ebola vaccine regimens –  Ervebo and Zabdeno/Mvabea –  are available globally, both developed specifically against the Zaire strain.

Several countries have also developed national Ebola vaccines and vector-based analogues, including Russia’s GamEvac-Combi vaccine, officially presented in January 2016 as a combined vector-based preparation for the prevention of Ebola hemorrhagic fever caused by the Zaire strain of the virus.

The virus is carried by fruit bats and spreads through direct contact with infected animals or bodily fluids from infected individuals. Symptoms of Bundibugyo virus disease include fever, severe headaches, muscle and body pain, weakness, fatigue, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, and loss of appetite. In severe cases, patients may also experience unexplained bleeding or bruising.

Governments across Africa and beyond have introduced measures aimed at preventing the virus from spreading across borders. 

Rwanda has temporarily closed its border with the DR Congo, while Burundi, Zambia, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, and Burkina Faso tightened health screening and sanitary monitoring procedures. Uganda also suspended flights to neighboring DR Congo following the outbreak.

Several countries outside Africa have imposed travel restrictions or expanded medical controls. Bahrain, the Bahamas and Jordan suspended entry for travelers arriving from affected states, while Thailand introduced temperature screening and 21-day health monitoring for passengers arriving from the DR Congo and Uganda. Vietnam and Indonesia have also stepped up health screening measures.

Canada announced plans to suspend immigration documents for residents of the DR Congo, Uganda, and South Sudan for 90 days, including previously approved visas and electronic travel authorizations.

The US introduced emergency restrictions targeting foreign nationals who recently visited the DR Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan. American citizens returning from those countries are permitted to enter only through Washington Dulles International Airport, where additional health checks have been implemented.

The UN has allocated $60 million from its emergency response fund to help contain the outbreak.

The WHO has reported the delivery of 11 tonnes of emergency medical supplies to support Ebola response operations in the DR Congo. The agency has already allocated $3.9 million from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies.

African officials have increasingly emphasized the need for continent-led coordination rather than relying solely on outside intervention.

Uganda has backed a proposal by the Africa CDC to establish a continental Ebola response coordination hub in Kampala. During talks on Friday with the organization’s director general, Jean Kaseya, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni endorsed plans for an Incident Management Support Team designed to coordinate surveillance and outbreak response efforts across the continent.

“Ebola only becomes deadly when there is lack of attention. Otherwise, it is very manageable,” Museveni said.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has also warned that the outbreaks in the DR Congo and Uganda pose a serious regional threat, calling for stronger cross-border coordination. “Ebola does not respect borders,” he noted.

Which countries are most at risk from Ebola?

Kaseya said ten African countries are currently considered at high risk because of their geographic proximity and regional mobility links with the affected states. They include Kenya, South Sudan, Rwanda, Zambia, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Angola, and Burundi.

According to Africa CDC, nearly $500 million has been committed or pledged during a high-level virtual ministerial briefing on Monday convened by the organization together with the African Union to coordinate Ebola response efforts in the DR Congo and Uganda.

Officials endorsed a continental preparedness and response plan requiring at least $319 million between June and November 2026 to strengthen outbreak control.

Ramaphosa announced that Pretoria had doubled its contribution to Africa CDC’s Ebola response to $5 million, while the Gates Foundation pledged an additional $5 million to Africa CDC and $10 million to the WHO.

Russia has pledged logistical and epidemiological assistance to African countries affected by the outbreak. Russia’s public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, announced that Russian specialists would travel to Uganda to conduct an epidemiological investigation and support the country’s Health Ministry.

The current assistance builds on earlier Russian-backed health initiatives in East Africa. In 2024, Russia transferred a mobile anti-epidemic laboratory to Ugandan authorities, enabling rapid diagnostics of dangerous infectious diseases. The laboratory was already used in 2025 during efforts to contain a previous Ebola outbreak.

Russian medical experts have also trained more than 80 Ugandan specialists in infectious disease surveillance, laboratory diagnostics, disinfection procedures, and biological safety standards.

In 2025, Rospotrebnadzor and Ethiopia’s Health Ministry conducted simulation exercises aimed at improving Africa’s readiness for epidemiological emergencies, including rapid-response coordination and the use of Russian-supplied mobile laboratories.

Russia has also supplied Burkina Faso with a mobile laboratory capable of processing hundreds of tests daily for more than 20 infectious diseases. Moscow additionally provided technical and epidemiological assistance to Rwanda, the DR Congo, Guinea, and Ethiopia during mpox outbreaks that affected parts of Africa in 2024.

South Africa is launching a biometric employee verification system to eliminate “ghost workers” from the public payroll after fraudulent salary payments reportedly cost taxpayers R3.9 billion ($215 million) in 2025. 

The online system, set to go live on 15 June 2026, will be rolled out across national and provincial departments for an initial two-month verification period. It forms part of government’s broader digital transformation drive to strengthen accountability, improve data integrity, and safeguard public funds.

According to the Department of Home Affairs, the platform is built on its advanced trusted digital identity verification systems and is directly linked to the national population register. It will use biometric authentication and liveness detection technology to confirm that public servants on the payroll are real, active individuals.

The initiative is expected to provide National Treasury with a more accurate and secure mechanism to verify employee records across the public service, reducing the risk of fraudulent or duplicated payments.

Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber said the platform could deliver substantial savings and improve oversight across government payroll systems.

”If used consistently, this platform has the power to save South African taxpayers billions of Rands by leveraging the power of enhanced biometric systems to identify ghost employees and others involved in defrauding government payrolls,” Schreiber said.

He added that the project demonstrates how the department’s broader reform agenda is reshaping the state’s capabilities through technology.

”The application of the digital capabilities our reform work is now consistently delivering to this new use case, demonstrates that the digital transformation of Home Affairs is laying the foundation for an entirely rebuilt state, with the benefits being felt widely across government and society,” he said.

First published by IOL

Senegal’s National Assembly has elected former Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko as its speaker after he regained his seat as a lawmaker.

Sonko, the leader of the ruling PASTEF party, secured 132 votes out of 133 cast on Tuesday, with one abstention and no votes against. 

The vote makes Sonko the second-highest-ranking state official and head of Senegal’s 15th legislature. He replaces El Malick Ndiaye, who resigned as speaker days earlier amid a broader political reshuffle initiated by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye.

On the same day, the Senegalese presidency confirmed Ahmadou Al Amine Lo’s appointment as the new prime minister. Lo, a 60-year-old economist, has been part of Senegal’s government since April 2024.

He initially served as minister and secretary-general of the government before being appointed minister of state overseeing the implementation and evaluation of the country’s long-term development strategy, Senegal 2050.

The changes follow a dramatic shake-up at the top of Senegal’s government. On Friday, Faye signed a decree formally ending Sonko’s tenure as prime minister and dismissing the entire cabinet, including ministers and state secretaries. The outgoing government was instructed to continue handling routine affairs until a new cabinet is formed.

No official explanation has been given for the dismissals.

Sonko had stepped down from his parliamentary seat after becoming prime minister in April 2024, following Faye’s presidential election victory. Once seen as the main opposition challenger in the 2024 race, Sonko was barred from running after a defamation conviction.

Moscow backs Africa’s push for reparations from former colonial powers, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said at a reception marking Africa Day in Moscow. Lavrov framed the issue as part of a broader struggle against neocolonialism.

Speaking to African diplomats and officials on Monday, Lavrov argued that former colonial powers continue to profit from the continent’s vast natural resources while African nations remain dependent on foreign-controlled financial and industrial systems. 

He welcomed the African Union’s decision to extend its 2025 theme focused on “justice for Africans and people of African descent through reparations.” According to Lavrov, Moscow sees the campaign as an attempt to restore “historical justice” and eliminate the legacy of colonial rule.

He referred to a recently adopted UN resolution recognizing the transatlantic slave trade as “the gravest crime against humanity.” The measure secured support from 123 countries, including Russia and China, while the US, Israel, and Argentina voted against it, and 52 nations – among them the UK and EU members – abstained.

The Russian foreign minister also highlighted expanding trade ties, security cooperation, education programs, and diplomatic outreach between Russia and the continent. Russia has opened embassies in Niger, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan over the past year, with more missions planned in Gambia, Liberia, Togo, and the Comoros.

His remarks came as African countries marked Africa Day, celebrated annually on May 25 to commemorate the founding of the Organization of African Unity in Addis Ababa in 1963. The occasion honors the continent’s anti-colonial struggles and its long-standing aspirations for political and economic sovereignty.

African countries may have formally achieved independence decades ago, but many still remain under foreign domination through economic pressure, insecurity, and outside political influence, commentators told RT on Africa Day.

Speaking about the changing geopolitical landscape in Africa, Nigerian investigative journalist David Hundeyin argued that the Sahel states – Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso – were “going to be further ahead in their decolonization than the rest of the continent,” despite facing major external obstacles. 

He suggested that “the primary challenge that they face is that they’re not being allowed to move on their own terms easily, they [the Sahel states] are being hindered, primarily through insecurity, the so-called terrorists, jihadists.”

Mashilo argued that “the situation on our continent remains difficult, although many countries have achieved what would be called independence.” 

He said Africa now requires “a second radical phase” of liberation to achieve genuine sovereignty and meaningful freedom. Mashilo added that “many countries that have gone to the IMF to seek balance of payments loans have had their sovereignty taken away and replaced by the conditionalities imposed by the IMF.”

Communist Party Marxist-Kenya (CPM-K) General Secretary Booker Omole, meanwhile, noted that after being “humiliated in West Africa,” France was relocating military infrastructure to East Africa in an effort to counter growing Chinese influence on the continent.

“All we can remind the African people, as we celebrate the African National Liberation Day, that the struggle for sovereignty is not complete,” Omole said.

Speaker of Senegal’s parliament, El Malick Ndiaye, has announced his resignation days after President Bassirou Diomaye Faye dismissed the government in a sweeping political shake-up.

In a Facebook statement published on Sunday, Ndiaye said the decision followed “deep reflection” and was guided by his understanding of “state responsibility” and “the supreme interests of the nation.” 

Ndiaye, a member of the ruling PASTEF party, said he had focused on strengthening parliament, improving transparency, and modernizing the institution during his time in office. He thanked lawmakers from both the majority and the opposition, as well as party supporters, for their trust and cooperation.

The outgoing parliamentary speaker added that he would continue serving Senegal “with the same commitment” outside the post.

The Senegalese president signed a decree on Friday formally ending Ousmane Sonko’s tenure as prime minister, a post he had held since April 2024 after Faye’s election victory. The decree also terminated the duties of all ministers and state secretaries, while instructing the outgoing cabinet to oversee day-to-day affairs until a new government is formed. The reasons behind the resignations and dismissals have not been specified.

RTS also reported that parliament’s governing bureau approved Sonko’s request to regain his parliamentary mandate after leaving the premiership. The National Assembly set Tuesday, May 26, as the date for the vote to elect a new speaker.

Sonko had suspended his parliamentary role after becoming prime minister in line with Senegalese law. He was originally expected to run in the 2024 presidential election as the opposition candidate, but was barred from the race following a defamation conviction. 

Celebrated every May 25 since 1963, Africa Day marks the founding act of continental unity. In 2026, between real achievements and persistent challenges, it remains as much a political call to the present as a historical commemoration.

Every May 25, something happens in the streets of Addis Ababa, in the classrooms of Dakar, in the markets of Kinshasa, and in the universities of Cairo: an entire continent reconnects with itself. Africa Day is an act of historical resistance and a mirror held up against the longest, most painful, and most vibrant history in the world.

In 2026, this day resonates with particular strength. Africa is the youngest continent on the planet, with more than 60% of its population under the age of 25. It holds the world’s largest reserves of critical minerals essential to the global energy transition. And yet, in the eyes of the world, it is still too often reduced to its crises, never to its victories. This day exists to correct the injustice of that narrative.

On May 25, 1963, thirty-two African heads of state gathered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In a room filled with hope and fresh scars, they signed the founding Charter of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). The world was barely emerging from the great waves of decolonization. Ghana had gained its independence in 1957, and around twenty African nations had achieved theirs since then, some through bloodshed, others through the painful tears of negotiations. But on that day, one idea prevailed above all others: Africa could not survive divided. It had to speak with one voice.

Kwame Nkrumah, the Ghanaian visionary, had already foreseen it. Julius Nyerere, Haile Selassie, Ahmed Ben Bella, the great figures of Pan Africanism were there, fully aware that political independence alone could never be enough without continental solidarity. Africa Day was established to commemorate that birth.

In 2002, the OAU became the African Union (AU), heir to that ideal, with its 55 member states, the largest regional organization in the world by number of countries.

As Kwame Nkrumah, the first Prime Minister of Ghana, stated, “Africa must unite, not by sentiment, but by necessity, economic, political, and cultural. Fragmentation is the last weapon of colonialism.”

To tell Africa’s story through its achievements is, first and foremost, an act of resistance in a world that prefers to define the continent through its shortcomings. The completion of decolonization, with the last Portuguese colony reclaiming itself in 1975 and South African apartheid collapsing in 1994, was a victory of historic magnitude, one that few continents have experienced within such a short span of time.

Economically, the rise of East Africa is one of the most remarkable stories of this century. Ethiopia maintained double-digit annual growth for more than a decade. Rwanda transformed a country shattered by the 1994 genocide into a model of digital governance. Kenya became a continental technological hub, with its Nairobi “Silicon Savannah” ecosystem competing alongside global emerging markets.

The adoption of mobile money, pioneered in Africa with Kenya’s M-Pesa in 2007, revolutionized financial inclusion for hundreds of millions of people ignored by traditional banking systems. Africa quite literally invented a solution that the rest of the world later copied. The continent is also at the forefront of renewable energy: Morocco hosts one of the largest solar power plants in the world in Ouarzazate; Ethiopia inaugurated the Grand Renaissance Dam, the biggest on the continent, a symbol of an energy sovereignty long denied.

Culturally, Africa shines as never before. Nigerian Afrobeats has crossed every border. Burna Boy, Wizkid, and Tems now perform in the world’s largest arenas. Literature, from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to Leïla Slimani, from Alain Mabanckou to NoViolet Bulawayo, increasingly shapes global imagination. Africa no longer endures the world, it influences it.

But Africa Day would be a lie if it were nothing more than a blind celebration. It is also, and above all, a space for truth. And the truth is that the continent still carries burdens that are not entirely of its own making.

Debt and financial dependency. Dozens of African states devote an increasing share of their national budgets to servicing external debt, often contracted under prohibitive conditions, at the expense of investments in health and education. The international financial architecture remains structurally unfavorable to the continent.

Persistent armed conflicts. From Sudan, torn apart by a devastating civil war since 2023, to the Sahel region plagued by multidimensional insecurity, to eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo where mineral resources continue to fuel decades of violence, conflict remains the continent’s deepest wound. Millions of people have been displaced.

Climate change endured, not caused. Sub-Saharan Africa is responsible for less than 4% of historical global CO2 emissions, yet it suffers some of the harshest consequences: droughts in the Horn of Africa, catastrophic floods, and coastal erosion. Climate justice is an African issue before it is a global one.

Brain drain. Every year, tens of thousands of African doctors, engineers, researchers, and entrepreneurs leave the continent, trained through scarce public resources, only to strengthen wealthy economies abroad. This silent drain of talent weakens development at its roots.

Threatened food sovereignty, and it’s a striking paradox. Africa holds 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land, yet imports massive quantities of food. The war in Ukraine exposed this dangerous dependency, triggering food crises across several African nations.

On this May 25, Africa Day is seen as a political demand rooted in the present. In a world being reshaped by great power rivalries, climate crises, digital revolutions, and shifting alliances, Africa has become an essential actor that no one can afford to ignore any longer.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which came into force in 2021, is the strongest signal the continent has sent to the world: we are capable of building our own integrated market of 1.4 billion consumers without waiting for anyone’s permission. It is the largest free trade area in the world by number of participating countries.

So yes, let us celebrate this May 25 with pride and with lucidity. Let us celebrate the mothers who preserve social cohesion in conflict zones. Let us celebrate the young entrepreneurs of Lagos, Kigali, Tunis, and Abidjan who are building digital Africa. Let us celebrate the activists who, at the risk of their freedom, demand justice and dignity.

But let us also continue to demand unapologetically that the international system give Africa what it owes it: a debt of recognition, a reform of global governance, a fair financial architecture, and the end of all interference disguised as aid. Africa does not need to be saved. It needs to be respected, listened to, and finally, finally, given the space to decide its own destiny.

Uganda has backed a proposal to establish a continental Ebola response coordination hub in its capital Kampala, the country’s presidency has said.

President Yoweri Museveni met with a delegation from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on Friday, where officials discussed the regional Ebola situation and measures aimed at containing the virus.

Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya proposed creating an Incident Management Support Team in Uganda to coordinate surveillance and outbreak response efforts across the continent. Museveni endorsed the initiative and pledged Kampala’s support.

“Ebola only becomes deadly when there is lack of attention. Otherwise, it is very manageable,” the Ugandan leader said.

Museveni later confirmed the talks in a post on X, saying the proposed hub would strengthen “regional coordination and monitoring efforts,” adding that Uganda “welcomes and will support” the initiative.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on Monday that response teams are "playing catch-up" due to detection delays, with suspected Ebola deaths already reaching 220.

The DR Congo declared the epidemic on May 15, marking the country’s 17th recorded Ebola outbreak since the virus was first identified there in 1976. Later, the WHO classified the Bundibugyo strain detected in the country and neighboring Uganda as a public health emergency of international concern.

The Bundibugyo virus is a relatively rare strain of Ebola first identified in Uganda in 2007. Unlike the more common Zaire strain, there is currently no approved vaccine available against Bundibugyo Ebola.

Several countries have imposed emergency restrictions. Washington has banned non-citizens who recently visited DR Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan from entering the US. Bahrain and Jordan also restricted travelers from affected African nations, while neighboring African countries tightened border controls. 

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has expanded to more than 900 suspected cases, with 101 infections confirmed so far, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Kinshasa declared the epidemic on May 15, marking the country’s 17th recorded Ebola crisis since the virus was first identified there in 1976. Two days later, the WHO classified the Bundibugyo strain detected in the DR Congo and neighboring Uganda as a public health emergency of international concern, while stopping short of declaring a pandemic-level emergency.

In a post on X on Sunday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that violence and mass displacement in Ituri province – the epicenter of the epidemic – are severely complicating efforts to contain the virus.

“Nearly 5 million people live amid conflict. Today, 1 in 4 people are in need of humanitarian assistance, and 1 in 5 are internally displaced,” Tedros wrote, warning that the situation has “severely” impeded efforts to expand contact tracing and detect infections early enough to provide supportive care.

“Delivering a comprehensive package of healthcare services is essential,” he wrote, saying broader medical assistance is critical to building trust and strengthening the response.

The Bundibugyo virus is a rare strain of Ebola first identified in Uganda in 2007, which reportedly kills about one-third of those infected. Scientists believe it is carried by fruit bats and spreads through contact with infected animals and bodily fluids. No approved vaccine is currently available for the strain.

British scientists are now reportedly fast-tracking an experimental vaccine based on technology developed during the Covid-19 pandemic. Researchers say the shot could be ready for clinical trials within months, although its effectiveness remains unknown.

While the WHO upgraded the risk from the current Ebola outbreak from “high” to “very high” within the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it remains low internationally.

Africa is holding continent-wide celebrations on May 25 to mark Africa Day 2026 – the 63rd anniversary of an occasion dedicated to “unity, integration, and development.” 

It is a time of celebration, but as African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf stated on May 21 during a high-level security dialogue in Gabon, the continent must also adapt with unity and strategic clarity amid the shortcomings of multilateralism and an increasingly polarized global order.

Here, RT looks at the importance of Africa Day as well as the current context for this year’s festivities.

What happened on May 25?

For more than six decades, May 25 has been a day of reflection and commemoration. Each year, Africa Day celebrates independence and unity – but beneath the festivities lie unresolved questions about colonialism, slavery, and justice.

On May 25, 1963, 32 African leaders gathered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to establish the Organization of African Unity (OAU) – a landmark institution born from the struggle against colonialism and racial oppression. Among those who helped lead the creation were Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Ethiopia’s Haile Selassie, who was elected the OAU’s first chairman at the founding summit, Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Leopold Sedar Senghor of Senegal, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, and Ahmed Sekou Toure of Guinea.

Their stated mission was to defend sovereignty, promote unity, and support nations still under colonial or minority rule. While the OAU was succeeded by the African Union (AU) in 2002, Africa Day remains an annual marker of both independence and intercontinental solidarity.

Today, the AU frames Africa Day with forward-looking themes – each year’s focus is a statement of political intent.

In 2026, the continent is marking the “Year of Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of Agenda 2063.” According to the 55-member organization, millions across the continent still lack access to safe water and basic sanitation – a crisis that it said drains productivity and threatens food security and regional stability.

The continent faces escalating conflicts, including in Sudan, where a civil war that erupted in 2023 has killed thousands of civilians, ongoing violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and a sprawling jihadist insurgency across the Sahel – all of which worsen humanitarian strains.

Last year, the AU highlighted “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations,” a theme that forced global institutions to confront centuries of slavery and colonial exploitation. In March 2026, the UN formally declared the transatlantic slave trade as “the gravest crime against humanity,” in a Ghana-led resolution backed by the AU.

Across the continent, governments stage official ceremonies, policy announcements, and diplomatic meetings. Communities mark the day with music, dance, fashion, and food. Schools and universities host debates and exhibitions that connect Pan-African ideals to the AU’s long-term plans, including Agenda 2063.

In countries such as Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Lesotho, Mali, Mauritania, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, the day is legally marked as a national public holiday. 

According to an AU program, this year’s commemoration – the 63rd anniversary of the OAU-AU – is being marked at the organization’s headquarters in Addis Ababa over three days, with sports events, cultural showcases, exhibitions, an official ceremony, and statements from dignitaries including the AU chairperson, Ethiopian representatives, and the dean of the diplomatic corps in Ethiopia.

What are the challenges that lie ahead?

Despite the festive trappings, Africa Day exposes fault lines, with the continent’s demands for global representation and historical redress still deeply contested. Its longstanding push for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council has yet to produce the reform African leaders have demanded.

AUC Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said last week that Africa was “not asking for a favor,” but demanding the correction of a “historical injustice,” arguing that the council’s credibility depends on whether it reflects today’s world rather than the geopolitical order of 1945.

The US has said it does not recognize a legal right to reparations for historical wrongs, while Britain and several other European states have resisted compensation demands over slavery and colonial-era abuses, arguing that present-day governments cannot be held legally liable for actions committed centuries ago.

Russian wheat exports to African countries have risen sharply this year, the Russian agriculture export agency Agroexport has said.

Egypt increased purchases by 19%, while exports to Sudan jumped by 78%, and supplies to Kenya rose sixfold, according to the data published on Wednesday.

Speaking at the fifth All-Russian Grain Forum, the head of the agency, Ilya Ilyushin, said Russia exported nearly 52 million tons of grain and legumes in the 2025 calendar year, alongside more than 3 million tons of oilseeds, adding that wheat supplies “increased by 30% compared to the same period last year, to 14 million tons.” Africa has become the primary driver of this growth, experiencing record-setting increases in import volumes.

Demand for Russian soybean and rapeseed oil has also been rising sharply across North Africa. According to Agroexport estimates, exports of the two products to the region jumped 54% year-on-year between September 2025 and April 2026, reaching 220,000 tons. Algeria and Tunisia emerged among the largest buyers of Russian vegetable oils, behind only China and India, while shipments of rapeseed oil to Tunisia increased fivefold.

Last month, Agroexport said that Russian wheat shipments to Sudan had more than doubled. Exporters delivered around 1.7 million tons since the start of the 2025/26 season, compared to 0.7 million tons during the same period a year earlier.

The African Union (AU) has agreed with India to postpone a planned summit in New Delhi, citing the Ebola outbreak, which has killed more than 160 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and one person in neighboring Uganda.

The fourth India-Africa Forum Summit had been scheduled to take place from May 28 to 31. In a joint statement on Thursday, India and the AU said they had exchanged views on the “evolving health situation” in parts of the continent and agreed that it would be “advisable” to hold the summit at a later date.

“New dates for the summit and its associated meetings will be finalized through mutual consultations and communicated in due course,” according to the statement.

India also expressed its “solidarity with the peoples and governments of Africa” and said it is ready to support efforts by the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to address the Ebola crisis, “in line with the shared commitment to an Africa-led response.”

The summit, inaugurated in New Delhi in 2008, would have been convened this year for the first time in more than a decade. The last editions were held in 2011 and 2015. It is the main platform for high-level engagement between India and African states, focusing on trade, development cooperation, capacity building, technology, security, and South-South cooperation.

The authorities in DR Congo declared the outbreak on May 15, its 17th recorded Ebola epidemic since the virus was first identified in the country in 1976. So far, officials have reported more than 670 suspected cases and over 160 suspected deaths, mainly in Ituri and North Kivu, with new cases also emerging in South Kivu, where M23 rebels have seized territory during renewed fighting with the government.

On Friday, UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher announced up to $60 million in emergency funding to accelerate the Ebola response in DR Congo and “the wider region.”

Protesters have set fire to an Ebola treatment center in conflict-torn eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo after being prevented from taking the body of a suspected victim for burial, according to officials.

The incident occurred on Thursday in Rwampara, Ituri Province, one of the epicenters of the latest outbreak. Footage shared on social media and purportedly filmed at the scene show flames and smoke rising from the facility, while gunshots can be heard nearby.

A witness told AP that local youths became angry after trying to retrieve the body of a friend believed to have died of Ebola. Police intervened but reportedly failed to defuse the situation, the witness said. An AP journalist reported seeing people enter the center and setting objects on fire, along with what appeared to be the body of at least one suspected Ebola victim. Aid workers fled in vehicles.

Government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said six patients who were reported missing during the unrest were found and are receiving care at Rwampara General Referral Hospital.

The authorities say the bodies of suspected Ebola victims must be handled under strict burial protocols because they can remain highly infectious.

🇨🇩 In the DR Congo they set fire to the center for treating Ebola patients.

The fire was started by relatives of one of the patients who died from the virus after they were forbidden to take his body, CNN reports. pic.twitter.com/hsJrFqXpWP

— RusWar (@ruswar) May 22, 2026

The DR Congo declared the outbreak on May 15, its 17th recorded Ebola epidemic since the virus was first identified in the country in 1976. Officials have reported 160 suspected deaths and 671 suspected cases, mainly in Ituri and North Kivu, with new cases also emerging in South Kivu.

The World Health Organization declared the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in DR Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern on May 17, but said it does not meet the criteria for a pandemic emergency. The strain has no licensed vaccine or specific treatment, although early supportive care can improve survival.

Somalia has condemned Somaliland’s decision to open an embassy in Israel, calling the move illegal and a threat to the country’s sovereignty. 

In a statement published on Wednesday, Mogadishu said any unilateral actions by the self-declared breakaway region “carry no legal effect whatsoever, and constitutes an unacceptable provocation to the Arab and Islamic worlds.” 

“Somalia strongly condemns the move by the northern west region of Somalia to inaugurate a so-called embassy in Jerusalem,” the Foreign Ministry stated.

In turn, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar welcomed the development, calling it “another significant step in strengthening relations between our countries and nations,” as quoted by The Times of Israel.

Somalia’s current political system developed after the collapse of the central government in 1991, when regions began forming their own administrations. In the northwest, Somaliland declared independence in 1991 and operates with its own institutions, though it is not recognized internationally. In the northeast, Puntland declared itself an autonomous region in 1998. Unlike Somaliland, Puntland seeks to be part of a federal Somalia and does not seek full independence.

Last December, Israel became the only country, and still remains such, to have formally recognized Somaliland as an independent and sovereign state.

In February, Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi appointed Mohamed Hagi as the territory’s representative to Israel. Two months later, Israel named Michael Lotem, a former ambassador to Kenya, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan, as its non-resident envoy to Somaliland.

The African Union also criticized Israel’s decision to appoint an envoy to Somaliland, reaffirming its support for Somalia’s unity and internationally recognized borders.

The US has denied entry to an Air France flight carrying a passenger from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) over tightened Ebola-related restrictions, forcing the aircraft to divert to Canada.

The plane was traveling from Paris to Detroit on Wednesday but was redirected to Montreal after US authorities said the Congolese passenger should not have been allowed to board.

“Due to entry restrictions put in place to reduce the risk of the Ebola virus, the passenger should not have boarded the plane,” a US Customs and Border Protection spokesperson told CBS News. 

Air France confirmed that there was no medical emergency on board. 

The incident came as Washington tightened Ebola-related travel measures on Monday. Under the updated rules, travelers arriving from the DR Congo, South Sudan, and Uganda, are only permitted to enter the US through Washington Dulles International Airport.

The latest Ebola outbreak linked to the Bundibugyo strain in the DR Congo has resulted in at least 139 suspected deaths and 543 suspected cases, according to the country’s Health Ministry. Scientists believe the virus is naturally carried by fruit bats and can spread to humans through contact with infected animals before being transmitted between people via bodily fluids. 

There is currently no approved vaccine or targeted treatment. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak a global public health emergency.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that reports of Ebola outbreaks in the DR Congo and Uganda were “a cause of concern” and expressed hope that local authorities, together with international organizations and partner countries, would quickly contain the spread of the disease, adding that Russia would provide “every possible assistance and support” in combating the outbreak.

Nigerian anti-narcotics authorities have dismantled a methamphetamine cartel with Mexican links, arresting a suspected drug baron, three foreign nationals and six alleged local collaborators in what officials described as the country’s largest-ever seizure of the drug.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said on Wednesday that it had seized 2,419.48 kg of chemical materials, including finished and liquid methamphetamine, precursor chemicals and industrial solvents. Its Special Operations Unit carried out “well-coordinated, simultaneous strikes” in Ogun and Lagos states after months of intelligence gathering.

The raids targeted a remote farm in Abidagba forest, in Ijebu East Local Government Area of Ogun State, which the agency said was being used as a “massive, highly dangerous clandestine methamphetamine laboratory” by the trafficking organization of Nigerian drug baron Anochili Innocent.

NDLEA chief Mohamed Buba Marwa put the international market value at $362.9 million. Marwa said the network “did not just traffic drugs” but was “actively manufacturing industrial-scale quantities” of illicit substances in the West African country.

“The arrest brings to ten the total number of cartel members” in custody, the NDLEA chief said, warning cartels that Nigeria is “a hostile territory for their business.” 

Marwa said the latest raid came barely two weeks after it announced the takedown of another drug trafficking lab headed by Simon Amadi in a multi-country operation involving US, Swiss, French, and Greek law enforcement agencies.

In 2016, the NDLEA arrested four Mexicans and four Nigerians over a methamphetamine laboratory in Delta State. Last November, the agency reported the seizure of a 1,000 kg cocaine consignment worth about $235 million at Tincan Island Port in Lagos. Earlier that year, officials also arrested a 59-year-old businessman accused of ingesting 81 wraps of cocaine before attempting to board a flight from Lagos to Paris.

The joint Russia-China declaration opposing any hegemony is “music” for many Africans seeking greater political and economic independence from the West, former South African MP and African People’s Convention President Themba Godi has told RT. 

His comments came after talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Wednesday, after which the two nations signed 42 agreements and joint documents.

“That declaration, it’s music to our ears in Africa,” Godi said, arguing that many countries on the continent have historically experienced external pressure and attempts to impose foreign political models.

“We’ve seen how China and Russia have positively impacted the prospects of Africa’s development,” he said.

Godi argued that China and Russia increasingly represent an alternative model of international relations for African countries seeking greater sovereignty.

“China and Russia are the two key alternatives from the West that we [Africa] have had,” he said.

Investigative journalist Modibe Modiba told RT that many African countries are turning toward closer cooperation with Russia and China.

Western powers never saw Africans as equal partners, Modiba noted, accusing the US of exploiting the continent’s resources. “They’ve been behind many coups around the African continent,” he added. According to the journalist, Africa now wants partnerships based on equality rather than dependence on foreign assistance.

Professor of Politics and International Relations at the University of Johannesburg, Siphamandla Zondi, said China’s decision to extend zero-tariff access to African countries offers the continent an alternative to Western trade policies.

The South African government has condemned what it called the “illegal abduction” of its nationals aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, a civilian-led humanitarian mission bound for Gaza that was reportedly intercepted by Israeli forces.

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) said it viewed the incident with “grave concern”, warning that South African citizens may now be detained or imprisoned in Israel following the seizure of the vessel.

”The Government of South Africa notes with grave concern reports that following the illegal seizure of the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) bound for Gaza, South African nationals have been abducted in international waters and may now be facing detention/imprisonment in Israel,” the department said.

The flotilla was described by the government as a peaceful humanitarian initiative aimed at drawing international attention to the worsening crisis in Gaza while delivering aid to Palestinians affected by the ongoing conflict.

”It must be underscored that the Flotilla, a civilian-led initiative embarked upon a peaceful and humanitarian mission,” Dirco said.

”Its participants aim to draw attention to the severe and urgent humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people in Gaza and to deliver vital aid to alleviate the widespread suffering of a people living under occupation and genocide.”

“The safety, security and physical integrity of all unarmed participants aboard the Flotilla, including South African citizens, are of paramount importance,” the department added.

The department further warned that “any forceful detention of these vessels in international waters constitutes a grave breach of international legal norms and fundamental human rights.”

Pretoria said it would engage relevant stakeholders and organisations linked to the flotilla in efforts to secure the release of those affected.

South Africa also called on the international community to ensure the protection of humanitarian missions and adherence to international law.

”We further call upon the international community and all relevant parties to uphold their obligations under international law and to ensure the safe and unimpeded passage of humanitarian missions,” Dirco said in conclusion.

🚨 SOS - Aqir (Munki) Name Intercepted
SOS: the israeli occupation has again illegally and violently intercepted our international fleet of humanitarian vessels and abducted our volunteers as they undertake a legitimate mission to break the illegal siege on Gaza and open a… pic.twitter.com/baTm9bjI5U

— Global Sumud Flotilla (@gbsumudflotilla) May 18, 2026

First published by IOL

Nearly 600 suspected Ebola infections and at least 139 suspected deaths have been reported during the latest outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday. 

Congolese Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba has reported the country has so far recorded 543 suspected Ebola cases. 

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the outbreak could worsen rapidly, citing several factors driving the spread of the virus. According to the WHO, the number of cases is expected to rise further because Ebola had likely been “circulating for weeks” before health authorities detected the outbreak. Cases have already been identified in several urban areas, while healthcare workers are among the dead, raising fears of transmission inside medical facilities. 

“The province of Ituri is highly insecure,” Ghebreyesus stated. 

The African state continues to grapple with instability as the M23 rebel group maintains control over parts of the region, fueling ongoing clashes and humanitarian crises. 

Ghebreyesus also warned that the outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there are currently no approved vaccines or treatments. The affected area is a mining zone with constant population movement, increasing the risk of the virus spreading further across the region. 

African countries are also tightening Ebola prevention measures. Burundi, Zambia, and Tanzania have strengthened border controls, surveillance, and testing capacity, while Rwanda temporarily closed its border with DR Congo.

DR Congo and Uganda confirmed their first Ebola cases on May 15. The WHO declared the outbreak a global public health emergency on Sunday.

Nigerian anti-graft authorities have arrested former Power Minister Saleh Mamman, days after he was sentenced in absentia to 75 years in prison for fraud and money laundering linked to major state-backed electricity projects.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said Mamman was arrested early Tuesday in the Rigasa area of Kaduna State after “weeks of intensive surveillance and intelligence gathering.” 

“For us, getting the convict to serve his jail terms is extremely important in view of the seriousness with which we are tackling corrupt practices,” EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede told reporters, adding that Mamman would be transferred to the correctional authorities.

Mamman was found guilty on May 7 on all 12 counts related to the diversion of funds meant for the Zungeru and Mambilla hydroelectric power projects meant to boost Nigeria’s chronically unreliable electricity supply, with planned capacities of 3,050MW and 700MW, respectively.

The Federal High Court in Abuja held that Mamman and his associates diverted at least 22 billion naira (about $16 million) from funds allocated to the projects. Mamman was absent from court during the ruling, prompting Judge James Omotosho to order national and international security agencies to arrest him and hand him over to the authorities. The judge also ordered the forfeiture of the former minister’s Abuja properties and foreign currencies recovered from him. The EFCC said the former minister went “underground” after he was sentenced.

Former Accountant-General Ahmed Idris is also facing trial over an alleged 109 billion naira fraud, while former Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke is on trial in London on bribery charges linked to her tenure from 2010 to 2015.

On paper, Libya is one. It has one flag, one UN seat, and – as of April 11, 2026 – its first unified budget in 13 years. Yet, beneath lies a deepening fracture. While the international community celebrates the 190-billion-dinar “breakthrough,” the reality is a tale of two Libyas. This is functional fragmentation, where rival governments share a bank account while remaining at each other’s throats for the keys to the state.

The paradox of the April 11 agreement is that this technical “breakthrough” effectively serves as a survival kit for the status quo. By allocating 190 billion dinars ($30 billion) across a divided landscape, Central Bank Governor Naji Issa has created a budget trap. This financial lifeline allows the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU) and the Osama Hammad-led administration in the East – the Haftar family’s administrative arm – to maintain their patron-client networks without political compromise.

This financial “truce” seems to be the centerpiece of a pragmatic, Washington-driven strategy. Massad Boulos, US senior adviser for Arab and African affairs, has pivoted toward unifying Libya’s purse and perimeter before tackling leadership. The most striking manifestation was the Flintlock 2026 military exercises in Sirte on April 14. For the first time, forces from both East and West trained side-by-side under US Africa Command (AFRICOM) – a development that would make Muammar Gaddafi turn in his grave.

Yet, this outside-in integration risks mistaking coordination for cohesion. While Boulos frames these milestones as the bedrock of a future state, they currently formalize a duopoly of power. The presence of Saddam Haftar alongside Lt. Gen. John Brennan in Sirte confirms a US shift toward transactional realism, prioritizing “stabilization” over suffrage. By strengthening technical committees while the 6+6 Committee remains deadlocked over election laws and candidate eligibility, the international strategy is inadvertently building a more efficient cage.

Institutions now work together just enough to keep rival elites in place, indefinitely suspending the elections Libyans have been waiting for.

In her briefing to the UNSC on April 22, Hanna Tetteh, head of UNSMIL, warned against the “profoundly negative consequences for the country’s unity” resulting from this split. She pointed out that the “persistence of two constitutional bodies and two parallel Supreme Judicial Councils” amounts to the weaponization of the judiciary – which, until last year, was the final glue holding Libya together. This dangerous rift now allows for unilateral decisions regarding the appointment and transfer of senior judicial officers and, even more critically, the relocation of key judicial bodies from Western to Eastern Libya. This newly created legal environment further entrenches institutional fragmentation, making the current split legally binding and pushing the country toward a permanent partition.

Ultimately, the April 2026 milestone of a unified budget is less a bridge to stability and more a tombstone for the electoral process. While Western capitals issued celebratory statements, Tetteh’s warning served as a stark reality check. In her briefing to the UNSC she laid bare a “distorted political economy” where national wealth is being weaponized to legitimize and maintain the status quo rather than fund a transition. By granting this 190-billion-dinar seal of approval, the international community has inadvertently signaled to Libya’s rival elites that the ballot box is optional; they no longer need to win an election to access the state’s coffers, they only need to maintain the stalemate.

While the macro-strategy by Washington leans toward a shared-power status quo, a more granular technical breakthrough emerged on April 29, 2026, in Rome. Facilitated by UNSMIL, the smaller Dialogue Small Group – an eight-member working group representing authorities from both the East and West – reached a consensus on restructuring the High National Elections Commission (HNEC) board. They agreed on a mechanism to fill long-standing vacancies and recommended that the attorney general nominate an independent judge to serve as chairperson. On the surface, this resolves the critical first step of the UN roadmap, a milestone Tetteh championed in her mission to respond to the 2.8 million Libyans registered voters.

This “Boulos Doctrine” has already met a fierce local resistance. On April 6, the High Council of State officially voted to issue a “firm rejection” of the proposal, a sentiment echoed by the Grand Mufti and powerful Misratan groups, who view it as a family-led duopoly that trades national sovereignty for a manufactured stability.

The failure of the outside-in approach is mirrored by the quiet collapse of the UN’s own “bottom-up” experiment. Launched in December 2025, Tetteh’s Structured Dialogue was pitched as an inclusive, four-track engine for national consensus involving over 120 diverse participants, including the late Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi’s political team.

However, as the process nears its early-June deadline, the engine is idling. Members of the dialogue have revealed that while the tracks for reconciliation and human rights have produced lofty recommendations, the more critical tracks – security and the formation of a unified temporary government – remain deadlocked.

This internal paralysis is what ultimately forced the UN to pivot toward the “Small Group” meeting in Rome. By retreating from a 120-member inclusive dialogue to a closed-door smaller gathering, the UN has essentially admitted that its broad social roadmap has lost its way. The mission is no longer trying to solve the Libyan crisis through popular consensus; it is instead hunting for a technicality that can be sold as “progress” to the Security Council, even as the broader political foundation crumbles.

The unified budget is thus becoming the operating capital for a permanent partition. Without a single judicial authority to validate the law, or a unified government to secure the desert hinterlands, Libya remains a country on paper only. It is tragic proof of a new geopolitical reality: while you can successfully unify the bank accounts of rival generals, you cannot buy the soul of a nation. Libya is no longer a failed state in the traditional sense; it is something far more haunting – a functioning bureaucracy of division.

Russia and Equatorial Guinea have signed a memorandum on cooperation in the field of nuclear energy, Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom has said. 

The agreement was signed in Moscow on Tuesday during a meeting between Rosatom Deputy Director General Nikolay Spassky and a delegation from the African nation led by Foreign Minister Simeon Oyono Esono Angue. 

According to Rosatom, the memorandum provides for the creation of joint working groups on projects in nuclear energy and non-energy applications of nuclear technologies. The deal also includes cooperation in specialist training. 

Rosatom has been actively expanding its presence in Africa in recent years, including through the construction of Egypt’s El Dabaa nuclear power plant, the continent’s first large-scale nuclear energy project. 

Lavrov said Moscow remained open to expanding military-technical ties with the African state and was ready to respond to the country’s defense needs. 

“We are always ready to continue military-technical cooperation. We have a strong tradition of this [in this area],” the Russian foreign minister said.  

Angue said Equatorial Guinea highly values Russia’s role in training military specialists, stressing that African nations are facing growing terrorist threats and need to strengthen their defense capabilities. 

“Terrorism is gaining momentum, [and] African countries, need to strengthen our capabilities, the ability of our forces to resist any threats, including those from terrorism,” the minister said. He added that Equatorial Guinea particularly appreciated Russia’s involvement in training national specialists and supporting the country’s security sector. 

A joint operation by Nigerian and US forces has killed at least 175 Islamic State militants, including senior commanders, in the northeast of the West African nation, the authorities have said.

Nigeria’s military said on Tuesday that the strikes were conducted over several days against Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters, destroying weapons, checkpoints, and financial networks across the region. US Africa Command (AFRICOM) confirmed the operation and said no American or Nigerian troops were harmed.

“The removal of these terrorists diminishes the group’s capacity to plan attacks that threaten the safety and security of the U.S. and our partners,” AFRICOM said in a statement.

The latest strikes come days after Abuja and Washington announced that a joint military operation in the Lake Chad Basin killed senior Islamic State commander Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, who US President Donald Trump described as the group’s global second-in-command.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said the operation showed “effective collaboration” between the two countries in the fight against terrorism.

Nigeria’s northeast has been the center of a long-running insurgency by Boko Haram and ISWAP, which have targeted military bases, villages, schools, and transport routes. The country has also seen a surge in mass kidnappings and deadly raids in recent months, despite increased security measures, including a state of emergency declared by the government.

The Trump administration sent troops to Nigeria in February in what was described as an advisory and training role, though the recent operations indicate a more active role. AFRICOM commander Gen. Dagvin Anderson told a congressional hearing on Tuesday that Nigeria played a pivotal role in developing targets, intelligence, and operational support for the operation.

The US has imposed emergency travel restrictions on foreign nationals arriving from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), Uganda and South Sudan due to an Ebola outbreak. 

The US Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Monday that non-US passport holders who visited any of the three countries within the past 21 days will be barred from entering the country.

The move comes after the DR Congo and Uganda confirmed their first Ebola cases on Friday. On Sunday, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a global public health emergency.

US authorities have confirmed that an American working in the DR Congo has tested positive for Ebola and is being evacuated to Germany for treatment. Six other Americans exposed to the virus are also under medical monitoring. 

Bundibugyo virus is a rare strain of Ebola first identified in Uganda in 2007. Scientists believe it is naturally carried by fruit bats and can spread to humans through contact with infected animals before transmitting between people through bodily fluids. There is currently no approved vaccine or targeted treatment.

The WHO has reported that nearly seven tons of emergency medical supplies and equipment has arrived in Ituri Province in the DR Congo from Kinshasa, alongside a team of 35 experts to support frontline Ebola response efforts in the province.

Russia’s public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said that Russian specialists will travel to Uganda to conduct an epidemiological investigation and provide logistical support to the country’s Health Ministry. Moscow will also supply Ebola diagnostic tests developed by its research institutions. 

The citizens of 11 African countries already face a complete suspension of both immigrant and nonimmigrant visas, effectively barring general entry into the US.

Former South African ambassador to Qatar and humanitarian activist Faizel Moosa has been detained by Israeli authorities while taking part in a civilian flotilla carrying aid to Gaza, according to his family.

According to a statement released on Monday, Moosa was part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, an international civil society initiative aiming to deliver essential supplies and draw attention to the ongoing blockade of Gaza, which activists say restricts access to food, medical assistance and other critical resources for civilians.

The family expressed deep concern about his safety and wellbeing, noting that Moosa has diabetes and depends on chronic medication.

”Any disruption in access to his medication, proper nutrition, and medical care places him at serious and immediate risk. He undertook this mission out of a deep commitment to humanity and justice. Our only concern now is his safety and that he is returned home without harm,” said a family spokesperson.

The family has called on the South African government to act urgently. They specifically urged Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation to seek information about Moosa’s condition and whereabouts, ensure his medical needs are met, and pursue diplomatic channels to secure his release.

”His detention raises serious humanitarian and diplomatic concerns. We urge members of the public, civil society, and the media to amplify this call and support the campaign to bring him and all the other participants home safely. This is not just a diplomatic matter, it is a matter of life, dignity, and humanity. We urge immediate action to ensure his safe return and the release of all those detained,” read the statement.

The Israeli Navy has begun to intercept the activist mission sailing to the Gaza Strip to challenge Israel's naval blockade. pic.twitter.com/YXeSwxPDOd

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) May 18, 2026

First published by IOL

Nigeria’s leading fuel marketers have pushed back against a lawsuit by Dangote Petroleum Refinery seeking to annul fuel import licenses, warning the legal action could destabilize supply and competition in the country’s downstream sector.

Last week, Dangote filed a lawsuit in the Federal High Court in Lagos against the government, aiming to nullify import licenses issued by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to independent marketers and the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC).

Dangote argues that the permits undermine its operations and violate the Petroleum Industry Act by allowing imports despite its refining capacity.

In response, the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) said the licenses are legal instruments essential to the West African nation’s fuel supply chain.

“These licenses exist to protect supply security, not to disadvantage any single producer,” the association said in a statement on Sunday. Invalidating the permits retroactively could introduce “uncertainty into the entire downstream supply chain at a moment when Nigeria can least afford it,” it added.

The refinery, Africa’s largest with a 650,000-barrel-per-day capacity, was inaugurated in May 2023 and began commercial operations in 2024. It has been central to the Nigerian government’s efforts to boost domestic refining and reduce import reliance.

Former Belgian diplomat Etienne Davignon has died before being due to stand trial over the 1961 assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s first prime minister and an anti-colonial figure.

Davignon died at the age of 93, the Jacques Delors Institute, where he served on the board, confirmed on Monday. He was the last surviving Belgian official accused in the case. The cases against other suspects ended after their deaths, Reuters reported, citing court officials.

The Lumumba family said the decision to move the case toward trial remained part of the historical record. Their lawyers said they were preparing further legal action including a civil case against the Belgian state.

A Brussels court ruled in March that Davignon should face trial. He was a junior diplomat in Congo at the time, and, according to prosecutors, participated in the unlawful detention and transfer of Lumumba and denied him the right to an impartial trial. Davignon rejected the allegations.

A Belgian parliamentary inquiry in 2001 found that Belgium bore “moral responsibility” for Lumumba’s death, a finding later acknowledged by the government in an official apology. In 2022, Belgium returned a gold-capped tooth – the only known remains of Lumumba – to his family.

Davignon was among ten Belgians originally accused in the investigation. Human Rights Watch said the case included allegations of illegal transfer, “humiliating and degrading treatment,” and deprivation of a fair trial. 

At least four people were killed and more than 30 injured when protests over soaring fuel prices in Kenya turned violent on Monday, according to the East African country’s Interior Ministry.

The unrest coincided with a public transit strike called by transport operators after the country’s energy regulator announced significant fuel price increases last week, leaving commuters stranded and major roads blocked.

Protesters burned tires and lit bonfires on key highways in Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, Eldoret, and other urban centers, while also preventing motorbike taxis from operating, according to footage shared on social media.

Kenyan Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen said the protests were “hijacked by political actors,” involved looting and violence, and targeted government projects and supporters. He warned that “the full force of the law will be brought to bear” on the organizers of the violence.

“It is very regrettable that there are politicians in this country who measure the success of opposition to the government by the number of innocent lives lost in the demonstrations they organize,” the minister said in a statement.

Kenya: Police unleash tear gas on demonstrators as nationwide protests against soaring fuel prices continue, with anger mounting in the streets over deepening economic hardship. pic.twitter.com/ac6q0dGxlZ

— African News feed. (@africansinnews) May 18, 2026

Late on Monday, Kenya’s Energy Ministry and Transport Ministry officials held talks with representatives of major transport associations, including the Association of Matatu Transport Owners and the Federation of Public Transport Sector.

Violent protests over economic grievances are nothing new in Kenya. Demonstrations against rising living costs and policy changes have at times escalated into clashes between security forces and protesters. In 2024, dozens of protesters were killed when rallies against a now-abandoned Finance Bill turned deadly.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged African countries to strengthen cross-border surveillance and cooperation to contain Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, warning that the virus “does not respect borders.”

In his capacity as African Union Champion on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response, Ramaphosa said the outbreaks of the Bundibugyo strain in Ituri Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Kampala, Uganda, required urgent and coordinated action across the continent.

”Ebola does not respect borders,” Ramaphosa said.

”In a region marked by high population mobility, insecurity, and humanitarian movement, the risk of regional spread is significant and demands urgent, coordinated action.”

Ramaphosa commended the governments of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda for their “swift leadership and transparency” in declaring the outbreaks following laboratory confirmation.

”Early detection, rapid reporting, and decisive action remain critical to containing outbreaks before they escalate into a wider regional crisis,” he said.

He said Africa stood in solidarity with the governments and people of both countries, particularly affected communities and frontline healthcare workers, while also praising neighbouring countries that had moved quickly to strengthen preparedness, cross-border surveillance, and emergency coordination.

Ramaphosa also commended the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention under the leadership of Director-General Jean Kaseya, working together with the World Health Organization, for providing rapid support to affected countries and coordinating a continental response.

Ramaphosa welcomed efforts by national authorities, Africa CDC, the WHO, and partners to strengthen surveillance, laboratory systems, contact tracing, infection prevention and control, risk communication, case management, and access to medical countermeasures.

He called on the governments of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda to sustain strong political leadership and continue working closely with frontline responders and communities “in an environment of trust and transparency to stop these outbreaks at their source and prevent further spread”.

Ramaphosa urged affected and at-risk countries to intensify cross-border collaboration, strengthen surveillance at formal and informal points of entry, and ensure rapid information sharing, particularly in areas affected by insecurity and population displacement.

”As the chair of the Global Leaders Network for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health, I make a special plea to ensure that women, children, and adolescents are not left behind and that routine services do not backslide as we handle this crisis,” he said.

The president said the outbreaks were also a reminder that Africa needed to continue investing in resilient public health systems and regional health security structures despite declining Official Development Assistance.

He said preparedness required sustained investment in national public health institutes, emergency operations centres, laboratory and genomic surveillance networks, trained healthcare workers, and rapid response capabilities.

Ramaphosa also called on African Union member states and international partners to strengthen support for pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response through timely financing, technical assistance, medical countermeasures, and direct support to affected communities.

”Solidarity must translate into concrete action,” he said.

Ramaphosa said he would continue working with the African Union Commission, heads of state and government, Africa CDC, and partners to ensure that Africa’s response remained coordinated, adequately financed, and anchored in “the principles of solidarity, health security and sovereignty”.

”The peoples of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and the wider region must not face this threat alone,” Ramaphosa said.

”Africa has the experience, institutions, and resolve to contain these outbreaks. What is required now is urgency, unity, and collective action.”

First published by IOL

Tanzania is seeking to expand agricultural cooperation with Russia, viewing Moscow’s expertise in farming technologies as key to strengthening food security, Tanzanian minister Kitila Alexander Mkumbo has said. 

“Developing cooperation in the agricultural sector can make a significant contribution to food security and job creation,” Mkumbo noted, speaking at the third meeting of the Russian-Tanzanian Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation in Arusha, Tanzania.

Mkumbo, who serves as minister of state in the President’s Office for Planning and Investment, also pointed to expanding trade, investment projects, and cooperation in uranium extraction as areas capable of pushing bilateral ties “to a qualitatively new level.” According to Russia, trade turnover between the two countries rose by nearly 20% in 2025, while Tanzania’s share in Russia’s foreign trade hit a five-year high.

Russia currently exports wheat, meslin and fertilizers to Tanzania, while importing tobacco raw materials, coffee, tea, and fruit from the African country.

Earlier, the Russian minister announced at the Russia-Tanzania Investment Forum that Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom is continuing work on a uranium project, also known as Mantra, in southern Tanzania.

“Mantra is an important project for the development of bilateral relations,” the expert said, noting that Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s administration had ensured “all the conditions for its implementation and the creation of a new uranium mining industry in the country.”

Maslov added the two sides had established a joint expert group on digital projects, coordinated by Russia’s HSE and Tanzania’s ICT Commission.

Rwandan businessman Felicien Kabuga has died in custody while awaiting trial for his alleged role in the East African nation’s 1994 genocide, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) announced on Saturday. He was 93.

The IRMCT said Kabuga passed away while hospitalized in The Hague, Netherlands, where he was being held at the United Nations Detention Unit (UNDU).

“The president of the Mechanism, Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, has ordered a full inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Mr. Kabuga’s death, assigning Judge Alphons Orie to conduct the inquiry,” the UN court said in a statement.

An arrest warrant was issued by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in April 2013. Kabuga evaded capture before being arrested in France in May 2020 and transferred to The Hague branch of the IRMCT in 2020, where he entered a not-guilty plea in his first appearance in November 2020.

His trial officially began in September 2022. However, in September 2023, proceedings were indefinitely stayed after judges ruled Kabuga unfit to stand trial due to dementia. Prior to his death, he had been awaiting provisional release to a state willing to accept him.

“A man whom international judges had themselves recognized as unfit to stand trial died in prison, although his continued deprivation of liberty no longer served any judicial purpose,” Kabuga’s lawyer, Emmanuel Altit, said in a statement cited by AP.

Other suspects have faced justice in France, a common destination for individuals who fled the landlocked African state after being implicated in the genocide. In October 2024, a French court sentenced former Rwandan doctor Eugène Rwamucyo to 27 years in prison for complicity in the massacre.

The Ebola outbreak linked to the Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) and Uganda constitutes a global public health emergency, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared on Sunday.

At the same time, the WHO stopped short of labeling the situation a “pandemic emergency.” 

According to WHO data, at least eight laboratory-confirmed cases, 246 suspected cases, and 80 suspected deaths have been recorded in DR Congo’s eastern Ituri Province, while Uganda confirmed two imported cases in Kampala. Both patients in Uganda had recently traveled from the DR Congo and were admitted to intensive care units. 

Health officials stated that unusual clusters of deaths and infections among medical workers point to possible widespread community transmission and serious “gaps” in hospital infection control.

Unlike the more common Zaire strain of Ebola, there are currently no approved vaccines or targeted treatments for the Bundibugyo virus. “As such, this event is considered extraordinary,” officials said. 

Bundibugyo virus is a rare strain of Ebola first identified in Uganda in 2007. Scientists believe it is naturally carried by fruit bats and can spread to humans through contact with infected animals before transmitting between people through bodily fluids. 

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa warned that the Ebola outbreaks in the DR Congo and Uganda pose a serious regional threat, calling for urgent cross-border coordination to contain the spread. “Ebola does not respect borders,” he said, citing high mobility and ongoing instability in the region.

In affected areas, Red Cross volunteers have been going door to door to share health information, identify suspected cases, support contact tracing, and combat misinformation surrounding the outbreak.

Specialists from Moscow will conduct an epidemiological investigation in Uganda after it requested assistance amid an Ebola outbreak, Russia’s public health watchdog has announced.

Ebola is a severe viral disease that can cause hemorrhagic fever, organ failure, and death. The latest outbreak is affecting Uganda and neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a public health emergency of international concern.

“Russia’s public health watchdog will also provide logistical support to Uganda’s Health Ministry and supply Ebola diagnostic tests developed by its affiliated research institutions and used in Russia,” Rospotrebnadzor, which is responsible for monitoring epidemics, said on Monday.

The organization highlighted that joint efforts in recent years have significantly strengthened Uganda’s scientific, laboratory, and personnel capabilities. In 2024, Russia transferred a mobile anti-epidemic laboratory to Ugandan partners, enabling rapid diagnostics of dangerous infectious diseases. The facility was already used in 2025 to help contain a previous Ebola outbreak.

Russian medics have also trained more than 80 Ugandan specialists in infectious disease monitoring, disinfection practices, laboratory diagnostics and biological safety.

The WHO said the outbreak poses a serious international public health threat requiring cross-border coordination, warning that the virus has been detected in areas with high population mobility, increasing the risk of further spread.

More than 40 pupils have been kidnapped after militants, suspected to be members of the jihadist group Boko Haram, attacked a school in Borno State in northeastern Nigeria, according to a senior lawmaker and local residents.

The gunmen reportedly stormed the Primary and Junior Government Day Secondary School (GDSS) in Mussa-Biri community, located in Askira-Uba Local Government Area, last Friday.

In a statement cited by local media, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, who represents Borno South, said 32 students were seized from classrooms and another ten from nearby homes.

The Network of Civil Society Organizations – Borno State said on Sunday that 48 students were abducted in the “heinous attack” that has left “the entire community in profound shock and psychological trauma.”

The organization said the insurgents breached the school’s perimeter when classes were in session, causing pandemonium that forced “dozens of other students to flee into the surrounding bushes.”

The Nigerian police and military have not issued any public statement confirming the Mussa village incident. The raid comes amid a wave of violent attacks across Africa’s most populous nation, despite increased security measures, including a state of emergency declared by the government.

A week earlier, 17 police officers were killed when terrorists launched an assault on the Nigerian Army Special Forces School in Buni Yadi, Yobe State. Authorities described the May 8 raid as “a coordinated attack on the facility from multiple directions.”

Last Thursday, the Nigerian Police Force announced it had conducted internal purges, dismissing officers involved in kidnapping, extortion, and armed robbery.

IGP DISU VISITS ORIIRE COMMUNITIES, ORDERS INTENSIFIED RESCUE OPERATIONS

The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Rilwan Disu, psc (+), NPM, today paid a visit to Oyo State following the tragic attack and abduction incident that occurred in Oriire Local Government Area of… pic.twitter.com/G7Idv9bnFI

— Nigeria Police Force (@PoliceNG) May 16, 2026

With 65 deaths reported so far, an Ebola outbreak has been confirmed in Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri province, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday. 

According to preliminary results from the National Institute for Biomedical Research (INRB) in Kinshasa, 13 out of 20 tested samples came back positive for Ebola.  

“About 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths have been reported, mainly in the Mongwalu and Rwampara health zones,” the authorities said, adding that four of the fatalities were among laboratory-confirmed patients. 

Health officials are also investigating suspected infections in the city of Bunia, although those cases have not yet been confirmed.  

The Africa CDC said it was coordinating with the governments of the DR Congo, Uganda and South Sudan, as well as international health partners, to strengthen surveillance, preparedness and emergency response measures along border areas. 

Ebola, a highly contagious hemorrhagic fever, is spread through direct contact with infected bodily fluids or tissue. The fatality rate for this disease can reach 90%. Symptoms often include high fever, fatigue, headaches, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, skin rash, and internal or external bleeding.  

The outbreak comes just months after the DR Congo declared an end to its previous Ebola flare-up in Kasai Province. According to WHO figures, it resulted in 64 cases – 53 confirmed and 11 deemed probable – and 45 deaths. The outbreak officially declared over in December 2025 in the country, marked the country’s 16th recorded Ebola epidemic since the virus was first identified there in 1976. Kasai had previously experienced outbreaks in 2007 and 2008. 

South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola has said the US cannot exclude Pretoria from the December G20 Summit, noting that the country is a founding member.

Lamola was interviewed while in New Delhi, India, for the Meeting of BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs/International Relations, which is being hosted under India’s BRICS chairmanship on 14 and 15 May 2026. The meeting has been convened under the theme, “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation, and Sustainability (BRICS)”.

When asked how the country is handling its relationship with the President of the US, Donald Trump, the minister admitted that it has been “an unpredictable environment”.

”We deal with it as it comes, and as it goes. We have, up to so far, maintained our communication with the White House, and the various facets of the American society, because the American society is multilayered – Congress, ThinkTanks, academia, business sector, and so forth,” Lamola said.

“We look at it as a multifaceted society that we need to continue to work with, and strengthen the relations of people-to-people.”

He added that the ministry was surprised that the highest number of tourists to South Africa last year came from the US.

”It shows that the strengthening of people-to-people relations is also a very key component of our engagement with the US and also with the cities.”

On the matter of the G20 Summit and the uncertainty surrounding South Africa’s attendance, Lamola said that it is not Trump’s place to dictate whether South Africa can or cannot attend.

”He can’t say that we can no longer be in the G20, because we are a founding member of the G20, and no member of the G20 can decide that this country can no longer be a member of the G20.

“What he has done is not to invite South Africa into the G20 summit that will be hosted by the US, but, we are a member of the G20. So, we really don’t know what that summit will be, which does not have one of its founding members.

”It is important that the members of the G20 will have to discuss and characterise what that is… I don’t know whether you can characterise it as a G20 if South Africa is not there.”

When asked if the development of a BRICS currency was still being discussed, Lamola said: “The talks have been more on the use of local currencies on trade. It is a process that is still ongoing, and we will want to see that being developed, because those who are financial experts say it is cheaper to trade in local currency… So it’s indeed something that BRICS has to continue to develop.”

It was also reported in the media that Iranian authorities have increasingly singled out the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and have warned of stronger strikes against the country if the United States and Israel resume their attacks.

Speaking of how the tension the two between BRICS countries has impacted proceedings, Lamola said: “There are member states of BRICS who are directly impacted by the conflict, as you are aware, the UAE and Iran, but we do think, and see, this as an opportune platform for us to foster that cooperation, to foster that dialogue for peaceful engagement, even on this conflict that affects directly our members. We see it as a huge platform of interactions, of exchange of ideas, and its resolution anchored on the UN Charter.”

Speaking of the SA-India partnership, Lamola said that India is a big global player in terms of technology and agriculture, and it is among South Africa’s biggest trading partners.

”They account for almost a fourth or fifth of our trade. We are India’s number one trader in Africa, so it’s a relationship of goodwill. The relationship between South Africa and India has grown from strength to strength, with South Africa being one of those countries where there’s a huge Indian diaspora in the world,” Lamola said.

”These cultural people-to-people, but also the trade level between the two countries, make this relationship very strategic, and we look forward to continuing with it, both at the strategic level, in terms of research, development, science and technology, and also skills development.

”We are looking forward to continuing to build on this foundation,” he said.

First published by IOL

The Libyan capital of Tripoli erupted in protests on Thursday after a controversial refereeing decision during a domestic football match triggered chaos, leaving parts of the prime minister’s office damaged by fire and at least one soldier dead.

Supporters of Al Ittihad SC and Al Swehly SC had gathered for a Libyan Premier League game in Tarhuna stadium, southeast of Tripoli, when the match was suspended following a pitch invasion. Crowds later moved into central Tripoli, where parts of the Government of National Unity headquarters were set on fire and vehicles were burned, according to local reports.

According to witnesses and officials cited by the Libyan Observer, the violence began after Al-Ittihad players protested the referee’s decision not to award a penalty kick.

The Libyan Presidential Council issued a statement condemning the events, describing the attack on the prime minister’s office as “acts of vandalism and arson representing a serious affront to the prestige and sovereignty of the state.” 

Eyewitnesses said protesters used fireworks near the prime minister’s office compound, while gunfire could be heard as security forces attempted to contain the crowds. Police and paramilitary units later secured the surrounding area, restoring calm to the capital.

The council expressed regret for injuries among civilians and security personnel, emphasized that grievances should be addressed through legal channels, and called on the Libyan Football Federation and all sports institutions to uphold transparency, integrity, and the rights of clubs and fans. The statement also urged the public and sports associations to exercise self-restraint, protect public facilities, and prioritize reason to prevent incitement and division among citizens.

🚨 Protesters in #Tripoli, driven by a fallout at a football league game earlier, have stormed Government of National Unity's headquarters and set fire to parts of it.#Libya pic.twitter.com/77dw5M7RIM

— Abdulkader Assad (@Abd0Assad) May 14, 2026

The North African country has a history of violent sporting incidents. Last June, a Libyan Premier League derby between Al Ahly Tripoli and Al Ittihad was suspended after fans stormed the pitch and clashed with security forces, setting a team bus on fire. In November, supporters of Al Ahly reportedly set fire to the Libyan Football Federation headquarters over refereeing disputes. Last year, the Ministry of Interior announced that matches would be played behind closed doors as part of measures to reduce the risk of spectator violence.

The unrest reflects Libya’s long-standing instability following the 2011 NATO-backed overthrow of longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi. Since 2014, the country has been divided between rival administrations in Tripoli in the west and Tobruk in the east, with numerous armed factions operating across both regions. Protests over governance, public services, and political stalemates have occasionally escalated into violence.

🚨🇱🇾 The moment officers opened fire during the Al Ittihad vs Swehly match in Libya.

Absolutely chaotic scenes inside and around the stadium as the game was eventually stopped.

This is crazy.#AfricanFootball #Libya pic.twitter.com/E4N7elLTRD

— Micky Jnr (@MickyJnr__) May 14, 2026

British international auction house Christie’s sold a rare blue-green diamond known as the ‘Ocean Dream’, which was found in Central Africa, for more than $17.3 million at its Magnificent Jewels sale in Geneva on Wednesday. 

The auction house said the 5.5-carat diamond is the largest fancy vivid blue-green diamond ever certified by the Gemological Institute of America. It exceeded its presale estimate of $8-12 million. It was cut from an 11.70-carat rough stone found in the 1990s. 

The gem was shaped into a triangular cut that preserved much of the original rough diamond. 

Christie’s said the diamond attracted strong bidding before an unnamed private collector bought it. The bidding lasted around 20 minutes. The auction house said the final price set a new auction record for a diamond of its kind.

“The Ocean Dream is a gemstone of rare distinction, returning to auction for only the second time in its history. Celebrated by the Smithsonian Institution as one of the eight rarest diamonds in the world, it stands as the largest fancy vivid blue-green diamond ever recorded,” Max Fawcett, the global head of Christie’s Jewelry, said in a statement released before the sale.

Details about the diamond’s origin, including the mine and country where it was discovered, have never been publicly disclosed by gemological authorities or auction houses. Christie’s and industry sources have only identified the stone as originating from Central Africa.

The remains of the second US soldier who went missing during the African Lion military exercise in Morocco has been recovered after nearly two weeks of search operations involving more than 1,000 military and civilian personnel.

The US Army Europe and Africa announced on Wednesday that the body of Spc. Mariyah Symone Collington of Tavares, Florida was found on May 12 in a coastal cave around 500 meters from where she reportedly entered the Atlantic Ocean.

The army said the recovery operation spanned more than 21,300 square km and involved over 1,000 US and Moroccan personnel, deploying aircraft, drones, surface vessels, divers, mountaineers, and ground teams.

Collington served as an air and missile defense crew member with Charlie Battery, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command. She joined active duty in 2024 and had just been promoted to specialist on May 1, shortly before the incident.

Brig. Gen. Curtis King, commanding general of the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, called her death “a profound loss.” Capt. Spencer Grider, commander of Charlie Battery, echoed similar sentiments, describing Collington as “an outstanding soldier whose unwavering enthusiasm and positive spirit uplifted every environment she entered.”

African Lion is AFRICOM’s largest annual exercise, aimed at bolstering interoperability between US forces, NATO allies, and African partners. The 2026 edition involved more than 5,600 personnel and concluded on May 8. Fatal incidents have occurred in previous exercises, including a 2012 MV-22 Osprey crash in Morocco that killed two US Marines.

The Africa Forward summit held in Nairobi, Kenya on May 11-12, 2026 was intended to mark a new era in French-African relations. Addressing an audience of African leaders, investors, entrepreneurs, diplomats, and members of civil society, French President Emmanuel Macron attempted to present France as a partner ready to move beyond the legacy of ‘Francafrique’ and embrace a relationship based on sovereignty, mutual respect, innovation, and economic cooperation.

However, beyond the carefully crafted diplomatic language and investment announcements, the summit revealed something far more significant: The depth of the growing credibility crisis facing France across large parts of Africa. Once considered the dominant external power in many francophone African countries, Paris now faces open hostility from growing segments of the public, especially among young people.

The choice of Kenya as host country carried strong geopolitical significance. Since the creation of the France-Africa summits in 1973, these meetings had traditionally taken place either in France or former French colonies. Holding the event in an anglophone country was widely interpreted as a sign that Paris is now trying to expand beyond its historical francophone sphere after suffering major setbacks in the Sahel. Over the past few years, France has experienced a collapse of influence in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. French troops were expelled following military coups that were accompanied by powerful anti-French rhetoric and mass demonstrations demanding the end of the French military presence.

For many Africans, these events symbolized the exhaustion of an old political order associated with foreign interference, military dependency, and unequal partnerships inherited from the post-colonial era. Against this backdrop, Macron sought to promote the image of a modern France looking toward the future rather than the past. During the summit, he announced more than €23 billion in investments targeting key sectors: Renewable energy, AI, infrastructure, agriculture, and digital innovation.

French officials described the initiative as evidence of a renewed partnership designed to support African development and entrepreneurship while strengthening economic cooperation between both sides.

Yet despite these promises, skepticism remains widespread.

Many African observers believe France is not fundamentally changing its African strategy. Istead, it is adapting its communication in response to the loss of influence. According to several political analysts, Paris is replacing the traditional language of influence and security with softer concepts such as innovation, co-development, youth partnerships, and digital cooperation without necessarily changing the underlying power dynamics. The legacy of Francafrique continues to dominate discussions surrounding France’s role in Africa. For decades, critics accused Paris of maintaining informal political networks, supporting authoritarian regimes, intervening militarily in African affairs, and preserving economic systems favorable to French strategic interests.

Military cooperation also remains controversial. Even as France attempts to redefine its image, it still maintains military partnerships and defense agreements across Africa. In Kenya itself, recent security agreements signed between Nairobi and Paris generated concern among sections of civil society and political activists.

Some Kenyan commentators warned that the country risks becoming a strategic relay for Western geopolitical interests in East Africa at a time when the region is becoming increasingly important in global power competition. The controversy intensified during Macron’s appearance at the University of Nairobi, when the event was interrupted by noise and the French president abruptly demanded silence from the audience. The moment was quickly shared across social media platforms and triggered intense reactions online. For many African commentators, the scene reflects what they describe as a lingering paternalistic attitude from Western leaders toward Africa.

While supporters of Macron argue that the incident was exaggerated for political reasons, the reaction demonstrated how sensitive France’s image has become in many African societies. This growing distrust cannot be understood without considering the wider geopolitical transformations taking place across Africa. The continent has become one of the central arenas of global competition between major powers. China has dramatically expanded its economic influence through infrastructure projects, trade, and investment. Russia has strengthened military and political ties with several African governments, particularly in the Sahel. Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and other emerging actors are also increasing their presence across multiple sectors. In this increasingly multipolar environment, France no longer enjoys the dominant position it once held.

Facing this reality, Macron declared during the summit that France no longer sees Africa as its traditional sphere of influence. The statement was intended to signal a diplomatic shift away from old colonial patterns.

This new generation is also transforming the political landscape itself.

Highly connected through social media platforms such as TikTok, X, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, young Africans are increasingly shaping public debate independently of traditional political institutions or state-controlled media. Political narratives that once dominated diplomatic relations are now constantly challenged online by activists, journalists, influencers, and ordinary citizens. Every speech, gesture, and diplomatic symbol is instantly scrutinized and debated on a continental scale.

This evolution has profoundly changed the nature of France-Africa relations. In previous decades, relations between Paris and African countries were largely managed through presidents, diplomats, military agreements, and elite political networks. Today, African public opinion plays a far more central role. And this public opinion appears increasingly distrustful of French intentions.

For many young Africans, sovereignty is no longer limited to formal independence. It also means monetary independence, control over natural resources, military autonomy, and freedom from foreign political influence.

As a result, France now faces not only a geopolitical challenge but also symbolic and psychological challenges. Despite its financial power, diplomatic influence, technological capacity, and investment announcements, Paris is struggling to rebuild trust among populations that increasingly associate France with decades of interference and unequal partnerships.

In the end, the summit may be remembered less for its economic announcements than for what it revealed: The continent undergoing profound political and generational change and a former colonial power still struggling to redefine its place within that new African reality.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed new judges to several courts, including the Supreme Court of Appeal, in a move the Presidency says is aimed at strengthening the judiciary and improving the administration of justice.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Presidency said the appointments were made “in terms of section 174(6) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, and on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission."

The appointments span the Supreme Court of Appeal, the Gauteng High Court, and the Eastern and Western Cape divisions of the High Court.

Among the key appointments is Madam Justice Thandi Victoria Norman, who will assume office as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal from May 15, 2026. Mr Justice Bashier Vally and Madam Justice Leonie Windell were also appointed to the Supreme Court of Appeal, effective from June 1, 2026.

The Presidency further confirmed that Justice Aubrey Phage Ledwaba has been appointed as Judge President of the Gauteng Division of the High Court from May 15, 2026.

Several appointments were also announced for the Western Cape Division of the High Court, including Rodges Deon Barendse, Advocate Diane Margaret Davis SC, Advocate Ncumisa Thoko Mayosi, Advocate Pinda Njokweni and Advocate Phillipa Susan Van Zyl.

President Ramaphosa also extended well wishes to the newly appointed judges, saying he “wishes the judges well as they assume their responsibilities”.

The appointments come as South Africa’s judiciary continues to face mounting pressure from growing court rolls, lengthy case backlogs and increasing public demand for efficient access to justice.

First published by IOL

A Nigerian court has sentenced in absentia former Power Minister Saleh Mamman to 75 years in prison after finding him guilty of laundering more than 33.8 billion naira (about $21 million) in funds linked to major state-backed power projects.

Abuja Federal High Court judge James Omotosho handed down the sentence on Wednesday, according to the anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Mamman, who is currently a fugitive, was convicted last week on 12 counts of money laundering.

Mamman’s whereabouts remain unclear. His lawyer reportedly told the court last week that he had been unable to reach him, while an aide later claimed the former minister was ill.

The EFCC said Mamman had conspired with ministry officials and private companies to convert 33.8 billion naira released for the Mambilla and Zungeru hydroelectric power projects. The Mambilla and Zungeru projects are large hydroelectric schemes meant to boost Nigeria’s chronically unreliable electricity supply, with planned capacities of 3,050MW and 700MW, respectively.

The commission said the court imposed seven-year terms on ten counts, a three-year term with an option of a 10 million-naira fine on one count, and a two-year term on another count, with the sentences to run consecutively from the date of his arrest.

The court also ordered the forfeiture of properties in Abuja and foreign currency recovered from Mamman’s residence, including dollars, euros and pounds, according to the EFCC. It further ordered him to refund the outstanding balance from the 22 billion naira for which he was found guilty.

The case adds to a series of high-profile corruption proceedings involving officials from the West African nation. Former Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke is standing trial in London on bribery charges linked to her tenure from 2010 to 2015, allegations she denies. US authorities also returned $52.88 million in assets to Nigeria last year, saying the funds were linked to corruption involving the former oil minister.

Ghanaian President John Mahama has approved the immediate evacuation of 300 citizens from South Africa, following what Accra described as a fresh wave of xenophobic attacks targeting foreign nationals.

The West African country’s foreign minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, said the distressed Ghanaians had registered with Ghana’s High Commission in Pretoria to be rescued.

“The Government of Ghana shall continue to safeguard the welfare of all Ghanaians home and abroad,” Ablakwa wrote on X on Tuesday.

The evacuation comes amid widespread concerns across the continent over escalating anti-immigrant unrest in South Africa, where protests over undocumented foreign nationals have continued to spread across parts of the country in recent weeks. Hundreds marched in Johannesburg late last month to demand tougher immigration enforcement and mass deportations, while similar actions have since been reported in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

Anti-immigrant groups, including Operation Dudula, have been at the center of the controversy. A Johannesburg high court previously declared the group’s conduct at public facilities unlawful and xenophobic, barring members from harassment, hate speech, and blocking foreigners from health care, education, and housing.

In a statement on April 27, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed alarm over alleged “xenophobic attacks and acts of harassment and intimidation” against migrants and foreign nationals in parts of South Africa. Guterres said African and international solidarity helped South Africa defeat apartheid, and that migrants have long helped shape the country’s development.

Ghana is not the only African country moving to protect its citizens. On May 3, Nigeria said it will voluntarily repatriate 130 nationals from South Africa in response to the attacks. The two West African countries have summoned South African diplomats to demand stronger protection for their citizens.

South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola has arrived in New Delhi to join BRICS foreign ministers from May 14 to 15 for talks under India’s chairmanship, focusing on multilateral cooperation and global tensions.

The meeting, held in New Delhi, is convened under the theme, “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation, and Sustainability (BRICS)”. BRICS Foreign Ministers will deliberate and call for enhanced efforts to de-escalate and promote a peaceful resolution of conflicts raging in different parts of the world, including the Middle East.

Lamola expressed his confidence that these high-level deliberations will further cultivate the strategic synergy between BRICS member states, BRICS partner countries, and all international partners.

”Our presence here represents a concerted effort to shape a global architecture that is as sustainable as it is equitable,” Lamola said. 

“Through principled engagement and collaborative resolve, we seek to secure a future that honors the aspirations of all nations.”

South Africa’s High Commissioner to India, Professor Anil Sooklal, said that the meeting of BRICS ministers is one of the most important ministerial engagements outside of the BRICS summit.

”It gives the BRICS foreign ministers an opportunity to come together and reflect on the critical global issues as they impact the current global environment, collectively discuss them and try to see how BRICS can offer solutions and/or suggestions in addressing some of these global crises that we all find ourselves in at the moment.”

He highlighted that this includes the ongoing war in Gaza, the US-Israel situation in Lebanon and Iran, and the impact of the latter on fuel prices and supply.

“Of course, they will also discuss other global hotspots like Sudan, and also get an opportunity to perhaps get a briefing from Russia on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine situation, and so that’s always an important dimension of global peace and security that foreign ministers discuss, exchange views, and try to see how BRICS can positively impact all of these challenges.”

He added that it is quite a packed agenda, but very focused on the challenges and how BRICS responds to them as a platform of the Global South.

We have arrived in New Delhi, Republic of India, for the Meeting of BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs and International Relations. This gathering, hosted under the @BricsIndia2026 Chairship, comes at a critical juncture for our global community.

We are meeting under the theme:… pic.twitter.com/aH5XoTMXae

— Minister: International Relations and Cooperation (@RonaldLamola) May 12, 2026

”In many senses, it is an opportune time for collective reflection on all of these, and perhaps see how BRICS countries can positively impact, improve, and move forward, amid these challenges, and at the same time, reflect on the corporation within BRICS itself.

”I think more so than ever, we need to reflect as BRICS countries on how we strengthen resilience in terms of the challenges to the global economy, in terms of challenges against unilateral measures being taken against many of our countries, especially in the trade sector,” Sooklal said.

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation said South Africa’s participation is anchored in a long-standing tradition of principled advocacy, focusing on three core imperatives:

They said that South Africa remains committed to bridging the gap between the developmental priorities of the Global South and emerging frontiers in technological, economic, and social innovation, with a view to ensuring that BRICS cooperation delivers tangible, inclusive, and sustainable socio-economic benefits for all.

First published by IOL

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has been sworn in for a seventh consecutive term, extending his rule of more than four decades as one of Africa’s longest serving leaders.

The 81-year-old took the oath of office Tuesday at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds in Kampala after securing more than 70% of the vote in the election in January.

The ceremony was attended by diplomats and several African leaders, including Ethiopian President Taye Atske Selassie, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Felix Tshisekedi, South Sudan’s Salva Kiir, and Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan.

In his inauguration speech, Museveni declared a new era of “no more sleep” for the nation, focusing on wealth creation, job generation, and the elimination of corruption and complacency. He urged citizens to “wake up” and embrace economic transformation by engaging in commercial agriculture, manufacturing, services, and ICT, warning that the country “can no longer afford complacency.”

Museveni showcased a long list of achievements under his administration since 1986, backing his claims with photos as evidence, including major infrastructure projects, the restoration of peace and stability, and sustained economic growth.

Museveni became president in 1986 following the overthrow of Milton Obote’s government. He won Uganda’s first multiparty elections in 2006 and has remained in power through subsequent elections and constitutional amendments that removed presidential term limits. He is currently the world’s third-longest consecutively serving non-royal head of state, after Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema and Cameroon’s Paul Biya.

His main rival, Robert Kyagulanyi – popularly known as Bobi Wine – who secured 24.72% of the vote, rejected the results, alleging massive ballot stuffing. However, election observers, including those from the African Union and Russia, said the election was conducted in an orderly and transparent manner.

Following his victory, Museveni said he would have “embarrassed” the opposition “badly” if 10 million more of his supporters had taken part. His new term will run until 2031.

For decades, the Elysee Palace viewed Africa through the narrow lens of its former colonies – a cozy, if often toxic, arrangement known as ‘Francafrique’ in which language was a colonialist tool rather than a neutral medium of expression and knowledge. But as French flags are lowered and troops are ushered out of the Sahel, President Emmanuel Macron touched down in Nairobi with a different script.

Leading the Africa Forward Summit in Kenya this week, Macron brought a strategic pivot toward the Anglophone world – a cultural, and no less colonial, space usually reserved for a competitor colonialist, the UK. By courting 30 nations in a region where France has no colonial history, Paris is attempting a high-stakes rebranding. It is a move that seems to be born of necessity. As the traditional sphere of influence crumbles under the weight of anti-colonial resentment and shifting global alliances, France is betting that its future on the continent lies in the English-speaking East.

Le Figaro described the presidential outburst as a “total lack of respect.” Far-left French MP Daniele Obono characterized it as yet another instance of the “behavior of a colonialist” who cannot help himself the moment he “sets foot on the African continent.”

Even as Le Monde analyzes the pivot as a pragmatic economic necessity, the domestic narrative suggests that while the geography has changed, the ‘schoolteacher’ temperament of French diplomacy remains firmly intact. Kicked out of the front door in the Sahel, Paris is now trying to climb back through the back window, clutching the same old lecture notes.

Beyond the theatrical scolding at the podium, the summit’s primary engine was a massive financial pivot: A €23 billion ($27 billion) investment package aimed at strategic sectors such as energy, AI, and agriculture. However, the optics of this ‘new partnership’ remain contested.

While Macron spoke of an era “free of hang-ups,” Kenyan President William Ruto pointedly used the word ‘sovereignty’ eight times in his speech, insisting that the days of European dependency are over.

For Paris, this is clearly an attempt to find a new economic ‘back window’ as the front door slams shut elsewhere. With €14 billion of the funds coming from French giants such as TotalEnergies, Orange, and the shipping titan CMA CGM – which alone committed $823 million to modernize the Mombasa port – the strategy is transparent. Having lost its grip on the Sahel region and its traditional mineral extractions, France is now trying to entrench its corporations in the ‘Silicon Savannah’ and the booming English-speaking markets. It is a high-stakes gamble: Using billions in capital to buy the relevance it can no longer command through military presence or colonial-era linguistic ties.

However, this Anglophone charm offensive has already ruffled feathers in London, where the British press has characterized the new French promised billions splurge as an attempt to buy influence within the commonwealth.

The irony is sharp. While Macron uses Nairobi to preach a new era of equal partnership, he is simultaneously engaging in a modernized scramble for the continent’s most prosperous markets, effectively replacing the military boots of the Sahel with the corporate suits of the CAC 40.

For the nations of East Africa, the spectacle is clear: They are no longer just the subjects of a new Great Game, but the prize in a high-stakes competition between a rebranded France and a stagnant Britain, both of which are desperate to remain relevant in a multipolar Africa that is increasingly looking toward the East, where the influence of China and Russia continues to grow.

Similarly, the Talent Afrique-France scheme (a pilot visa program) is being criticized as a brain-drain mechanism, designed to siphon off Africa’s brightest AI and tech innovators to serve French firms rather than building local capacity. The ghost of the failed Vinci SA highway deal still haunts the relationship; Nairobi famously scrapped the lopsided project due to sovereign debt concerns, only to see the contract eventually handed to a Chinese corporate rival. For the burgeoning tech hubs of Lagos and Nairobi, Macron’s ‘equal partnership’ looks suspiciously like a rebranding of trickle-down economics: The profits are repatriated to Paris, while the continent is left to shoulder the environmental and financial debt of a corporate-led scramble.

Ultimately, the mounting resistance across the continent is not a rejection of French investment for its own sake, but a rejection of the terms under which it has historically arrived.

For Macron, the message from the Africa Forward summit is clear: The era of unilateral lecturing is over. If France wishes to remain a relevant player in this multipolar landscape, it must finally discard the ‘back window’ tactics and the ‘schoolteacher’ temperament, proving that it can exist as a partner in progress rather than a ‘competitor colonialist’ desperately clinging to a disappearing past.

Russia is one of Ethiopia’s key long-term strategic partners and Moscow has consistently supported the African country during some of its most difficult periods, Ethiopian Air Force chief Lieutenant General Yilma Merdassa has said. 

Speaking to RT, Merdassa said he had trained in Russia and flown Soviet and Russian-made aircraft, including the Su-27. He noted that Russian and Soviet cooperation had significantly shaped the Ethiopian Air Force through pilot training, maintenance systems, and combat tactics, adding that ties weakened after the collapse of the Soviet Union but were later restored and continue to expand.   

“Russians are our strategic partners and I always used to say Russians are a very principled nation, principled government, always. They have been with us during difficult times,” Merdassa said. 

Merdassa added that cooperation between Moscow and Addis Ababa in military aviation would become “stronger and stronger” in the future, describing Russia’s aviation expertise as highly influential for Ethiopian pilots, engineers, and instructors.

Beyond military cooperation, Russia and Ethiopia have been expanding ties in numerous areas. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening relations between the countries during a phone call in March, according to the Kremlin. The two leaders also agreed to intensify contacts at various levels.

Bilateral trade nearly tripled year-on-year in 2025 to more than $435 million, Russian Ambassador to Ethiopia Evgeny Terekhin told TASS in February, citing growth in Russian exports of fertilizers and machinery as well as rising Ethiopian coffee supplies to Russia.

Africa can no longer be excluded from permanent representation on the UN Security Council (UNSC), African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf has said.

Speaking at a ministerial meeting on UNSC reform on the sidelines of the Africa-France Summit in Kenyan capital Nairobi on Monday, Youssouf said the continent’s demand is not a request for special treatment but a response to a long-standing imbalance in global governance.

“Africa is not asking for a favor; Africa is demanding the correction of a historical injustice,” he said, according to an AU statement. He added that the Security Council’s “credibility and legitimacy” depend on whether it reflects the realities of the present world rather than “the geopolitical order of 1945.” 

The AU’s position is based on the 2005 Ezulwini Consensus and Sirte Declaration. It calls for at least two permanent African seats with all the powers held by existing permanent members, including veto rights while the veto remains, as well as five additional non-permanent seats.

The Security Council currently has five permanent members – China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US – and ten elected members serving two-year terms. Africa, despite having 54 UN member states, has no permanent seat on the body.

Russia has also backed expanding the Security Council to include more African, Asian, and Latin American states. Moscow’s deputy envoy to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, told an African Union Committee of Ten summit in New York in September that the council should reflect the “multipolar nature of the world” rather than “the global colonial past.” Polyansky said Russia supports Africa’s push for greater representation, while warning against increasing Western representation on the council.

South African Minister of Correctional Services Pieter Groenewald has said that 2,388 correctional officials were subjected to disciplinary action during the 2025/26 financial year, including cases involving corruption and the smuggling of contraband such as cellphones and drugs.

This comes after EFF Member of Parliament (MP) Nontando Nolutshungu asked Groenewald to provide details on the progress of the department’s gang management strategy since a Portfolio Committee briefing on 4 March 2026, the funding allocated to the strategy, and measurable outcomes achieved.

She also sought information on disciplinary action against officials and plans to address perimeter security vulnerabilities at correctional facilities. In response, Groenewald said 289 officials had been suspended and 118 dismissed during the period under review.

”The officials who were subjected to disciplinary action, suspension and dismissal in the 2025/26 FY for involvement in the following: 2388 officials were involved in misconducts, 25 officials were involved in corruption, 137 officials were involved in aiding the smuggling of contraband such as cell-phones and drugs,” Groenewald said in his parliamentary reply.

Groenewald said the department had allocated R24.362 million for goods and services linked to operational matters and implementation of strategies, although no funding had been specifically allocated for the gang combating strategy itself.

The minister also presented departmental performance data showing improvements in security operations between the 2023/24 and 2025/26 financial years.

According to the data, the percentage of inmates who escaped from correctional facilities declined from 0.030% in 2023/24 to 0.029% in 2024/25 and 0.012% in 2025/26, with recorded cases dropping from 20 to 4 and remaining at 4.

Addressing infrastructure challenges, Groenewald said the department had developed a multi-year plan to strengthen perimeter security across correctional facilities.

”The DCS multi-year plan is to repair or replace damaged sections of the perimeter fence, where necessary the entire perimeter will be replaced with stronger fence, access control, surveillance, scanning technology, patrols and tighter operational discipline,” he said.

Groenewald said funded perimeter fencing and security projects would be implemented during the 2026/27 financial year at St Albans Management Area in the Eastern Cape and Durban Westville Correctional Centre in KwaZulu-Natal.

First published by IOL

France is attempting to restore its influence in Africa after governments in several Sahel states pushed out French troops and scaled back ties with Paris, Kenyan lawyer and activist, professor Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba, has told RT. 

Commenting on French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Kenya and the Africa Forward summit in Nairobi, the chairman and founder of the PLO Lumumba Foundation argued that Paris is presenting itself as a changed partner while, in reality, seeking to preserve its geopolitical and economic leverage on the continent.

“The reality is they [France] want to dominate African continents… the sooner Africa realizes that, the safer Africa is,” Lumumba said. 

Speaking to RT, he suggested that France’s recent diplomatic and military initiatives in East Africa were aimed at offsetting setbacks suffered in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Senegal.

The professor also dismissed Macron’s self-description as a pan-Africanist, arguing that the French president was using the language of Pan-Africanism to appeal to African audiences while continuing policies that undermine the continent’s sovereignty.

He maintained that genuine Pan-Africanism could not coexist with military pacts or economic arrangements that preserved dependence on former colonial powers.

“He’s not a pan-Africanist of any shade, but he is trying to wear the garb of Pan-Africanism as a way of confusing gullible African leaders,” Lumumba said. 

The Africa Forward summit is taking place on May 11-12 in Nairobi. The event is focused on what organizers describe as an “Africa-France partnership” and is jointly organized by Paris and Nairobi. The summit is being held for the first time in a non-Francophone African country.

“Every relationship, if it is not symbiotic, if it is not mutually beneficial, ... it is not healthy and it is not good,” Bwala added.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared that he will not resign after the country’s top court revived impeachment proceedings linked to a long-running cash scandal at his private farm.

In a televised address on Monday, Ramaphosa said stepping down would “pre-empt a process defined by the constitution” and give credence to what he called a flawed parliamentary panel report. He also said he would seek a judicial review of the report “on an expeditious basis.” 

“Nothing in the Constitutional Court judgment compels me to resign my office,” Ramaphosa said, adding that the court had made no finding on whether he committed misconduct.

The case stems from the alleged theft of $580,000 in foreign currency from Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala wildlife farm in Limpopo in February 2020. Former State Security Agency chief Arthur Fraser, who made the scandal public in 2022, claimed the theft involved more than $4 million and accused Ramaphosa of covering it up. Ramaphosa has denied wrongdoing, saying the money came from the sale of buffaloes.

An independent panel appointed by parliament found in 2022 that there may have been grounds for impeachment, including questions over whether Ramaphosa had violated the constitution or acted inconsistently with his office. The National Assembly later voted not to proceed with an impeachment inquiry.

Ramaphosa has since faced calls from opposition parties, including the left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters and the African Transformation Movement, to step down and face impeachment proceedings.

On Monday, National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza said parliament would begin the process of establishing an impeachment committee in line with the Constitutional Court’s ruling.

The president said on Monday that he respects the court’s ruling and “will continue to cooperate with all institutions that are mandated to deal with all these matters.”

“I have consistently maintained that I have not stolen public money, committed any crime, nor violated my oath of office,” he insisted.

South Africa has declared a national disaster after days of extreme weather battered several provinces, leaving at least ten people dead.

On Sunday, the country’s National Disaster Management Center (NDMC) said severe weather conditions that began on May 4 triggered widespread flooding, heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, strong winds, and snowfall across the Western Cape, North West, Free State, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, and Mpumalanga provinces. 

The South African Weather Service had earlier issued an Orange Level 6 and Yellow Level 4 warning for damaging winds and rough waves affecting the Western and Northern Cape between May 10 and May 12.

Authorities say the disaster has already caused major infrastructure damage, disrupted essential services, and displaced residents in several areas.

@iolnews Rosmead Avenue in Kenilworth is underwater as the South African Weather Service issues a Level 8 warning for disruptive rainfall across Cape Town. 📷: Supplied #RosmeadAvenue #CapeTown #rainfall #SouthAfricanWeatherService ♬ оригинальный звук IOL NEWS

“As winter sets in, we are vulnerable to events which we may be able to forecast but whose actual intensity in specific locations we may not be able to predict,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said, adding that the government was relying on scientific forecasting to prepare for further severe weather events and coordinate responses.

@iolnews Heavy rainfall in the Western Cape caused tree branches to fall across Hout Bay on Monday morning. 📷: Supplied #heavy #rainfall #WesternCape #tree #branches ♬ original sound - IOL NEWS

In the Western Cape, provincial authorities ordered all schools to close on Tuesday due to what officials described as “disruptive rainfall and flooding,” citing concerns for the safety of learners and staff. Schools are expected to reopen on Wednesday if conditions improve.

Pretoria has already been hit by extreme weather this year. In January, Kruger National Park, one of the continent’s largest wildlife reserves, was partially closed after heavy flooding cut off access roads and campsites, with more than 600 tourists and staff were evacuated.

Heavy rains have also hit other African countries in recent weeks. In early May, at least 18 people were killed by floods and landslides in Kenya, with mudslides displacing families and damaging homes and infrastructure across central and eastern regions of the country.

The body of one of two US soldiers who went missing during the African Lion military exercise in Morocco has been recovered from the Atlantic Ocean, military officials said on Sunday.

The soldier was identified as 1st Lieutenant Kendrick Lamont Key Jr., 27, an Air Defense Artillery officer from Richmond, Virginia. A Moroccan military search team found his remains along the shoreline at around 8:55 AM local time on May 9, roughly one mile from where the two soldiers were believed to have entered the water, according to the army.

According to the US Army, Key was a platoon leader assigned to Charlie Battery, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command.

Key and another US soldier were reported missing on May 2 near the Cap Draa Training Area outside Tan-Tan, a rugged coastal zone of cliffs, desert, and semidesert plains. The two had taken part in African Lion 26 earlier in the day, but officials said they were off duty during a recreational hike when they fell from a cliff.

The second soldier remains missing, with search efforts continuing.

The operation has involved more than 600 personnel from the US, Morocco, and partner forces, using frigates, vessels, helicopters, drones, divers, and ground teams. US Africa Command (AFRICOM) earlier said US, Moroccan, and other African Lion assets had immediately launched coordinated search-and-rescue efforts.

Fatal incidents have occurred during the exercise before. In 2012, an MV-22 Osprey crashed in a Moroccan training area during African Lion drills, killing two US marines and severely injuring two others.

In the past months, numerous reports have emerged that Somali pirate groups have acquired modern weapons and technology from the Houthis.

Ties between the Yemeni Zaydi Shiite movement Ansar Allah (better known as the Houthis), Somali pirates, and two terrorist organizations in Somalia, Al-Shabaab and the Islamic State – Somalia Province (IS–SP), continue to strengthen. This has been confirmed by both officials in Somalia and various UN reports.

In January 2026, Mohamed Musa Abulle, deputy director of intelligence for the Puntland Maritime Police Force (PMPF), said that some Somali pirate groups had received GPS devices from the Houthis, enabling them to “accurately track the routes of commercial vessels.” He noted that the security forces believe some members of these groups have undergone military training in Yemen. 

“This new technology has significantly simplified their planning of attacks far from the Somali coast,” the official stated.

A month earlier, on December 12, 2025, the PMPF intercepted a boat off the coast of Eyl carrying explosives and chemicals used for making explosive devices. At the time of the interception, there were seven people on board, two Yemeni nationals and five Somalis. The operation was part of Puntland’s counterterrorism efforts, in the course of which local security forces destroyed over 100 Islamic State facilities in the Cal Miskaad mountains, where militants were based.

‘Transactional, not ideological’

The 2025 report by the United Nations Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team also mentioned deals between the Houthis and terrorist groups in Somalia, characterizing their relationships as “transactional or opportunistic, and not ideological.” According to UN experts, Al-Shabaab militants met with Houthi representatives in Somalia at least twice, in July and September, to request modern weapons and training.

“In return, Al-Shabaab was to increase piracy activities within the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia, targeting cargo ships and disrupting vessel movement as well as collecting ransom from the captured vessels. During this period, Al-Shabaab was reported to have received some small arms and light weapons and technical expertise from the Houthis,” the report stated.

The same report noted that the Houthis maintain an agreement with Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) which has been in place for over three years and involves mutual non-aggression, prisoner exchanges, and arms transfers. While AQAP primarily attacks local targets in Yemen, it seeks to expand operations beyond its borders, including in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Somali pirates, who also collaborate with the Houthis, operate as a criminal organization separate from the terrorist groups. The ties between them are transactional and situational rather than ideological. Primarily motivated by economic gain, pirates seek large hauls or ransom payments, while groups like Al-Shabaab and ISIS are driven by ideology.

Occasionally, pirates partner with the Islamists to ensure their own safety or obtain logistical support in areas under their control. For instance, in March 2024, Al-Shabaab militants in the Sanaag region of northern Somalia struck a deal to provide protection for pirates in exchange for 30% of all ransoms and a share of any loot.

How much do pirates earn?

Since the early 2000s, piracy has thrived in the port city of Eyl in Puntland, which has earned the nickname ‘Harunta Burcadda’ (Pirate Capital). Small bands of pirates boldly attacked massive container ships and oil tankers, forcing shipping companies to steer clear of the Horn of Africa.

From 2005 to 2012, Somali pirate groups reportedly made between $339 million and $413 million, according to World Bank data. Between 2013 and 2019, the European Union’s counterpiracy mission, Operation Atalanta, launched in December 2008 to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia, recorded 26 attacks by Somali groups. In 2020-2022 there was a temporary lull in pirate activity, with no recorded attacks. However, in the following years piracy resumed – six attacks were recorded in 2023, and as many as 22 attacks in 2024. 

This prompted international naval forces to bolster patrols in Somali waters. The Puntland Maritime Police Force (PMPF) in collaboration with Operation Atalanta, evolved into a well-trained and experienced counter-terrorism unit. However, they were compelled to redirect a significant portion of their troops inland to support Puntland security forces against IS–SP in the Cal Miskaad mountains. Pirates took advantage of this, and the situation was further exacerbated by ongoing maritime instability due to the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

Throughout 2024 and 2025, pirates continued to target commercial vessels, executing at least six hijackings. These attacks occurred as far as 2,270 miles from the Somali coast in the Indian Ocean. In April 2026 alone, they successfully detained at least three ships, including a tanker and a fishing trawler.

The recent success of pirates off the coast of Somalia can largely be attributed to the war initiated by the US and Israel against Iran. This conflict has shifted the region’s focus toward the Persian Gulf, prompting forces that once ensured security in the Red Sea to redirect their efforts toward escorting vessels attempting to navigate the blocked Strait of Hormuz.

Puntland and Somaliland, Israel and the US

The main source of pirate activity in Somali waters is Puntland, which positions itself as an autonomous state within Somalia. Since 2024, it has functioned independently of the federal government. Located in the tip of the Horn of Africa, Puntland does not claim full independence from Somalia, unlike Somaliland to the north, which actively seeks international recognition for its sovereignty.

Somaliland has made significant strides in this regard. On December 26, 2025, Israel became the first (and currently the only) country to officially recognize the independence and sovereignty of the Republic of Somaliland. It later emerged that Israel, in collaboration with the US and the UAE, has begun constructing a military base in the port city of Berbera in northern Somaliland. This base is intended to serve as a launchpad for intelligence-gathering and operations against the Houthis, who regularly target Israeli territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s unexpected recognition of Somaliland at the end of 2025 likely aimed to establish a strategic Israeli foothold in the Gulf of Aden, close to Yemen’s coastline, where the Houthis operate. The Houthis renewed their conflict with Israel on March 28, threatening to disrupt shipping traffic in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. Satellite images obtained by Le Monde indicate that the Berbera airport has been expanded since October 2025. 

Interestingly, this airport was originally built in the 1970s by Soviet specialists, who established a naval base around the Bab-el-Mandeb strait during the Cold War to control maritime routes and counter American influence while maintaining a presence in the Indian Ocean.

Somali pirates conduct maritime attacks from Puntland, where terrorist groups like Al-Shabaab and IS–SP operate; however, these groups are not present in Somaliland. Thus, from a strategic perspective, for foreign states Berbera holds greater significance than the port of Bosaso in Puntland, as it allows them to exert influence in the region without having to aid local authorities in their fight against terrorism and piracy.

Two axes of international influence

Following Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, experts began discussing the formation of two competing ‘axes’ defining foreign interests in the Horn of Africa. The emerging Berbera Axis (Israel – UAE – Ethiopia – Somaliland) is aimed at securing access to ports and monitoring capabilities in the Red Sea, as well as countering the dominant influence of Türkiye and Iran in the region.

Somaliland boasts 850 kilometers of coastline along the Gulf of Aden, directly opposite Yemen across the narrow Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. This geographical advantage allows Israel to gather real-time intelligence, conduct drone surveillance, and swiftly respond to missile and UAV attacks from the Houthis. Tel Aviv’s strategic partners in the region include the UAE, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020. Since 2018, through its largest port operator, DP World, the UAE has been working on expanding and modernizing the port of Berbera.

Ethiopia, which maintains friendly ties with both Tel Aviv and Somaliland’s capital, Hargeisa, also benefits from Israel’s recognition of the self-proclaimed republic. The December agreement grants Addis Ababa greater leverage for potential access to the Red Sea. According to a Memorandum of Understanding signed between Ethiopia and Somaliland in January 2024, Somaliland agreed to lease a part of its coastline to Ethiopia for 50 years. However, following negotiations facilitated by Türkiye, Addis Ababa has been discussing this issue with the federal authorities in Somalia. Both processes are still in the development phase.

The second axis, known as the Mogadishu Axis (Somalia-Türkiye-Egypt-Saudi Arabia), aims to protect Somalia’s sovereignty against external intervention. Türkiye plays a crucial role here, having become Somalia’s primary foreign partner since the 2010s. In 2017, Ankara opened its largest military base abroad, TURKSOM, in Mogadishu. Türkiye has trained thousands of Somali soldiers, many of whom serve in the elite Gorgor unit, deployed against al-Shabaab. On February 9, 2026, the Turkish parliament extended the mandate of its naval forces operating in Somali waters, the Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea for another year. Türkiye has also deployed F-16 fighter jets and helicopters to Mogadishu.

On February 9, 2026, Saudi Arabia signed a military agreement with Somalia aimed at ensuring “regional stability and security in the Red Sea.” Discussions included the establishment of a naval base in the port town of Las Qoray. Additionally, Riyadh is mediating and possibly sponsoring a potential deal for Somalia to acquire 24 JF-17 Thunder Block III fighters from Pakistan for $900 million.

Clearly, Egypt could also be part of the Mogadishu Axis, since it views the Israel-Somaliland-Ethiopia alliance as a possible strategic blockade. For Cairo, the Suez Canal is not just a matter of revenue but of national survival.

On February 8, 2026, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with his Somali counterpart, reaffirming that “Egypt will always remain a sincere partner and unwavering supporter of Somalia.” Following the meeting, Cairo deployed over 1,000 troops to Mogadishu as part of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

The role of Iran

Iran is not part of any of the aforementioned axes, but it actively participates in the anti-Israeli Axis of Resistance which includes various groups across the Middle East. In fact, the Berbera Axis emerged in response to threats from Iran and its proxy forces, particularly the Houthis. 

Tehran’s relationship with Mogadishu has been strained. In 2016, Somalia severed diplomatic ties with Iran (acting in solidarity with Saudi Arabia), accusing it of meddling in its internal affairs and promoting Shiism. While relations were restored in 2024, tensions persist to this day.

Mogadishu has strongly condemned Iran’s recent attacks on critical energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE, which have disrupted maritime shipping routes and exacerbated Somalia’s humanitarian crisis. 

Moreover, Iran is indirectly complicit in deals between the Houthis, Somali pirates, and the militant group Al-Shabaab, as it is the primary arms supplier for the Ansar Allah movement. Tehran uses Somalia’s coastline as a key transit point for weapons shipments to the Houthis. Incidents involving the interception of such shipments have been documented in the report by the Panel of Experts on Yemen, submitted to the UN Security Council on October 11, 2024. In recent years, this cooperation has evolved into a full-fledged regional network encompassing Al-Shabaab and local piracy groups.

In addition to established players like Türkiye and the UAE, long-time rivals Israel and Iran are a influencing the region’s political landscape. Amid the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, their confrontation in the Red Sea is growing, and this is vividly demonstrated by the Iranian proxy forces’ support for Somali pirates.

For Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer and one of its most densely populated nations, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in early 2026 exposed fault lines that politicians and technocrats have long preferred to ignore. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most consequential waterways on earth. Roughly 21 kilometers wide at its narrowest point, it channels nearly 20% of the world’s oil trade, functioning as the jugular vein of the global hydrocarbon economy. When that artery constricted in March 2026, Brent crude prices surged past $114 per barrel, the highest since 2022 – in a matter of days.

Beyond crude oil, the closure disrupted the flow of petrochemicals and fertilizers, commodities for which the Gulf region is among the world’s foremost exporters. As UNCTAD observed, the disruption deepened global economic strain across trade, prices, and finance, threatening the food security of import-dependent nations from sub-Saharan Africa to South Asia. Nigeria was firmly in that cross-hair.

There is a bitter irony at the heart of Nigeria’s energy story. A nation that sits atop some of the world’s richest hydrocarbon deposits has, for decades, been unable to refine sufficient fuel for its own population. Nigerians have paid the price of this structural contradiction through repeated fuel scarcity, suffocating queues at filling stations, and an economy perpetually held hostage by the price of imported refined petroleum products. The Hormuz crisis just stripped away whatever thin insulation of normalcy had accumulated over the years.

The commissioning of the Dangote Refinery in 2024 was greeted with optimism. With an initial capacity of 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) and an ambition to expand to 1.4 million bpd, it was positioned as the transformative answer to Nigeria’s chronic refining deficit and a statement of industrial sovereignty.

Yet the promise has been undermined by a fundamental contradiction: Nigeria’s oil, extracted from its own land, is systematically routed away from its own shores. International oil companies (IOCs) operating in the country have demonstrated a persistent preference for exporting crude to global spot markets rather than supplying domestic refineries. The result has been a structural feedstock crisis; the Dangote Refinery has been compelled to import crude from the US and other African countries, a situation of almost surreal policy failure.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company’s (NNPC) reliance on partial payments in naira and dollars to supply the refinery has further undermined pricing stability and deterred consistent local supply. Aliko Dangote, the president of the Dangote Group, has publicly lamented the unwillingness of IOCs to sell crude directly to the refinery, describing the situation as a structural impediment to domestic energy security.

When the Hormuz crisis pushed global crude prices above $114 per barrel, these vulnerabilities crystallized into a full-blown crisis.

The volatility in petrol prices through the first quarter of 2026 was jarring for ordinary Nigerians. Prices surged from ₦870 ($0.65) to ₦1,300 ($0.97) per litre in March 2026, mirroring the spike in international crude markets.

When the crude is pledged abroad

Perhaps the most consequential and least discussed dimension of Nigeria’s energy vulnerability lies in its forward sales contracts (FSCs). For context, forward sales contracts on crude oil are structured finance agreements where NNPC Limited receives significant upfront cash funding from lenders, often via a Special Purpose Vehicle, in exchange for pledging specific volumes of future crude oil production as repayment.

These instruments, originally designed to provide liquidity and budget predictability for the federal government, have over time metastasized into a structural trap. By locking Nigeria into selling crude at pre-agreed prices over extended periods, FSCs have stripped the country of its ability to benefit from price surges during exactly the kind of global crisis that the Hormuz closure represents.

Instead of capitalizing on $114 per barrel crude, Nigeria was contractually bound to honour agreements struck at far lower valuations. By 2025, FSC obligations had ballooned to ₦8.07 trillion ($6 billion), effectively diverting crude away from domestic refiners and compounding supply shortages.

The paradox is acute: Nigeria cannot feed its own refinery because its crude is pledged, at discounted prices, to foreign competitors.

A nation that cannot direct its primary natural resource toward its own strategic priorities is, in a meaningful sense, still operating under the terms of resource dependency rather than resource ownership.

The downstream consequences of the energy crisis have been deeply disruptive. Inflation has soared above 30%, driven primarily by the cascading effects of rising transportation costs on food prices, consumer goods, and industrial inputs. Fertilizer shortages, linked to disruptions in Middle East supply chains, have driven up farm input costs, placing food production under stress at a moment when Nigeria can least afford agricultural disruption. The country’s smallholder farmers, who account for the bulk of domestic food production, face a brutal double bind of higher input costs and weakened consumer purchasing power.

What can be done?

None of this is irreversible. But reversing it demands intellectual honesty about the structural origins of the crisis and the political will to pursue substantive reform rather than palliative measures.

First and most urgently, Nigeria should enact binding legislation or executive mandates that guarantee a minimum percentage of domestic crude production to local refineries, denominated in naira to reduce foreign exchange exposure. The Dangote Refinery, whatever its scale and ambition, cannot fulfil its strategic purpose if it is perpetually starved of supplies. IOCs operating in Nigeria should be made to understand that access to Nigerian acreage carries obligations to Nigerian supply chains.

Second, the Forward Sales Contract framework requires fundamental reform. FSC obligations should be capped as a proportion of total crude production, and a strategic crude reserve mechanism should be established to insulate domestic refiners from the volatility of global spot markets during crisis periods.

Third, Nigeria should accelerate its energy diversification strategy. The country’s gas reserves, which is among the largest on the African continent, remain dramatically underutilized for domestic power generation and industrial raw material. A decisive pivot toward gas-to-power infrastructure, combined with scaled investment in solar energy, can reduce the structural dependence on liquid fuels that makes Nigeria so acutely vulnerable to external price shocks.

Fourth, agricultural resilience demands immediate policy support. Fertilizer subsidies and farm input programs should be designed to function as shock absorbers during supply disruptions of precisely the kind witnessed in 2026. Food security and energy security are not separate policy domains, rather, they are, in the modern era of petrochemical-dependent agriculture, inseparable.

Finally, Nigeria should exercise its considerable continental weight to spearhead regional cooperation on alternative petrochemical supply chains. African nations cannot continue to be passive recipients of supply disruptions originating in geopolitical theaters thousands of kilometers away.

The Middle East will remain volatile. Geopolitical shocks will reoccur. The only durable protection against their consequences is the construction of genuine energy resilience – built on domestic refining capacity, reformed contract frameworks, diversified supply chains, and an agricultural sector capable of withstanding external shocks. Nigeria has the resources. The question, as it has always been, is whether it has the will.

South Africa’s Constitutional Court has ordered a review of the National Assembly’s 2022 decision to block impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa over alleged financial misconduct.

The ruling on Friday directs lawmakers to reconsider whether the National Assembly acted constitutionally in rejecting a parliamentary inquiry panel’s report.

The case stems from the so-called Phala Phala scandal, a 2020 burglary at Ramaphosa’s private game farm in Limpopo, where Ramaphosa claims that roughly $580,000 in foreign currency hidden in a couch was stolen. However, former spy boss Arthur Fraser alleged that the sum was in fact $4 million.

A Section 89 parliamentary panel concluded there was prima facie evidence suggesting the president may have a case to answer, including questions over his reporting and handling of the incident. In December 2022, the National Assembly voted against adopting the panel’s report, effectively halting the impeachment process.

Ramaphosa has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, and state institutions, including the public protector, have not filed criminal charges. His legal team previously argued that the National Assembly acted within its powers.

The ruling comes amid a complex political landscape, with Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC) governing in coalition alongside the Democratic Alliance (DA), South Africa’s second-largest party. The DA has welcomed the court’s order, saying it will “participate fully and constructively” in the Phala Phala impeachment committee.

“Those who hold the highest offices in the land must be held to the highest standards of honesty, transparency and accountability,” DA federal leader Geordin Hill-Lewis said in a statement.

EFF leader Julius Malema has also described the judgement as a win for South Africa’s constitution.

“It is very unfortunate for those other judges who wanted to defend an individual and then use the majority to suppress irrationality,” Malema told reporters. Malema was recently sentenced to five years in prison on firearms charges but remains free pending appeal.

In a statement on Friday, the South African Presidency said, “Ramaphosa respects the Constitutional Court’s judgment and reaffirms his commitment to the Constitution, the independence of the judiciary, and the rule of law.”

Actions by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are undermining efforts to resolve a long-running dispute over Abyei region on the border with South Sudan, Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN, Anna Evstigneeva, has said. 

Addressing the UN Security Council on Thursday, Evstigneeva said the process remains a hostage to conflicts on both sides of the frontier. She noted ongoing military activity in northern South Sudan and the presence of “destabilizing elements,” including RSF units, which continue to worsen the security situation.  

On Sudan’s side, Evstigneeva stressed that the situation in Abyei cannot be separated from the fighting in Kordofan and Darfur regions. She underlined that there are no Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in the disputed area, arguing that non-state armed groups are the main obstacle to launching a structured political dialogue and also pose risks to UN personnel. 

“It is the actions of elements opposing Khartoum that are the main obstacle to the start of a comprehensive settlement process,” the representative said. 

The comments come as Sudan remains in the grip of civil war.  

Neighboring South Sudan has faced years of instability since gaining independence from Sudan.  

Despite the tensions, Russia said Sudan has signaled readiness to restart joint political and security talks, including in a letter to the UN Secretary-General. Khartoum has also expressed openness to forming joint police units with South Sudan. 

Evstigneeva warned that without a final agreement on Abyei’s status, any discussion of downsizing UN operations would be premature, adding that “pressure on the parties could have a negative impact on both the security situation and the UN’s activities there.” 

In March, the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) pulled its peacekeepers and national monitors from the Tishwin and Abu Qussa/Wunkur sites along the Sudan-South Sudan border, relocating them to safer positions within the broader Abyei operational area. The withdrawal followed worsening security conditions on the disputed frontier and affected posts.

Countries across Africa are commemorating the 81st anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, with events bringing together diplomats, local residents, students, and Russian compatriots, as Russia prepares to mark Victory Day on May 9.

The Russian Embassy in Guinea joined the international ‘Garden of Memory’ campaign, planting Geiger trees and Mussaenda shrubs on the grounds of the diplomatic mission in Conakry on Tuesday. School students and embassy staff took part in the ceremony dedicated to Soviet soldiers killed during the war.

Launched in 2020 on the instructions of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the ‘Garden of Memory’ initiative aims to plant 27 million trees – one for each Soviet citizen who died during World War II.

In Mozambique, diplomats, students from the embassy school, and members of the Russian diaspora planted mango tree saplings as part of the campaign.

Mauritania joined the initiative for the first time this year. Russian citizens living in Nouakchott planted trees on the territory of the Russian Embassy.

Rossotrudnichestvo said the campaign has particular relevance in Mauritania, where desertification remains a major challenge. “Greening helps combat desertification, stabilizes sand, and improves the region’s microclimate,” the agency noted.

Egypt also joined the ‘Garden of Memory’ initiative this year.

Victory Day commemorations were also held elsewhere on the continent. In Tanzania, the Russian House in Dar es Salaam organized an ‘Immortal Regiment’ march ahead of May 9 celebrations. Similar processions took place in Tunisia.

The ‘Immortal Regiment’ movement began in the Russian city of Tomsk in 2012 and has since spread nationally and abroad.

Meanwhile in South Africa, the Russian Embassy hosted a Soviet film evening on Wednesday at Pretoria’s Fairtree Atterbury theater for ANC veterans. Guests watched the classic war drama ‘Officers’ and visited several photo exhibitions dedicated to World War II.

Nigerian troops have rescued seven children and two women more than a week after gunmen kidnapped them from an orphanage in the capital of Kogi State, the West African nation’s army said on Thursday.

Gunmen attacked the unregistered Daarul-Kitab Islamic Orphanage in a remote area of Lokoja on April 26, abducting 23 children and several adults. According to security officials, 15 of the children were freed shortly after the raid.

On Wednesday, troops under Operation Tiger Paw II intercepted and rescued the remaining group during a search in the Agbaja forest in Lokoja Local Government Area, Nigerian Army spokesman Hassan Abdullahi said in a statement.

“The rescued victims comprised five boys, two girls, and two adult females, believed to be the wives of the proprietor of the orphanage,” Abdullahi stated. They were evacuated to a military medical facility for immediate treatment and first aid, he added, noting that “all victims are reported to be in stable condition.”

No group has claimed responsibility for the Lokoja raid.

The surge in violence in Africa’s most populous country comes despite security measures that Abuja has implemented, including the deployment of thousands of military and police personnel and intensified operations targeting organized criminal and militant groups. On Thursday, the army announced “coordinated successes” in its campaigns and pledged to continue “aggressive operations against terrorists and their collaborators.”

TROOPS OF 12 BRIGADE RESCUE KIDNAPPED VICTIMS, FOIL TERRORIST LOGISTICS MOVEMENT IN KOGI STATE

Troops of 12 Brigade Nigerian Army have recorded significant operational successes in Kogi State, rescuing kidnapped victims and foiling a terrorist logistics movement in separate but… pic.twitter.com/JIuhPDZC0X

— Nigerian Army (@HQNigerianArmy) May 7, 2026