'GIFTS' VS REPATRIATIONS

France's Macron announces initiative to preserve primary forests of Papua New Guinea

French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Friday a partnership to "remunerate" Papua New Guinea for its efforts to preserve the primary forest. The first of its kind, the deal is an environmental model that France wants to see reproduced elsewhere.

Issued on: 28/07/2023 -

Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea James Marape (L) and 

France's President Emmanuel Macron (C) visit Varirata national park 

forest in Port Moresby on July 28, 2023. 

AFP - LUDOVIC MARIN

Text by: RFI

The French president was given a tour of Varirata National Park, near Port-Moresby, in the company of Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape on Friday.

The visit was part of Emmanuel Macron's South Pacific tour that has included stops in New Caledonia and Vanuatu.

Rich in minerals and other natural resources and close to the main maritime routes, Papua New Guinea has become a key issue in the strategic standoff between Western nations and China.

Faced with Beijing's growing influence in the region, the United States is betting on defense cooperation and has signed a security pact with Port-Moresby.

France, unable to compete with these two superpowers militarily, has decided to emphasise the environment, as Macron explained Thursday in Vanuatu by detailing the country's "Indo-Pacific strategy".

"[Primary forests represent]14 percent of the surface of the globe, 75 percent of what we call irrecoverable carbon. That is to say that when we deforest, we burn, we release the carbon and that's taking a huge step backwards," Macron said.

French President Emmanuel Macron receives a present made in wood from Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape after visiting Varirata national park near Port Moresby on July 28, 2023.

 AFP - LUDOVIC MARIN

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However, he noted, while the international community is already financing reforestation efforts, "there was absolutely no economic model to help preserve this".

At the One Forest Summit, which Macron organised with Gabon in Libreville in March, the idea of remuneration contracts with countries concerned was announced. The idea is to create a financial incentive in exchange for the preservation and "environmental services that are provided by these primary forests" .Amazon rainforest emitting more C02 than it absorbs, study finds

The first contract of its kind was launched on Thursday with Papua New Guinea, financed to the tune of more than €60 million by the European Union.

Paris hopes to go much further by mobilising other G7 countries on this initiative between now and COP28 in early December and, ultimately, to get the private sector on board too.

Non-governmental organisations, philanthropists like Conservation International, Wildlife Conservation Society or the Bezos Fund are already on board, as well as UN agencies.

Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea James Marape (R) 

and France's President Emmanuel Macron (C) meet

 Managalas people at APEC Haus in Port Moresby on July 28, 2023.

 AFP - LUDOVIC MARIN

Green economy

France wants to develop this model partnership with other countries affected by the presence of primary forest, concentrated in Southeast Asia, in the Amazon, the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo.Why the Congo plays a critical role in saving the world's biodiversity

James Marape thanked the French President for the initiative, saying he had "become the champion of forest nations".

"I am counting on my brother President Emmanuel Macron to speak globally in the world. We cannot talk about climate change without talking about the protection of forests and oceans and the green economy," he said.

The two countries made the most of the visit to sign other agreements. The French Development Agency, which is gaining momentum in the Pacific, particularly on climate issues, has undertaken to finance the rehabilitation of Papua New Guinea's ports with European partners and Australia, to develop a "model of eco-responsibility ".

(with AFP)

Emmett Till Monument Has a Message Some Refuse to Hear
Analysis by Francis Wilkinson | Bloomberg
July 29, 2023 

US President Joe Biden while signing a proclamation to establish the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument in theIndian Treaty Room of the White House with US Vice President Kamala Harris, left, in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. Biden signed the proclamation to protect sites connected to the barbaric 1955 killing ofEmmett Tilland the bold efforts by his mother, MamieTill-Mobley, to highlight his death. (Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomberg)

History has been getting roughed up lately. But it fought back this week, aided by a president who has seen a lot of it.

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden announced the creation of the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument. It will honor a 14-year-old boy who was tortured and murdered by racists in 1955, and a mother who courageously displayed her son’s mutilated face to expose a savage society. (The White woman who claimed that Till had accosted her — the ostensible basis for the vigilantism — six decades later said she had lied about the incident. Not that it matters.)

The monument, set to occupy three locations, will establish an observable physical fact, the better to preserve and honor an historical fact. If the message of monuments such as the Lincoln Memorial is, more or less, Behold the great man, the message of the Till monument will be slightly different: It happened. Deal with it.

Millions of Americans emphatically do not want to deal with it. In the days leading up to Biden’s announcement, Republican attorneys general from 13 states sent a letter to the nearly all-White ranks of Fortune 100 CEOs. The Republicans threatened “serious legal consequences” for executives if their companies seek to ameliorate racial disadvantage through programs or philosophies that acknowledge there might be something awry, possibly even systemic, in racial disparities of wealth and power.

One of the letter’s Republican signatories is Lynn Fitch, attorney general of Mississippi, the state that spawned both Till’s killers and the local jury that blessed their violence. Fitch was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi, in 1961, between the killing of Till, in Money, Mississippi, in 1955, and the murder of NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1963. She was 2 years old at the time of the murders of three civil rights workers in Philadelphia, Mississippi, in 1964.

Thankfully, all such traces of unpleasantness have vanished for Fitch, whose wealthy family’s plantation features the home of Nathan Bedford Forrest, the Confederate general famous for torturing Black Union soldiers and founding the Ku Klux Klan. Fitch’s father paid to move the structure to his property and carefully restore it.

Median household income for Black residents in Mississippi is less than 60% of the median for White residents. With racial equality achieved at home, Fitch is looking elsewhere, wielding the power of the state to combat “overt and pervasive racial discrimination” against the White people who can’t get ahead in corporate America.

There is pathos in these efforts. It was a straightforward matter for the White Citizens Council to extol the virtues of White supremacy and facilitate murder in its sacred honor. White privilege is a trickier game now, requiring the maintenance of racial stratification under the guise of commitment to a colorblind society. Unwilling to acknowledge racism’s reach, yet loath to indulge in stereotypes, Republicans are at a loss to explain the vast disparity between White and Black wealth. What drives this curious phenomenon? Apparently, it’s the residue that remains after systemic disadvantage evaporates.

Conservatives are working hard to reconfigure the past, but they pay a cost. Florida officials, including Governor Ron DeSantis, look awfully dim banning books and defending a hackish public education curriculum asserting that American slaves learned valuable skills in bondage. But minimizing the depravity of slavery, and erasing the long tail of racism, helps preserve the fantasies, and policies, of White innocence that buffer the haves against the aspirations of the have-so-much-less. If you can distort the past, you can gaslight the present.

If the manufacture, finance and consumption of cotton is a foundation of the modern capitalist world and its wealth, the question what is owed can’t help but assert itself. There are children in posh schools in Boston, London and New York whose family fortunes were built on the lacerated backs of slaves whose progeny now live across town. Does that matter? If so, what is to be done about it? If it doesn’t matter, why so much huffing and puffing to bury the truth?

What is owed is not the only, or necessarily even most important, question. And the past is not the only arena. Contemporary racial politics is very much about contemporary public and political space, too. The ultimate affront of Barack Obama’s presidency wasn’t his expansion of access to health care. It was that a Black man took up so very much space, at the center of the public stage.

DeSantis, the 13 attorneys general and their cohorts seek to preserve center stage for those who traditionally occupied it. Yet Blacks, Native Americans, women, LGBTQ Americans and others keep butting into the picture. Donald Trump was mocked for his pathetic affirmation of Frederick Douglass as someone who’s “done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more.” But Trump’s ignorance was a distillation of his creed. Why should Trump know anything about Douglass? Douglass was Black. 

Biden understands that the battle over history is a battle for the future. “At a time when there are those who seek to ban books, bury history, we’re making it clear — crystal, crystal clear — while darkness and denialism can hide much, they erase nothing,” Biden said during a White House event with members of the Till family. The politics of highlighting Mamie Till-Mobley, along with her son, aren’t hard to fathom: Black women are the backbone of the Democratic Party.

A few conservative truth-tellers — evangelical leader Russell Moore is one who comes to mind — seem eager to lead their reluctant brethren to the promised land, where no one mistakes MAGA’s racial aggression for sappy victimhood. Their path leads to places like the National Memorial for Peace and Justice — the lynching memorial — in Montgomery, Alabama.

The Till memorial will likely be another such destination, a place to face the past instead of lie about it. Maybe there, in the silent memory of Emmett Till’s mangled body, we can begin to dispense with another lie — the notion that slavery was the “original sin” of America’s founding. No God imprinted such horror at birth. No human action was foreordained. Every crime was a decision.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Francis Wilkinson is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering U.S. politics and policy. Previously, he was an editor for the Week, a writer for Rolling Stone, a communications consultant and a political media strategist.

WAGNER TRIFECTA

Niger seeks post-coup alliance with Mali and Burkina Faso in Russia-linked shift

ByThe Rio Times
July 29, 2023

The military junta in Niger, following their coup against President Mohamed Bazoum, has shown interest in cooperating with neighboring countries Mali and Burkina Faso.

These nations are already under military-led governments and have strengthened ties with Russia.

Niger, one of Africa’s poorest countries, was previously France’s main ally in the unstable Sahel region and had maintained a cautious distance from Mali and Burkina Faso.

After the coup, Niger’s junta accused France of landing a military plane at Niamey international airport, despite a declared border closure.

Niger seeks post-coup alliance with Mali and Burkina Faso in Russia-linked shift to Russia. (Photo Internet reproduction)

The junta further warned against any foreign military intervention, amidst speculated presence of French military personnel in Niamey.

The coup unfolds amidst an increasing anti-French sentiment in the Sahel, heightened by Mali and Burkina Faso expelling French forces from their territories.

While Niger did not participate in the Russia-Africa summit held in Saint Petersburg recently, Russian media reported that representatives from Niger had met with the head of the Wagner group of mercenaries, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

The ousted Nigerien President, Mohamed Bazoum, had previously expressed concerns about the influence of Wagner and a potential coup backed by them.

Following the coup, the self-proclaimed head of the junta, General Abdourahamane Tiani, criticized Bazoum for not cooperating with Burkina Faso and Mali, signaling a potential strengthening of ties with these neighboring nations.

These three countries share an area known as “the three borders,” a vast, dangerous territory currently experiencing a resurgence of jihadist activity.

The region suffers not only from terrorism and political instability but also the impacts of climate change.

According to the UN, 4.3 million people in Niger (from a population of 26 million) rely on humanitarian aid, making it one of the most delicate areas in the world.

Wagner Group: Inside the Russian mercenary machine in Africa - The East African

 Russia's presence in Africa: Weapons, Wagner and energy

Who is General Tchiani, head of Niger's new military government?

Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani, the commander of Niger's presidential guards unit, was appointed head of state on 28 July by a governing council set up by military forces that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.

Issued on: 29/07/2023 

In this image taken from video provided by ORTN, Gen. Tchiani makes a statement July 28, 2023, in Niamey, Niger. 

Text by :RFI

The 62-year-old general is from Niger’s western region of Tillaberic, close to the border with Mali.

He studied at a military academy in Thiès in Senegal and carried out a number of training missions abroad before occupying posts in Niger including commander of the national gendarmerie.

He was decorated in 1989 for having secured the site of a crash near Bilma in northern Niger after a French flight crashed due to a suitcase bomb explosion. All 170 people on board died. Tchiani was the first officer on site.

A former military attaché at Niger’s embassy in Germany, he also served as head of a battalion in Agadez, once seen as the world’s smuggling capital, and often led military operations in the Niger desert against contraband and drug traffickers.

In 2011, Bazoum’s predecessor, president Mahamadou Issoufou, appointed him to lead the presidential guards – a special unit of around 2,000 soldiers.

Then in 2018, Tchiani was promoted to the rank of general.

In March 2021, he reportedly led the unit that blocked another attempted coup, when a military unit tried to seize the presidential palace a few days before Bazoum was due to be sworn in.

When Bazoum took office 2021, he kept the general as head of the presidential guards.

A few months ago, he was decorated by president Bazoum “for fully taking on all his responsibilities with a spirit of devotion, self-sacrifice, availability and loyalty,” reports RFI correspondent Serge Daniel.

'Too close' to Issoufou

Tchiani remains a close ally of Issoufou. He was linked to a 2015 coup attempt against the ex-president, but denied that in court.

According to Serge Daniel, Tchiani was not chosen unanimously to lead the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Country (CNSP) as the new military government is calling itself.

“Some in the army some think he is too close to ex-president Mahamadou Issoufou,” said a witness to the first 48 hours of discussion following Bazoum's removal on Wednesday.Niger's president held at palace as African Union slams attempted coup

In a statement on state television on Friday, 28 July, Tchiani called on "the technical and financial partners and friends of Niger to understand the specific situation of our country and provide all necessary support to help it overcome the challenges it faces".

Reiterating that soldiers had seized power because of worsening security as the country battles a jihadist insurgency in the Sahel region, Tchiani said: "We cannot continue with the same approaches proposed so far, as it risks witnessing the gradual and inevitable disappearance of our nation."

Critics of Tchiani underline that if the country's security situation has indeed worsened, it has happened under his watch.

Russia-Africa summit ends without grain deal or path to end war in Ukraine

African leaders are leaving two days of meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin with little to show for their requests to resume a deal that kept grain flowing from Ukraine and to find a way of ending the war there.

Issued on: 30/07/2023

Fewer than 20 of Africa’s 54 heads of state or government attended the second Russia-Africa summit in Saint Petersburg on 27/28 July, 2023. 

AFP - ARTEM GEODAKYAN

Text by :RFI

In a press conference late Saturday following the Russia-Africa summit, Putin said Russia’s termination of the grain deal earlier this month caused a rise in grain prices that benefits Russian companies.

He added that Moscow would share some of those revenues with the “poorest nations".

That commitment, with no details, follows Putin’s promise to start shipping 25,000 to 50,000 tons of grain for free to each of six African nations in the next three to four months – an amount dwarfed by the 725,000 tons shipped by the UN World Food Programme to several hungry countries, African and otherwise, under the grain deal.

Russia plans to send the free grain to Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Eritrea and Central African Republic.

Russia's offer of 'free' grain to African countries not a solution: UN

Fewer than 20 of Africa’s 54 heads of state or government attended the Russia summit, while 43 attended the previous gathering in 2019, reflecting concerns over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine even as Moscow seeks more allies on the African continent of 1.3 billion people.
President Putin, right, shakes hands with Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi at the Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg, July 28, 2023. AP - Alexei Danichev
Calls to resume grain deal

Putin praised Africa as a rising centre of power in the world, while the Kremlin blamed “outrageous” Western pressure for discouraging some African countries from showing up.

The presidents of Egypt and South Africa were among the most outspoken on the need to resume the grain deal.

“We would like the Black Sea initiative to be implemented and that the Black Sea should be open,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said. “We are not here to plead for donations for the African continent.”France slams Russia's suspension of Black Sea grain deal as 'blackmail'

In Saturday's press conference, Putin said that Russia did not reject talks on Ukraine and that an African peace initiative, as well as a Chinese one, could be a basis for peace.

He also said that it was hard to implement a ceasefire when the Ukrainian army was on the offensive.

The next significant step in peace efforts appears to be a Ukrainian-organised peace summit hosted by Saudi Arabia in August, to which Russia is not invited.African leaders travel to Ukraine and Russia on peace mission

Africa’s nations make up the largest voting bloc at the UN and have been more divided than any other region on General Assembly resolutions criticising Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

Delegations at the summit in St. Petersburg roamed exhibits of weapons, a reminder of Russia's role as the African continent's top arms supplier.

Members of delegations examine a weapon exhibition on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa Summit. 

AP - Artyom Geodakyan

Putin in his remarks on Saturday also downplayed his absence from the BRICS economic summit in South Africa next month amid a controversy over an arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court.

Putin said his presence there was no more important than his presence "here, in Russia".

(with AP)

Africa’s hunger offers Russia chance to fight isolation by West


SATURDAY JULY 29 2023

Russia President Vladimir Putin speaks at a plenary meeting at the second Russia-Africa Summit in St Petersburg, Russia on July 28, 2023. PHOTO | AFP

Summary

Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa was given a “free” helicopter to help him travel around the country.

A deeper look at Russia’s involvement in Africa shows that the summit is mainly a symbolic event to signal the strengthening of ties, and to acknowledge Russia’s presence in the continent.

US Permanent Representative to Nato, labelled Russia among the “two main threats facing the Nato Alliance”.

Putin has not fulfilled the promises he made during the earlier Russia-Africa summit in 2019, where Moscow promised $40 billion worth of investments to the continent.

By AGGREY MUTAMBO

Russian President Vladimir Putin was this week shaking hands with and hugging African leaders, labelling them friends, a partial show of the continent’s ties with Moscow in the wake of Western isolation after invading Ukraine last year.

And the gathering, the second Russia-Africa Summit in four years, came with significant imagery: The ongoing food crisis in Africa, and Russia’s war in Ukraine, seemed like a perfect combination for influence peddling.

On Thursday, Moscow offered free grain to six poor African countries and promised to stabilise supplies to other needy states.

Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic and Eritrea will receive “free” food from Russia, shipped directly to their borders.

Somalia had their decades-old $684 million debt owed to Moscow forgiven in a deal penned on Wednesday. The money was owed before Somalia collapsed more than three decades ago.

Read: Somalia gets debt relief from Russia-Africa Summit

African leaders press Putin on grain deal, Ukraine War

US urges African leaders to confront Putin on grain disruptions

But the gesture could reflect Russia’s use of every opportunity to cement ties with a restless Africa.

Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who faces a general election in three weeks, was given a “free” helicopter to help him travel around the country.

Back in St Petersburg, President Putin spoke to his guests as “friends” and told them of his intent to improve grain supplies to the continent.

“Russia will always be a responsible international supplier of agricultural products. We will continue to support the countries and regions most in need.

“We will supply them with our grain and other food products, including free of charge and within the framework of the UN World Food Programme,” Mr Putin argued.

Read: Russia to seek deeper alliance with Africa

Mutual ties

At the gala reception hosted in honour of the participants of the second Russia–Africa Summit, President Putin told the leaders that their coming illustrates the mutual desire of Russia and African countries to expand and deepen mutually “beneficial ties and contacts.”

“This is also a real confirmation of our common intentions to take Russia-Africa relations to a new, more advanced level in politics, security, in the economic and social spheres.”

In the past, he argued, the Soviet Union rendered African nations “tangible support in the struggle against colonialism, racism and apartheid…”

Today, he said, Russia and the African countries stand together for the formation of “a just, multipolar world order based on the principles of sovereign equality of states, non-interference in their internal affairs, and respect for peoples’ right to determine their own destiny.”

Putin spoke to the leaders – among them Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Comoros President and African Union chair Azali Assoumani, Egypt’s Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Evariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi, the current chair of the East African Community, among others.

Read:  Putin hosts African leaders in Russia after grain deal exit

Symbolic event

A deeper look at Russia’s involvement in Africa shows that the summit is mainly a symbolic event to signal the strengthening of ties, and to acknowledge Russia’s presence in the continent.

Dr Angela Muvumba Sellström, senior researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI), says Russia advocates a multipolar world in which Western democratic ideals are not imposed and the ideological sovereignty of non-Western nations is respected.

The narrative appeals to Africans who have often protested an unjust international order and suits Moscow’s campaign against Western hegemony.

But it is not unique: China, the European Union, the US, and France have held similar meetings.

“Russia has seized on Africa’s genuine feelings of disenfranchisement in the global economy and global governance, leveraging its own sense of marginalisation from the global stage to exaggerate the tangible benefits it can offer to the continent,” Dr Sellström told The EastAfrican.

In the short-term, against the background of the Russian war in Ukraine, Moscow is using the grain as a tool, especially after it refused to continue with the Black Sea Grain Initiative, she said, but noted that Russia’s strongest partners on the African continent – Mali, Central African Republic, Zimbabwe, and even Uganda – would have to pursue bilateral arrangements to access grain purchases.

“I do not believe there are any viable long-term economic benefits on offer to Africa from Russia. Less than one percent of foreign direct investment in Africa comes from Russia.

That is a lot less than Europe, the US and China. South Africa and Mauritius have more direct investment in the rest of Africa than does Russia. Moscow focuses mostly on getting natural resources and energy out of Africa, and gives very little direct aid,” she said.

Read: Russia's presence in Africa: Weapons, Wagner and energy

Terror accusations

This week, however, Russia came under criticism from Ukraine and the West for pulling out of the Grain Initiative and attacking a Ukrainian port in Odessa, which had been exporting grain.

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said everyone will be impacted by the Russian invasion.

“Everyone is affected by this Russian terror. Everyone in the world should be interested in bringing Russia to justice for its terror,” he said in a Telegram video message on Thursday, after Russian missiles destroyed nearly 60,000 tonnes of grain in a yard in Odessa.

And Julianne Smith, US Permanent Representative to Nato, labelled Russia among the “two main threats facing the Nato Alliance”, the other being terrorism.

“I think those are topics of interest to our partners across Africa as it relates both to Russia’s activities on the African continent and what Africa – what Russia is doing in Ukraine as it relates to this grain deal,” Smith told a group of African journalists in a virtual meeting on Wednesday.

“Russia has violated the foundational principles of the UN Charter itself. The Wagner Group behind the recent coup attempt against Putin’s regime remains a destabilising presence and a threat to the African continent more specifically.

Read:  Inside the Russian mercenary machine in Africa

“And, of course, Russia’s refusal just recently to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative and its threat to attack commercial vessels carrying grain have led to increased food insecurity across the globe,” she said, adding that the US has established a roadmap on global food security, alongside 100 other countries, worth $4.5 billion for both acute and medium- to long-term food security assistance.

On July 17, Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which was scheduled for its fourth renewal, accusing Ukraine of diverting grain from poor recipients. The initiative has been instrumental in facilitating the export of Ukraine’s grain and agricultural products to global markets.

Shortly after the termination of the deal, the Russian Ministry of Defense asserted that it would view any ship heading for Ukraine as a potential carrier of military cargo.

A bulletin by the EUvsDisinfo, a European Union project on Russia’s disinformation, argued Moscow had twisted facts,including a denial of how Ukraine had been the biggest supplier of grain to the World Food Programme.

Yet experts think the West was reactionary.

“The West is already reacting as guessed: Focus on Russia; like the focus on China, which makes other players like African countries appear as voiceless subjects lacking agency,” said Dr Hawa Noor, associate fellow at the Institute for Intercultural and International Studies (InIIS), University of Bremen.

Read: The new scramble for Africa

“Much as Russia is re-positioning itself following the war by courting Southern countries, it should be remembered that these countries have their own agendas too. It’s not all about Russia doing something to African countries.

“There are a lot of bilateral deals as ever despite that tug-of-war between major powers. These countries have their own agendas to push. And, of course for the West, the less support for Russia in Africa, the better,” she told The EastAfrican.

Dr Nasong’o Muliro, a foreign policy and security specialist at the Global Centre for Policy and Strategy in Nairobi, said the St Petersburg Summit may just reflect pragmatism and independence of African countries in their foreign policy in their relations with Russia.

“Every country has an aspect of their interest that they individually wish to fulfil through their relations with Russia. Indeed, Africa has not developed a common position towards Russia, as in holding an extraordinary meeting at the African Union to discuss matters surrounding Russia-Ukraine. So, it is not easy to generalise the strategic interest of African states toward Russia,” Dr Muliro told The EastAfrican.
Moscow strategy

Russia conducts its foreign policy with African states at an elite level, an opaque or unconventional statecraft, which may explain why its close allies in Africa strongmen or leaders of countries are mainly undergoing complex political transitions such as Libya, Mali, Sudan and Guinea. As a result, Dr Muliro argues, Russia has failed to be in touch with the masses or build people-to-people relations on the continent.

Putin has also not fulfilled the promises he made during the earlier Russia-Africa summit in 2019, where Moscow promised $40 billion worth of investments to the continent.

Read: Russia-Africa summit: What Vladmir Putin stands to gain

The politics of food, however, is appealing.

“Russia has done its homework well and found that beyond the supply of arms, the new gateway to Africa is through the supply of grains and fertiliser to mitigate the food crisis occasioned by adverse climate change. Literally get to the head and heart through the stomach. This food insecurity is likely to continue because it is projected that most states especially in East Africa are most likely going to have a poor harvest,” Dr Muliro said.

Trail of death, billions lost as Sudan marks 100 days of civil war

Refugees from war-torn Sudan hold a sit-in seeking support in front of the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees offices in Tripoli, Libya on July 15, 2023.

 PHOTO | MAHMUD TURKIA | AFP

SATURDAY JULY 29 2023

By FRED OLUOCH
More by this Author

Sudan’s war clocked 100 days of fighting this week, leaving behind a trail of deaths, displacement and billions of dollars in losses of infrastructure. But the pain felt by civilians hasn’t reached the threshold for the warring factions yet.

This week, some 120,000 Sudanese who believed that they could count on Egypt for refuge were still stranded at the border. Egypt has had an agreement with Sudan since 2004 that allows free movement and residency without a permit. This week, Egyptian officials at the main border crossing in Wadi Halfa restricted admittance, limiting prioritising women and children.

A report by Refugees International on July 24 to mark 100 days since the conflict erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (Saf) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on April 15, paints a wider grim picture beyond displacement.

Those stranded cite difficulties in finding transport, exorbitant fares, and unpredictable checkpoints. At the border crossing, they face long waits, unsanitary conditions, entry restrictions based on age and sex, visa backlogs, and a lack of necessities and services.

Overall, some 2.4 million are displaced within Sudan and at least 800,000 people have been forced out of the country, mainly to Sudan’s neighbours.

The number of the dead has been rising since the war began on April 15 but at least 1500 people have been killed so far. The value of destroyed property has not yet been quantified but some estimates suggest it could take Sudan another 15 years to rebuild from the ashes of the conflict were the war to end today.

Related

Africa’s newest problem is ironically old: coups d’etat

Igad to hold direct talks with Sudan generals

This week, the UN and several other humanitarian agencies reiterated the call for ceasefire which they argued was crucial for humanitarian deliveries. Since the war began, there have been several ceasefire deals, all of which broke down hours after they were reached.

Instead, the warring sides: Saf and the RSF blamed one another, leading to collapse of peace talks under the Jeddah Initiative.

Read: Sudan protagonists send mixed signals as fighting continues

“The world cannot afford to look away from the worsening situation in Sudan as it has the potential to destabilise the entire region,” David MacDonald, the CARE Sudan Country Director.

Mercy Corps, another charity in Sudan says the war has curtailed agricultural activity. The charity’s teams say they interviewed some 16,000 farmers in South Kordofan and Blue Nile and discovered that more than 70 percent lacked enough money to purchase seeds, and nearly 55 percent had not yet begun planting. They may not, this season.
Health crisis

“As long as violence persists and number of people requiring food assistance is projected to increase by one million per week, the humanitarian crisis in Sudan is likely to take a turn for the worse,” Mercy Corps said in an assessment.

Humanitarian agencies are concerned that despite Sudanese escaping to the neighbouring counties, they face major challenges in terms of shelter, nutrition, and health.

Read: Region worries as Sudan rivals harden positions

Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, said this week that life remains precarious for the hundreds of thousands who have sought refuge across borders. Many border areas holding the displaced have settled are remote with limited or weak health systems and inadequate number of health workers, she said.

Abdullahi Halakhe, the Refugees International Researcher and the author of the report told The EastAfrican that while Egypt initially implemented the 2004 agreement, Cairo now says they have imposed new restrictions to prevent fraud since some of the displaced people have falsified entry documents.

“However, some of the alleged fraud is a response to the Egyptian authority’s steps of making entry difficult, knowing full well the breakdown of public order in Sudan. While Sudan shares deep historical connections with Egypt, the tightening entry procedures could create incentives, including people exploring non-legitimate ways to enter Egypt,” said Mr Halakhe.

At least 250,000 people have sought refuge in Egypt, and another 120,000 are stuck on the Sudan side of the border awaiting entry.

Read: Egypt slows refugee admittance from Sudan

Egypt’s longstanding historical and geographical connections with Sudan make it a primary destination for many, particularly those coming from central and northern parts of the country. The Egyptian border with Sudan accounting for 1,276 km is the third longest after that of South Sudan and Chad.

Human rights activists are concerned that Cairo could impose these new restrictions yet Sudan is the only supporter of Egypt on the issue of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Gerd,) out of the 11 Nile Waters riparian states.

Mr Halakhe says that despite Sudan’s support over Gerd, Egypt is also experiencing an acute economic crisis, and admitting more refugees without adequate support will further strain the already fragile economic reality.

“Besides, Egypt is already hosting thousands of refugees from various countries. Without adequate donor support - it is not an excuse because Egypt should offer refuge to those running away from the war; we shall continue to see Egypt hardening its position regarding the refugees,” he said.

Haiti prepares for possible multinational intervention under Kenyan leadership

ByThe Rio Times
July 30, 2023

Kenya has signaled readiness to lead this mission in response to Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s call for a multinational force.

The plan is to deploy 1,000 Kenyan police officers in Haiti to address the extreme violence and crises plaguing the population.

The return of such a force, reminiscent of the controversial UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) that ended six years ago, stirs mixed feelings in the Caribbean nation.

Past missions have been contentious, causing concern among many Haitians, particularly given the unresolved legacy of MINUSTAH, accused of causing a cholera outbreak and sexual abuse.

Over recent months, Haiti has witnessed escalated violence, resulting in numerous casualties, destroyed homes, and thousands of displaced persons.

Kenyan police force. (Photo Internet reproduction)

Armed gangs, acting with impunity, have filled the void left by ineffective authorities.

Kenya’s pledge to deploy police officers to Haiti hinges on the approval of the UN Security Council and Kenya’s constitutional processes.

While the announcement signals a potential shift in Haiti’s crisis, some voices warn about Kenya’s lack of experience in such operations.

As part of the population eagerly anticipates the intervention, others, scarred by past operations, show reluctance.

Some suggest that the physical resemblance between Kenyans and Haitians could facilitate acceptance of the mission.

Haiti’s Foreign Minister, Jean Victor Généus, reacted positively to Kenya’s announcement, expressing gratitude for the African solidarity.

However, former Prime Minister Claude Joseph voiced skepticism, questioning Kenya’s ability to manage an international force while dealing with its own internal crises.

This potential intervention comes as Haiti’s governance situation remains precarious.

Ariel Henry, governing without a Congress or political opposition since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021, faces accusations of unfulfilled promises.

These ongoing issues drive many Haitians to leave their country, seeking relief through humanitarian programs.

Biden cranks up diplomatic charm offensive in Kenya


SATURDAY JULY 29 2023


President William Ruto with Ambassador Katherine Tai, the Principal Trade Advisor 

and Spokesperson on US trade policy, at State House, Nairobi, Kenya on July 16, 2023. 

By LUKE ANAMI



In a span of two weeks, US President Joe Biden has dispatched two senior members of his administration to Nairobi with a firm message to President William Ruto on good governance, human rights and a subtle push on the geopolitics surrounding the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

And Kenya, a longtime Western ally, is under pressure to maintain trading ties with the US.

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The timing of the visit was significant as Russia hosted over 17 African leaders out of the expected 43 on Thursday and Friday, with promises of free Russian grain “to replace” Ukrainian grain export arrangement known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI).

Moscow pulled out of BSGI last week, accusing Ukraine of diverting it from poor recipients.

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Fears Kenya deal with US could hurt regional trade

US-EAC trade pact comes into life amid disharmony

On Friday, Brian Nelson, the US Department of Treasury’s Undersecretary for Counterterrorism and Financial Intelligence, met and held talks with President Ruto on matters of security, terrorism, food security and money laundering among others.

“Kenya will continue working with the US government to strengthen its laws and regulations on money laundering and financial terrorism,” said Dr Ruto tweeted soon after the talks at State House, Mombasa.

“A firm regulatory and administrative enforcement on the source and flow of illicit funds will effectively promote integrity and stability in our financial system, thereby spur economic growth.”

Before Nelson, President Biden dispatched Katherine Tai, Trade Representative.

As a member of Biden’s Cabinet, Ambassador Tai is the principal trade adviser, negotiator, and spokesperson on US trade policy and her visit was significant because the two countries are currently negotiating the US-Kenya Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership.

Read: US guarded on Kenya trade deal past Agoa expiry

Left out

Unlike the Economic Partnership Agreement that Kenya recently signed with the EU, the Office of the US Trade Representative is opting for tariffs to be left out of negotiations entirely, in line with the current US stance on trading with the rest of the world.

The trade negotiations are still ongoing. But Tai, who was making her second visit to Kenya on July 17, caused a storm within President Ruto’s government when she declined to meet Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria, in a subtle protest over his latter’s tweets and remarks including an attack on the media, opposition demonstrations and lack of decorum in his engagement with the public on social media.

In Kenya, Nelson also met with Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u, Ruto’s economic advisor Adan Mohamed and Augustine Cheruiyot, head of the Economic Transformation Secretariat.

Mr Cheruiyot is also Ruto’s chief adviser on food security and agriculture.

International Relations and Diplomacy expert Dr Peter Mwencha views the latest visit by the two high ranking US officials as significant in a sense that Kenya has always looked to the West and perhaps the Washington administration was around to strengthen the ties amidst the onslaught from Russia.

“We have traditionally been allied to the Americans and this is not something new. If you put it in the current situation where President Ruto is not participating in the Russia-Africa summit, it is not something that you can ignore,” said Dr Mwencha.

“If Kenya considers itself a US ally, Americans have certain expectations from Kenya. The reality is that the US would expect Kenya to support it by aligning to its policies.

Read:  Ruto, Biden teams open trade talks

During Nelson’s visit, mitigating the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was clearly on his agenda as Russian President Vladimir Putin met other African leaders in a summit that President Ruto did not attend.

Nelson’s visit was significant in as far as the US- Russia relations are concerned, in that a day before he arrived, the State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed on Wednesday, July 26 revealed that President William Ruto could not attend during a live briefing.

He (Ruto) will be represented by the organs of the Africa Union. This decision aligns with the stance of African Heads of State and Government, who believe that in order for Africa to engage in meaningful discussions with global partners,” said Mohamed.

One of the major reasons why the US is keen on Kenya is the significant role the country plays in security in the region.

“The US being a security first oriented foreign policy, that obviously is critical to their bilateral relationship with Kenya. That means that Kenya is supposed to support the US policies that they are championing,” said Dr Mwencha.

The latest travel by Under Secretary Nelson to Nairobi, Kenya and Mogadishu, Somalia was to underscore the US commitment to strengthening financial connections with Africa, fight against terrorism and money laundering.

Revenues from El Salvador’s main agricultural export, coffee, down 6% through June


By Juan Martinez

RIO TIMES
July 30, 2023

In the first three quarters of the 2022-2023 cycle, revenues from El Salvador’s coffee exports reported a roughly 6% decline, according to official figures.

This follows an evaluation by the Salvadoran Coffee Council (CSC), which indicated that earnings from the grain’s exports amounted to US$115.36 million between October 2022 and June 2023.

Comparatively, in the same period of the preceding cycle, the value of coffee exports hit US$122.7 million, marking a difference of US$7.34 million.

(Photo Internet reproduction)

Additionally, the volume of exported coffee saw a reduction, going from 526,772 quintals to the present 500,929 quintals, registering a 4.9% drop.

The United States, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Japan are the primary importers of this grain, whose harvesting season in El Salvador runs from October to September.

The current cycle has harvested 875,275 golden-berry quintals, contributing to 43,760 jobs in the coffee sector.

In contrast, the 2021-2022 cycle yielded 922,040 golden-berry quintals. Still, the country has not yet recovered to production levels seen pre-2013, when they surpassed 1.7 million quintals.

El Salvador’s coffee farming has been severely impacted by coffee rust fungus and climate crisis, causing it to experience record-low grain production since the 2013-2014 cycle.

Coffee remains the Central American country’s primary agricultural export product.

China and Nicaragua conclude negotiations on free trade agreement


ByIolanda Fonseca

RIO TIMES
July 27, 2023

China and Nicaragua have successfully concluded their substantial negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA), as revealed by China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM).

During an official video conference, China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and Nicaragua’s Minister of Development, Industry, and Trade, Jesus Bermudez, made the key announcement.

This FTA is anticipated to be signed in August, with implementation planned for early next year.

Nicaragua reestablished diplomatic ties with China in 2021, followed by Memorandums of Understanding to foster Chinese investments.

China and Nicaragua conclude negotiations on free trade agreement. (Photo Internet reproduction)

As of last April, Nicaragua began building thousands of subsidized houses with Chinese support.

China’s diplomatic influence in Central America has been increasing, evidenced by Honduras shifting diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing last March.

Only Guatemala and Belize in Central America recognize Taiwan as an independent state.

Nicaragua’s Minister of Finance and Public Credit, Ivan Acosta, estimates that the FTA could boost the country’s Gross Domestic Product growth by at least 2 points, expected to be between 3.4% and 3.5% from 2023 to 2026.

The agreement will facilitate access to China’s vast market for Nicaragua’s primary agricultural and industrial products, such as meats, dairy, coffee, seafood, and harnesses.

Last year, trade between China and Nicaragua reached US$760 million, with China majorly exporting textile products and information and communication equipment while importing agricultural products, sugar, leather, and wood from Nicaragua.

With one eye on China, Japan backs Sri Lanka as a partner in the Indo-Pacific

Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi says that Sri Lanka's strategic location in the Indian Ocean makes it a key partner in realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific

ByKRISHAN FRANCIS

 Associated Press

July 29, 2023,

Japanese foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, left, shakes hands with his Sri Lankan counterpart Ali Sabry after their meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Saturday, July 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

The Associated Press

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said Saturday that Sri Lanka is a key partner in a Tokyo-led initiative aimed at building security and economic cooperation around the Indo-Pacific but also at countering an increasingly assertive China.

Sri Lanka, strategically located in the Indian Ocean, is integral to realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific, Hayashi said. He was speaking after a meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart, Ali Sabry, in the capital, Colombo.

The initiative, announced by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in March includes Japan’s assistance to emerging economies, support for maritime security, a provision of coast guard patrol boats and equipment and other infrastructure cooperation.

Last year Sri Lanka, which owed $51 billion in foreign debt, became the first Asia-Pacific country since the late 1990s to default, sparking an economic crisis.

While Japan is Sri Lanka's largest creditor, about 10% of its debt is held by China, which lent Colombo billions to build sea ports, airports and power plants as part of its Belt and Road Initiative. In March, China agreed to offer Sri Lanka a two-year moratorium on loan repayments.

Hayashi said that he conveyed expectations for further progress in Sri Lanka's debt restructuring process. He welcomed Sri Lanka’s efforts under an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, which includes anti-corruption measures and transparency in the policy-making process.

Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Sabry said that he, along with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, invited Japan to resume investment projects already in the pipeline and to consider fresh investments in sectors such as power generation, ports and highways, and dedicated investment zones, as well as in the green and digital economy.

Over many decades, Japan became one of Sri Lanka's key donors, carrying out key projects under concessionary terms. However, relations between the two countries came under strain after Wickremesinghe's predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa unilaterally scrapped a Japan-funded light railway project following his election in 2019.

Sri Lanka's Cabinet has already approved a proposal to restart the railway project.

Rajapaksa was forced to resign in July 2022 amid angry public protects over the country's worst economic crisis.

French leader Emmanuel Macron makes short but 'historic' stop in Sri Lanka

President Emmanuel Macron made a short stopover in Sri Lanka on Friday – the first visit by a sitting French leader to the island nation, which is undergoing a difficult economic recovery.

Issued on: 29/07/2023 

President Macron (L) is welcomed by Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Ali Sabry on arrival at Colombo's airport prior to bilateral talks with Sri Lanka's President, July 28, 2023. 

AFP - LUDOVIC MARIN

Text by: RFI

Macron arrived in Sri Lanka Friday night to mark the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations, Sri Lanka's president's office said.

His visit consisted of a two-hour stay at Colombo airport.

After being welcomed by Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, Macron held discussions with President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

As the fourth-largest creditor to Sri Lanka, France had pledged cooperation in debt restructuring to help the island nation recover from its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948.

The country has received major support from the IMF, but is expected to remain bankrupt until 2026.

'New era of our partnership'

Wickremesinghe praised France’s significant role in global affairs, particularly in areas such as climate mitigation, global debt restructuring, and matters related to the Indo-Pacific region, the Sri Lankan presidency statement said.

“Sri Lanka and France are two Indian Ocean nations that share the same goal: an open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific. In Colombo we confirmed it: strengthened by 75 years of diplomatic relations, we can open a new era of our partnership,” Macron said in a Twitter message after the meeting.

Earlier, the Elysée described referred to "a historic visit".

France is home to some 60,000 Sri Lankans, the majority from the Tamil ethnic minority. Paris's Tamils thrive despite defeat at home

President Macron chats with President Ranil Wickremesinghe in Colombo on his way from an official visit to the Pacific islands in the early hours of July 29, 2023. 

Wickremesinghe came to power a year ago after his predecessor fled the country, driven out by massive protests over the economic crisis.Sri Lanka declares state of emergency after president flees to Maldives

Beijing, the country's main creditor, agreed in March to reschedule its loan repayments.

Macron made the stop on his way back from Oceania, after visiting Papua New Guinea, the French territory of New Caledonia and the sea-threatened archipelago of Vanuatu.

China and India are vying for influence in Sri Lanka.

The situation prompted Macron to warn against "new imperialism" at work in the region while he was in Vanuatu, referring in particular to China's growing influence.