Climate Change
Climate Week NYC occurred last week from September 20-26 and was hosted by the non-profit organization Climate Group in conjunction with the United Nations, the City of New York and the upcoming COP26 under the theme of “Getting it done.” The week was dedicated to fulfilling and increasing commitments on climate change made by businesses, governments and organizations especially ahead of the COP26.2021 has seen some of the most destructive natural disasters recorded, and it is just the beginning. According to NASA, the global temperature has risen 2.1 degrees Fahrenheit since 1880 and carbon dioxide levels have risen by 416 parts per million (the highest it has been in 650,000 years). These changes, among many others, have negatively impacted the environment and self-revving ecosystem. Climate change was first recognized to be a serious issue by the United Nations in 1992, which was then followed by a couple notable documents such as the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 and the Paris Accord in 2015. However, world leaders have failed to slow the global temperature rise and have failed to fulfill their pledges particularly as it pertains to aiding at risk countries.
Although the African continent has contributed almost nothing to climate change, just 2-3% of global carbon emissions, it is disproportionately affected as the most vulnerable region of the world. This vulnerability is largely due to Africa’s lack of access to resources which would help them recover from the effects of climate change. In addition, many African countries are dependent on rain-fed agriculture, and so their economy is highly susceptible to extreme changes in rainfall such as droughts or floods which are caused by climate change.
According to the Global Climate Index 2021 released by German Watch, five African countries: Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, South Sudan and Niger, are among the world’s top ten countries to be most affected by climate change. The climate index further ranks Mozambique as the most affected country following a 12.6% GDP decrease in 2019 and a $4.9 loss from the impacts of climate change (Cyclone Kenneth) which resulted in the deaths of 700 Mozambicans.In January of this year, Mozambique was struck by another extreme weather event, Cyclone Eloise, the strongest tropical cyclone to impact the country since 2019. According to the National Institute for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction (NIDM), more than 175,000 people were affected, and over 8,000 houses were destroyed or flooded.
Extreme weather events in African countries are particularly challenging as they exacerbate the current security issues of the respective countries. Roughly 3 million people in southern, central and northern Mozambique were already facing high levels of food insecurity before the cyclone. The effects of the storm significantly flooded crop land and destroyed farm tools and seeds -- damaging the April harvest and the future viability of the farmland.
The United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) is working with seven African countries, including Mozambique, on a low emissions development project known as Africa-LEDS. The project is meant to structure the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in a manner that prioritizes socioeconomic needs such as food security, creation of income and opportunities for economic expansion. Ultimately, the project aims to implement policies which would maximise both climate and socio economic benefits.
Despite contributing little to global carbon emissions, African countries are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. As a result, many have taken the initiative to combat this phenomenon but they cannot do it alone. It is imperative for the wealthy countries, largely responsible for the current state of the world, to fulfill their pledges particularly as it pertains to providing aid and reducing emissions. For more on climate change, keep an eye out for the Africa Program’s article on The Baraza this week.
Table of Contents
Lead Item - Table of the Week - Africa Program Highlights - Policy Resources - Continent-Wide Stories - Regional Stories - Culture - This Week in History - Events - Want to Know More?
Table of the Week
Policy Resources
AFRICOM Commander visits Togo and Benin (US Africa Command)
The Developing Relationship between China & Africa (The Wilson Center)
Continent-Wide Stories
Most African Countries Missed a Target to Vaccinate 10 Percent of Their PeopleOnly nine African countries have met a target of vaccinating 10 percent of their populations against Covid-19 by the end of September, the World Health Organization said on Thursday—a statistic that illustrates how far the continent is lagging behind global vaccination rates. The W.H.O. set the benchmark this year, as part of a push for every country to vaccinate at least 40 percent of its people by the end of 2021. Just 4 percent of Africa’s population is fully vaccinated, with “still a long way to go” to reach the end-of-year target, Dr. Richard Mihigo, the W.H.O.’s program coordinator for vaccine development in Africa, told a news conference on Thursday. Of the nine countries that met the goal, several have relatively small populations, including the island nations of Mauritius and the Seychelles, which have fully vaccinated two-thirds of their residents
Africa Internet Riches Plundered, Contested by China Broker
Outsiders have long profited from Africa’s riches of gold, diamonds, and even people. Digital resources have proven no different. Millions of internet addresses assigned to Africa have been waylaid, some fraudulently, including through insider machinations linked to a former top employee of the nonprofit that assigns the continent’s addresses. Instead of serving Africa’s internet development, many have benefited spammers and scammers, while others satiate Chinese appetites for pornography and gambling. New leadership at the nonprofit, AFRINIC, is working to reclaim the lost addresses. But a legal challenge by a deep-pocketed Chinese businessman is threatening the body’s very existence. The businessman is Lu Heng, a Hong Kong-based arbitrage specialist. Under contested circumstances, he obtained 6.2 million African addresses from 2013 to 2016. That’s about 5% of the continent’s total — more than Kenya has.
Facebook-backed 2Africa Set to Be the Longest Subsea Cable upon Completion
Facebook announced on Tuesday that its 2Africa cable would now extend to over 45,000 kilometers with the addition of nine landings collectively dubbed the 2Africa Pearls. The subsea cable will directly connect three continents — Africa, Europe and Asia. The extension will see 2Africa become the longest subsea cable system in the world upon completion, Facebook said. It will best the current record set by the SEA-ME-WE 3 line that stretches 39,000 km and connects 33 countries across South East Asia, Middle East and Western Europe. The continued investment in subsea cables is part of Facebook’s efforts to bring more people online.
Africa’s Big Adaptation Ask at COP26
In the picturesque Cape Verde islands, which will be among the hardest-hit African countries as global temperatures increase, policymakers and scientists from across Africa gathered this month to hammer out a unified African position on climate change. This is important because world leaders are gathering in November at COP26 – the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow – to figure out how to respond to this existential threat to life on Earth. The African Group of Negotiators (AGN) on Climate Change, an alliance of African states, will represent and negotiate the continent’s common agenda. At the very top of this agenda is how to pay for all the changes we will have to make to adapt to a changing climate: from changing rainfall patterns cutting crop yields to the damage done from flood waters rushing through dense settlements, and myriad other impacts.
African Pension Funds Have Grown Impressively
The African Development Bank reckons that the continent needs $130bn-170bn of infrastructure spending a year to bring roads, water, power and internet to its people. Businesses are crying out for capital. What little they get often comes from foreigners, who are quick to pack their bags when things get tough. There is no such risk with local pension funds, which collectively manage around $350bn of assets in sub-Saharan Africa, according to RisCura, an investment firm. And yet many local funds say they struggle to find places to invest. Pension funds have grown impressively in recent decades, for diverse reasons. In South Africa the government pumped cash into the civil service pension scheme to allay members’ worries about losing benefits at the end of apartheid. Its successor, the Government Employees Pension Fund (gepf), is the largest in Africa, with assets of about $110bn.A new payments platform for African currencies is a push for independence from the dollar
High hopes for seamless intra-Africa trade under the terms of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) got a boost this week with the formal roll-out of a payments platform by the Africa Export-Import bank (Afreximbank), the continent’s trade finance institution.The platform is called the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, or PAPSS, and was first launched in July 2019 at an African Union summit in Niger.Ideally, PAPSS would enable instant payments in African currencies between merchants on the continent, “essentially eliminating the borders that have balkanized us and robbed us of our economic prosperity for so long,” according to Mike Ogbalu III, a veteran of Interswitch, Africa’s first fintech unicorn, who manages the platform as CEO. By settling transactions in African currencies, the other big goal of this platform is to reduce Africa’s dependency on currencies like the dollar and euro.
Regional Stories
West Africa
Nigeria: Buhari ‘Suspends’ Twitter Ban
President Muhammadu Buhari has on Friday said directed a conditional suspension of the ban placed on the operations of Twitter, a microblogging site, in Nigeria. … Buhari's administration placed a ban on the operation of Twitter in Nigeria, in June. Buhari made this known in his nationwide broadcast to Nigerians to mark 's 61st independence of Nigeria. … “Following the suspension of Twitter operations, Twitter Inc. reached out to the Federal Government of Nigeria to resolve the impasse. Subsequently, I constituted a Presidential Committee to engage Twitter to explore the possibility of resolving the issue. The Committee, along with its Technical Team, has engaged with Twitter and have addressed a number of key issues.
Burkina Faso’s Soldier-Singers Promote Security Forces
Burkina Faso’s war against Islamist militants has seen security forces criticized for human rights abuses. Now, the battle to win hearts and minds has moved to a new stage, with soldiers using their singing talents to promote the armed forces. Police Sergeant Yacouba Sourabié, known by his stage name “General Yack,” is one of 15 Burkinabe soldiers who sing about battlefield life, loss, and fighting the enemy. In a cramped recording booth in Ouagadougou, Sourabié sings into a microphone about heading to war and leaving family and friends behind. Singing soldiers, like Sourabié, hope their music videos will win public support in the war against Islamist militants and put the military in a better light.Guinea swears in coup leader Mamady Doumbouya as interim president
Guinea junta leader Mamady Doumbouya was inaugurated as interim president on Friday to oversee what regional powers hope will be a short transition to constitutional rule after the September 5 overthrow of president Alpha Conde.The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Mohamed V Palace in the capital Conakry with the marked absence of most West African heads of state, who agreed last month to impose sanctions on junta members and their relatives. West and Central Africa has seen four coups since last year -- political upheaval that has intensified concerns about a slide towards military rule in a resource-rich but poverty-stricken region. Wearing military dress uniform, a red beret and wraparound sunglasses, Doumbouya held up a white-gloved hand as he took the oath of office.
North Africa
Libya detains 4,000 people in major anti-migrant crackdown
A major crackdown in western Libya has resulted in the detention of 4,000 migrants, including hundreds of women and children, according to officials. The raids took place on Friday in the western town of Gargaresh as part of what authorities described as a security campaign against undocumented migration and drug trafficking. The interior ministry, which led the crackdown, made no mention of any traffickers or smugglers being arrested. Officials said on Friday that 500 undocumented migrants had been detained but on Saturday reported that number had reached 4,000. The United Nations (UN) said one migrant was killed and at least 15 others injured when Libyan security authorities carried out the raids.
AFRICOM Commander Concludes Visit to Libya, Algeria, Tunisia
US Army General Stephen Townsend, commander, US Africa Command, has wrapped up a two-day visit to Libya, Algeria, and Tunisia as part of an African tour. Townsend travelled to Libya with US Special Envoy and Ambassador to Libya Richard Norland where they met with interim Government of National Unity Prime Minister and Defence Minister, Abdulhamid Dabaiba, in advance of the 24 December elections and to support the country’s stabilization and national reconciliation. Townsend and Norland also received the 5+5 Joint Military Commission in Tripoli, the first time this group has met in the Libyan capital. “US Africa Command continues to support Ambassador Norland’s diplomatic efforts to ensure Libya holds presidential and parliamentary elections this December.Libya’s warring sides may be guilty of war crimes: UN probe
All sides in Libya’s conflict have committed violations that may include war crimes and crimes against humanity since 2016, a United Nations investigation has found. The Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya, commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council, said in a report published on Monday that migrants and detainees were particularly exposed to violations.The mission’s report also found that landmines have killed or maimed many people; Europe-bound Libyans face abuse in detention centres and at the hands of traffickers; detainees languishing in horrific conditions in prison are tortured; while prominent women have been killed or have disappeared.
Southern Africa
Angola Resumes Restrictions as Covid Turns Deadlier than Malaria
Angola will again close the country’s beaches and other leisure and public-gathering facilities from Oct. 1, a month after they were opened, following a spike in Covid-19 infections. From Oct. 15, access to public services will be subject to proof of vaccination or a negative test. Nearly all citizens 18 years or older will be required to get vaccinated, including pregnant women, state minister Adao de Almeida said in Luanda late Thursday. Angola recorded 14,549 infections and 558 deaths during September. That’s a higher number of deaths than those caused by malaria for first time, health minister Silvia Lutucuta said without providing details for malaria, which is widespread in the nation.
Mozambique’s Tuna Corruption Scandal Puts Justice on Trial
The biggest corruption trial in Mozambique's history is under way at a maximum security prison, at the same time as the credibility of the country's judicial system is on trial in neighbouring South Africa. The scandal involves more than $2.7bn (£2bn) of undisclosed state debts - money which the government borrowed to set up a sophisticated tuna industry - to buy trawlers and military patrol boats, but much of it was allegedly diverted to corrupt officials. Manuel Chang, the former finance minister who signed off on the loans about eight years ago, has been in detention in South Africa since December 2018. The 66-year-old politician and economist, who denies accepting $7m in bribes, was arrested at the request of the US, where investors were affected by the scandal. But he has been in limbo in South Africa for years as Mozambique filed a competing request for his extradition.
South Africa Pledges More Ambitious Climate Targets
South Africa pledged more ambitious emissions targets Monday, a move that was welcomed by climate activists. The South African government informed the U.N. climate office that it will aim to limit greenhouse gas emissions to no more than 510 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2025 and no more than 420 million tons by 2030. The new goal represents a significantly lower ceiling compared to its 2016 previous goal of pushing emissions below 614 million tons in the coming decade. The lower end of the target range was also shifted, from 398 million tons of carbon dioxide by 2030 to 350 million tons. The new targets mean South Africa’s emissions will decline in absolute terms beginning in 2025, a decade earlier than planned, according to the World Resources Institute, a Washington-based environmental think tank.
Central Africa
From Peaceful Protests to War: The Evolution of Cameroon's Anglophone Conflict
A separatist crisis that began five years ago in Anglophone Cameroon has spiraled into unmitigated violence. The UN says a humanitarian catastrophe is on the horizon—but the key players aren't willing to compromise. Over the past five years, the English-speaking regions of Cameroon have rapidly morphed into a war zone. Lives have been lost, properties have been destroyed, and the humanitarian crisis continues to intensify. In its latest report, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) highlighted the impact on education: "Since the beginning of the crisis in 2016, education has been highly affected. Many schools have closed to avoid frequent attacks against education facilities. Teachers and students have been attacked, kidnapped, threatened, and killed. In 2021, more than 700,000 children are deprived of education in the north-west and south-west regions."
One Policeman Killed, at Least Ten Civilians Wounded in Chad Opposition Protest
One policeman was killed and around ten people were wounded in Chad's capital N'djamena on Saturday after police used tear gas to disperse a protest against the ruling junta that had strayed from the approved route, a police spokesperson said. Civil society coalition Wakit Tamma had asked supporters to take to the streets to denounce the Transitional Military Council (CMT), which seized power in April after President Idriss Deby was killed while visiting troops fighting an insurgency in the north. "There were clashes which resulted in around 10 minor injuries and the death of a police officer following a fall," said police spokesperson Paul Manga. Wakit Tamma accused police of using excessive force and said around 20 people were wounded, including some by live rounds.East Africa
Ethiopia expels seven U.N. officials, accusing them of 'meddling'
Ethiopia is expelling seven senior U.N. officials, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday, two days after the world body's aid chief warned a government blockade of aid had likely forced hundreds of thousands of people in the northern region of Tigray into famine. There has been increasing international criticism of conditions in Tigray and all parties fighting in northern Ethiopia face the possibility of sanctions from the U.S. government. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Thursday that the United States condemns the expulsions and will not hesitate to use sanctions against those who obstruct humanitarian efforts. "We're deeply concerned that this action continues a pattern by the Ethiopian government of obstructing the delivery of food, medicine and other life-saving supplies to those most in need," she said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the expulsions. Ethiopia has previously denied blocking food aid
Rwandan YouTube Content Creator Sentenced to Jail
The High Court in Rwanda has sentenced a woman to 15 years in prison after finding her guilty of criticising the way the 1994 genocide is commemorated, calling for a protest and spreading a rumour that the president had died. Yvonne Idamange denied the charges. She was arrested in February after posting YouTube videos in which she was strongly critical of the government. Her lengthy monologues infuriated the Rwandan authorities who do not take criticism lightly. The 42-year-old accused the government of monetising the 1994 genocide and said the remains of the victims should not be on display at memorials. The mother of four children also denounced the response to the coronavirus pandemic and highlighted the impact that lockdowns had had on the poor.
South Sudan Risks Cycle of War as Plunder Continues despite US, UK Sanctions
South Sudan’s journey to recovery from conflict may take longer than planned as the country’s elites dodge US sanctions and continue to bleed the national coffers. Now civil society organisations and activists say looting of national monies with no repercussions may create a cycle of war as politicians and other influence peddlers jostle to get into or close to government. The theft, which has continued unabated, even when the country was at war, means that targeted sanctions imposed on some of the elites in the country may have had nearly zero impact. The details are contained in a recently released report by a UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, and an admission by the country’s Auditor-General, showing that as much as $73 million may have been siphoned off government coffers by individuals including those proscribed by the US government.
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