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  • The alpha males of South Sudan and Sudan in bloodbath – By Owei Lakemfa

    The alpha males of South Sudan and Sudan in bloodbath – By Owei Lakemfa

    The African labour centre, the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity, OATUU, in April 2013, marked its 40th Anniversary. The anniversary lecture was delivered by then African Union Commission Chair, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

    The trade union centre of the newest country in the world, the South Sudan Workers Trade Union Federation delegation rose up at the conference to invite the continent’s trade unions to meet in Juba.

    A few weeks later, as the then OATUU Secretary General, I called the South Sudan labour President, Honourable Sinon Dieng, to arrange the meeting only to find that he had become a refugee in Kenya. There had been political tension in the country and he and some South Sudanese had fled the country. This was the beginning of the country’s civil war which over the next five years, claimed four hundred thousand lives.

    The conflicts took the shape of an inter-ethnic fight led by President Salvar Kiir against Vice President Riek Machar. The signal for the current armed conflict was the March 26, 2025 arrest of the former.

    Information Minister and Government Spokesman, Michael Makuei Lueth, accused Machar of directing his forces “to rebel against the government with the aim of disrupting peace so that elections are not held and South Sudan goes back to war”.

    In response to the arrest, Machar’s SPLM/IO party declared that: “The prospect for peace and stability in South Sudan has now been put into serious jeopardy”. Reath Muoch Tang, Chairman of the party’s foreign relations committee claimed that unclear charges have been brought against Machar in violation of subsisting peace agreements and the constitution.

    While the African Union, AU, has sent a peace mission to ensure a de-escalation, the United States, US, has asked President Kiir to free his First Vice President. Its Bureau of African Affairs said: “We urge President Kiir to reverse this action and prevent further escalation of the situation”.

    The United Nations Head of Mission in South Sudan, Nicholas Haysom, claimed that barrel bombs believed to contain inflammable liquid had already been used in the latest conflict. He said this had caused significant casualties and horrific burns on peoples in communities across the Upper Nile.

    The UN official added that unless the situation is quickly arrested, these events could lead to: “A conflict (which) would erase all the hard-won gains made since the 2018 peace deal was signed… It would devastate not only South Sudan but the entire region, which simply cannot afford another war.”

    But Makuei, while confirming the bombings, disputed the UN chief’s claims that non-combatants have been affected: “The bombardment was strictly against White Army positions and did not harm civilians”.

    Apparently, the conflict has been internationalised. The Chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, Yasmin Sooka, claims that Ugandan troops and their battle tanks have crossed into South Sudan, potentially violating the UN arms embargo. The UN seems quite worried by the renewed conflicts as it has an estimated 18,000 peacekeepers in South Sudan.

    Machar’s group has made similar allegations. In a statement, it said: “The Ugandan forces are currently taking part in air strikes against civilians in counties of Nasir, Longechuk and Ulang in Upper Nile State, and Akobo County in Jonglei State”.

    There had been fighting in the northern Upper Nile state with the armed forces taking on the White Army militia which used to be affiliated with Machar’s forces. So, the government accused the latter of being involved in the fighting.

    I am not surprised about the renewed conflict in South Sudan. In my March 4, 2016 column titled ‘The Butchers of Juba’, I had analysed that: “The crisis and its seeming intractable nature are due to a combination of personal ambition, the rich oil resource of South Sudan, national interests of neigbours like Uganda and the lack of a pan-national agenda.”

    I had concluded that the UN and AU need to be empowered to enforce peace. And that: “There will never be a solution unless the butchers in South Sudan are made aware that they face arrest and prosecution for crimes against humanity, if they refuse or fail to allow peace reign in the country.” Unless these steps are taken, peace is likely to elude South Sudan for a long time.

    South Sudan until 2005 was part of Sudan. The breakup of that country has merely led to new fault lines. So a further split of South Sudan on whatever lines would be no solution, and may lead to further splits. The solution is to rein in Kiir and Machar, evolve a self-governing system based on democratic values and the sovereignty of the people of the country. There is also the need to check the meddlesomeness of foreign powers and neigbouring countries.

    In the case of Sudan, the spiralling armed conflict that has led to the on-going massacres and the split of the country into two, is mainly due to the incomplete mass uprising which terminated the al-Bashar regime, and the right wing counter-coup.

    The Sudanese Armed Forces, SAF, headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, RSF, led by General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo alias Hemedti, had conspired to abort the peoples’ democratic movement by overthrowing the transition Sudanese government and dividing the country as spoils of war.

    The RSF had evolved from the Janjaweed, a vicious militant group that was used for ethnic cleansing in Darfur in which over 200,000 people were killed.

    The European Union then strengthened the RSF by funding it in return for the militia using force to stop immigrants crossing into Europe through the Red Sea.

    In the struggle for power between the two groups, Iran has thrown its weight behind the army, while the United Arab Emirates, UAE, has provided funds and arms for the RSF. The rival groups had begun fighting on April 15, 2023. Since then, over 150,000 Sudanese have been killed and some 14 million displaced.

    Given the fact that both sides rely on various countries, the AU or the UN, levelling on this, need to convene an international peace conference that can force a ceasefire. Negotiations should include what is left of the civil groups. A transition agreement needs be reached which would lead to a civil democratic process. The alternative would be both groups fighting until one side is broken. That may not be in the immediate, and the remnants of the defeated side may continue the conflict at the various levels, including banditry.

    Whatever the case, the alpha males of South Sudan and Sudan: President Salvar Kiir, Riek Machar and Generals al-Burhan and Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, need to be brought to justice for the senseless wars in their countries.

  • The politics of the AU as it turns to reparations – By Owei Lakemfa

    The politics of the AU as it turns to reparations – By Owei Lakemfa

    The Africa Union, AU, 38th Summit from February 15-16, 2025 promised to be challenging as the body had to elect a new Chairperson for the African Union Commission, AUC, which is its engine room. The Commission is the AU Secretariat and its Chair, its chief executive officer.

    In the last eight years, that seat had been occupied by Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat who seemed to have been sleeping on duty. His country, Chad, was under the French orbit, and Faki, as Chadian Foreign Minister, and then President Idris Deby, carried out questionable activities in the Central African Republic. This led to Chadian troops fleeing that country in 2014.

    When on April 20, 2021, there was a coup in Chad by current Head of State, General Mahamat Deby, Faki, as AUC Chair, refused to apply the organisation’s ‘Lome Declaration’ on unconstitutional change of government.

    Faki was not particularly trusted, especially after he had smuggled Israel into the February, 2023 AU Heads of State Summit. This was detected and angry African countries led by South Africa got the Israeli mole, Ambassador Sharon Bar-li, walked out of the Summit after her accreditation and access badges were seized by the AU security.

    So, for Africa, this Summit was an opportunity to rebuild, and the best place to begin was to elect a credible person to replace Faki. There were three main candidates.

    Madagascar presented Richard Randriamandrato, its former Foreign Minister and later Minister of Economy and Finance. He had worked in the AU and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, COMESA, where he served for ten years. He did not appear to carry much weight and was clearly the least favoured.

    Djibouti’s candidate was Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, who has been Foreign Minister since 2005. He had been educated in Djibouti, United Kingdom, France and Canada and served as Ambassador to Egypt before being Foreign Minister. He had previously served as both the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, OIC. He had been Foreign Minister for two decades; it meant he had practically attended all Organisation of African Union, OAU/AU, Summits in the last 20 years.

    The fact that Djibouti with a population of less than one million and a total land size of 23,200 square kilometres is one of the smallest countries in Africa, was not a disadvantage. In fact, it fits into the dream of the founding fathers of the OAU/AU, which is to give small countries greater say in the organisation. This is in line with the Constitutive Act of the AU which states that: “The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members.” So, to the AU, one way of ensuring equality between Seychelles with a population of about 100,000 people, and Nigeria with a 230 million population, is to cede leadership to small countries.

    In line with this principle, since 1964, all the eleven elected chief executive officers of the OAU/AU except for South Africa’s Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, were from countries considered small. These were Diallo Telli, Guinea; Nzo Ekangaki and William Eteki, Cameroun; Edem Kojo, Togo; Ide Oumarou, Niger; Salim Salim, Tanzania; Amara Essy, Cote d’ Voire; Alpha Oumar Konaré, Mali; Jean Ping, Gabon and Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chad.

    Except South Africa, 2012-2017, those from the big countries like Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Morocco and Algeria were never considered. The Ethiopian, Kifle Wodajo, 1963-64, and the Nigerian, Peter Onu, 1983-1985 occupied those offices in acting capacity.

    To me, my main concern about Djibouti is that it is like a ball played around by the big powers. Four countries have military bases in that tiny country. China has in the Port of Doraleh, Western Djibouti; in the Southern part, the United States has its base in Camp Lemonnier; the French, in Base Aerienne 188 and, even Japan without a conventional military has its Japan Self-Defence Force Base in Djibouti.

    The big fish was Raila Amolo Odinga, a famous African figure who had been Kenyan Prime Minister for five years from 2008. He is the son of famous African Pan Africanist, Jeramogi Oginga Odinga.

    Odinga had support amongst the big boys and in the first round of voting, Kenya had 20 votes, Djiboiti 18, Madagascar 10 with one abstention. In the second, Kenya had two more votes and Djibouti one. But in the third round, Kenya dropped to 20 votes while Djibuoti led with 23 votes and Madagascar maintained its bottom position with five votes. At this point, Madagascar dropped out and Djibouti maintained its lead into the seventh round where it won with 33 votes.

    A possible reason for Djibouti’s victory is that after Madagascar dropped out, the French-speaking bloc might have consolidated its votes in the Djibouti vote basket. Also, the age difference between an 80-year-old Odinga, and a 59-year-old Youssouf might have counted in the latter’s favour. Again, some consider Odinga a bit brash and too assertive.

    Not unexpectedly, the big countries took a the next big seats. Selma Malika Haddadi was elected the Deputy Chairperson. The 47-year-old is the Algerian Ambassador to Ethiopia, its Permanent Representative to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, UNECA.

    In line with the AU gender principle that if the elected AUC Chair is male, the Deputy Chairperson must be female and vice versa, only females remained in the Deputy Chair race. The Algerian had to gallop past Morocco’s Ms. Latifah Akharbach, Egypt’s Ms. Hanan Morsy and Ms Najat Elhajjaji of Libya.

    Nigeria, the ‘Giant of Africa’ through Ambassador Bankole Adeoye retained the powerful position of Political Affairs, Peace and Security, PAPS, Commissioner.

    South Africa’s Ms Lerato Mataboge, took the Infrastructure and Energy seat, Eswatini’s Mr. Moses Vilakati took that of Agriculture and, Ghana’s Ambassador Amma Twum-Amoah became Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social development Commissioner.

    It is difficult to say at this point if Africa has a strong enough team to move it forward. There is also the argument whether Political Affairs and Peace and Security, should remained merged or surgically separated.

    The theme of the AU 2025 Summit was “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations.”

    Reparations is an old struggle and for Africa to make any headway, the AU needs to team up with African American support groups and the 15-member countries of the Caribbean Community, CARICOM. It needs to link whatever programme it is working on with the CARICOM ‘Ten Point Plan for Reparatory Justice.’ On a practical level, this will include building “bridges of belonging” between Africa and the Caribbean and, allowing those in the Diaspora who want to return to Mother Africa, to do so freely.

  • Tinubu arrives in Ethiopia for AU summit

    Tinubu arrives in Ethiopia for AU summit

    President Bola Tinubu arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Thursday night to participate in the 38th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government.

    The President was received at the airport by Eshetu Legesse, the Ethiopian Deputy Chief of Protocol, Amb. Yusuf Tuggar, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Amb.Nasir Aminu, the charge d’affaires of the Nigerian embassy in Ethiopia,

    Tuggar later briefed President Tinubu about the summit and some diplomatic wins for the country, a session that stretched until about 2 a.m. on Friday, Mr Bayo Onanuga, his spokesman, said in a statement.

    Among the wins was the re-election of Amb. Bankole Adeoye as African Union Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security.

    Nigeria also retains its seat on the African Union Peace and Security Council, reaffirming, in the words of Tuggar, “Nigeria’s leadership and commitment to peace and security on the continent.”

    At the briefing were Mr Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance; Abubakar Badaru, Minister of Defence; Jumoke Oduwole, the Minister of Trade and Investment; Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Muhammed Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation.

    Balarabe Abbas Lawal, Minister of Environment and Doris Uzoka-Anite, Minister of State for Finance,

    Amb. Mohammed Mohammed, Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, and Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, the Chief of Naval Staff, also attended the briefing.

    This year’s AU summit, under the theme “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations,” focuses on reparatory justice and racial healing.

    President Tinubu will deliver a speech at the Summit-level meeting of the African Union Peace and Security Council, where discussions will focus on current security challenges on the continent, including the escalation of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

    The President will participate in meetings on health financing, establishing an Africa Credit Rating Agency, and climate change. President Tinubu will return to Abuja on Monday.

  • African Union wades into Libya-Nigeria deadlocked football match

    African Union wades into Libya-Nigeria deadlocked football match

    A newspaper in Libya, Almashhad has reported that the African Union officials have contacted Libyan and Nigerian authorities after being notified that the Nigerian football team and officials were stuck at an airport to which they had been directed by authorities in Libya.

    A nine-man Disciplinary Board of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) is currently investigating all circumstances before acting against parties proven to have violated CAF’s regulations and laws.

    ON Sunday, Nplayers were meant to land in Benghazi, but their plane was diverted to Al Abraq, more than 200km away.
    Those travelling were ‘abandoned’ and locked in the building, after arranging to leave, according to a Nigeria Football Federation official.

  • After the AU Summit, Africa continues its drift – By Owei Lakemfa

    After the AU Summit, Africa continues its drift – By Owei Lakemfa

    IF a family meets in a room, members give themselves pecks, exchange polite greetings, make flowery speeches and emerge laughing for group photographs, it is likely they have not been truthful to themselves. That was my impression following the 37th Summit of the African Union, AU, from February 17-18, 2024 in Addis Ababa.

    After attending a few AU Summits, I have learnt to look beyond the theme, to the recommendations and draft resolutions of the AU Permanent Representatives Committee, PRC. This body of ambassadors or representatives of Member States, sets the agenda and drafts the resolutions which, with a few amendments, are passed to the Summit by the AU Executive Council of Foreign Ministers.

    As can be imagined, our Heads of State are quite busy. So, their two-day summits are actually for one day with large chunks of that day taken by goodwill messages from foreign dignitaries and bodies like the United Nations. When we add the speeches of our political leaders, there is virtually no time for discussions and debates at the summits.

    This week’s Summit was not different, except that it was worse in some aspects. Attendance by 35 countries was quite poor because it means 20 African countries were not at the Summit.

    Secondly, the unusual happened: an alleged violation of a President’s immunity and rights. Somalia President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, claimed that the security services of the host, Ethiopia, tried to stop him from leaving his hotel to attend the meeting. He said he had to join the convoy of Djibouti President, Ismail Omar Guelleh, to be able to leave. The Somalia President added that on arrival at the AU headquarters, armed Ethiopian guards tried to prevent him from entering the building. He claimed that: “A soldier with a gun stood in front of us and denied us access to this facility.” He also accused the host of “.. annexing part of Somalia to Ethiopia, and changing the borders of Somalia”.

    The Summit appeared deaf to these complaints and to the October 2023 statement of Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed Abiy, that his country’s landlocked state is an unacceptable “geographical prison” which has to be changed for peace to reign.

    The theme of the 2024 AU Summit, “Educate an African fit for the 21st Century: Building resilient education systems for increased access to inclusive, lifelong, quality and relevant learning in Africa”, is quite fine. However, I find the Summit’s adoption of the Second 10-year (2024-2033) implementation plan of Agenda 2063, christened the ‘Decade of Acceleration’, a bit problematic because we do not have the report of the First 10-year plan. It is going the way of the illusive AU ‘Silencing the Guns by 2020’ Agenda.

    However, these and other talks of the AU joining the G20, do not address the immediate and fundamental challenges of the continent which include insecurity, hunger and economic integration. For Africa to be firmly on the road to economic integration, an effective free trade zone, realisable 2063 agenda, peace and development, it has to rebuild its broken regional blocs, and ensure transnational and regional peace.

    The Arab Maghreb Union, AMU, in North Africa, made up of Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia, is like a kwashiokhor victim on life support. Its leaders met last on July 3, 2008, that is 16 years ago. While Tunisia is trying to recover, Libya is a failed state and Algeria holds a principled position against Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara by the monarchy in Rabat.

    In trying to flee the regional bloc, Morocco sought asylum in the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, but was denied. It had also sought to join the European Union, but was like an illegal migrant, denied entry.

    Ironically, the new AU Chairman, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, is the President of Mauritania, a country that broke away from ECOWAS in 2000 while remaining in a comatose AMU.

    The East African Community, EAC, comprising the Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC, the republics of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania, is one of the oldest and most viable. It has even gotten to the level of recognising the identity cards of member-states, as a substitute for international passports. However, it has been bogged down by serious conflicts, especially between war-torn DRC and Rwanda which allegedly supports the brutal M23 rebels. There is also the continuous disagreements between Rwanda and Burundi.

    The Economic Community of Central African States, ECCAS, also suffers from the Rwanda-DRC- Burundi crises. Additionally, ECCAS member, Cameroun, has for years experienced a low intensity civil war in its Anglophone part, as well as a sick, gerontocracy under President Paul Biya.

    Gabon is still in the grips of the military which on August 30, 2023 ousted President Ali Bongo Ondimba. Another ECCAS member, Chad, has been virtually under military rule for over three decades.

    The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, served as Chadian Foreign Minister. After General Mahamat Deby overthrew the Chadian government on April 20, 2021, Faki ensured the regime was not sanctioned by the AU.

    The Intergovernmental Authority on Development, IGAD, made up of Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Uganda, Sudan and South Sudan is one of the most conflict-ridden regions. Somalia has for decades been a failed state, Sudan has experienced a civil war between its military and the Rapid Support Forces since April 2023, and the scars of the civil war in South Sudan are still visible. Ethiopia has been engaged in serious conflicts with its Tigray and Amhara regions, while its Oromo nationality is still restive.

    The Southern African Development Community, SADC, has been perhaps the most stable, while nine of the 15 members of ECOWAS are experiencing serious stages of instability. Guinea Bissau does not allow its parliament function; Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are under direct military rule; the Ivorian President, Alassane Ouattara, is in an illegal and unconstitutional third term; Senegalese President Macky Sall has blocked the general elections and Sierra Leone claims to have aborted a coup on November 26, 2023, while Nigeria is wracked by terrorism, kidnapping and banditry.

    So, the AU Summit did not even scratch the surface of the continent’s immediate security and economic challenges. When new AU Chair, Ghazouani, talked about the need to realise Africa’s socio-economic development ambitions, build continental stability and ensure that Africa has an assertive presence on the world stage, he should realise that the continent would need to be steered in a proper direction.

    The AU needs to call a proper summit dedicated to peace building and economic integration where our leaders can tell themselves the truth, call themselves to order, and carry out joint work. Otherwise, Africa will continue to drift from one summit to another.

  • Tinubu says Nigeria ready to host Africa Central Bank

    Tinubu says Nigeria ready to host Africa Central Bank

    President Bola Tinubu says Nigeria is ready to host the African Central Bank in line with the vision of the Abuja Treaty.

    He said this at the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Saturday.

    The President said his administration would engage the African Union Commission in collaboration with member states to ensure that the bank takes off as scheduled in 2028.

    Tinubu said that Africa’s success in addressing its challenges hinges on the firmness of its resolution, built on a foundation of deep-rooted solidarity, if it is to avoid perpetuating existing problems and creating new ones.

    “As a continent and as individual nations, we face strong headwinds and difficult hurdles threatening to complicate our mission to bring qualitative democratic governance and economic development to our people.

    “Many of these obstacles, such as climate change and unfair patterns of global trade, are largely not of our making.

    “However, some of the pitfalls, including coup-birthed autocracies and the deleterious tinkering with constitutional tenure provisions, are developmental cancers we as Africans are giving to ourselves,” he stated.

    Speaking on the military takeovers in the Republics of Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, and the exit of three of these nations from ECOWAS, the President said disagreements over the unconstitutional changes of government should not mean a permanent rupture of the abiding lines of regional affinity and cooperation.

    “The drive for a peaceful, strong, and united West Africa is bigger than any one person or group of people. The bonds of history, culture, commerce, geography, and brotherhood hold deep meaning for our people.

    “Thus, out of the dust and fog of misunderstanding and acrimony, we must seize the chance to create a new people-centric era of trust and accord.

    “To all who care to listen, I declare that if you come to the table to discuss important matters in good faith, you will find Nigeria and ECOWAS already sitting there waiting to greet you as the brother that you are,” he said.

    On education, which is the theme of this year’s summit, the President said education is the core ingredient in the process of evolving creative solutions to the unique challenges long confronting the continent.

    “In helping to achieve the Agenda 2063 objective of a peaceful, united and prosperous Africa, I consider African education, not only in the narrow context of the benign use of science and technology to improve the material standards of our people, but also in the nuanced appreciation of the fact that Africa must also become better educated in the humane art of democratic practice, diplomacy, and conflict resolution without violence.

    “In Nigeria, my administration is devoting ample resources to education at all levels. From redesigning our school feeding programmes and academic curricula to making ourselves an Information and Communication Technology hub, through which we shall bring more youths into the classroom and furnish them with the tools required to flourish in the global economy of the 21st century,” he said.

    The President used the occasion to extend invitation to the Africa Counter-Terrorism Summit scheduled to take place in April in Abuja.

    He said that the summit aimed to expand discussions beyond military and law enforcement remedies to comprehensively tackle the root causes of violent extremism, such as poverty, inadequate political access, and the propagation of hateful ideologies.

  • President Tinubu gets fresh appointment in AU

    President Tinubu gets fresh appointment in AU

    The African Union has appointed President Bola Tinubu as the Champion for Human Resources for Health and Community Health Delivery Partnership.

    This was contained in a statement signed by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the president, Ajuri Ngelale, titled ‘President Tinubu appointed as AU Champion for health’ on Friday.

    This came in “recognition of President Tinubu’s commitment to train 120,000 frontline health workers nationwide within 16 months and to double the number of primary health facilities in communities across all local government areas of the federation from 8,800 to over 17,000 over the next three years,” said the presidency

    The Commission of the African Union (Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention- Africa CDC) conveyed the announcement in a letter to Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying the President was appointed on the recommendation of the Committee of Heads of State and Government of Africa CDC, under the leadership of Azali Assoumani, President of the Union of Comoros and Chairperson of the African Union.

    Africa CDC said it recognised Tinubu’s doubling of health personnel enrollment capacity from accredited nursing and midwifery institutions to accommodate the new demand created by new facilities across Nigeria, and his resolve to establish a paid volunteer youth force of social accountability officers to monitor the operational functioning and financial integrity of primary health centres.

    “The African Union has identified the Nigerian leader as the right champion for this noble and actionable continental effort,” read the statement.

    In his new role, the Commission has invited Tinubu to address the Ministerial Executive Leadership Programme under the theme, ‘Impactful leadership in health: a whole government approach’, slated for Saturday, February 17, 2024, at the Africa CDC Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on the margins of the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of AU Heads of State and Government.

  • 100m children, youth out of school in Africa – AU

    100m children, youth out of school in Africa – AU

    The African Union (AU) says no fewer than 100 million children and youth aged five to 19 across Africa are not socially integrated simply because they are out of school.

    AU Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation Mohammed Belhocine said at the ongoing AU Summit in Addis Ababa.

    Belhocine said the children and youth are vulnerable to all sorts of scourges, and they can be easily manipulated by terrorist groups, drug dealers and human traffickers.

    He noticed that many of them end up in different crime networks or migrating to other parts of Africa or out of the continent.

    He stressed the need to support these children and youth through vocational and technical training, and help them get necessary skills to become self-employed.

    Africa faces a setback in delivering quality education, especially at low grades, resulting in nine out of 10 children in Sub-Saharan Africa.

    The children are being unable to read and understand a simple text by the age of 10, the commissioner acknowledged.

    Noting that Africa needs about 90 billion U.S. dollars to achieve universal education coverage by 2030, he called for global support for the continent to meet the funding gap.

  • AU chairperson expresses concern over resurgence of coups in Africa

    AU chairperson expresses concern over resurgence of coups in Africa

    African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, has expressed grave concern over the resurgence of coup d’état in Africa.

    Mahamat said this while answering questions  in New York on Tuesday.

    The chairperson, who was in New York to attend the seventh high-level dialogue, spoke in the context of the recent military coup attempt in Sierra Leone.

    “Coup d’état is a violation of democratic rules in states. They are a phenomenon that we thought was definitively over and done with on the African continent.

    “Unfortunately, we’ve seen six coups d’état, six French states have been suspended from the African Union due to unconstitutional changes of government.

    “The reasons for this are manifold, but it is not acceptable for the devolution of power to happen in such a way,’’ he said.

    He, however, noted that the issue fell under the purview of the regional bloc, scheduled to meet soon.

    “Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will soon organise a summit to be able to assess the situation in these countries.’’

    Answering a question on the appeal from the ECOWAS parliament, urging the heads of state within their bloc to lift the sanctions imposed on Niger following the military coup in Niger Republic on July 26, he said he was not aware of that.

    “I’m not well aware of the situation of the parliament on that, but it does fall under the regional organisation that is the ECOWAS.

    ECOWAS Parliament had on Nov. 22 appealed to the Heads of State and Government in the region to lift the sanctions imposed on the Niger Republic.

    The Heads of State in ECOWAS had in July imposed sanctions on the Niger Republic to protest the ouster of President Mohamed Bazoum by certain military officers led by erstwhile Presidential Guard Commander, General Abdourahamane Tchiani.

    The Chief Whip of the Senate, Sen. Ali Ndume, who addressed journalists after the opening session of the parliament, declared that states in Nigeria, about seven of them bordering Niger Republic were at the receiving end of the sanctions.

    Ndume said: “Children and women have been exposed to untold hardships. No meaningful progress has been made in resolving this issue.

    “ We are appealing to ECOWAS states to lift the sanction and open the closed border between Niger and Nigeria because it is the poor that are suffering. Let me say this is a collective decision by concerned citizens.’’

    Mahamat further attributed military coups in Africa to bad governance, saying, of course, the issue of governance was at the heart of coups.

    “We’ve never denied that there is often the issue of governance that is behind these coups and situations that may evolve.

    “I would recall that the African Union doesn’t generally take economic sanctions.

    “Sanctions taken by the African Union entails suspending a country when there is unconstitutional transfer of power until order is restored so that country is suspended from all the African Union’s activities.

    “Of course, we stand in solidarity with decisions taken by regional organisations following the principle of subsidiarity, they’re able to really appreciate what’s going on in this specific country,’’ he said.

    The chairperson, however, noted that sanctions should be avoided because of its negative impact on ordinary people and no impact on the perpetrators.

    “So, this is part of the deterrents that there are but I think this is something that is at the heart of the discussions that we’re having at the continental and regional level today,’’ he said.

     

  • Economy: African leaders under AU must quickly activate Continental Free Trade Area – Dakuku Peterside

    Economy: African leaders under AU must quickly activate Continental Free Trade Area – Dakuku Peterside

    The immediate past DG/CEO of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr Dakuku Peterside, has said sustainable development of the African maritime sector is crucial to unlocking the potentials of the continent and making it a huge contributor to the world economy.

    Peterside at the Agenda For African Development Senior Managers Forum on Environmental Management System in African Seaports at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport in Alexandria, Egypt said for the maritime industry to play its role as facilitator of growth in the continent, there is the need to fast track its development and sustainability.

    In a statement issued by his Media Media Team in Wednesday noted that Participants were drawn from 15 African countries, with funding from the Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development (EAPD).

    Revealing statistics that Africa accounts for less than 3% of global trade and just about 15% intra-African trade compared to Europe (68%), Asia (58%), North America (48%), and Latin America (20%), he argued that African leaders under the auspices of Africa Union (AU) must quickly activate the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) aimed at boosting intra African trade.

    He noted that with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) estimating that AfCFTA could boost intra African trade by up to 33% and cut trade deficit by 51%, time was of essence in promoting trade.

    According to him, “This increase in trade will lead to higher demand for maritime transport, create new market opportunities and spur investment in port infrastructure.”

    While stressing that the maritime sector will play a key role, he argued that it would involve tackling issues such as strengthening governance, improving infrastructure, investment in human capital, and improving the operating environment.

    Peterside revealed that developing a sustainable African maritime industry entails concise policy and sustained commitment to implementation, governance structure, robust monitoring and enforcement regime, conducive operating environment, investment in technology, digitalization, automation and innovation, among others.

    “Achieving a sustainable African maritime industry requires a holistic approach and long-term commitment from governments, industry leaders, and society at large.

    “It is a complex challenge but with collective effort and innovative solutions, such as an articulated road map, effective governance structure, digitalization, decarbonization, sustainable energy, environmental sustainability and international partnership; it is possible to minimize the negative impacts of maritime activities on the environment while fostering economic growth. These keys are interconnected and must be pursued collectively to unlock the full potential of a sustainable African maritime sector.”

    Dr Peterside will, in October, be the guest of the Government of Tanzania.