#WomensMarchLusaka | Akon Finalizes Deal To Build City |G5 Sahel — France Summit
This Week In Africa | Issue 03 | 12th Jan — 18th Jan 2020
In this weeks digest, we monitor the #WomensMarchLusaka, track the protests in Malawi pertaining to the May 2019 presidential election petition and funny yet controversial case of the Ugandan Imam who ‘mistakenly’ married a man. For these and more stories, enjoy reading the news digest.
Politics:
- Tunisia Parliament Rejects New Government.
“Tunisia’s parliament has rejected a government proposed by Prime Minister-designate Habib Jemli after months of negotiations between political parties to fill positions. During a heated day-long parliamentary session on Friday, only 72 of the 213 legislators present voted in favour of Jemli’s cabinet.” Aljazeera
- Former Gambia President Jammeh Wants To Return Home.
“Gambia’s longtime dictator Yahya Jammeh, who fled into exile three years ago after an election loss, has announced plans to return to the West African nation where human rights activists say he ordered the killings of political opponents during his rule. The deputy spokesman for Jammeh’s political party released several audio recordings to the media over the weekend featuring conversations between Jammeh and a top party official.” VOA
Elections:
- Mozambique President Sworn In After Disputed Election.
“Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi was sworn in for a second and final term Wednesday after five turbulent years in office amid two armed insurgencies. Nyusi won re-election in October with 73% of the vote, while the opposition alleged irregularities.” africanews
- Anti Bribery Election Protest in Malawi.
“Tens of thousands of Malawians took part in protests on Thursday (16 Jan) at alleged attempts to bribe judges overseeing a legal challenge to the re-election last year of President Peter Mutharika. People took to the streets after the country’s chief justice charged that the five judges presiding over the case had been offered kickbacks.”
- Ethiopia Sets August 16 Tentative Date For Polls.
“Ethiopia proposes to hold its national vote on Aug. 16, the electoral board said on Wednesday, the first poll under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed who has eased political restrictions and taken steps to open the economy since taking office in 2018.” The Telegram
- Opposition In Ghana Protest New Bio-Metric Voter Register.
“A huge crowd of Ghanaian’s took to the streets in the Northern regional capital Tamale (620 kilometers north of the capital) on Saturday to protest plans by the Electoral Commission (EC) to replace the existing biometric voters’ register ahead of the 2020 polls. The Saturday protest is the first in a series of activities planned by the Inter-party resistance against the new voters’ register ((IRANVR) to resist the compilation of a new register.” NewsGhana
Foreign Policy:
- The Lome Initiative on Fake Drugs.
“The Presidents of the Republic of the Congo, Niger, Senegal, Togo, Uganda, Ghana and the Gambia will meet in Lomé, Togo, on 17 and 18 January 2020 to sign the Lomé Initiative, a binding agreement to criminalise the trafficking of falsified medicines.” Brazzaville Foundation
- G5 Sahel Leaders and France Pledge to Boost Military Cooperation
“President Emmanuel Macron and the leaders of Mali, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mauritania put on a display of unity at the summit in the southern French city on Monday, as they moved to find common ground in the battle against insurgents in the Sahel and debunk myths about France’s presence in the region. The summit was called in response to growing hostility in West Africa towards the former colonial power, for failing to restore stability in the restive Sahel.” RFI
Business:
- AKON City
“Akon announced on Monday that he has finalized an agreement to establish the city of Akon in Senegal. The city would be built on 2,000 acres of land given to it by the President of Senegal, Macky Sall. The new city would also trade exclusively in its own digital currency called AKOIN, he said. The environmentally conscious city will have its own airport and run entirely on solar energy.” SENEGO
- Ethiopian Airlines Plan to build $5 Airport
“ The CEO of Ethiopian Airlines has announced plans to build a $5 billion airport south of Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian News Agency reports. Tewolde Gebremariam said the airport would cover an area of 35 square km and be able to handle 100 million passengers a year.” Business Traveler
Sports:
- 2021 AFCON To Be Played In Winter
“The Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) has confirmed that next year’s Africa Cup of Nations will take place in January and February, and not in the summer as originally planned. Fecafoot cited summer weather conditions in Cameroon as a reason for the change. The announcement was made following discussions with the Confederation of African Football (Caf), which sanctions the Africa Cup of Nations.”
Social Media Trends:
- Ugandan Imam ‘ Mistakenly’ Marries a Man
Social Media was stormed with humor after “a Ugandan imam was suspended after discovering his new wife was actually a man.Sheikh Mohammed Mutumba, 27, found out the truth when his bride was caught stealing a TV from a neighbour and was searched by police.The thief later admitted pretending to be a woman so he could marry the imam and steal his money, local media in Kayunga reported.” mailonline
- #WomensMarchLusaka
The #WomensMarchLusaka was trending on social media networks as several people marched in Lusaka with placards in tandem with the global women’s march. “It aims to continue to build upon the vision and mission developed by the National Women’s March organizers in the United States, on a global scale, namely “supporting the advocacy and resistance movements that reflect our multiple and intersecting identities.” Women’s March Lusaka Chapter
Afri-Fact:
- The Victoria Falls
The Victoria Falls also known as Mosi-O-Tunya (The smoke that thunders) is the only one among the seven natural wonders of the world found in Africa. It is located at the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe in Southern Africa. It has a length of 1,700 meters and its height is between 80 and 108 meters depending on the season.
(Published late due to circumstances beyond our control)
