LIBREVILLE, Gabon — Voters in Gabon overwhelmingly approved a new constitution, authorities said Sunday, more than one year after mutinous soldiers overthrew the country’s longtime president and seized power in the oil-rich Central African nation.

Over 91% of voters approved the new constitution in a referendum held on Saturday, Gabon’s Interior Minister Hermann Immongault said in a statement read on state television. Turnout was an estimated 53.5%, he added.

The final results will be announced by the Constitutional Court, the interior minister said.

The draft constitution, which proposes sweeping changes that could prevent dynastic rule and transfer of power, needed more than 50% of the votes cast to be adopted.

In 2023, soldiers toppled President Ali Bongo Ondimba and put him under house arrest, accusing him of irresponsible governance and massive embezzlement that risked leading the country into chaos. The junta released Ondimba a week later on humanitarian grounds, allowing him travel abroad for medical treatment.

The soldiers proclaimed their Republican Guard chief, Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, as president of a transitional committee to lead the country. Oligui is a cousin of Bongo.

Bongo had served two terms since coming to power in 2009 after the death of his father, who ruled the country for 41 years. His rule was marked by widespread discontent with his reign. A coup attempt in 2019 failed.

The draft constitution imposes a seven-year term, renewable only once, instead of the current charter that allows for five-year terms renewable without limit. It also says family members cannot succeed a president and abolishes the position of prime minister.

The former French colony is a member of OPEC, but its oil wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few — and nearly 40% of Gabonese aged 15 to 24 were out of work in 2020, according to the World Bank. Its oil export revenue was $6 billion in 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
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Dakar — Senegal on Sunday voted in parliamentary elections, with the new leaders aiming for a resounding majority to see through the promise of ambitious reform that swept them to power eight months ago.

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye secured victory in March pledging economic transformation, social justice and a fight against corruption — raising hopes among a largely youthful population facing high inflation and widespread unemployment.

But an opposition-led parliament hampered the government’s first months in power, leading Faye to dissolve the chamber in September and call snap elections as soon as the constitution allowed him to do so.

“I hope that [the ruling party] Pastef will win the elections to gain a majority so that they can better carry out their mandate,” said 56-year-old Pascal Goudiaby, who was among dozens waiting to cast their ballots at a polling station in the capital Dakar.

“The priority is unemployment, young people are facing so much unemployment,” he added.

Faye appointed his firebrand mentor Ousmane Sonko as prime minister, after Sonko’s own bid to run for president was blocked following a three-year deadly standoff with the former authorities.

The pair promised a leftist pan-African agenda — vowing to diversify political and economic partnerships, review hydrocarbon and fishing contracts and re-establish Senegal’s sovereignty, which they claimed had been sold abroad.

The West African country’s roughly 7.3 million registered voters will elect 165 MPs for five-year terms.

Analysts say Senegalese voters have historically confirmed their presidential choice during parliamentary elections, and the Pastef party is the favorite to win.

“I think that whoever you gave your confidence to in the presidential election, you need to renew your confidence in him so that he can achieve what he started,” said 56-year-old voter Toure Aby.

“We want life to be less expensive for the Senegalese”, she added. “Everything’s expensive: water, electricity, food.”

‘No room for violence’

Voters are continuing a long democratic tradition in Senegal, widely seen as a stable outlier in a coup-plagued region.

Prime Minister Sonko cast his vote in the morning in the southern city of Ziguinchor, calling for calm.

“Democracy is expressed in peace and stability, and I believe that in a democracy there is no room for violence,” he said.

Sonko spent three weeks on the campaign trail promising projects and investment in the regions he visited, while applauding patriotism and national sovereignty.

Reminiscent of his years as a fiery opposition leader, he had called for vengeance after attacks against his supporters, but later urged restraint.

Despite the heated tone, clashes were sporadic in the run-up to the vote.

Though some agreements have been reached between coalitions, the opposition remains fragmented.

Former president Macky Sall is leading an opposition grouping from abroad, breaking with the political restraint normally adopted by ex-leaders in Senegal.

He left power in April after triggering one of the worst crises in decades with a last-minute postponement of the presidential election.

Former prime minister and presidential runner-up Amadou Ba, and Dakar mayor Barthelemy Dias, are also heading coalitions.

Bleak picture

The opposition has accused the new government of inaction, amateurism and a desire to settle scores with the previous administration.

Unemployment stands at more than 20 percent and scores continue to risk their lives every month in a bid to reach Europe by boat.

The government said an audit of public finances revealed a wider budget deficit than previously announced, with the International Monetary Fund suspending an aid program pending the audit’s review.

Moody’s downgraded Senegal’s credit rating and placed the country under observation.

Since taking office, the authorities have lowered the price of household goods such as rice, oil and sugar and launched a series of reviews.

They have initiated justice system reform and presented an ambitious 25-year development plan aimed at transforming the economy and public policy.

Polling stations close at 6:00 pm (1800 GMT).

Reliable projections of the new parliament’s makeup could be available from Monday morning.
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Yaoundé, Cameroon      — Early results indicate a majority of Gabon’s 860,000 registered voters cast ballots in favor of a new constitution that could end military rule, according to state TV reports.

The results of Saturday’s constitutional referendum could end the transitional military government that ousted the Bongo family dynasty after nearly 60 years of rule. An official tally is expected later.

Officials say the adoption of the new constitution is one of the major promises made by General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema after seizing power in what Gabon’s military leaders call a bloodless August 30 coup that liberated the central African state from political bondage. 

Nguema seized power from Ali Bongo, who was declared the winner of Gabon’s August 26 elections with more than 64% of the vote. 

Gabon’s military said the coup marked an end to the nearly 56-year Bongo dynasty, during which Omer Bongo Ondimba ruled Gabon for 42 years since 1967 and handed power to his son, Ali Bongo, in 2009.

Gabon’s military said it deployed troops Saturday to towns and villages and reinforced a dusk-to-dawn curfew from midnight to 5 a.m. to make sure civilians were protected before, during and after the voting. 

Serge Zeng Ango is executive secretary of the National Union, a political party that campaigned for Gabon citizens to vote in favor of a new constitution during the referendum. 

Ango said the new constitution will put an end to any chance of another political dynasty where power was passed from father to son, as during the Bongo era.  

Unlike in the past when power was confiscated by a few people, said Ango, the new constitution is reassuring that ultimate power resides in civilians who can freely vote for their leaders and contribute to the development of their nation. 

He said those who voted in favor of Gabon’s new constitution are happy that article 42 of the law states that at the end of the term of office, the president, his or her spouse and descendants cannot be candidates for succession. 

But opposition and civil society say the draft constitution should have prohibited military ruler General Nguema from running for president. They said military leaders prepared the constitution to grant excessive power to the president because they want Nguema to maintain his grip on power.  

Jean-Victor Mouanga Mbadinga is a former presidential aspirant and leader of the Movement for Social Emancipation of Gabon’s civilians, one of Gabon’s political parties. 

He said by suppressing the post of prime minister, the fundamental law of 173 articles transforms Gabon into a country where the president has too much power. He said it is unfortunate that Gabon is increasing the presidential term limit from 5 to 7 years, renewable once, when in the United States of America — a world democracy that the central African state should emulate — presidents serve for no longer than two elected 4-year terms. 

Mbadinga said it is abnormal for Gabon’s constitution to give powers to the president to either dissolve parliament, which is the legislative arm of government, and to hire and fire a vice president at will. 

Gabon’s opposition and civil society said they will challenge the outcome of the referendum in the courts but did not give further details. 

Gabon’s government said Saturday’s referendum was free, fair and transparent. 

Officials said the new constitution would protect individual liberties, unlike during the Bongo father and son era. 

International observers from the African Union and the Central African Economic and Monetary Community said that, except for voting that began late due to the late opening of polling stations, the elections were peaceful and transparent. Hundreds of voters turned out at polling stations starting at 6 a.m. local time, according to observers.  

Gabon’s military leaders said final results of the constitutional referendum will be released by the constitutional court, but neither provided a specific time or date.  

After the publication of referendum results, Nguema said, Gabon will prepare its electoral laws in February, create an elections management body, and organize presidential, parliamentary and local elections in August 2025 to end a two-year transitional period.  

The military ruler has not said if Nguema will be a candidate or not, but the constitution in this referendum does not prevent him from running for president.  
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RIO DE JANEIRO — As Brazil prepares to welcome leaders from the world’s 20 largest economies for the Group of 20 summit, another event is taking place in Rio de Janeiro, one that brings global civil society to together for pivotal discussions.

The Brazil G20 Social Summit, an initiative by the Brazilian government, marks the first event at which citizens from around the world, as well as nonprofits and community organizations, are invited to participate in a series of smaller conferences.

One of the most talked-about initiatives is the launch of the Global Alliance Against Hunger — a group proposed by Brazil’s government to raise funds and implement policies aimed at reducing hunger worldwide.

Wellington Dias, Brazil’s minister of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Combating Hunger, told VOA this initiative is open to any nation. He said the G20 addressing hunger and poverty is a significant challenge and a new development.

Dias said the recent COVID pandemic and climate change created a problem for the world.

“It further disrupted the immigration process,” Dias said in an interview in Portuguese. “We also began to face situations involving climate change and people referred to as climate refugees. Hence, the need to address this issue.”

Brazil, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Chile, Indonesia and the Dominican Republic have outlined their strategies. Countries supporting these efforts include Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Norway and Spain, as well as the European Union and organizations such as the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Program.

Proposed measures include expanding cash transfer programs to support 500 million people, providing school meals to an additional 150 million children and offering health services to 200 million women and children younger than 6.

“What we need to solve hunger is much less than what is allocated to wars [and conflicts]. … The goal here is to develop a solution tailored to each country’s needs. It’s not just about distributing food baskets but also about delivering a development plan,” Dias said.

Brazilian officials said this financial commitment is expected to come from about 40 nation members of the alliance, 13 international organizations and financial institutions, 19 large philanthropic foundations, civil society organizations, nongovernmental organizations and other nonprofit organizations.

Dias said the alliance is expected to reach its target of 100 countries in the coming months, with more than 50 nations preparing plans to join. However, he said to join the alliance, countries must present well-defined plans and proven projects that effectively reduce poverty.

According to the United Nations, the relationship between food insecurity, migration and displacement is heavily influenced by factors such as conflict, climate change, natural disasters and poverty.

Current projections show that by 2030, 622 million people will live below the World Bank’s extreme poverty line of $2.15 a day.

The alliance’s mission is to lift at least 600 million people out of poverty by 2030.

The G20 social proposals will be compiled into a final document to be presented at the G20 leaders’ summit on Monday and Tuesday, hosted by Brazil. The Brazilian government has prioritized the fight against world hunger, alongside addressing climate change and anti-corruption governance reform.

South African Ambassador Nosipho Jezile told VOA: “Brazil has inspired me and [other] leaders in the context of this global alliance against hunger and poverty. It’s quite a stretch goal in terms of dealing with the challenges in hand.”

But she said nations know the problem and have evidence-based solutions.

“All we have to do is collaborate and make it happen. … It needs a lot of money, but of course, the reorientation of resources that are available to enable and deal with 500 million people that are in hunger and that’s what we have in this commitment,” she said.

About 47,000 people attended the G20 Social Summit from Thursday to Saturday, engaging in discussions on inequality and climate change.

“So, beyond the immigration issue, I always argue that hunger and extreme poverty are not just problems for those experiencing them — they are problems for the middle class, for the wealthy, for rich countries, and for rich individuals. There will be no social peace in the world if we do not find a solution to this issue,” Dias told VOA.
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Western diplomats have urged Somaliland’s three presidential candidates and their supporters to accept the election results, expected in the coming days, as vote counting continues. The diplomats said they have visited 30 polling stations in different cities in Somaliland to “reaffirm their support for the democratic process.”

The foreign diplomats from nine European countries and the United States, who were in Somaliland on Wednesday to witness the elections, said they commend Somaliland’s National Electoral Commission for conducting a “transparent voter registration and candidate nomination process.”

In a statement read by the U.K. ambassador to Somalia, Mike Nithavrianakis, the diplomats said they stand ready to work alongside Somaliland to further strengthen democracy and accountability in the future.

Meanwhile, international observers in Somaliland said the elections were peaceful, although in some parts the polling stations did not open “due to conflict.”

Tim Cole, a former British diplomat, is the chief observer of the International Election Observation Mission Somaliland. He is leading a team of 28 international observers invited by the Somaliland election committee.

Cole said the observers visited 146 polling stations and saw “some administrative issues” and said in some places “procedures weren’t followed.” However, he said the team observed that in general, people wanted to participate in the election, there was enthusiasm for voting and the elections were peaceful.

“In some parts of Somaliland … the polling stations didn’t open because of conflict. So that’s one issue that some voters faced,” he told VOA’s Horn of Africa Service.

“There were long queues, which can be seen as a good thing, but it also means people are standing around for a long time. But, yeah, the main challenges were really, I would say, there were some procedural issues. As I said, some of the polling stations, for example, didn’t open as early as they should have done. They were due to open at 7 o’clock and they opened later. That was also true in the capital, Hargeisa.”

The observer said the tallying starts when the ballot boxes are brought from all six regions of Somaliland. He said the results will take days to be released.

“It will be sometime next week before we know the final results,” he said. “So, I’m not sure exactly which day that could be, because all of those things can take time or could be done very quickly depending on logistics, cars breaking down, all those sorts of things. That can happen in any country. So, it will be a few days yet before we get the final result.”

The Brenthurst Foundation, a Johannesburg-based think tank that sent observers to Somaliland, said no serious incidents threatened the integrity of the election on voting day.

“In our opinion, this election was free, fair and credible despite the constraints of Somaliland’s financial and institutional means,” it said in a report published Friday.

More than 1.2 million people registered to vote in the election, the fourth in Somaliland since 2003. The region seceded from the rest of Somalia in 1991 but gained no international recognition. Somalia still considers Somaliland as part of its territory.

Guleid Ahmed Jama is a prominent Somaliland human rights lawyer and analyst. He says the economy, international recognition, foreign affairs, and peace and security were the main issues the candidates have been campaigning on.

“The economy of Somaliland is in a very poor position. Somaliland is a poor country; it’s one of the poorest places in the world. It doesn’t produce or manufacture anything. Most of the things, most of the goods used in Somaliland are imported from the outside,” he said.

“Somaliland export is only livestock and also gets some money from remittance and by the diaspora community. So, its economy is very poor. That is an issue in Somaliland, particularly to the youth,” Jama said.

Recognition is another key issue in Somaliland. The current president, Muse Bihi Abdi, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Ethiopia in January, agreeing to lease 20 kilometers of seafront to the landlocked country in return for recognition.

Jama said if the incumbent wins, he will implement the MOU. He said the opposition has welcomed the agreement, but with reservations.

“The political leaders, particularly two main contenders, are all on the same page to have some sort of agreement with Ethiopia in relation to access to [the] sea. But the opposition’s position is that they will like to see the memorandum of understanding — what is written — because they haven’t seen it. It is not a public document, and they say the people will be consulted and the process will be transparent,” he said.

“But the ruling party candidate obviously says if he gets elected, he will convert it to a legally binding agreement. So, it depends on who wins in this election, whether they will proceed with the memorandum of understanding or not.”

Somalia condemns the MOU as illegal and an infringement of its sovereignty and territorial unity, while Ethiopia and Somaliland defend it.

Without commenting on the MOU, Ethiopia praised Somaliland’s election and congratulated the people of Somaliland “on the conduct of [voters for the] peaceful and democratic election.”

In a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ethiopia commended Somaliland’s National Electoral Commission for conducting a “free and fair election.”

“This process reflects the maturity of Somaliland’s governance and democratic system,” the statement concluded.
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HARARE, ZIMBABWE — Heads of state of the Southern African Development Community regional bloc are due to meet next week in Zimbabwe on post-election violence in neighboring Mozambique, where the political opposition is disputing poll results.

Mozambique has been rocked by violence following its October 9 elections, with police accused of killing some 30 protesters, according to civil society organizations there. Amnesty International says the crackdown on human rights by the government led by the winning Frelimo party continues.

Venancio Mondlane, leader of Mozambique’s opposition PODEMOS party, is disputing that Frelimo’s Daniel Chapo won the presidential election.

Speaking to VOA Friday from her base in Johannesburg, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for East and Southern Africa, Khanyo Farise, urged Southern African Development Community leaders to advocate for an end to the violence when they meet in Harare.

“The situation in Mozambique gets worse every day as the death toll spirals, yet the SADC remains shockingly silent,” Farise said. “Regardless of the outcome of the elections, SADC must take a strong stand against the assault on the right to protest and the killing of protesters.

“SADC has been painfully slow to respond to Mozambique’s crisis,” she said. “The bloc must forcefully speak out now against the ongoing violations of human rights by Mozambican security forces and put human rights and accountability at the center of its upcoming summit in Harare.”

Adriano Nuvunga, director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Mozambique, said that his country has experienced post-election violence before but that this year, “the magnitude and the duration of incidences is unprecedented.”

“It is nationwide violence led by the young people,” Nuvunga said, who “feel that the results announced favoring Frelimo did not reflect the will of the people expressed at the polls.”

“In the past three days everything is paralyzed,” he said. “The ports are paralyzed, corridors, borders are paralyzed, which is affecting not only Mozambique but neighboring countries that depend on Mozambique to access to sea and ports. So, this makes it a regional crisis not only a domestic crisis.”

But, Nuvunga said, the leaders of Tanzania, Zimbabwe and South Africa have “taken sides [a] long time ago” because they acknowledged Frelimo and Chapo as the winners of the election even before results were announced by the Constitutional Council.

“So, SADC will meet. SADC will discuss. But the trust in SADC is not that big,” he said.
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JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s government says it won’t help a group of illegal miners inside a closed mine in the country’s North West province who have been denied access to basic supplies as part of an official strategy against illegal mining.

The miners in the mineshaft in Stilfontein are believed to be suffering from a lack of food, water and other basic necessities after police closed off the entrances used to transport their supplies underground.

It is part of the police’s Vala Umgodi, or Close the Hole, operation, which includes cutting off miners’ supplies to force them to return to the surface and be arrested.

Police had earlier indicated that information received from those who recently helped bring three miners to the surface indicated that up to 4,000 miners may be underground.

However, on Thursday afternoon, police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said that they believed the number was exaggerated and maybe be far less than that, estimating a figure of between 350 and 400 miners.

“We feel that the numbers are being exaggerated. We have deployed maximum resources to this case including our intelligence operative who are on the ground who have engaged with all stakeholders.

“We have managed to estimate the numbers to be between 350 and 400,” Mathe said.

South African ministers of police and defense are on Thursday expected to visit the mine to engage with officials and community members on the ground, Mathe said.

Stilfontein is one of the mines that were targeted by police as they intensified their operation in the North West province from October 18.

It’s unclear how long the current group of miners have been underground, as the groups are reported to often stay underground for months, depending on supplies of basic necessities like food and water from the outside.

“We have taken a decision that no police officer, no soldier or government official will go down to an abandoned mine. There is a high risk of loss of life,” she said.

Mathe said they had information that the miners may be heavily armed, adding that since embarking on operations against illegal miners since last December, police had seized more than 369 high caliber firearms, 10,000 rounds of ammunition, 5 million rand ($275,000) in cash and 32 million rand ($1.75 million) worth of uncut diamonds.

In the past few weeks, more than 1,000 miners have surfaced at various mines in North West province, with many reported to be weak, hungry and sickly after going for weeks without basic supplies.

Police continue on Thursday to guard areas around the mine to catch all those appearing from underground.

Cabinet Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told reporters on Wednesday that the government wouldn’t send any help to the illegal miners, because they are involved in a criminal act.

“We are not sending help to criminals. We are going to smoke them out. They will come out. Criminals are not to be helped. We didn’t send them there,” Ntshavheni said.

Illegal mining remains common in South Africa’s old gold-mining areas, with miners going into closed shafts to dig for any possible remaining deposits.

The illegal miners are often from neighboring countries, and police say the illegal operations involve larger syndicates that employ the miners.

Their presence in closed mines have also created problems with nearby communities, which complain that the illegal miners commit crimes ranging from robberies to rape.

Illegal mining groups are known to be heavily armed, and disputes between rival groups sometimes result in fatal confrontations. 
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ABUJA, NIGERIA — The Nigerian National Human Rights Commission on Wednesday inaugurated a forum targeting rights violations in the West African nation.

The Human Rights Defenders Forum was held on the sidelines of an NHRC meeting to review the state of human rights in Nigeria.

The initiative is a partnership between the NHRC and the European Union.

Officials say the forum, comprising various human rights groups, will be responsible for ensuring greater protection of civil liberties in Nigeria and serve as a unified platform for rights defenders to interact and address common challenges.

NHRC Executive Director Anthony Ojukwu said, “We’re gathered here not only to discuss the current state of human rights in Nigeria, but also to start to chart a way forward — one that ensures safer protection for civil liberties, fosters democratic consolidation and safeguards the fundamental rights of all Nigerians, especially those who stand up for the rights of others.”

The meeting comes amid a recent spate of human rights violations, including a crackdown on antigovernment demonstrations in August and the prolonged detention of minors who took part.

The delegates also discussed digital rights, privacy protection, gender-based violence and child abandonment by parents.

The NHRC said security forces were contributing to human rights violations in Nigeria.

Hilary Ogbonna, a senior adviser to the agency, said, “The majority of these violators are the Nigerian police, the military, bandits and parents of children. We also saw an upsurge of sexual and gender-based violence.

“But that is not as worrisome as 4,300 [cases of] child abandonment,” he said.

The Nigerian police and military have not responded to being named as violators of human rights, but last week, the NHRC found the military culpable for infanticide and extrajudicial killings during a 2016 operation in a remote village in northeastern Borno State.

The NHRC also raised concerns about the growing threat of insecurity in Nigeria and its impact on the rights of the people.

The commission said it recorded more than 1,700 cases of kidnappings and about 1,500 killings between January and September this year.

Damilola Decker, programs officer with the Nigeria-based group Global Rights, said economic vulnerability is one of the reasons that the rights situation is deteriorating.

“What we’re observing under the [Nigerian President Bola] Tinubu administration is that civic space is under attack, attacks on journalists, attacks on the rights of people to protest,” Decker said.

“We’re also seeing economic and sociocultural rights of Nigerians being impacted majorly because of the harsh economic conditions especially related to energy prices,” he said. “It’s cascading — crime is on the rise; the state of insecurity is on the increase.”
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NEW DELHI — Analysts interviewed by VOA expressed skepticism over China’s recent decision to eliminate tariffs for goods from least developed countries with diplomatic relations with Bejing, including 33 in Africa, next month.

The move was announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing in early September.

The analysts see it as an effort to expand China’s influence in Africa without bringing much benefit to the LDCs.

“This move has not generated the excitement it should, due to well-known structural difficulties in Africa,” Emmanuel Owusu-Sekyere, director of research, policy and programs at the African Center for Economic Transformation in Accra, Ghana, told VOA.

“Cooperation between China and Africa has benefitted China much more than it has Africa,” he said, adding, “Africa has given China unbridled access to its markets, which has crippled local production capacity in several aspects of the manufacturing sector e.g., textiles.”

Xi described the zero-tariffs plan as making China the first major economy to take such a step to offer Africa a substantial opportunity to do business in the large Chinese market.

Analysts see it as Beijing’s attempt to compete with the United States. The U.S. African Growth and Opportunity Act provides duty-free access to the U.S. market for more than 1,800 products from 32 sub-Saharan African countries. It will come up for renewal next year. They say China is also trying to take advantage of resentment of some African countries barred from AGOA on such grounds as human rights or lack of democracy and free markets.

“China’s move to allow African LDCs to export tariff-free is clearly a move to project its power in an alternative world order,” said Samir Bhattacharya, associate fellow at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation.

“The rigid policies of the U.S. have made some African countries averse towards it. China sees this as an opportunity to undermine the U.S.-led world order and promote its own narrow interests,” Bhattacharya said.

“China has reworked its trade basket to lure African leaders,” he added.

“This scheme would offer additional support to dictators and military leaders in African countries who are not comfortable with the U.S.,” he said. “It would not improve the economy of these countries.”

China’s viewpoint

Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson He Yongqian has said that the initiative would boost LDC exports. It will also promote solidarity and cooperation among the countries of the Global South and advance the goal of “inclusive and equitable economic globalization,” she said.

She said China has signed framework agreements on economic partnership for common development with 22 African countries, including Ethiopia, Burundi, Gabon and Zimbabwe.

However, Owusu-Sekyere expressed a different view.

“African countries are not strategically located in Asian production value chains like Bangladesh and Vietnam. Lack of strategic positioning and planning as well as structural bottlenecks will make it difficult for African countries to take advantage of this plan,” Owusu-Sekyere said.

Every time China’s government enters into a trade or investment agreement with another country, Chinese entrepreneurs usually rush to grab the business opportunities created by the deal. This has been the experience of several countries in Africa and Asia that have received Chinese investments.

Owusu-Sekyere said several African countries have enacted laws reserving the retail sector exclusively for locals but it has been taken over in those countries by Chinese entrepreneurs using local partners as fronts.

The bigger challenge for African countries are nontariff barriers related to such things as quality, he said.

“African economies are not diversified enough to supply at the quality and scale required to meet the sophisticated and diverse demands of a huge market as China.” according to Owusu-Sekyere. 
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Juba, South Sudan — The United Nations Mission in South Sudan has called for tangible evidence of progress toward democratic elections the country.

Briefing the United Nations Security Council this week, special representative of the secretary-general and head of UNMISS, Nicholas Haysom, told government leaders “the clock on the extension is already ticking.”

Since winning its independence in 2011, South Sudan is just beginning its fourth extension of the transitional period government, with elections now rescheduled for 2026.

Speaking for Haysom, U.N. South Sudan acting spokesperson Rabindra Giri said, “The international community needs tangible evidence that this country’s leaders and political elite are genuinely committed to a democratic future.”

As the country struggles with increasing internal conflict, the delay in democratic reform affects the hopes for peace, stability and development, even beyond South Sudan’s borders, impacting the entire East African region.

UNMISS officials stressed that time is running out for political leaders to fulfill their obligations under the peace agreement.

“We must collectively seize the opportunity to make this extension the last and deliver the peace and democracy that the people of South Sudan deserve,” Giri said.

On the streets of Juba, South Sudanese citizens were eager to talk about how the delays in implementing the peace agreement raise doubts about whether their leaders genuinely care about the nation’s well-being and are impacting their hopes for peace, stability and development.   

Nunu Diana, a women’s rights advocate in South Sudan, is one of them.

“I think because of the extension, personally, as a young person, I have lost morale in the governance system of the country,” Diana said.

Data Gordon, an advocate for peace and gender equality, is another.

“The time for political statements without tangible and time-bound action is over,” Gorton said. “For elections to take place as scheduled, the government needs to walk the talk.”

UNMISS said it is moving ahead with support to the National Elections Commission, while Haysom highlighted civic education, preparing for voter registration, a code of conduct between political parties, civil society, media and election security among the areas that the parties could immediately address.

Haysom said time is a nonrenewable resource. He said this is South Sudan’s last chance to deliver on its promise of democracy, and there is a need for sustained international support while holding South Sudan’s leaders accountable to their own commitments.

“This cannot be business as usual for the parties to the peace agreement, the political elite, the guarantors of the peace agreement or the international community,” Giri said. “We must collectively seize the opportunity to make this extension the last and deliver the peace and democracy that the people of South Sudan deserve.”
…

Authorities in Sierra Leone have launched an Ebola vaccination campaign targeting at least 5,000 health workers. Many health workers caught the Ebola virus during the outbreak that hit West Africa a decade ago. Victoria Amunga reports from Kenema, Sierra Leone. Camera: Jimmy Makhulo.
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GUBIO, Nigeria — Unrelenting price rises and a brutal insurgency had already made it hard for Nigerians in northeastern Borno State to feed their families. When a dam collapsed in September, flooding the state capital and surrounding farmland, many people ran out of options.

Now they queue for handouts in camps for those displaced by fighting between extremist Boko Haram rebels and the military. When those run out, they seek work on local farms where they risk being killed or raped by local bandits.

“I can’t even cry anymore. I’m too tired,” said Indo Usman, who tried to start again in the state capital Maiduguri, rearing animals for the two annual Muslim holy days, after years of repeatedly fleeing rebel attacks in rural Borno.

The flood washed that all away, driving her, her husband and their six children to a bare room at Gubio, an unfinished housing project about 96 km northwest of Maiduguri that has become a displacement camp.

Torrential rains and floods in 29 of Nigeria’s 36 states this year have destroyed more than 1.5 million hectares of cropland, affecting more than 9 million people, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Climate change is a factor, as is Nigeria’s poorly maintained or non-existent infrastructure as well as vulnerabilities caused by the weakening Naira currency and the scrapping of a government fuel subsidy.

The cost of staples like rice and beans has doubled, tripled or even quadrupled in a year, depending on location — an unmanageable shock for millions of poor families.

Mass kidnappings for ransom in the northwest and conflict between farmers and pastoralists in the central belt, traditionally the nation’s bread basket, have also disrupted agriculture and squeezed food supplies.

‘Hungriest of the hungry’

Roughly 40% of Nigeria’s more than 200 million people live below the international poverty line of $2.15 per person per day, the World Bank estimates.

Already, 25 million people live in acute food and nutrition insecurity – putting their lives or livelihoods in immediate danger, according to a joint analysis by the government and U.N. agencies. That number is expected to rise to 33 million by next June-August.

“The food crisis in Nigeria is immense because what we are seeing is a crisis within a crisis within a crisis,” said Trust Mlambo, head of program for the northeast at the World Food Program, in an interview with Reuters in Maiduguri.

With international donors focused on emergencies in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, Mlambo said there was not enough funding to fully meet Nigeria’s growing need for food aid.

“We are really prioritizing the hungriest of the hungry,” he said.

In Borno, the Alau dam, upriver from Maiduguri, gave way on Sept. 9, four days after state officials had told the public it was secure. Local residents and engineers had been warning that it was under strain.

Hundreds of people were killed in the resulting flood, according to aid workers who did not wish to be identified for fear of offending the state government. A spokesperson for the state government did not respond to requests for comment.

Zainab Abubakar, a self-employed tailor in the city who lived in relative comfort with her husband and six children in a house with a refrigerator, was awoken at midnight by water rushing into her bedroom.

They ran for their lives while the flood destroyed their house and carried everything away, including her sewing machine. Now, they are sheltering at Gubio and collecting rice from aid agencies in a plastic bucket.

“There is no alternative,” she said.

In Banki, on Nigeria’s border with Cameroon about 133 km southeast of Maiduguri, Mariam Hassan lost crops of maize, pepper and then okra in repeated flooding of her subsistence farm this year, leaving her with nothing to eat or sell.

“I beg the neighbors or relatives to give me food, not even for me but for my children, for us to survive,” said Hassan, who has eight children. “The situation has turned me into a beggar.”
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