Johannesburg — Donald Trump’s victory over Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris dominated the news cycle across Africa on Wednesday, with coverage reflecting the anxiety being felt by some on the continent. 

In South Africa, the newspaper Business Day ran an opinion column headlined “Trump’s comeback heralds harder U.S. approach to Africa,” while another local newspaper, The Sunday Times, was running a poll for readers asking: “Are you worried about Donald Trump being elected U.S. president?” 

A cartoon by renowned South African political cartoonist Zapiro in the Daily Maverick newspaper depicted a frightened looking globe watching TV as U.S. election results came in. 

The markets were also affected, with South Africa’s currency, the rand, dropping almost 3% on the news in the early hours of trading. 

Trump inspires mixed views on the continent, having riled some by calling African countries a derogatory name in his first term, and being viewed positively by others as a kind of “strongman” leader. 

Steven Gruzd, a political analyst with the South African Institute of International Affairs, told VOA that Trump did not pay much attention to Africa in his first term and he doesn’t expect that to change. 

“Africa is not going to be a priority for the second Trump administration by any measure, and I don’t think we should expect too much,” he said. “I think we’re also going to see a world that has a very different USA in operation, and African countries will have to decide how they deal with that.” 

Asanda Ngoasheng, an independent analyst in Cape Town, said she believes a Trump presidency will affect Africa in terms of trade, with South Africa possibly seeing its exports to the U.S. reduced. 

Ngoasheng said public health funding for Africa could also be affected under the incoming Republican administration, particularly for reproductive health. Likewise, any reduction in U.S. contributions to the United Nations could have negative effects on the continent, she said. 

“Donald Trump has been very clear that his administration will be an America-first administration. … This is going to have implications for Africa,” Ngoasheng said. 

As is diplomatic custom, leaders around the world congratulated the U.S. election winner. 

Kenyan President William Ruto, who recently paid a state visit to the U.S. at President Joe Biden’s invitation, praised what he called Trump’s “visionary, bold and innovative leadership.” 

Nigerian leader Bola Tinubu said he hoped Trump’s presidency would usher in an era of “beneficial and reciprocal economic and development partnerships” between Africa and the U.S. 

And South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa said he looked forward to continuing a “mutually beneficial partnership” between the two countries. 

The statements come as African governments are hoping the U.S. will renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA, next year. The preferential trade policy gives some countries duty-free access to the U.S. market. 

However, the president of the Seychelles, Wavel Ramkalawan, had other concerns about what a second Trump presidency could mean for his Indian Ocean island nation, which is under particular threat from climate change and rising sea levels. 

“We are going through a climate crisis, so will the U.S. once again pull out of the Paris Agreement? … What will be the pronouncement of President Trump?” Ramkalawan asked.

Ramkalawan, speaking at a press event in Johannesburg, was referring to the fact that in his first term Trump withdrew the U.S. from a major international agreement to limit global warming. The U.S. rejoined the pact under President Biden. 
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Yaoundé, Cameroon — Chad says it will withdraw its troops from the United Nations-supported Multinational Joint Task Force of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, which combats Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria.

Officials from Chad say its military is not getting enough assistance to fight the terrorist group since an attack last week killed more than 40 of Chad’s soldiers.

Chad’s President Mahamat Idiss Deby says his country will pull out of the Multinational Joint Task Force of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, which has some 11,000 troops, because of the absence of what he calls coordinated efforts among member states troops in jointly fighting Boko Haram terrorism.

A release read on Chad’s state TV on Monday says Deby is surprised at the slow pace at which the task force, a regional group that includes rescue workers, reacts to Boko Haram attacks.

The task force was created in April 2012 by Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Benin and Nigeria to jointly fight Boko Haram and bring back peace in areas affected by terrorism in Lake Chad Basin shared by the five countries.

The African Union, or AU, authorized the force to operate in February 2015. The force says it receives regular technical support from the United Nations to protect civilians affected by terrorism in the Lake Chad Basin. 

Deby did not say when Chad will withdraw troops. The Central African state’s president, however, says Chad’s military will protect civilians from all forms of terrorism, including Boko Haram.

Remadji Hoinathy is a lecturer at the Department of Anthropology at the University of N’Djamena in Chad and a researcher on strategic development in central Africa and the Lake Chad Basin Commission. 

He said Deby is disgruntled because Chad is not receiving the assistance it needs to track and eliminate several hundred Boko Haram fighters who attacked and killed more than 40 Chad government troops in the Lake Chad Basin last week. He said Deby, who is in the Lake Chad area to supervise a security operation to fight the assailants after the deadly attack, is dissatisfied that his troops are not getting immediate assistance from Cameroon, Benin, Niger and Nigeria.

Remadji spoke Monday on Chad state TV.

Chad’s government sait it informed the task force after last week’s attack on its troops in Ngouboua, a western village in Lake Chad, on the island of Bakaram, near the border with Nigeria.     

Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria and Benin are yet to react to Deby’s threats to pull his troops from the task force.

The statement about Chad troops leaving was issued after media reports that the central African state’s military recently deployed to fight Boko Haram mistakenly killed at least a dozen fishermen in Lake Chad thinking that they were militants.

Chad’s government said reports that its fighter jets bombed the fishermen were unfounded. 

Belngar Larme Laguerre is the president of Chad’s National Commission on Human Rights. He spoke via a messaging app from N’Djamena.

He said Boko Haram hides among civilians or uses civilians as human shields when attacked, but that Chad troops are well-trained to find terrorists hiding among civilians. He said he has not received complaints from civilians that the Chad soldiers deployed to fight Boko Haram last week disrespected human rights.

Local media reported that the attack on fishermen took place in Tilma, an island on the border with Nigeria. 

VOA could not independently verify if there was an attack on civilians.

Some 40,000 people have been killed and 3 million have fled their homes since 2009, when fighting between Nigerian government troops and Boko Haram militants degenerated into an armed conflict and spread to Cameroon, Niger and Chad, according to the United Nations. 
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UNESCO – the U.N. agency for the protection of cultural heritage – says it is concerned that museums in Sudan are being looted during the ongoing civil war. VOA gained access to one damaged and apparently ransacked museum. VOA’s Henry Wilkins has more from The House of the Khalifa in the city of Omdurman.
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Two African Union soldiers were killed and a third one injured by an al-Shabab mortar attack Sunday on their base inside the perimeters of Mogadishu’s international airport.

A statement by the head of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) and Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission Mohamed El-Amine Souef condemned the attack on the facility known as the Halane Base Camp. 

It’s believed that a 107mm rocket was used for the attack. At least four mortar rounds were reportedly fired during the attack.

“The heinous attack will not deter us and the Somali security forces from pursuing lasting peace and in Somalia,” Souef said in the statement posted on X, formerly Twitter. “We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to combat terrorism and build a peaceful and prosperous Somalia.”

The statement did not specify the nationality of the soldiers killed, but an AU official told VOA’s Horn of Africa that the soldiers who were killed and the one soldier injured are Ugandans.

“ATMIS extends its deepest sympathies and condolences to the families, friends, and relatives of those who lost their lives and wishes a quick recovery to those injured during the attack,” Souef said.

The AU senior leadership team later visited the site of the blasts. 

The al-Shabab militant group claimed responsibility for the attack.

In a statement posted on one of its websites, the group claimed the mortars killed “white and black officers.”

Despite being driven out of Mogadishu in 2011, the group, from time to time, manages to carry out mortar attacks that hit Mogadishu’s airport, which is a base for the AU as well as some foreign embassies. 

Al-Shabab mortars have also targeted residential areas in Mogadishu and have claimed the lives of civilians.

 
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Goma, Congo — Some health officials say mpox cases in Congo appear to be “stabilizing” — a possible sign that the main epidemic for which the World Health Organization made a global emergency declaration in August might be on the decline.  

In recent weeks, Congo has reported about 200 to 300 lab-confirmed mpox cases every week, according to WHO. That’s down from nearly 400 cases a week in July. The decline is also apparent in Kamituga, the mining city in the eastern part of Congo where the new, more infectious variant of mpox first emerged.  

But the U.N. health agency acknowledged Friday that only 40% to 50% of suspected infections in Congo were being tested — and that the virus is continuing to spread in some parts of the country and elsewhere, including Uganda.  

While doctors are encouraged by the drop in infections in some parts of Congo, it’s still not clear what kinds of physical contact is driving the outbreak. Health experts are also frustrated by the low number of vaccine doses the central African nation has received — 265,000 — and say that delivering the vaccine to where it’s needed in the sprawling country is proving difficult. WHO estimates 50,000 people have been immunized in Congo, which has a population of 110 million.  

Scientists also say there needs to be an urgent, broader vaccination effort for the entire continent to halt mpox’s spread and avoid further worrisome genetic mutations, like the one detected earlier this year in Congo after months of low-level circulation.  

“If we miss this opportunity, the likelihood of another significant outbreak increases substantially,” said Dr. Zakary Rhissa, who heads operations in Congo for the charity Alima.  

So far this year, there have been roughly 43,000 suspected cases in Africa and more than 1,000 people have died, mostly in Congo.  

“We’ve seen how past outbreaks, such as the one in Nigeria in 2017, can lead to larger global events if not effectively contained,” he said. The 2017 epidemic ended up leading to the 2022 global outbreak of mpox that affected more than 100 countries.  

Rhissa said the decline in cases in Kamituga — where mpox initially spread among sex workers and miners — is an opening to put more programs in place for vaccination, surveillance and education.  

Georgette Hamuli, an 18-year-old sex worker, hadn’t been aware of mpox until immunization teams arrived last week in the poor neighborhood where she works in Goma, the biggest city in eastern Congo.  

“They told us we’re highly exposed to the risk of infection,” she said. “We insist on condoms with our clients, but some refuse … if they don’t want to use a condom, they double the amount they pay.”  

Hamuli said she and other friends who are sex workers each received 2,000 Congolese francs ($0.70) from a charity to get vaccinated against mpox — but it wasn’t the money that swayed her. 

“The vaccine is also necessary,” she said. “I think we’re now protected.”   

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated Congo needs at least 3 million mpox vaccines to stop the virus, and another 7 million for the rest of Africa. So far, WHO and partners have allocated 900,000 vaccines to nine African countries affected by mpox and expect 6 million vaccines to be available by the end of this year.  

Mpox epidemics in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda had their origins in Congo, and a number of cases in travelers have also been identified in Sweden, Thailand, Germany, India and Britain.  

Fewer than half of the people who are most at risk in Congo have been vaccinated, according to Heather Kerr, Congo director for the International Rescue Committee.  

“We only have a tiny amount of vaccines, and nothing for the kids,” she said.  

The vaccines for Congo are largely coming from donor countries like the U.S and through UNICEF, which mainly uses taxpayer money to buy the shots.  

“We’re getting a charitable approach where we only see very small donations of vaccines to Africa,” said Dr. Chris Beyrer, director of the Global Health Institute at Duke University. “What we need is a public health approach where we immunize populations at scale.”  

Drugmaker Bavarian Nordic, which makes the most widely used mpox vaccine, said it would sell shots destined for Africa at the lowest price possible.  

The advocacy group Public Citizen estimated UNICEF paid $65 per dose of the Jynneos mpox vaccine made by Bavarian Nordic, far higher than nearly all other vaccines used in public health programs. 

Dr. Salim Abdool Karim, an infectious diseases expert at South Africa’s University of KwaZulu-Natal, said mpox outbreaks typically peak and disappear quickly because of how the virus spreads. This time, however, he said there are two complicating factors: the virus’ transmission via sex and the continued spillover from infected animals.  

“We’re in new territory with mpox this time,” he added. “But we’re never going to solve this until we vaccinate most of our people.” 
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ADDIS ABABA — As the price of fuel soared in Ethiopia earlier this year, Awgachew Seleshi decided to buy an electric car. That aligned with the government’s new efforts to phase out gas-powered vehicles. But months later, he’s questioning whether it was the right decision.  

He faces a range of issues, from the erratic supply of electricity in Addis Ababa, the capital, to the scarcity of spare parts.  

“Charging my car has been a challenge,” the civil servant said. “Spare parts that are imported from China are expensive, few mechanics are able to fix such cars and the resale value of such cars is poor.”  

Seleshi’s troubles point to wider challenges for Ethiopia. In January, the East African country became the first in the world to ban the importation of non-electric private vehicles. 

 The decision eased pressure on authorities who spend scarce foreign currency to subsidize the cost of fuel, but it also reflected growing enthusiasm for electric vehicles as the world demands more green technologies to reduce climate-changing emissions.  

Earlier this month, Ethiopia’s government raised the price of fuel by up to 8% as part of a plan to gradually end all fuel subsidies in Africa’s second-most populous country.  

Authorities have claimed some success in enforcing the ban on non-electric vehicles entering Ethiopia, and more than 100,000 electric cars are now being imported into the country each month.  

The official target is to increase the monthly import figure to 500,000 by 2030. By that time, a big new dam Ethiopia has built on the Nile River is expected to be producing power at full capacity.  

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in a televised address earlier this year, said the Grand Renaissance Dam will start generating more than 5,000 megawatts of electric power within a year. Authorities say such capacity would support the transition to electric vehicles.  

For now, many in Addis Ababa, a city of more than 5 million people, are doubtful the country can achieve its ambitious goals for electric vehicles without further needed infrastructure and services.  

The few garage owners who can fix broken electric cars say they are overwhelmed, while customers say they are being overcharged amid an apparent lack of competition.  

“There are two or three garages that can fix new energy vehicles in Ethiopia and many consumers lack awareness on how to take care of such vehicles,” said Yonas Tadelle, a mechanic in Addis Ababa. “As mechanics, we also lack the tools, the spare parts and the know-how to fix such cars.”  

Many EVs are now parked in garages and parking lots awaiting parts expected to come from China.  

Ethiopia’s minister in charge of transport, Bareo Hassen Bareo, has said he believes the country can be a model nation with a green economy legacy, with the prioritization of electric vehicles a key component.  

The government will invest in public charging stations, he told The Associated Press, and there are plans to create a plant manufacturing EV batteries locally to reduce reliance on imports.   

Private efforts have included a collaboration, which has since fizzled, between Olympian Haile Gebreselassie and South Korean carmaker Hyundai to make electric vehicles in Ethiopia. That effort is believed to have collapsed over the sourcing of materials.  

Samson Berhane, an economist based in Addis Ababa, said the sudden flood of electric vehicles into the local market despite poor infrastructure is making it difficult for customers to adapt comfortably. Some EVs sell for about $20,000.  

“Very few people are willing to take the risk of buying electric cars due to the lack of infrastructure, shortage of mechanics specialized in EV maintenance and the flooding of the market with Chinese brands that have questionable details and long-term visibility,” Berhane said.  

But he said he believes that Ethiopia is more than able to provide electricity to the expected 500,000 EV’s there within the next decade while fulfilling its industrial ambitions.  

Some Ethiopians are already giving up on electric vehicles, and the secondhand trade in gasoline-powered vehicles continues. There are at least 1.2 million vehicles across Ethiopia, and only a small fraction are electric ones.  

Businessman Yared Alemayehu bought a Chinese-made electric vehicle that he had hoped to use for a taxi service. He knew the car had a mechanical defect, but he believed it could be fixed. A mechanic disagreed.  

In the end, he sold the car at a loss and bought a Toyota Corolla — a car made in 2007 that he felt was more reliable — for the equivalent of $20,000, a sum that included the hefty taxes imposed on gasoline vehicles. Taxes can be higher than the cost of importing the vehicle.  

“In addition to having to charge my old electric car, it frequently broke, and the garage was overcharging, and the lineup at the garage was overwhelming us,” he said.  

Taxi driver Dereje Hailu, who had high hopes for his Chinese-made E-Star electric vehicle when he purchased it earlier this year, said his expectations had been dashed.  

“With such a car, I fear I might be stuck if I go far from Addis Ababa where there are no charging stations,” he said. 
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Niamey, Niger — Niger’s military junta is disputing a decision by French nuclear fuel firm Orano to halt uranium production, according to a document from a state partner in the venture seen Friday by Agence France-Presse.

Orano announced last month that it was stopping production as of Thursday, owing to what it termed increasingly difficult operating conditions in the country and financial issues.

Nigerien state company Sopamin is a shareholder with Orano, which holds a majority stake in Somair, the last site that the French group was still operating in the country prior to Thursday.

The French lamented the withdrawal by the junta in June of a permit for one of the largest uranium deposits in the world, Imouraren, and the impossibility of exporting the raw material with Niger’s border with Benin closed for what Niamey says are security reasons.

“Despite its status as a co-shareholder, Sopamin was not consulted on this serious decision” to halt production, the company, which has operated for half a century in the country’s north, said in a document dated Thursday.

The Nigerien firm complained that the decision “lacks transparency” and “violates a number of principles and practices essential to governance and commitments between stakeholders.”

Orano said it had proposed an alternative to the Nigerien authorities, namely exporting the uranium to France or Namibia, and expressed regret that there was no reaction to the suggestion.

Niger states in the document seen Friday a wish to “purchase 210 tons of uranium through the natural channel of Sopamin,” which it said would “allow Somair to continue its activities.”

Currently, 1,050 tons of uranium concentrate from stocks from 2023 and 2024, or around half of the site’s average annual production worth an estimated 300 million euros ($360 million), are currently blocked, Orano estimates.

The ruling junta, which took power last year in a July coup, says it will revamp rules regulating the mining of raw materials by foreign companies in what is the world’s seventh-largest uranium producer.

It has also downgraded links with former colonial power France and strengthened ties with new partners including Russia and Iran.

In September, Niger’s Council of Ministers adopted a draft decree creating a state entity, “Timersoi National Uranium Company,” abbreviated to TNUC.
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As the dispute between Somalia and Ethiopia over sea access escalates, Ethiopia’s prime minister on Thursday said his country was seeking access to the Red Sea “through peaceful means.”

Speaking at the parliament where he was questioned by lawmakers, Abiy Ahmed said Ethiopia has a “clear stance” on the issue.

“Let the world hear today, Ethiopia maintains a clear national interest — it needs Red Sea access through peaceful means,” he said.

“If we do not succeed, our children will,” Abiy added.

Somalia and Ethiopia have been involved in a heated diplomatic dispute since Addis Ababa in January signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the self-proclaimed independent republic of Somaliland, a move Somalia sees as infringing on its sovereignty.

Ethiopia and Somaliland defended the MOU which, if implemented, would give Somaliland recognition from landlocked Ethiopia in return for the leasing of about 20 kilometers of seafront, according to Somaliland officials.

Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly last month, Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre said Somalia faced a “serious threat” from Ethiopia for signing a sea access deal with Somaliland.

Barre said Somali ports have always been accessible for Ethiopia’s legitimate commercial activities but alleged that Ethiopia has other motives.

“Ethiopia’s attempts to annex parts of Somalia under the guise of securing sea access are both unlawful and unnecessary,” Barre said.

Barre warned that Ethiopia’s approach and deal with Somaliland could “embolden secessionist movements.”

Abiy on Thursday denied any interest in annexation.

“When we signed the MOU with Somaliland, we requested a 99-year lease, but they didn’t agree, and we signed a 50-year lease agreement,” he said.

“How can a 50-year lease be an annexation?” Abiy asked.

Abiy told MPs that Ethiopia did not have any agenda in Somalia other than access to the sea.

“Ethiopia is a country which has the second-largest Somali population in the world next to Somalia. They are our brothers,” he said.

Ethiopia has several thousand troops in Somalia helping its government in its struggle against Islamist extremists.

Somalia on Tuesday expelled an Ethiopian diplomat, accusing him of engaging in “activities incompatible with his diplomatic role.”

Somalia did not specify the actions allegedly committed by Ali Mohamed Adan, a counselor at Ethiopia’s embassy in Mogadishu, but said in a statement that they “constitute a breach of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”

Abiy did not comment on the expulsion of the diplomat during the session at Parliament.

This story originated in VOA’s Horn of Africa service.
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First, it was the COVID-19 pandemic that halted education in the Tigray region, and then, a deadly war, claiming many lives and displacing hundreds of thousands.

Tenth-graders Yonas Nugus and Helen Berhe escaped with their families when their school in the town of Maychew was closed due to the war. Education was the last thing on their minds at the time, but they said they did not give up hope.

“The situation seemed hopeless and never-ending. It was tough to overcome, but we managed to get through it,” said Yonas, who like Helen recently completed a national exam and qualified to go on to university.

The Tigray conflict flared up in November 2020 following a dispute between Ethiopia’s federal government and the Tigray regional administration led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or the TPLF party, which previously ruled the country.

The United Nations and other institutions estimate that 600,000 civilians died in Tigray and more than 2 million were displaced from November 2020 to August 2022.

In addition to the death and displacement, some women and girls were subjected to rape, as recorded by human rights agencies.

“During the war, a smart student with us committed suicide when they entered her area and raped her,” Helen said.

“When I heard stories like that, I wasn’t sure that something like that could happen to me tomorrow. It was not the time you could come in peacefully for school. So, even if I was going to die, I believed I would die fighting for my freedom.”

For Yonas and Helen, both 17 at the time, the war had halted their dreams, but it did not kill those dreams; it just delayed them.

In November 2022, the government and TPLF rebels concluded a cessation of hostilities agreement in Pretoria, South Africa.

As the recovery from war began, school restarted, and the survivors came out of hiding and returned to Kallamino school in Maychew. The students from Tigray whose education had been disrupted were provided with special teaching materials and teachers to make up for the lost time.

“When we returned, our school lay in ruins. Our belongings left behind due to the COVID-19 pandemic were strewn about,” Helen said.

“Before the war, it took us a year to complete a class in school. However, we had to finish a year’s education in just four months after the war. Then, we had to take the test. It was a very irregular learning process.”

For Helen, the past has been challenging, filled with fear and anxiety. She has forgotten much of what she was taught before the war and faces a new language barrier because the instruction is now in English. But she also said the war taught her a different kind of lesson.

“It taught me to find purpose in life,” she said, attributing her success to this experience.

“I convinced myself that the past three years had been wasted and I needed to work hard for the future. I learned from the difficult times that I must walk with purpose. So, with the help of our friends, we finished our two-year course quickly,” Helen said.

In the latest national exam results in Ethiopia, only 5.4% of high school students passed the university entrance exam, according to Minister of Education Birhanu Nega.

Of the 674,823 students who took part in the entrance exam in the last academic year (2022-2023), only 36,409 obtained the average required to be admitted to university. That figure was an improvement compared with the previous year, when only 3.3% passed the exam.

Yonas recorded the highest score of all those taking the test, scoring 675 out of 700 points. Helen scored highest among female students, getting 662 points out of 700.

Yonas and Helen will now pursue higher education at the University of Mekelle, the region’s capital, or in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital. Yonas has chosen to study computer science; Helen plans to study medicine, specializing in neurology.

Schools halted in Amhara region

As Tigray starts recovering from war, students in another part of Ethiopia face an uncertain future as schools were shut by a new conflict between government forces and Fano rebels.

In the town of Bahirdar, capital of Amhara region, parents did not send their children to school for a week after explosions shook the city earlier this month.

Two students and a teacher were injured in an explosion on October 4, said Mulualem Abe, the head of the city’s Education Department.

Days earlier, two teachers were killed in Sinan district of East Gojam zone in Ethiopia’s Amhara region after being shot by gunmen, authorities said.

In a statement posted on its Facebook page, the local administration said the teachers were preparing to start their teaching work for the current school year, which started in late September.

Without naming a particular group, the statement accused armed groups “who swear in the name of the Amhara people” of being behind the killing.

A spokesperson for the Fano rebel group denied involvement in the killing of the teachers but indicated they are against the reopening of schools.

This story originated in VOA’s Horn of Africa Service. Aster Misganaw contributed to the report from Addis Ababa.
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GABORONE, Botswana — Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi conceded defeat in the general election Friday, in a seismic moment of change for the county that ended the ruling party’s 58 years in power since independence from Britain in the 1960s.

Masisi’s concession came before final results were announced, with his Botswana Democratic Party trailing in fourth place in the parliamentary elections in what appeared to be a humbling rejection by voters.

The main opposition Umbrella for Democratic Change held a strong lead in the partial results, making its candidate, Duma Boko, the favorite to become president of a southern African country that is one of the world’s biggest producers of mined diamonds.

Masisi said he had called Boko to inform him he was conceding defeat and said that Boko was now effectively the president-elect.

Final results were expected to be announced later Friday.

“I concede the election,” Masisi said in an early-morning press conference two days after the vote. “I am proud of our democratic processes. Although I wanted a second term, I will respectfully step aside and participate in a smooth transition process.”

“I look forward to attending the coming inauguration and cheering on my successor. He will enjoy my support.”

Masisi’s BDP dominated politics in Botswana for nearly six decades, since independence in 1966. The nation of just 2.5 million people will now be governed by another party for the first time in its democratic history.

So far, the Umbrella for Democratic Change has won 25 out of the 61 parliamentary seats decided by voters, according to the official partial count. It needs 31 to clinch a majority. The Botswana Congress Party has seven seats, the Botswana Patriotic Front five seats, and the ruling BDP just three.

“We lost this election massively,” Masisi said.

Botswana has been held up as one of Africa’s most stable democracies, with its economy largely relying on diamonds. Botswana is the world’s second biggest natural diamond producer behind Russia.

But the mood for change was evident as a downturn in the global demand for diamonds badly impacted Botswana’s economy, with unemployment rising to more than 27% this year, and significantly higher for young people, as the government saw a sharp decrease in revenue from diamonds. Masisi and his party had faced criticism for not having done enough to diversify the economy and the nation has been forced to adopt recent austerity measures.

Even the BDP conceded throughout its campaign that policy change was needed and tried to convince voters it was capable of leading the country out of its economic troubles. Diamonds account for more than 80% of Botswana’s exports and a quarter of its GDP, according to the World Bank.

Masisi said the country had hardly sold any diamonds since April through its Debswana company, which the government jointly owns with diamond miner De Beers.

Botswana’s general elections decide the makeup of its Parliament, and lawmakers then choose the president. The party that gains a majority is in position to choose its candidate as president. All five of Botswana’s post-independence presidents have been from the BDP.

Doko is a 54-year-old lawyer who also contested elections in 2014 and 2019. He posted on his official page on X: “Botswana First” with a picture of a UDC campaign poster with the words “Change is Here.”

The BDP was one of the longest-serving parties in Africa still in power and its sharp defeat came as a surprise after what was expected to be a tight race.

Masisi, a 63-year-old former high school teacher and UNICEF employee, said he had not expected the results and had “not packed a shoe.” 
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ADAMA, ETHIOPIA — Residents in Ethiopia’s Oromia region say access to phone communication and internet service has been disrupted for months as government forces fight against two rebel groups.

The disruption of mobile phone calls and internet data has been concentrated in conflict-hit Oromia zones, where government forces have engaged in fighting against the Oromo Liberation Army, or the OLA.

A resident from South Oromia of Guji Zone Wadera Wereda, who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity for safety reasons, said phone and internet data connections have been cut in his area due to the fighting.

He said there was fighting on Monday and the week before in Wadera Wereda, where regional security personnel including local police were killed. Other residents confirmed the same clashes without giving specific casualty figures. Local authorities could not be reached for comment.

The data outage and network disruptions were also reported in the North Shewa Zone administration of Oromia region.

“The zone has been under network blockade for the last two months due to the insurgency,” said a second resident from Dera Wereda in North Shewa, who also sought anonymity due to safety reasons.

Residents also said people who lost their SIM cards or want replacements could not do so at local telecom offices because the conflict has affected supplies. Network disruptions also impacted schools in the area that access materials online.

He says his school had to transfer all its grade-12 students this year to neighboring Wereda due to a lack of service.

“We cannot manage to send their details and credentials to relevant bodies,” with the downed service, he told VOA in a phone interview.

Journalists have waited for hours to speak to residents in Kelem Welega Zone, whose network is down during morning hours. One resident traveled to Dembi Dolo, about 620 kilometers west of the capital, Addis Ababa, to speak with the media about the network outages.

The disruptions have been present since the yearslong fighting between federal forces and the OLA began in 2019. In one of the latest deadliest attacks, suspected OLA fighters killed as many as 17 pro-government militiamen in the West Showa zone of Oromia on October 17, according to residents and local officials.

A second rebel group, Fano, is also fighting in the neighboring Amhara region, which spills over on either side.

Residents say as the intensity of the clashes increases, the network situation becomes worse, as the government resorts to shutting down communication.

“It’s a very unfortunate tactic that is usually used by governments that are struggling with legitimacy issues,” said Horn of Africa security analyst Samira Gaid.

“It only serves to convince the masses that the government has something to hide. Rather than controlling the narrative or news reporting, it elevates mistrust in government, adds to misinformation and disinformation, and contributes to groups becoming more covert with their communications,” she told VOA.

Ethiopia’s state-run communication outlets have not responded to repeated VOA requests for comment.

Speaking at a press conference in Addis Ababa last month, Frehiwot Tamiru, CEO of Ethio Telecom, admitted that such problems exist in conflict areas. She declined to give specific answers, referring reporters to other government entities.

In June, the company said it has repaired and restored service to dozens of mobile stations that had previously been damaged in the western region of the country.

This story originated in VOA’s Horn of Africa Service.
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RWAMWANJA, Uganda — For months, Agnes Bulaba, a Congolese refugee in Uganda, has had to get by without the food rations she once depended on. Her children scavenge among local communities for whatever they can find to eat.

“As a woman who’s not married, life is hard,” Bulaba told The Associated Press. Some locals “keep throwing stones at us, but we just want to feed our kids and buy them some clothes,” said the mother of six, who often works as a prostitute to fend for her family.

Uganda is home to more than 1.7 million refugees, the largest refugee-hosting country in Africa, according to the United Nations refugee agency. Despite being renowned for welcoming those fleeing neighboring violence, Ugandan officials and humanitarians say dwindling international support coupled with high numbers of refugees have put much pressure on host communities.

Approximately 10,000 new arrivals enter Uganda each month, according to U.N. figures. Some have recently fled the war in Sudan, but most are from neighboring South Sudan and Congo.

Bulaba is among tens of thousands in Rwamwanja, a refugee settlement in southwestern Uganda. As in other settlements across the east African country, refugees there are given small plots of land to cultivate as they are slowly weaned off total dependence on humanitarian food rations.

Since 2021, as funding consistently declined, the U.N.’s World Food Program has prioritized the most vulnerable groups for food assistance, in food items or cash, which can be as little as $3. After spending three months in Uganda, refugees are eligible to get 60% rations, and the number falls by half after six months. Only new arrivals get 100% food assistance, leaving the vast majority of some 99,000 refugees in Bulaba’s settlement vulnerable to hunger and other impoverishment.

In 2017, the Ugandan government and the U.N. held a summit in Kampala, the capital, and appealed for $8 billion to deal with the sharp influx of refugees from South Sudan at the time. Only $350 million was pledged.

Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, visited Uganda last week in a trip partly aimed to underscore the funding shortage.

The international community “should not take Uganda’s generosity and the global public good it provides for granted,” Grandi said in a statement at the end of his visit. “Services here are overstretched. Natural resources are limited, and financial support is not keeping pace with the needs.”

He also said international support “is urgently needed to sustain Uganda’s commitment to refugees,” urging donors and humanitarian partners to “come together with the government to address the needs of refugees and the generous communities hosting them.”

Refugees in Uganda have access to the same hospitals as locals, and their children can attend school. While this helps integrate them into the Ugandan community, sometimes the competition for limited resources sparks tension. However, violence is rarely reported.

Hillary Onek, the Ugandan government minister in charge of refugees, said during Grandi’s visit that local officials need support to help refugees become more self-reliant. Though he said the country was “overloaded” with refugees, he cited several training options to help refugees become self-sufficient, including carpentry, bricklaying and metal welding.

“We are trying to be innovative,” he said. “Given the fact that funding for refugee programs dwindled over the years, there is not enough money to meet their demands, not even giving them enough food to eat.”

Onek said the alternative is “to survive on your own, using your skills, using whatever capacity you have.”

But Bulaba, the Congolese refugee who has been in Uganda since 2014 after fleeing violence in her home country with her two children, said she can’t find a job. She has since had four other children who often go barefoot and without appropriate clothing. She misses the cash-for-food stipend she used to get.

“For us to eat, we look for work, but there’s no work,” she said.
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