Researchers say tomato farmers in Ghana are good at growing tomatoes, but poor at storage. But some are discovering how to give their tomatoes a longer life. From Kumazi, Hamza Adams has this report, narrated by Salem Solomon.
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Category: Africa
Africa news. Africa is highly biodiverse, it is the continent with the largest number of megafauna species, as it was least affected by the extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna. However, Africa also is heavily affected by a wide range of environmental issues, including desertification, deforestation, water scarcity, and pollution
Zimbabwe President, World Bank Tell Tales of Different Economies
As Zimbabwe celebrated its Independence Day on Tuesday, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the country’s economy was improving. But a World Bank report released this month said that while Zimbabwe’s poverty levels are declining, they remain elevated. Columbus Mavhunga reports.
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Cameroon’s Large-Scale Boko Haram Attacks Leave Thousands Homeless
Officials on Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria say Boko Haram militants in the past week destroyed hundreds of homes in large-scale attacks that killed at least six villagers and two soldiers, and left thousands homeless. Cameroon’s government says troops retaliated Wednesday morning and killed at least 12 militants.
Officials in Cameroon’s Mayo-Moskota district, on the border with Nigeria’s Borno state, say hundreds of Boko Haram fighters launched deadly attacks on villages over the past five days.
Cameroon’s military says six civilians and two government troops were killed in the attacks and the militants stole two military jeeps and some ammunition.
Guedjeo Salomon is Cameroon’s official in charge of agriculture in Mayo-Moskota, where he spoke by phone Wednesday to VOA.
He says the militants looted markets, ranches, farms, and shops and sent villagers fleeing for safety.
Salomon says thousands of civilians are hiding in the bush on the border with Nigeria and neighboring towns, including Mokolo, Moskuta and Koza. He says on Monday the militants destroyed close to 400 shops and houses.
“They militants crossed the border to Nigeria with stolen loot, including about 200 cows, more than 250 goats and sheep, and one hundred motorcycles,” he added.
Salomon says Cameroon’s military chased the militants back across Nigeria’s border into Borno state, the birthplace of Boko Haram.
Cameroon’s government says at least 12 militants were killed on Wednesday morning in a military raid on its side of the border.
VOA could not independently verify the number of casualties, but witnesses confirmed the attacks involved hundreds of militants.
The governor of Cameroon’s Far North region Midjiyawa Bakari spoke to VOA via a messaging app.
Bakari says Cameroon’s military has been deployed to protect civilians on the border with Nigeria who are again suffering because of fresh Boko Haram incursions.
“Besides fighting the insurgents, troops will provide first aid to wounded civilians and work with local militias, who have a mastery of roads used by the militants to enter Cameroon through the porous border,” he said.
Villagers are calling on troops to better protect them from the militants.
Cameroon’s military said Tuesday the Multinational Joint Task Force of the Lake Chad Basin Commission met in Mora, a northern border town with Chad and Nigeria.
The task force, made up of troops from Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria, discussed how to stop the attacks.
Cameroon in March said at least 3,000 people were displaced in fighting along Nigerian border towns and villages, including Mayo-Moskota.
Cameroon’s government repeated calls for villagers to report any strangers in their villages and said it remobilized militias to assist troops fighting Boko Haram.
Boko Haram attacks began in Nigeria’s Borno state in 2009 before spreading to neighboring countries, including Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. The United Nations says the Islamist insurgency has left more than 36,000 people dead, mainly in Nigeria, and 3 million displaced.
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Battle Continues in Khartoum as Sudan’s Rivals Ignore Cease-Fire
The battle in the streets of Sudan’s capital continued Wednesday as the country’s two warring factions ignored a 24-hour cease-fire.
Loud explosions and gunfire could be seen and heard in central Khartoum around the defense ministry and the city’s international airport as fighters swarmed otherwise empty streets.
The fighting raged throughout Tuesday night despite public declarations by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the commander of Sudan’s armed forces, and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces earlier Tuesday to observe a cease-fire amid pressure from the United States, United Nations and African leaders to end four days of fighting that has forced many Khartoum residents to shelter in their homes.
The pledges came after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone to both Burhan and Dagalo, urging them to halt the fighting, in part to permit delivery of humanitarian aid.
The U.S. State Department said Blinken urged Burhan and Dagalo to allow the international community in Khartoum “to make sure its presence is secure” and stressed the responsibility of the two generals “to ensure the safety and well-being of civilians, diplomatic personnel and humanitarian workers.”
Secretary Blinken’s call to the two Sudanese rivals was one of many from the international community urging peace in the north African country. A communique issued Tuesday by foreign ministers from the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations as they met in Karuizawa, Japan condemned the fighting. The foreign ministers said the fighting “threatens the security and safety of Sudanese civilians and undermines efforts to restore Sudan’s democratic transition.”
Fighting between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces broke out Saturday after months of rising tension over the country’s political future and plans to integrate the RSF into the national army.
The head of the World Health Organization said Tuesday that according to Sudanese authorities, 270 people have been killed in the fighting and more than 2,600 injured.
But the true nature of the death toll is uncertain because authorities have not been able to retrieve the bodies of those killed in the streets due to the heavy fighting.
VOA reporter Michael Atit said a number of hospitals have been closed because of damage or insecurity.
Large portions of the capital were without electricity and water. The violence also affected Khartoum’s adjoining sister cities of Omdurman and Bahri, with bridges linking the cities blocked by armored vehicles.
The U.S. Embassy issued a fresh alert to American citizens in Sudan strongly advising them to remain indoors and shelter in place. It said due to insecurity and the closure of the airport, there are no plans for a U.S. government-coordinated evacuation.
But Japan announced Wednesday that it has begun plans to evacuate about 60 Japanese citizens from Sudan aboard military planes due to the worsening situation in Khartoum.
Calls for dialogue
Residents of Khartoum said there has been no police presence on the city’s streets since the clashes began.
The European Union said its envoy to Sudan was assaulted in his residence on Monday but did not give further details.
Blinken confirmed that a U.S. diplomatic convoy came under fire Monday, adding that initial reports indicated the attack was by forces linked to the Rapid Support Forces.
Calls to end the fighting have come from around the world and within Africa, including the African Union, the Arab League and IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development).
IGAD said Kenyan President William Ruto, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and Djibouti’s President Omar Guelleh will go to Khartoum to broker an immediate cease-fire.
“President Salva Kiir has already been in touch with both General Burhan and General Hemedti to convey the message of the summit. … Now, preparations are on the way to undertake this mission,” Nuur Mohamud Sheekh, a spokesperson for IGAD’s executive secretary, told VOA.
Sudan’s two top generals, however, have yet to express a willingness to negotiate and each has demanded the other’s surrender.
Dagalo said Monday on Twitter that he was defending democracy in Sudan and called Burhan a “radical Islamist.” Dagalo’s forces emerged from the notorious Janjaweed militias in Sudan’s Darfur region and have been accused of carrying out atrocities in the region.
The clashes are part of a power struggle between General Burhan, who also heads the transitional council, and General Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, the deputy head of the transitional council. The two generals joined forces in October 2021 to overthrow the transitional government formed after the 2019 ouster of longtime autocratic leader Omar al-Bashir.
The restructuring of the military was part of an effort to restore the country to civilian rule and end the political crisis.
VOA English to Africa’s Carol Van Dam Falk, VOA Africa correspondent Mariama Diallo, VOA U.N. correspondent Margaret Besheer, VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell, VOA State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching and VOA reporter Michael Atit contributed to this report. Some information for this article came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
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Why China Is Building Africa’s New Parliaments
Zimbabwe’s new parliament gives an architectural nod to the country’s famous ancient ruins; Lesotho’s has a design resembling a “mokorotlo,” the conical straw hat that’s part of national dress; and Malawi’s has a dome that looks like a calabash.
These local elements make these modern parliaments notable departures from southern Africa’s old European-style legislatures built in colonial times, but in fact the new buildings were also designed and built by a foreign power: China.
Despite the African design elements, the imposing buildings aren’t that different from China’s own brutalist architecture, and stand out in developing countries, some of which, like Malawi, are among the poorest in the world.
Africa’s largest trade partner has become known for its multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure projects on the continent, such as railways and ports. But for years it has also been building grand new parliaments and other government buildings, which cost less but are equally part of Beijing’s diplomatic push in the region.
These buildings, like the new $200 million Zimbabwean parliament, which opened last year, are usually given as gifts, with no loans attached.
“The prestige diplomacy helps to strengthen China’s ties with the African governments, especially the top leaders,” according to Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center.
“Building a government building named after a president does not cost much, but the goodwill and reputational benefits are tremendous,” she told VOA.
What’s in it for China?
China has so far built or refurbished parliaments in some 15 African countries, including the Republic of Congo, Liberia, Mozambique, the Seychelles and Guinea Bissau, as well as other government buildings such as Burundi’s presidential palace and the African Union headquarters in Ethiopia.
Innocent Batsani-Ncube, a postdoctoral researcher at SOAS University of London, has a forthcoming book on China’s parliaments in Africa. He told VOA such buildings aren’t just bricks and mortar; “you have to locate this within this idea of building influence.”
Beyond goodwill from African leaders, China’s parliament-building drive benefits the Asian giant in multiple other ways, he says.
It allows Beijing to gauge the “political temperature” of a country, he says, because while China often deals directly with ruling parties on the continent, in a multi-party democracy you’ll find all political factions in the parliament and it’s the one place China can connect with the opposition — which is valuable just in case there’s regime change.
“It provides a way of hedging their bets,” says Batsani-Ncube.
Even in political systems dominated by one party, he notes, there’s occasional leadership turnover and “it’s not enough to target the guy who’s in power now, you have to play the long game.”
Paul Nantulya, a research associate at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, echoes that idea, saying “it affords China the opportunity to cultivate local elites.”
While it might garner the Chinese political savvy and connections as well as open the doors for Chinese economic interests, analyst Yunnan Chen says China’s parliament-building drive is not necessarily an attempt to export Beijing’s one-party system.
“I think it would be a very convoluted argument to make that the structure of a building carries a philosophy with it,” said Chen, a researcher at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), an independent global think tank. But, she noted, China does provide training and foreign exchanges for African government officials.
Batsani-Ncube agrees that the architectural efforts are different from more overtly political initiatives such as a leadership academy for African politicians opened by China last year in Tanzania. Beijing seems indifferent to the political systems in the countries where it is building parliaments, he says.
SEE ALSO: A related video by VOA’s Charles Kombe
Concerns have also been raised that the new buildings could be equipped for future Chinese espionage in light of a 2018 controversy over the reported bugging of the Chinese-built African Union headquarters in Ethiopia — something Beijing has repeatedly denied.
Asked about such concerns by reporters ahead of the opening of the new parliament in Zimbabwe last year, Cai Libo, from Shanghai Construction Group, the government-owned company that built it, responded that China and Zimbabwe were friends and “you would not do such kind of things to your friends.”
SEE ALSO: A related video by VOA’s Columbus Mavhunga
What’s in it for Africa?
The Washington-based Heritage Foundation, whose research on the topic has found that “since 1966, Chinese companies have built or renovated at least 186 African government buildings,” said China’s “palace diplomacy” serves “little purpose other than to curry favor with recipient governments.”
But the ODI’s Chen says many of the new buildings are not only wanted by African governments, but also needed because the old ones have become so dilapidated — even if the shiny new structures do “carry an element of vanity.”
Nantulya notes that countries like the U.S. don’t usually put money toward such projects, and for African governments, “one way that political support domestically can be mobilized is by showing voters that investments have been made in visible, tangible outputs like a building.”
Batsani-Ncube agrees there’s a need for new buildings as African legislatures and institutions expand in size, as increased staff entails more office space.
But, he adds, the big construction projects have little economic benefit for the recipient countries because China and Chinese firms control everything from the drawing table to completion.
That control of the process also leaves Chinese firms best equipped to handle future maintenance of the buildings, he said. China has just completed renovations on the parliament it built in Malawi.
“It leads to complaints [that] countries are not developing local expertise,” said Nantulya.
China’s institutional building drive in Africa is set to continue. A few weeks ago, ground was broken on Ghana’s new foreign ministry building, which is being paid for entirely by China, along with the new headquarters of West African bloc ECOWAS, currently under construction in Nigeria.
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US, World Urge Sudan Combatants to Stop Fighting
Conflict in Sudan has provoked global calls for a cease-fire, but questions remain how other countries can persuade combatants to lay down arms. U.S. officials in Congress and the White House say they’re using Washington’s status and limited leverage to try to make peace. VOA’s Anita Powell reports.
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Nigerian Agency Says Malaria Vaccine Could Protect Millions
Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, announced a provisional approval of the R21 vaccine during a media briefing on Monday.
The regulatory agency’s consent came days after Ghana approved the vaccine.
NAFDAC said the vaccine is 70 to 80 percent efficient in preventing the mosquito-borne disease and could protect millions of children.
The agency’s director general, Mojisola Adeyeye, spoke to journalists in Abuja.
“The vaccine is indicated for prevention of clinical malaria on children from five months to 36 months of age,” Adeyeye said.
NAFDAC did not say when the vaccine will be rolled out, but Adeyeye said Nigeria will conduct in-country clinical trials and pharmacovigilance study.
The WHO says some 600,000 people die of malaria every year, most of them in Africa, many of them young children.
Nigeria accounts for the highest numbers of cases and deaths from malaria globally. Health experts say the vaccine could be a game changer.
Kunle Olobayo is a lead researcher at the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development.
“A proactive, preemptive intervention will definitely be most useful especially in countries like Nigeria,” said Olobayo. “Many interventions and steps that have been taken to reduce transmission have not been very successful because of our level of development, poverty. So, it will definitely change the dynamics.
The WHO has yet to approve the vaccine. The WHO Nigeria malaria program head, Lynda Ozor, said authorities are still reviewing the vaccine’s safety and efficacy.
“The WHO is reviewing the R21 data, and it’s being supported by an independent global advisory group on immunization and malaria experts.,” said Ozor. “This group will advise the WHO on whether to recommend the R21 vaccines for use. It has to be approved by the WHO to compliment the rollout of the first vaccine.”
Last year, the WHO consented to the world’s first malaria vaccine, Mosquirix.
Olobayo said that, without donor support, African countries could struggle to acquire the vaccines.
“Vaccines in Nigeria historically tend to be dependent on donor funding,” said Olobayo. “I have a feeling there might be some substantial international funding to get these products widely used.”
Oxford University is working with the Serum Institute of India to produce up to 200 million doses of R21 every year.
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Mozambique Asks for Additional Cholera Vaccine After Cyclone Freddy
Mozambique has asked the World Health Organization to supply an additional 2 million doses of a cholera vaccine as the country struggles to control a spreading outbreak.
The head of the Department of National Health Surveillance at the Ministry of Health, Domingos Guihole, told VOA that the government awaits the WHO’s response to the cholera vaccine request, admitting difficulties due to the high global demand for vaccines.
“At this moment in Mozambique, the cholera situation is not good,” Guihole said. “It is not good because we have 10 provinces affected by cholera. We have 53 districts in the whole country, 45 of which have active cholera disease.”
The official said the intent is to vaccinate the population in high-risk areas, such as the northern province of Nampula and Zambezia in the central part of the country.
Both provinces were hit hard by Cyclone Freddy, which tore across Mozambique twice inside two weeks last month.
All five provinces impacted by Freddy on its first and second passes have witnessed cholera outbreaks.
In addition to the risk of cholera, the government is concerned about a potential increase in cases of other waterborne diseases such as dysentery. Malaria is a concern, too; both are among the leading causes of mortality in Mozambique.
“During almost seven months from October to April 16, we have notified 27,000 cases of cholera with 124 deaths, so the situation is not good,” said Guihole. “We have to say to all Mozambicans that we must follow the recommendations from the Ministry of Health related to the hygiene of water, hygiene of food, and even the collective hygiene as well.”
In many parts of Mozambique, health workers are struggling to treat infected citizens at clinics and hospitals that were badly damaged by Cyclone Freddy.
The record-breaking storm, which lasted for several weeks, killed dozens of people in Mozambique and Malawi and destroyed many roads and bridges in addition to hospitals.
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Sudan Clash Hinders Aid Delivery by Humanitarian Agencies
United Nations and international aid agencies say it is almost impossible to provide humanitarian services in and around the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, because it is too dangerous for staff to move around without assurances of safety from the warring parties.
“There are calls from various organizations and people trapped asking for evacuations,” said Farid Aiywar, head of delegation in Sudan for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Speaking on a video link from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, he said, “For the past four days, people have been out of water, food, and electricity has been rationed in some places or been totally disconnected.
“So, we are talking about a situation where there have been calls to the Sudanese Red Crescent and also to the international Red Cross movement present in Sudan, almost on a daily basis from people wanting basic humanitarian services.”
He said this will not be possible until there are assurances of safety for volunteers. “We have thousands of volunteers who are ready, able and trained to perform humanitarian services. Unfortunately, due to the current situation, they are not able to move.”
Nevertheless, he said the Sudanese Red Crescent has been able to mobilize 246 volunteers from its Khartoum branch to support medical staff in hospitals, adding that “This is very minimum compared to the total ability we are able to mobilize, which is almost 40,000 at one go” from the country’s 18 branches.
In the four days since fighting broke out in Khartoum between the Sudanese army and Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces at least 185 people reportedly have been killed and 1,800 wounded.
While much of the fighting is concentrated in the heavily populated parts of the capital, it has expanded into residential areas of cities throughout the country.
Volker Türk, U.N. high commissioner for human rights, who is calling for an immediate cessation to hostilities, warns the widespread use of air strikes, artillery shelling and explosive weapons in civilian areas is exposing the population to the risk of death and injury.
“Both parties must remind their fighters of their obligations under international law to ensure the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure such as schools and hospitals, and they must ensure that these obligations are respected.”
The high commissioner chastised the warring parties, noting that, “The fighting is born out of power games and personal interests that only serve to alienate the democratic aspirations of the population.
“Do those responsible not understand that the civilian population now only craves a peaceful life?”
The biggest losers from this latest setback are the civilians who are likely to remain without essential aid for the foreseeable future. The World Health Organization says that many of the nine hospitals in Khartoum that are receiving injured civilians are reporting shortages of everything, including blood, transfusion equipment, intravenous fluids, medical supplies, and other lifesaving commodities.
Margaret Harris, WHO spokeswoman, said movement is severely restricted because of the dangerous security situation and that “is making it so difficult for staff to get to the hospitals,” adding that, “We have seen serious attacks on healthcare.”
She said the WHO has documented three attacks, though “We know of many more. At least three people have been killed and two injured but those are only the first that have been verified.”
She condemned the attacks on healthcare, noting that, “they are a flagrant violation of humanitarian law and the right to health and they must stop now. It is absolutely critical for everybody concerned that those attacks stop.
“Our staff currently, I understand are safe,” she said, “but it is also one of our crucial things, as for all our sister agencies, to protect their safety.”
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Sudan Fighting Creates Humanitarian Issues
A third day of fighting between Sudan’s military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces raged Monday in the capital, with both sides claiming control of strategic sites. A doctors’ union says nearly 100 people have been killed in the clashes as calls for a cease-fire are growing.
The sounds of gunfire echoed across the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and other towns Monday afternoon.
The military headquarters, Khartoum international airport and areas around the presidential palace are the current main battlefields between the military and the Rapid Support Forces.
The shooting affected the power supply and water systems in the capital, making life more difficult for those trapped indoors by the fighting and people wounded in the clashes.
In the Al-Kalakla neighborhood south of Khartoum, the situation seemed to be relatively calm, and people ventured out to get basic necessities.
Wisal Mohammed, a mother of three, says this is the first time in three days she’s come out to get food for her children.
She says the situation is difficult, and we are stranded. There is no electricity and water, and we cannot be mobile if there is an emergency. We are approaching the festivity time, and people are just indoors.
The fighting started on Saturday morning, and Sudanese doctors say nearly 100 people have been killed and several others injured, including civilians during the past three days.
Hamid Babikir sells vegetables along the Jebel Aulia highway south of Khartoum. He told VOA that he is unable to order more stock from the central market due to the tense situation.
He says roads are blocked, and we can’t risk going to get more vegetables. What I am selling today is left over from yesterday. Everybody keeps on complaining of the tense situation and an increase in prices because of a lack of fuel.
Al Muiz Hassan is a grocer in the Abu Adam neighborhood south of Khartoum. He says he is worried about robbery and has only partially opened his shop as a precaution.
He called on the warring parties to put the interest of the country and civilians as the first priority.
“The fighting has affected all the shops, not only mine. I am not afraid of anything rather than losing lives,” he said. “The two who are fighting are all Sudanese and are only following their orders. We hope that God will change their hearts.”
The military said this afternoon that they had restored control over state-run TV and radio, which was taken over by the RSF yesterday.
The East African regional bloc IGAD has delegated the presidents of South Sudan, Kenya and Djibouti to talk with the Sudanese warring parties in an effort to halt the fighting.
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G7 Foreign Ministers Highlight Concerns About Russia, China
Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven nations condemned Russia’s war in Ukraine and highlighted the need to engage with China to address global challenges as they closed their meetings in Japan on Tuesday.
While noting the importance of working with China on issues such as climate change and global health security, the ministers expressed concerns in a joint communique about China’s actions in the East and South China Seas and its stance toward Taiwan.
“We reaffirm the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element in security and prosperity in the international community, and call for the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues,” the ministers said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in the talks with his counterparts from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan there was “remarkable convergence” regarding concerns about China and what is being done to address those concerns.
Blinken told reporters that regarding stalled U.S.-China discussions, the United States believes “that having lines of communication, being able to engage across the broad rand of issues that animate the relationship is important.”
“My expectation would be that we will be able to move forward on that, but it does require China to make clear its own intentions in doing that,” Blinken said.
The G-7 ministers said in their communique they are committed to “intensifying sanctions against Russia,” while also coordinating to make sure Russia and others do not evade those measures. They also warned Russia against the use of nuclear or chemical weapons and condemned Russia’s occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
“Russia must withdraw all forces and equipment from Ukraine immediately and unconditionally,” the ministers said. “We recommitted today to supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes and to providing sustained security, economic, and institutional support to help Ukraine defend itself, secure its free and democratic future, and deter future Russian aggression.”
Blinken said G-7 members will “remind the world who is the aggressor and who is the victim” in the conflict that Russia started with its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year. He also said Russia is breaking its promises by blocking Ukraine’s grain exports from reaching areas of the world where they are badly needed.
Regarding Iran, the G-7 ministers expressed concern about what they called Iran’s “continued destabilizing activities,” and called on Iran to stop supplying drones to Russian forces who have been using them to carry out attacks in Ukraine.
“We remain deeply concerned about Iran’s unabated escalation of its nuclear program, which has no credible civilian justification and brings it dangerously close to actual weapon-related activities,” the ministers said as they called on Iran to fulfill its nuclear non-proliferation commitments.
The G-7 ministers also said they have concerns about Afghanistan and the country’s Talban leaders, saying they “condemn the Taliban’s systematic abuses of human rights of women and girls and discrimination against the members of religious and ethnic minorities.”
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
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G7 Joint Statement Strongly Condemns the Fighting in Sudan
The Group of Seven has strongly denounced the ongoing fighting in Sudan between two military factions, urging all parties to “end hostilities immediately without pre-conditions.”
Tuesday, G-7 foreign ministers released a joint communique after meeting two and half days in Karuizawa, Japan.
“We strongly condemn the ongoing fighting between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which threatens the security and safety of Sudanese civilians and undermines efforts to restore Sudan’s democratic transition,” said the G-7 joint statement.
“We call on all actors to renounce violence, return to negotiations, and take active steps to reduce tensions and ensure the safety of all civilians, including diplomatic and humanitarian personnel.”
The joint statement came amid reports that an armored US embassy vehicle was targeted by forces associated with the RSF fighters during the surge of violence in Khartoum. Monday, the European Union said its envoy to Sudan was assaulted in his own residence.
“I can confirm that yesterday, we had an American diplomatic convoy that was fired on. All of our people are safe and unharmed. But this action was reckless. It was irresponsible. And of course, unsafe,” Blinken told VOA during a news conference upon the conclusion of G7 ministers’ meetings.
Tuesday, Blinken spoke separately with General Abdel Fattah al Burhan, commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces, and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, commander of the Rapid Support Forces, urging them to agree to a 24-hour ceasefire to allow Sudanese to safely reunite with their families and to obtain desperately needed relief supplies.
Blinken said he made it very clear to both Burhan and Hemedti that “any attacks, threats or dangers posed to our diplomats were totally unacceptable.”
The White House has said there are no plans yet for a U.S. government evacuation.
Blinken also said Tuesday that the State Department will continue to “take every responsible measure to make sure that our people are safe and secure,” when asked by VOA if there is an evacuation plan given the latest development on the ground.
Both military factions fighting for control in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, claimed to have made gains, as the death toll from the violence exceeded 180 amid calls from Washington, multiple international bodies and capitals around the world for an immediate cease-fire.
In Washington, U.S. lawmakers also weighed in, condemning the fighting in Sudan between the army and paramilitary forces.
“The Biden Administration must take immediate steps to sanction Generals Burhan and Hemedti, and other senior security officials, push the international community to do the same,” said U.S. Senator Jim Risch, a Republican from Idaho who is ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“Ultimately, the only way to achieve peace and stability in Sudan is through meaningful political discussion and the return of a civilian-led transition that respects the rights and aspirations of the Sudanese people. Continued fighting risks dragging the country back into civil war and threatens the stability not only of Sudan, but the entire region,” said Democratic Senator from Delaware Chris Coons in a statement.
Katherine Gypson contributed to this report.
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Event Brings Diaspora Together to Support East Africa
For many people who have emigrated to the United States, helping their native countries is a big part of their lives. Recently a group of East Africans gathered to discuss ways to assist those back home. Abdulaziz Osman has the story, narrated by Salem Solomon. Videographer: Jafar Fidow
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Senegal Musician Maal Named UN Ambassador on Desertification
Senegalese singer-songwriter Baaba Maal on Monday was named a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification.
Maal has long been an activist on climate change and refugees. Since 2003, he has been committed to various development challenges in Africa, working with different U.N. family organizations.
His NANN-K Trust recently opened a solar-powered irrigation project in Senegal to fight desertification, which is one of the main drivers of people leaving the country on dangerous migration routes. The project will train people to start similar projects in their own communities.
In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Maal said he is a believer in putting power in the hands of young people and women.
“We are tackling climate change impact, but also fighting desertification on the African continent, especially in my region where we are just not far away from the desert and we see it coming to us,” he said.
“And it had an impact because people who don’t get more opportunities to do agriculture, fishing and many more will have to run away from their places, go to the big cities where nothing is planned for them there, and then later on, some of the young ones will just take the boats to go to Spain or some of these places or just try to cross the desert and it’s really dangerous. We did lose a lot of lives.”
Brought up in the small town of Podor in north Senegal, which has a fishing community at its heart, Maal was born into a fisherman caste and was expected to follow that career path, but he befriended storyteller and musician Mansour Seck, and has spent his life performing, traveling and raising awareness about the issues his homeland faces.
“Our role is first to give news about what’s going on, because sometimes the local people, they don’t know what’s happening to them is the impact of climate change. They don’t know how to stand up against that. But at the same time, when they know about it, they will say what to do,” he said.
The veteran musician released his first album in seven years, “Being,” on March 31 and will headline the Barbican in London for the first time in 20 years on May 30.
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Sudan Hospitals Struggle with Casualties, Damage in Fighting
At the Khartoum Teaching Hospital, people wounded during street battles flowed into the wards. Supplies were running low, with doctors, nurses, patients and their relatives trapped inside for days as the Sudanese capital turned into a war zone.
Then early Monday, one of the wards was heavily damaged by shelling.
“We are running out of everything,” Dr. Amin Saad told The Associated Press. “We are working with the least possible capabilities. … We’re all exhausted, but there is a shortage of physicians.”
Not long afterward, the hospital shut down completely — with staff, patients and relatives stuck inside as clashes raged throughout the neighborhood. It was one of at least six hospitals shuttered either because they were damaged in fighting, were inaccessible because of clashes or had run out of fuel, according to the Doctors’ Syndicate.
Khartoum’s hospitals have been thrown into chaos by the explosion of violence between Sudan’s two top generals. People have been unable to leave their homes since Saturday as the two sides engaged in gun battles and bombarded each other with artillery and airstrikes. More than 180 people have been killed and over 1,800 wounded since the fighting erupted, U.N. envoy Volker Perthes said.
There are some 20 hospitals in the capital and the neighboring city of Omdurman. Those that still managed to operate were understaffed and overwhelmed, running low on supplies and struggling with power or water cuts, doctors said.
The sudden outbreak of fighting caught everyone off guard, trapping doctors and nurses inside hospitals, and preventing other staff from reaching the facilities.
“I tried multiple times the past two days but was forced to return [home] because of the battles,” said Dr. Sara Mohi, who has been unable to get to the hospital where she works in central Khartoum.
The situation is “extremely dire,” said Atiya Abdulla Atiya of the Doctors’ Syndicate.
The World Health Organization said many hospitals in Khartoum reported shortages of “blood, transfusion equipment, intravenous fluids, medical supplies and other life-saving commodities.”
Along with the Khartoum Teaching Hospital, the Al-Shaab Teaching Hospital shut down Monday after a ward was struck in fighting, said the general manager, Al Nameir Gibril Ibrahim.
Online video Monday showed staff evacuating patients from the Al-Shaheed Salma kidney treatment clinic amid clashes. With gunfire ringing out, staffers ducked and rushed a gurney with a patient across the street. Another facility, the Police Hospital, was evacuated Sunday, the syndicate said.
Dr. Ossama al-Shazly, head of the International Hospital in Khartoum’s northern Bahri district, took to social media late Sunday to appeal for fuel to keep generators running after power was cut to the neighborhood.
“The situation is very critical. We want people to provide fuel,” he said, adding that many patients needed surgeries and others were in intensive care units, with no place to evacuate them to.
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Nigeria Regulator Grants Approval to Oxford’s Malaria Vaccine
Nigeria has granted provisional approval to Oxford University’s R21 malaria vaccine, its medicines regulator said Monday, making it the second country to do so after Ghana last week.
The approvals are unusual as they have come before the publication of final-stage trial data for the vaccine.
“A provisional approval of the R21 Malaria Vaccine was recommended, and this shall be done in line with the WHO’s Malaria Vaccine Implementation Guideline,” Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said.
Malaria, a mosquito-borne disease, kills more than 600,000 people each year, most of them African babies and children.
Nigeria, the continent’s most populous nation, is the world’s worst-affected country with 27% of global cases and 32% of global deaths, according to a 2021 World Health Organization (WHO) report.
It was unclear when the R21 vaccine may be rolled out in Nigeria or Ghana as other regulatory bodies, including the WHO, are still assessing its safety and effectiveness.
Childhood vaccines in the poorest parts of Africa are typically co-funded by international organizations such as Gavi, the vaccine alliance, only after getting WHO approval.
“While granting the approval, the Agency has also communicated the need for expansion of the clinical trial conducted to include a phase 4 clinical trial/Pharmacovigilance study to be carried out in Nigeria,” NAFDAC’s director-general, Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, said in a statement.
Mid-stage data from the R21 trial involving more than 400 young children were published in September, showing vaccine efficacy of 70% to 80% at 12 months following the fourth dose.
Data from an ongoing phase 3 clinical trial involving 4,800 children in Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mali and Tanzania are due to be published in the coming months.
Oxford has a deal with the Serum Institute of India to produce up to 200 million doses of R21 annually.
The first malaria vaccine, Mosquirix from British drugmaker GSK GSK.L, was endorsed by the WHO last year, but a lack of funding is thwarting GSK’s capacity to produce enough doses.
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Boston Marathon Brings Sweep for Kenya, But Not Favorite Kipchoge
Defending champion Evans Chebet of Kenya won the Boston Marathon again on Monday, surging to the front at Heartbreak Hill to spoil the much-anticipated debut of world record holder Eliud Kipchoge and win in 2 hours, 5 minutes, 54 seconds.
Hellen Obiri, a two-time Olympic silver medalist in the 5,000 meters, won the women’s race in a sprint down Boylston Street to finish in an unofficial 2:21:38 and complete the Kenyan sweep.
Chebet, 2021 winner Benson Kipruto of Kenya and Gabriel Geay of Tanzania dropped Kipchoge from the lead pack around Mile 20 and then ran together for the last three miles. Geay won a footrace for second, 10 seconds behind the winner and 2 seconds ahead of Kipruto.
Kipchoge, a 12-time major marathon winner, was sixth. Scott Fauble was the top American, finishing seventh.
Kipchoge had been hoping to add a Boston Marathon victory to his unprecedented running resume. The 38-year-old has won two Olympic gold medals and four of the six major marathons; Boston is the only one he has competed in and failed to win. (He has never run New York.) He also broke 2 hours in an exhibition in a Vienna park.
Fighting a trace of a headwind and rain that dampened the roads, Kipchoge ran in the lead pack from the start in Hopkinton until the series of climbs collectively known as Heartbreak Hill. But to the surprise of the fans lined up along Boylston Street for the final sprit, he wasn’t among the three leaders.
Marcel Hug of Switzerland won the men’s wheelchair race in a course record time – his sixth victory here – and American Susannah Scaroni won her first Boston title despite having to stop early in the race to tighten her wheel.
For the first time, the race also includes a nonbinary division, with 27 athletes registered.
A dozen former champions and participants from 120 countries and all 50 states were in the field of 30,000 running 10 years after the finish line bombing that killed three people and wounded hundreds more. The race also included 264 members of the One Fund community — those injured by the attack, their friends and family and charities associated with them.
The city marked the anniversary in a ceremony on Saturday.
A robotic dog named Stompy belonging to the Department of Homeland Security patrolled the start line before the race began, trailed by photographers capturing the peculiar sight. Officials said there were no known threats.
At 6 a.m., race director Dave McGillivray sent out a group of about 20 from the Massachusetts National Guard that hikes the course annually. Capt. Kanwar Singh, 33, of Malden, Massachusetts, said it’s a special day.
“Ten years ago, the city came to a halt. It’s an incredibly strong comeback, as a group together,” he said. “I tell people, never bet against Bostonians.”
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IGAD to Send Three Presidents to Mediate Crisis in Sudan
As Sudan was rocked by fighting for the third day in a row, IGAD – the Intergovernmental Authority on Development – said Kenyan President William Ruto, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and Djibouti’s President Omar Guelleh will go to Khartoum in an effort to broker an immediate ceasefire.
“President Salva Kirr has already been in touch with both General Burhan and General Hemedti to convey the message of the summit yesterday // so now preparations are on the way to undertake this mission,” Nuur Mohamud Sheekh, a spokesperson for IGAD’s executive secretary, told VOA.
This comes after IGAD called for an immediate and unconditional cessation of hostilities between the warring parties in Sudan during an emergency virtual session of heads of states and government on Sunday, Sheekh said.
“They must stop fighting in civilian inhabited areas and open humanitarian corridors. So they [IGAD] constituted a committee of three heads of states who are highly experienced and knowledgeable on the Sudan situation to undertake a mission to visit Khartoum and reach out to all Sudanese stakeholders to make sure there’s cessation of hostilities and the parties return to dialogue.”
Sheekh said the conflict undermines the peace progress achieved over the last four months.
He added that East African countries are closely linked, so any outbreak of violence in one country has security, economic, social, and humanitarian implications for its neighbors.
Fighting broke out on Saturday in the Sudanese capital Khartoum between the Sudan Armed Forces unit led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of Sudan’s transitional governing Sovereign Council, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, who is deputy head of the council.
The clashes have so far left nearly 100 people dead and 600 hundreds injured according to The International Rescue Committee, which has since stopped its operations in most parts of the country.
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Almost 100 Dead in Sudan Fighting Between Army and Paramilitary Forces
A doctor’s group in Sudan reported early Monday that the death toll for civilians caught up in the fighting between Sudan’s military and a paramilitary force has grown to at least 97, with 365 injured, according to a Reuters report. Other reports say as many as 600 people have been injured.
The fighting erupted Saturday between army units loyal to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of Sudan’s transitional governing Sovereign Council, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, deputy head of the council, Reuters reported.
The U.N. had announced a three-hour cease-fire late Sunday afternoon between the two groups, yet residents told media that heavy explosions and continued gunfire, as well as airstrikes pounding RSF targets, could be heard Sunday night.
Early Sunday, heavy gunfire could be heard in downtown Khartoum, around Sudan’s military headquarters and the presidential palace.
Both the military and the RSF have claimed control of these strategic locations.
“This looks like fighting to the finish,” Saliman Baldo, director of Sudan Transparency and Policy Tracker, an anti-corruption campaign, told VOA’s James Butty.
Baldo said he does not think any attempt at mediation would work because it appears both generals have branded each other as criminals and could be prepared to fight it out.
The U.S. and British foreign ministers have called for an “immediate cessation of violence” in Sudan and urged the opposing parties to return to talks. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his British counterpart James Cleverly made their statement the sidelines of the G-7 talks.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the fighting between Sudan’s military and a paramilitary force that has killed three U.N. workers for the World Food Program.
Guterres “strongly condemns the deaths and injuries of civilians, including the death of three staff members of the World Food Program in North Darfur, with a further two seriously injured,” the U.N. chief’s spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said in a statement, adding: “Those responsible should be brought to justice without delay.”
The statement said, “United Nations and other humanitarian premises have also been hit by projectiles and looted in several locations in Darfur.”
Guterres reiterated a call for an immediate cease-fire between the warring groups, the U.N. statement said.
The World Food Program says it has suspended operations in the country after the deaths of its staff members.
The head of the Sudanese journalists’ syndicate, Abdulmuniem Abu Idris, told VOA via a messaging application that about 12 journalists, including four women, have been stranded in the Sudanese Kuwaiti business center since Saturday morning.
Abu Idris had earlier appealed to the warring parties to create a safe corridor for them to go to their families.
“I am calling on the two parties to create a safe passage for all the civilians inside the conflict areas, especially the journalists who have been stuck since yesterday,” he said.
The Sudanese-Kuwaiti business center is located east of the presidential palace along the Nile River. It is a working office space for many media outlets.
Abu Idris says described the area as a “serious” confrontation zone between the military and the RSF.
He says those journalists and other civilians would be in need of basic items to survive.
“They don’t have food; they are not in a safe area because they are inside the area of the exchange fires. And we are calling on the Red Crescent to intervene and rescue the civilians and those journalists,” he said.
Reports say recent tensions between the army and the RSF stem from disagreements with how the RSF should be integrated in the army and who should oversee that process. It’s part of an effort to restore the country to civilian rule and end a political crisis sparked by a military coup in October 2021.
The African Union’s Peace and Security Council held an extraordinary meeting Sunday in Nairobi to discuss the situation in Sudan. Participants appealed to the Sudanese military and RSF leaders to de-escalate confrontation and restore stability.
Arab League countries also condemned the fighting in Sudan, calling for calm.
Egypt and South Sudan announced in a joint statement their intention to mediate between Sudan’s warring parties.
Some information for this article came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
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ICRC: Fighting in Sudan Puts Civilians and Refugees at Risk
The International Committee of the Red Cross warned Sunday that fighting in densely populated areas in Sudan is putting the lives of civilians at risk.
The ICRC’s call is one of many humanitarian organizations urging all parties to the conflict to take immediate action to protect civilians.
Germain Mwehu, ICRC spokesperson in Khartoum, told VOA there are grave concerns over the use of explosives in populated areas.
“There are blasts, there is heavy gunfire anytime,” Mwehu told VOA’s English to Africa Services’ South Sudan in Focus radio program. He added that is the case not only in the capital city but other cities in the country.
The situation in Sudan remains tense, with ongoing clashes between government forces and the country’s paramilitary group, Rapid Support Forces, in several parts of the country.
“It’s a very horrifying situation for the civilian population. They can’t move. It’s very dangerous for everyone to move, including humanitarian organizations,” Mwehu said.
Alfonso Verdu Perez, the head of the ICRC delegation in Sudan, said in a statement the ongoing conflict in Sudan has escalated, particularly in urban areas, leading to a high number of civilian casualties.
As of Sunday, the number of civilians killed has reached 59 with nearly 700 others injured, but humanitarian organizations say the death toll could rise.
The conflict is impacting the ability of humanitarian organizations to aid those in need, Mwehu said.
“There are students, for example, who have been stuck in schools since yesterday morning. There are people who were traveling at the airport. They have been stuck there since yesterday morning. There are those who work in the market and other places. They are not able to go back to their home. Those who are in hospitals, they can’t receive visits from the families, medical workers, they can’t reach the place the[y] work, and humanitarian organizations, they’re not in a position, they can’t move in the cities to provide humanitarian assistance.”
The ICRC has reiterated its commitment to providing assistance to civilians affected by the conflict, but emphasized that without an end to the fighting, the situation will continue to deteriorate.
“The civilian population is exposed. They are not spared,” Mwehu told VOA.
Mwehu said the fighting also impacts refugees and internally displaced people in the country. “We have in Sudan, refugees from Chad, refugees from CAR [the Central African Republic], refugees from South Sudan, refugees from Ethiopia, refugees from Eritrea, the situation will also affect everyone, so the situation is already very difficult from [a] humanitarian perspective, I’m afraid, due to this fighting happening now in different parts of the country and it will make it even more difficult.”
According to the U.N., Sudan is home to more than 1 million refugees from neighboring countries.
This story originated in VOA English to Africa Service’s South Sudan in Focus radio program.
Nabeel Biajo contributed to this report.
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At Least 33 Killed by Gunmen in Northwest Nigeria
Gunmen have attacked a village in northwest Nigeria and killed at least 33 people, a local official said Sunday.
More than 35 houses were destroyed in the violence in Runji, which is in the state of Kaduna, said Francis Zimbo, chairman of the Zangon Kataf area where the massacre took place. Zimbo provided the number of fatalities, but state authorities wouldn’t comment on the number of people killed.
“Troops had a fierce encounter with the attackers and are still in the general area,” said Samuel Aruwan, the state commissioner of security.
No group has claimed responsibility for the killings. However, gangs of bandits have been accused of being responsible for attacks in the region, which includes the kidnapping for ransom and killing of civilians. Earlier this month, gunmen kidnapped 10 students about a half-hour drive by car from where Saturday’s attack occurred.
Nigeria’s government is still struggling to quell the violence in the country’s northwest despite a reduction in attacks last year as security forces ramped up military operations targeting the gunmen’s hideouts.
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Syrian Families Stranded in Sudan’s Capital Amid Clashes
Ongoing clashes between Sudan’s military and a powerful paramilitary group have left thousands of residents stranded in their homes in the capital, Khartoum, including many Syrian nationals.
The fighting between the military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted Saturday and continued Sunday, after months of tensions between the once-partnered sides. According to the country’s doctors’ syndicate, at least 56 people have been killed and nearly 600 others wounded as a result of clashes in the capital Khartoum and other areas.
Among those stranded in Khartoum are hundreds of Syrian nationals, many of whom have been living there since the beginning of Syria’s conflict in 2011.
“There are dozens of Kurdish families from Syria who are stuck in their homes in Khartoum,” said Ahmed Kute, a Syrian Kurdish man who lives in the Sudanese capital.
Kute told VOA that the closure of the city’s airport, one of the main flashpoints, has made it difficult for the Syrian community in Khartoum to leave Sudan.
More than 90,000 Syrian refugees live in Khartoum and other parts of Sudan, according to United Nations figures from 2021. Many other Syrians also have been residing in Sudan, although no official statistics are available.
Arif Mohammed, another Syrian man from the town of Kobani who now lives in Khartoum, said 20 members of his family are currently stranded in the capital because of the violence.
“People are really afraid that this fighting will continue for a while, and they will have no place to go,” he told VOA. “The airport is closed, and the Egyptian border is about 1,000 kilometers [621 miles] away.”
Despite an agreement reached Sunday between the two warring sides to open temporary humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to leave Khartoum, observers said thousands of residents were not able to leave.
“Civilians are still stuck in many parts of Khartoum where the fighting is taking place,” said Amal al-Hassan, editor-in-chief of the Khartoum-based news site Al Taghyeer.
Hassan, who lives in the city of Omdurman, near Khartoum, said fierce clashes erupted in her area as well.
“The intensification of fighting in Khartoum and other cities increases the chance of more residents, including refugees, getting caught in the crossfire,” she told VOA in a phone interview as the sounds of artillery and gunshots were heard in the background.
World leaders and U.N. officials are calling on the fighting sides to end the violence and begin a process of dialogue.
This story originated in VOA’s Kurdish service.
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Forty Dead in Attack on Army and Volunteers in North Burkina Faso
Unidentified assailants killed 40 people and wounded 33 others in an attack on the army and volunteer defense forces in northern Burkina Faso, the government said in a statement on Sunday.
The attack took place on Saturday in the village of Aorema near the town of Ouahigouya in the North Region, not far from the border with Mali, an area overrun by Islamist groups linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State that have carried out repeated attacks for years.
It is not clear which group carried out the attack. It comes nine days after gunmen killed 44 people in the villages of Kourakou and Tondobi in the north of the West African country.
Six soldiers and 34 members of a volunteer defense force were killed in Saturday’s attack, the statement said. The government has encouraged civilians to join local defense forces to try and stem eight years of violence in which thousands of people have died and millions have been forced to flee their homes.
The unrest in Burkina Faso triggered two coups last year by the military, which has vowed to retake control of the country but has failed to stop attacks.
Unrest in the region began in Mali in 2012, when Islamists hijacked a Tuareg separatist uprising. The violence has since spread into neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger and threatens to destabilize coastal countries further afield.
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Senegal Gas Deal Drives Locals to Desperation, Prostitution
When the gas rig arrived off the coast of Saint-Louis, residents of this seaside Senegalese town found reason to hope. Fishing has long been the community’s lifeblood, but the industry was struggling with climate change and COVID-19. Officials promised the drilling would soon bring thousands of jobs and diversification of the economy.
Instead, residents say, the rig has brought only a wave of problems, unemployment and more poverty. And it’s forced some women to turn to prostitution to support their families, they told The Associated Press in interviews.
To make way for the drilling of some 15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas (425 billion cubic meters) discovered off the coasts of Senegal and neighboring Mauritania in West Africa in 2015, access to fertile fishing waters was cut off, with the creation of an exclusion zone that prevents fishermen from working in the area.
At first, the restricted areas were small, but they expanded to 1.6 square kilometers (0.62 square miles), roughly the size of 300 football fields, with construction of the platform that looms about 6 miles (10 kilometers) offshore.
Soon the work was overtaking the diattara, a word in the local Wolof language for the fertile fishing ground that lies on the ocean floor beneath the platform. With 90% of the town’s 250,000 people relying on fishing for income, the catch — and paychecks — were shrinking. Boxes of fish turned into small buckets, then nothing at all.
Saint-Louis, Senegal’s historic center for fishing, has faced many troubles over the past decade. Sea erosion from climate change washed away homes, forcing moves. Thousands of foreign industrial trawlers, many of them illegal, snapped up vast amounts of fish, and local men in small wooden boats couldn’t compete. The COVID-19 pandemic shut down market sales of the tiny hauls they could manage.
The rig was the final straw for Saint-Louis, pushing it to the brink of economic disaster, according to locals, officials and advocates. The benefits promised from the initial discovery of energy off the coast haven’t materialized. Production for the liquified natural gas deal — planned by a partnership among global gas and oil giants BP and Kosmos Energy and Senegal and Mauritania’s state-owned oil companies — has yet to begin.
Traditionally, many women make a living processing fish, while the men catch it; sons, husbands and fathers spend weeks at sea. But with the restrictions, families couldn’t feed their children or pay rent. They begged for leftovers from neighbors. Some were evicted.
Senegalese officials and the gas companies say people should be patient, as jobs and benefits from the gas deal will materialize. But locals say they’ve been stripped of their livelihoods and provided with no alternatives. That’s driven some women to prostitution, an industry that’s been legal in Senegal for five decades but still brings shame for those who break cultural and religious norms.
For them, prostitution is faster and more reliable than working in a shop or restaurant — jobs that don’t pay well and can be hard to find.
Four women who have started having sex with men for money since the rig came to town shared their stories with the AP on condition of anonymity because of the shame they associate with the work. They’ve hidden it from their husbands and families. They say they know many others like them.
The women explain the influx of cash as loans from friends and relatives. They know prostitution is legal but won’t register with Senegalese officials. That would mean a health screening and an official ID to carry with them.
They’re unwilling to legitimize work they say has been forced upon them.
For one family of seven, hitting bottom came when they were evicted. The father, a 45-year-old fisherman, lost his job. There wasn’t enough food to feed the five children, ages 2 to 11.
The mother tried washing clothes and other jobs, but at less than $10 a day, it wasn’t enough. The family moved in with relatives and she had nothing to feed the children before school each morning.
“I’m obliged to find money through prostitution,” she told the AP, her shoulders hunched and voice weary in a hotel room where she wouldn’t be seen by her husband or friends.
“When we use the money, when my children eat the food I cook from that money, it’s hard,” she said.
The family and others in Saint-Louis learned of the gas discovery shortly after it was announced in 2015. Two years later, energy companies BP and Kosmos established a presence in both Senegal and Mauritania and partnered with Petrosen and SMHPM, the state-owned companies, respectively.
The Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project, as the overall deal is called, is expected to produce around 2.3 million tons (2.08 million metric tons) of liquified natural gas a year, enough to support production for more than 20 years, according to the gas companies. Total cost for the first and second phases is nearly $5 billion, according to a report by Environmental Action Germany and Urgewald, a German-based environmental and human rights organization. The energy companies say phase one of the project is a multibillion-dollar investment, but didn’t specify the amount.
Completion of phase one is expected by the end of this year, when gas production should start, the companies said.
As early as 2018, Saint-Louis residents say, they were warned they would lose access to some of their favored fishing waters. Installation of the breakwater, the area where the platform sits, began by 2020.
BP is the operator and investor, owning nearly 60% of the project in Senegal and Mauritania. The deal promises to create thousands of jobs and provide electricity to a nation where approximately 30% of its 17 million people live without power.
The AP asked BP and Kosmos officials via email to comment for this story. The AP also sought comment about the companies’ efforts to mitigate effects of lost income in the community, their response to the women who say they’ve turned to prostitution, and other matters related to the deal.
In a statement to the AP, spokesman Thomas Golembeski said Kosmos had worked to build community relationships and that its employees visit Saint-Louis regularly to inform people of operations and act on feedback. Golembeski emphasized the project will provide a source of low-cost natural gas and expand access to reliable, affordable and cleaner energy. He also cited access to a micro-finance credit fund established for the fishing community.
He referred other questions to BP, as operator of the project.
BP sent prepared statements in response to the AP’s inquires. BP said it is engaging with the fishing communities in Senegal and Mauritania and trying to benefit the wider economy by locally sourcing products, developing the workforce and supporting sustainable development. More than 3,000 jobs in some 350 local companies have been generated in Senegal and Mauritania, according to the company. BP also cited its work to renovate the maternity unit at the Saint-Louis hospital and its help of 1,000 patients with a mobile clinic operating in remote areas.
But local officials, advocates and residents say they haven’t seen many jobs or other options to combat the economic loss.
BP did not respond to follow-up questions. Neither BP nor Kosmos addressed the AP’s questions about women who say they’ve been driven to prostitution.
When locals talk about the hardships stemming from the gas project, they use just one word: Fuel. To them, it encompasses all they feel has gone wrong in the community.
The rig looms in the background off the coast. Easy to spot on a clear day, the lights on the platform shine at night and resemble a cruise ship docked offshore. The smell of fish still permeates Saint-Louis, as pirogues — small wooden boats — line the shores and horse-drawn carts carry the diminishing catch to town.
Seasoned fishermen who’ve weathered past storms and changes to the industry say the gas deal poses problems on a different scale, largely thanks to the exclusion zone. Smaller boats aren’t equipped to venture past it, creating overcrowding in other fishing areas and depleting stocks for fishermen.
“Going to the diattara now is like going to hell,” said Aminou Kane, vice president for the Association of Fishermen Anglers of Saint-Louis.
Since the area became inaccessible, fishermen are quitting, risking their lives migrating to Europe, or fishing illegally in neighboring Mauritania where they face arrest, he said.
Kane, 46, is in the last group. He used to earn more than $1,000 a week fishing in Senegal and now makes roughly half that fishing secretly across the border, he said.
The mother who described turning to prostitution said her husband, too, tried to fish in Mauritanian waters. He left home to seek work there one year ago and she hasn’t heard from him since.
Despite money coming in from prostitution, the women who spoke to the AP said they and others struggle to feed and shelter their families. Some have pulled children out of private school because they can’t pay tuition.
The women can earn about $40 per client. Most work several times per week, in hotels or at the men’s homes when wives are away. The women describe most clients as well-off Senegalese men, including business leaders and government officials, though some are from neighboring or Western countries.
They find the clients through local contacts. In some cases, the men are family friends to whom the women initially turned to for money or loans. But they say the men eventually insisted upon sex in return for the cash. Some of the men paid well at first, but not as much anymore.
In other cases, women go through intermediaries with established networks of men looking for prostitutes.
A woman who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity said she’s been running a business in Saint-Louis connecting men with prostitutes for seven years. She uses the name Coumbista in her work to protect her identity from her family and said she’s seen her clientele drop in recent years, with young fishermen seeing a loss of income due to the gas project.
Simultaneously, she said, the number of women seeking sex work spiked, increasing her roster by half. She knows of nearly 30 women who started sex work because of gas-related financial woes, and because of general poverty. Most then do the work secretly, she said.
A 29-year-old who turned to her for help last year after her husband stopped fishing sneaks out of the house several times a week after putting their three children to bed. She tells her husband she’s going to see friends or family.
“I am always afraid that I’ll be seen by people who know me,” she told the AP in the backseat of a car turning onto a quiet downtown street as she pointed to a nondescript building, one of two hotels where she has had sex with more than 20 men since she started. “I never thought that one day I would be doing this.”
The local government admits there has been an increase in illegal prostitution in recent years in Saint-Louis. Officials attribute the rise not directly to the energy deal, but to economic troubles overall.
“It’s not only the fishermen population or the traders, but it’s poverty in general that forces women into prostitution,” said Lamine Ndiaye, deputy to the Saint-Louis mayor.
People’s grievances about the rig are overblown and the community needs to be patient as it will take time to see the dividends, at least until after production, he said.
Fossil fuel extraction hits communities particularly hard when the local economy depends on natural resources, according to environmental experts.
“If the land or sea that farmers or fishers rely on is poisoned and out of bounds, then their jobs and access to food have been robbed, and their communities can fall apart,” said Dr. Aliou Ba, head of Greenpeace Africa’s oceans campaign and a Senegalese resident. “That has happened in several countries in Africa, including in the Niger Delta. Oil and gas came in, contaminated the water, killed the fish and ruined many fishers’ way of life.”
He said the process is already playing out in Saint-Louis, and the community is suffering: “If the authorities let this spread along our coast, hundreds of thousands of fisheries jobs will be at risk, and the millions of people in this region who depend on fish for protein will be threatened.”
Shortly after the gas deal was signed, the companies noted there could be problems in Saint-Louis. A 2019 environmental and social impact assessment by BP and its partners said there were “a lot of uncertainties around the consequences for Saint-Louis fishermen of losing access to potential fishing grounds.” Still, it considered the intensity of the impact low, according to the report.
To mitigate economic consequences, the gas companies are evaluating options for a sustainable artificial reef project in Senegal and supporting 47 national apprentice technicians on a multiyear training program in preparation to work offshore and create jobs and supply chain opportunities, BP said in statements.
The technicians have been provided with 16 months of university training at Scotland’s Glasgow Caledonian University and will gain internationally recognized qualifications, BP said.
BP did not respond to questions about whether it stood by the company’s initial risk assessment.
Papa Samba Ba, director of hydrocarbons for Senegal’s gas and energy ministry, said the objective is that by 2035 half of all gas projects will go to local jobs, companies and services.
Phase one of the project will invest about 8.5% of the gas into Senegal; however, the local gas market isn’t set up yet and could take up to two years to be operational, he said.
There’s also concern among industry experts that because Senegal doesn’t have a history of oil and gas drilling, it won’t have enough skilled laborers, despite the training.
Fossil liquified natural gas infrastructure provides few direct jobs, and those often go to experts from outside the community, not locals, said Andy Gheorghiu, a climate consultant and co-founder of the Climate Alliance against LNG, a German-based organization focused on the environment.
Some experts point to scenarios that have played out in the U.S. In the fishing village of Cameron in Louisiana, which operates gas export terminals, people haven’t benefited from promised jobs and fishermen have been displaced from the community, according to locals.
“If you drive around Cameron Parish, home of three of these export terminals, you would not believe that these terminals have benefited the community in any way,” said James Hiatt, who lives close to Cameron and is director of For a Better Bayou, an environmental organization. The gas companies promised a new marina, restaurant and fishing pier, none of which have opened, he said.
The AP emailed Venture Global, the gas terminal operator that residents say made the promises, multiple times but received no response.
Environmental watchdogs say it would make more sense to invest in renewable energy. Senegal could create more than five times as many jobs in that sector yearly until 2030, compared with jobs in the fossil fuel industry, according to the Climate Action Tracker, an independent project that tracks government climate action.
But despite the suffering the community attributes to the gas, most say they don’t want the companies to leave. What they want is for the situation to change.
“When I think of my former life and my life today, it’s hard,” said one 40-year-old woman, wiping away tears.
The mother of three said she had to resort to prostitution last year after her husband left the city and cut contact. She’s pulled two of her children out of private school and sent them to public school, where the teachers sometimes don’t show up for days.
“I hope someone can help me out of this situation,” she said. “One in which no one would ever want to live.”
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