Gunmen killed at least 42 people in Ethiopia’s Oromia region, two residents who buried the bodies in mass graves said Friday, the latest killings in the country’s most populous region where escalating violence has left hundreds dead.

The latest attack by an armed group against local residents occurred Tuesday, they said, in the Amuru district, around 370 kilometers west of the capital, Addis Ababa.

They said the victims were all Oromos and described the attackers as members of a volunteer militia known as Fano, mostly composed of ethnic Amharas.

Clashes between the Oromo and Amhara, Ethiopia’s two largest ethnic groups, have been rising in recent months.

Oromia has experienced years of violence amid accusations of neglect by the federal government in Addis Ababa.

Oromos account for more than a third of Ethiopia’s total population of around 110 million.

One resident, who spoke to Reuters by telephone but asked not to be named, said that locals had buried 22 people in one place, 15 in another, and five in a third spot.

The second resident said he compiled a list of 46 dead.

Both residents said the attackers, carrying rifles and numbering between 150-200 men, were speaking Amharic and wore a mishmash of uniforms.

Neither Amhara nor Oromia’s regional administrations’ spokespeople responded to requests for comment.
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The managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) sparked controversy this week when he said thieves from all levels of society were stealing 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

Mele Kyari even accused churches and mosques of keeping stolen fuel, an allegation religious groups rejected. Kyari addressed a weekly ministerial briefing in the presidential village on Tuesday and said up to 95% of Nigeria’s oil produced at the Bonny Terminal was being stolen.

The NNPC official cited one oil pipeline in the area and said 295 illegal connections had been attached along its 200-kilometer course.

Kyari said the oil theft was mostly being done by organized groups who sometimes work with residents of local communities. He also said religious leaders, churches and mosques were involved in crude oil theft.

Kyari said authorities were attempting to address the problem, but added that the theft was difficult to stop.

“We have some visibility around nearly everything we have, particularly on the security platforms,” Kyari said. “Currently there are 122 arrests, and they will be prosecuted. About 11 vessels, 30 speed boats have been arrested, 179 wooden boats and then 37 trucks.”

Kyari’s comments on mosques and churches taking part in the theft sparked a backlash among religious groups.

A spokesperson for the Catholic Society of Nigeria, Micheal Umoh, said the oil company head must be specific in his opinion.

“Even this thing they’re talking about, that religious leaders being part of it, if there’s any atom of truth in it, it will not be possible if government was responsible and doing its work,” Umoh said. “They’re just trying to bring in all these distractions, but I will not want to begin to disagree with him until he really explains what he means, because many people go by the name ‘religious leaders’ but with very terrible characters.”

Kyari said security operatives had recovered nearly 36 million liters of crude oil and about 22 million liters of diesel. He also said they’d recovered some gasoline and kerosene.

Kyari emphasized that apart from revenue losses, oil bunkering activities and pipeline vandalism were causing irredeemable environmental damage.

But critics such as Umoh are pointing a finger back at authorities, saying they have been reckless in the handling of oil assets, limiting national profit.

Faith Nwadishi, the executive director of the Center for Transparency Advocacy, said the government was only trading blame.

“The question for me to ask is: Can you park a ship in a church or in a mosque? The volumes that we’re talking about are between 85 and 95 percent of crude. I understand the fact that now Nigerians are talking about crude oil theft, depletion of revenue, and that’s why they’re saying the easy way out is to say that other stakeholders are the ones that are stealing the crude,” Nwadishi said.

In August, Nigerian oil officials launched an online portal to track oil theft and promised to reward whistleblowers.

In a controversial move, they also awarded a pipeline surveillance contract to a former militant who used to steal oil.

The governor of Delta state, one of Nigeria’s oil-rich southern states, praised the awarded contract, saying it showed the government took his advice to involve the oil-producing communities in pipeline surveillance.
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Africa’s largest e-commerce company, Jumia, launched the first commercial drone delivery service on the continent this week, offering delivery of products across Ghana.

After more than three months of testing in the town of Omenaku, Jumia and California-based instant-delivery service Zipline have started delivering products to homes.

The service is available nationwide in the West African country. Jumia says it has made 100 delivery flights so far.

“Today, we believe it’s a great enabler for service for far-flung areas in Africa, very quickly in good speed and also with a great amount of sustainability and safety,” said Apoorva Kumar, Jumia’s chief operations officer.

A March 2022 Forbes report shows that Africa lags in access to energy and road networks, but the continent has made significant strides in internet penetration, which is estimated at 70%. So digital entrepreneurs are using technology to solve problems that are typically reserved for more traditional forms of infrastructure.

However, economists such as Ken Gichinga say that poor addressing systems for homes are still a major obstacle to drone delivery.

“Droning, if it is marked well with geo-mapping, can open up the industry in terms of delivery, but for good delivery we need to have a proper addressing system,” Gichinga said. “We don’t have them like in the west, proper addressing systems.”

According to the United Nations conference on trade and development, Africa also is lagging in key aspects of e-trade because of connectivity issues, lack of payment systems, and various government policies.

Less than 40% of African countries have adopted data privacy legislation, economist Wohoro Ndohho told VOA. If consumers fear their personal information will be shared with the wrong party, he said, the drones-for-delivery business may not take off.

“Africa is ready for drones to the extent that, in one sense, it leads to the whole question of building infrastructure,” he said. “For example, what is done in Rwanda, another part of Africa where they have used drones in delivery of medicine, but there must be an underlying legal system that support taking advantage of drones.”

Jumia operates in 11 African countries, with more than 30 warehouses. The group hopes to expand drone delivery services across the continent in the future.
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Tigrayan rebels in Ethiopia say government forces and troops from neighboring Eritrea have launched a coordinated offensive, as fighting intensifies in the region.

On Thursday, a spokesperson for the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front said on Twitter that Eritrean forces have joined Ethiopian federal forces in the fight against the TPLF. 

Getachew Reda said the forces launched what he called a “massive four-pronged offensive” early Thursday in the Adyabo area of northwestern Tigray, adding that TPLF forces are defending their positions. 

A later statement by the Tigray Military Command said planes belonging to Ethiopian Airlines are being used to transport military personnel and supply munitions to troops in the north.  

There has been no independent confirmation of the TPLF accusations. An Ethiopian government spokesperson and the Eritrean ministry of information did not respond to requests for comment.  

In their own statements, Ethiopian officials have accused the TPLF of launching attacks in Amhara this week. 

Bloomberg News reports that Ethiopia’s foreign minister told diplomats Thursday that the government is taking measures against Tigrayan forces while trying to avoid civilian casualties. 

William Davison, analyst with the International Crisis Group, a research institution based in Belgium, said, “Now Tigrayan reports, which seem to be accurate, of a large-scale incursion into Tigray from the north by Eritrean and federal forces. So, it is evident that the conflict is now seriously escalating.

“There are also reports of confrontations and a heavy federal military buildup around Wag Hemra in northern Amhara, a little bit to the west of where fighting started, shows that the fighting has spread to a major new front,” he added.  

Eritrea is a longtime opponent of the TPLF, which effectively ruled Ethiopia from 1991 to 2018. 

Fighting between Tigrayan fighters and pro-Ethiopian government forces resumed in northern Ethiopia a week ago, ending a five-month cease-fire. 

As a result, the U.N. has stopped humanitarian aid deliveries to Tigray, where relief groups say parts of the region are likely in a state of famine.  

 
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Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema has pledged to improve the country’s financial situation after it received a $1.3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund. Zambia was the first African country to default on its debt in the COVID-19 era.

President Hakainde Hichilema, speaking Thursday at the launch of plans aimed at boosting the country’s socioeconomic development, said the IMF Executive Board had approved a financial assistance program for Zambia.  

“They approved our extended credit facility for this great country whose greatness lies ahead of us and for us to make our country greater we have to do what is necessary in all the spheres and in all the areas,” said Hichilema.

The $1.3 billion bailout is aimed at kickstarting the country’s economy and restructuring its debt. The plan allows Zambia to immediately access $185 million.  

The financial assistance approved on Wednesday will give Zambia room in the budget to increase social spending and strengthen governance. The framework of the bailout will require the country to improve its public financial management.

According to Zambian government debt data, the country accumulated $31.74 billion by the end of 2021, of which $17.27 billion was external debt.  

Nearly one-third of the debt — $5.78 billion – is owed to China.

In November 2020, Zambia was unable to make its payments on a $42.5 million Eurobond, becoming the first African country in the pandemic era to default on its debt.

In July of this year, the southern African nation canceled projects worth $2 billion to prevent its debt from growing further.  

The country plans to increase copper production to 3 million tons a year in the next 10 years and produce foodstuffs for export in an effort to reduce its debt.

Hichilema says his government will have to make tough choices for high economic growth.

“The macroeconomic objectives set out in the eight national development plans are to place our economy on a higher growth trajectory, no question about it,” said Hichilema. “That’s the agenda next to restrain fiscal deficits that we experienced in the last seven or so years to a point where we failed to live within our means and defaulted on our obligations.”

Hichilema said the country must depart from rampant corruption, overvaluing the government projects and failing to finish them on time.

He pledged to reduce domestic debt and inject money into the economy.

Zambia’s next step is to sign a legally non-binding memorandum of understanding with the G-20 bilateral creditors committee, which is intended to assist countries in resolving their debt. The authorities hope to complete discussion on the memorandum by the end of 2022. The G-20 refers to the Group of 20 large economies.
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Africa’s nations must develop strategies to address climate change, which poses an existential threat to the continent’s megacities, Gabon’s President Ali Bongo Ondimba said at the third Africa Climate Week conference.

African officials and experts should sharpen the positions they will present at the 27th annual United Nations climate conference to be held in Egypt in November, said Bongo.

The third African climate meeting is bringing together more than 1,000 government officials and stakeholders in Gabon’s capital Libreville. They are working to form strong African regional climate responses.

“Climate change is a profound challenge in Africa and a great challenge of our time, amplifying existing social, political and economic inequalities,” Patricia Scotland, secretary-general of the Commonwealth group of former British colonies, said to the meeting.

The African climate week comes as the continent reels from several extreme weather events such as drought in East Africa and the Horn of Africa, sandstorms and extreme heat in West Africa’s Sahel region, and destructive flash floods, storm surges including cyclones in central, western and southern Africa.

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, who will host the upcoming U.N. conference, lamented that promises made to African countries to help them fight climate change have not been fulfilled.

“The international community is lagging behind in mitigation, adaptation and finance. Several pledges on mitigation and adaptation finance celebrated in Glasgow are yet to be delivered,” said Shoukry.

He said the “backtracking on commitments by many developed countries is a matter of concern” for many African countries. “The delayed delivery of climate finance continues to affect Africa’s efforts to contribute to the global effort against climate change,” he said.

The African climate week conference will discuss other critical concerns of the continent including food security, carbon markets, climate migrants, and coastal resilience. Climate early warning systems, integrated water management to address scarcity and international cooperation to boost climate action are also issues to be examined.
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Officials from Cameroon and Congo-Brazzaville have agreed to demarcate their 100-year-old border to reduce border communities’ disputes over forestry and wildlife. The deal follows similar agreements with Gabon in May and the Central African Republic in June. Conservationists say having better defined borders will help crack down on wildlife poaching that has plagued the Congo basin.

Congo-Brazzaville and Cameroon say they want to make their common border an instrument of peace and shared development, and stop potential border communities’ rivalry over natural resources.

Jacques Essissongo, Congo-Brazzaville’s director general of territorial administration, says experts from Cameroon and Congo who are meeting in Yaounde, are members of the technical sub-commission in charge of border demarcation. He says the experts must lay the groundwork for an effective and efficient demarcation of the over 460 kilometer Cameroon Congo border.

Essissongo said according to the document signed in Berlin, Congo and Cameroon share a 140-kilometer land border and over 320 kilometers of maritime and fluvial boundary.

Paul Atanga Nji, Cameroon’s minister of territorial administration, led the country’s delegation to the border demarcation meeting.

Nji says from Yaounde, experts will move to the border to make sure that demarcation begins within the shortest possible time.

“The experts will go to the field to mark the pillars and to give a comprehensive report on all the border issues between the Republic of Cameroon and the Republic of Congo. We have been working closely under the leadership of the two heads of state. They have given us all the support for us to do our job, they have given us all the facilities and we are very comfortable in exercising this mandate which has been given to us.”

Nji said their mandate includes planting boundary pillars destroyed by erosion and floods. He said some of the markers were either destroyed by rival communities, or crumbled with age. He said Congo and Cameroon have agreed to retrace their border in a way that will satisfy both states.

The two countries said they will use the border map drawn by former German and French colonial powers in 1908 as a guiding document.

Congo, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, D.R Congo and Gabon belong to the Congo Basin which the U.N. says is the second largest rainforest in the world.

The U.N. says the Congo basin teems with unique animal and plant species whose protection is vital in preventing global warming.

Cameroon and Congo say demarcation will reduce border community conflicts over natural resources, especially forest and wildlife. Cameroon and Congo say border communities cross over to neighboring states in search of the resources and fighting erupts regularly.

Ofir Drori is director of Eco Activists for Governance and Law Enforcement or EAGLE NETWORK, an international conservationist group that fights wildlife crimes. He says the Congo basin is one of the world’s highest poaching areas and border communities fight for resources.

Drori says wildlife knows no boundary, but if borders are demarcated, conservationists will be able to know where there are more wildlife crimes to finetune their anti-poaching activities.

“The poaching situation in north Congo is quite severe and we have many arrest operations in the area. Some of it is moving towards southeast Cameroon. We try to tackle especially the poaching of pangolins and illegal trade in pangolin scales moving from the Central African Republic to Cameroon in industrial scale [quantities]. EAGLE is taking care of these aspects in arrest operations with the governments in Cameroon and in Congo.”

Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Central African Republic have already launched the demarcation of their borders established by German and French colonial powers in the late 19th century. The boundaries have not changed since the states gained independence in 1960, but there are frequent clashes among border communities.
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The International Committee of the Red Cross, or ICRC, says there were 64,000 cases of persons reported as having disappeared across Africa in the past year — nearly one-third more than the previous year. The ICRC says armed conflict is to blame for most of the disappearances, and Nigeria alone accounts for more than 25,000 missing people, including nearly 14,000 children, the highest in Africa.

A joint team of officials from the ICRC, National Human Rights Commission, the Humanitarian Affairs ministry and the army addressed journalists in Abuja Tuesday to commemorate the International Day of the Displaced.

Officials say the latest figures include more than 2,000 cases registered since January of last year, and do not represent the true state of things.

Officials said more than half of the missing persons were minors when they vanished, and that disappearances were mainly from armed conflicts, disasters, and risky migration via the desert and Mediterranean Sea.

Arrests, detentions and abductions were also cited as reasons for disappearances.

Yann Bonzon is the head of delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

“The number of missing persons continues to rise every year, yet the ICRC knows that this figure represents a fraction of a wider undocumented humanitarian tragedy. These figures reveal [an] alarming fact that children are particularly more vulnerable than adults to disappearance in Nigeria as the conflict continues raging in the country,” he said.

Thirty-five active armed conflicts are raging in Africa, including the insurgency in northeast Nigeria that began more than 12 years ago. The war has spilled into neighboring Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

Officials of the Nigeria humanitarian affairs and disaster management ministry have pledged to collaborate with other relevant authorities to help families of missing people reunite with their loved ones.

Nasir Sani-Gwarzo is the permanent secretary of the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry.

“I want to assure you that the ministry is working earnestly to develop humanitarian policies and provide effective coordination of national and international intervention to ensure strategic disaster mitigation, preparedness and response, managing the implementation of fair social inclusion and protection programs in Nigeria. We will work with the National Human Rights Commission, the ICRC to continue to pursue important initiatives to tackle the issue of missing persons in Nigeria,” he said.

Nigerian authorities last year launched a register for missing people and said they have had some success finding and reuniting them with their families.

They also say the ongoing conflict poses huge risks to progress.

Anthony Ojukwu is the executive secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

“The issue of missing persons [has] become increasingly prominent in Nigeria, not only because of the consequence of the conflicts in the various parts of the country, but as a result of acts of criminality nationwide, senseless and ruthless killings, and armed hostilities. We have established the database of missing persons in Nigeria, which would address the gap which exists in documentation of cases, and also gives families the platform to engage with in addressing the cases of their missing loved ones,” he said.

Nigeria has been waging a war against armed conflicts ravaging its northeastern Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states.

The U.N. estimates that more than 37,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million displaced.

As the world remembers the missing people, authorities are renewing efforts not only to find them but to help families get closure.
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The first shipment of Ukrainian grain to Africa since Russia’s invasion arrived in Djibouti on Tuesday. The grain will be distributed in Ethiopia to help the drought-stricken nation cope with worsening hunger that threatens to become a famine. 

Mike Dunford, East Africa regional director for the U.N.’s World Food Program (WFP), spoke to reporters at the port.  

“The food on the [U.N.-chartered ship] Brave Commander will feed 1.5 million people, for one month in Ethiopia,” he said. “So, this makes a very big impact, for those people who currently have nothing and now WFP will be able to provide them with their basic needs.” 

A Russian blockade of Ukraine’s seaports forced Ukraine to halt nearly all deliveries of grain, which sparked worries of a worldwide food crisis. Russia invaded the country in February. 

A settlement between Kyiv and Moscow that was mediated by the U.N. and Turkey in July, known as The Black Sea Initiative, saw a resumption in exports of wheat, other foodstuffs, and fertilizers from three Black Sea ports at the beginning of August. 

The WFP said 150,000 tons of additional wheat grain from Ukraine will be sent in the coming weeks thanks to funding provided by the United States. 

In landlocked Ethiopia, where the grain is now headed, more than 5 million people have been displaced because of conflict. A total of 17 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance as the Horn of Africa endures another year of drought.  

Dunford said the Black Sea Initiative is a step toward easing the situation.  

“We’ve already seen a reduction of 15% in wheat prices globally, since the Black Sea Initiative commenced,” he said. “What we want to see is more food flowing. We need, from WFP’s perspective, millions of tons in this region. In Ethiopia alone, three quarters of everything that we used to distribute originated from Ukraine and Russia.” 

There are concerns the resumption of exports from Ukraine may not be enough to make a dent in the crisis. 

Adullahi Halakhe, with the Washington-based advocacy group Refugees International, said the amount of grain arriving to Ethiopia is not enough. 

“When you consider over 20 million people are in need of humanitarian aid, food inflation stands at 40%, I think this is very important,” he said. 

Humanitarian organizations say parts of Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region may be in a state of famine, because of the conflict there and a de facto humanitarian blockade imposed by Ethiopia’s federal government. 

Although limited aid was entering the region, renewed fighting between the government and Tigrayan forces that began last week led to the U.N. announcing Monday that it has suspended aid convoys into the region.  

 
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A new Human Rights Watch report says that in nearly one-third of African countries, teenage girls who become pregnant face “significant legal and policy barriers” to continuing their formal education.

Human Rights Watch said Tuesday it examined more than 100 laws and policies concerning education, gender equity, and reproductive health, that are detrimental to the education of teenage mothers.

Adi Radhakrishnan works with the rights group’s children rights division. He says some African laws have pushed young mothers out of school.

“It’s shocking to understand how governments are undermining girls’ education and effectively closing the door on girls’ futures… These are students who are denied their basic rights to education for reasons that have nothing to do with their desire or their ability to learn and they are not supported by their government,” Radhakrishnan said.

Researchers found that at least 10 African countries have no legal means or measures to protect adolescent girls’ education when they are pregnant and become mothers.

Several countries, including Sudan, impose punishments on teenage girls who have sexual relationships outside marriage. For those girls, going to school while pregnant raises suspicion and exposes them to possible criminal prosecution.

Hannibal Uwaifo is the head of the African Bar Association. He says cultural norms are mostly to blame for young mothers not continuing with their education.

“The issues have to do with families, society, and the community. I don’t think there are any specific laws that bars people going back to school,” Uwaifo said. “I think we need to deliberately encourage African girls to return back to school. We need to actively and deliberately campaign that this teenage pregnancy doesn’t mean they should give up schooling or give up formal education otherwise, if there are any laws which are in place saying a teenage mother cannot go back to school, we would like to know about them and work on them.”

On the positive side, Radhakrishnan says 38 countries in Africa have laws that protect the education of pregnant and young mothers.

“Far more countries have positive frameworks than countries lack them or have discriminatory measures. We have seen students excluded because teachers do not know whether the positive law exists, or parents don’t know there are great lessons to be learned … countries across Africa draw positive practices from their neighbors and develop useful guidelines that make sure that all girls — regardless of pregnancy or motherhood status — all girls are able to access education in Africa,” Radhakrishnan said.

Human Rights Watch urges authorities in countries that lack such laws to create legal frameworks that affirm girls’ right to education. The advocacy group also encourages countries that already have laws and policies to fully implement them so young mothers — and their children — can benefit.
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For the third time in his career, Kenya’s main opposition leader Raila Odinga is challenging presidential election results at the country’s Supreme Court. Some critics are mocking the former prime minister for again refusing to accept defeat. But legal experts say Odinga’s petitions have played a key role in improving the integrity of Kenya’s elections and the stability of its democracy. Juma Majanga reports from Nairobi, Kenya. Camera: Amos Wangwa
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Eighteen people died Monday after police in Madagascar opened fire on what they called a lynch mob angered at the kidnapping of an albino child, a senior doctor told AFP. 

Dozens were wounded, some of them seriously. 

“At the moment, 18 people have died in all, nine on the spot and nine in hospital,” said doctor Tango Oscar Toky, chief physician at a hospital in southeastern Madagascar. 

“Of the 34 injured, nine are between life and death,” said the doctor giving graphic details of the injuries. “We are waiting for a government helicopter to evacuate them to the capital.” 

Around 500 protesters armed with blades and machetes “tried to force their way” into the station, a police officer involved in the shooting said, speaking on condition of anonymity.  

“There were negotiations, [but] the villagers insisted,” the officer told AFP over the phone from the town of Ikongo, 90 kilometers (56 miles) southeast of the capital Antananarivo. 

Police first fired tear gas and then rounds in the air to try to disperse the crowd, he said.  

“They continued to force their way through. We had no choice but to defend ourselves,” the officer added. 

The national police in the capital confirmed the “very sad event,” but only gave a toll of 11, with 18 injured.  

Andry Rakotondrazaka, the national police chief, told a news conference that what happened was a “very sad event. It could have been avoided but it happened.” 

He said the police “did everything to avoid confrontation,” including negotiating with the crowd, “but there were provocations”… (and) there were people with “long-bladed knives and sticks,” he said, adding others hurled stones towards the police.  

“The gendarmes used tear gas. But that was not enough to stop the crowd from advancing. There was shooting in the air.”  

But in the end the gendarmes had “no choice but to resort to self-defense … and limit the damage by shooting.” 

The kidnapping took place last week, according to Jean-Brunelle Razafintsiandraofa, a member of parliament for Ikongo district. 

Revenge attacks 

Revenge attacks are common in Madagascar. 

In February 2017, a mob of 800 people barged into Ikongo prison in search of a murder suspect they intended to kill. 

They overpowered guards and 120 prisoners broke out of jail. 

In 2013, a Frenchman, a Franco-Italian and a local man accused of killing a child on the tourist island of Nosy Be were burned alive by a crowd.  

Some sub-Saharan African countries have suffered a wave of assaults against people with albinism, whose body parts are sought for witchcraft practices in the mistaken belief that they bring luck and wealth.  

Albinism, caused by a lack of melanin, the pigment that colors skin, hair and eyes, is a genetic condition that affects hundreds of thousands of people across the globe, particularly in Africa. 

Under The Same Sun, a Canada-based charity working to combat discrimination, has been logging cases of similar violence across Africa. 

It ranks Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania as the countries where such attacks are most prevalent. 

Madagascar, a large Indian Ocean island country, is ranked among the poorest in the world. 

 
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