With the growing concern over greenhouse gas emissions that are blamed for climate change, a Kenyan-Dutch company is introducing electric bikes in sub-Saharan Africa for deliveries in urban areas to help reduce emissions. The transport sector plays a crucial role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating the effects of global warming. Juma Majanga reports from Nairobi. Camera: Amos Wangwa     
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Construction companies in Zambia say Chinese companies are moving into their area and taking away their business. They say the competition has forced some local construction companies to close. VOA’s Daniel Tonga reports from the capital Lusaka.
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Being the preferred choice of footwear for many, flip-flops — typically made of plastic or rubber — break easily and don’t get disposed of properly. Millions of them, therefore, end up in oceans, waterways, dumpsites and landfills all over the world. A Kenya-based company has found creative and functional ways to reuse them. VOA Nairobi Bureau Chief Mariama Diallo visited their warehouse located in Karen, about 45 minutes from the city center, and has this report. Camera: Amos Wangua
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Nairobi, Kenya — Kenya says it wants to promote peace in East Africa and has no problems with neighboring countries. At the same time, there are undeniable signs of diplomatic strains with at least four neighbors, including two that recently recalled their ambassadors from Nairobi.

Kenya’s effort to assert itself as a regional political force and economic hub in eastern Africa is not going over well with some of its neighbors.  

The Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan recalled their ambassadors after their governments accused Kenya of hosting and dealing with their countries’ opposition groups in Nairobi.

Uganda, meanwhile, recently took Kenya to an East African court in Tanzania over an oil distribution dispute. The case is about Kenya not allowing Ugandan government oil marketers to operate within its borders. This comes after Uganda discontinued the previous open tender system for purchasing petroleum products from Kenya.

Also, Tanzania banned Kenya Airways flights from Nairobi to Dar es Salaam last week because Kenya allegedly denied permission for Tanzania’s national carrier to operate cargo flights to Nairobi. The ban was lifted after discussions between the foreign affairs ministers of the two countries.

Kenyan Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi said Sunday that his country is “not at war” with its neighbors and wants to bring peace to the region.

“Some states are vulnerable, others are in conflict, and our president, William Samoei Ruto, is on the front line, making sure peace returns in these countries,” said Mudavadi. “He says the wars in those countries will affect our country too.”

Kenya has come under criticism from some Africans and its own citizens on how the government is handling engagement with other states.

International relations expert Kizito Sabala says the diplomatic spats are growing out of countries trying to counter Kenya’s influence.  

“There is always going to be a tug-of-war with what Kenya tries to do from the neighbors,” Sabala said. “But from my point of view, I don’t think there is really something very serious to worry about. These are things that will continue to come as Kenya tries to assert itself as a regional power. And the other countries will try to find any leverage to use it in order to bring that down.”

Kenyan President Ruto, who came to power more than a year ago, has met several heads of state in Africa, including his neighbors, promising to help solve Africa’s chronic problems of conflict and hunger, and to bring economic development.

Sabala says such assertiveness from a new leader will get pushback. 

“They are reacting the way they are reacting because I think in Nairobi we have a new president who is very assertive and who seems to be projecting this to the region and therefore I think that in itself seems to be telling them, ‘no, no, no, no, let’s stop here,’” Sabala said. “But I think with the time they’ll just get used to the way our president is doing things and that’s fine. I don’t think it’s a big, big issue to worry about.”

Experts urge Kenya to handle the conflict in the Congo cautiously, especially regarding rebel groups that have contributed to the country’s instability. They also want Kenya to refrain from taking sides in the Sudan conflict, which has pitted the country’s armed forces and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces against each other.
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Mbemba’s Instagram account was targeted by many users who replied to his latest posts with monkey or gorilla emojis, or wrote racist comments.
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Cairo — Egypt’s president said on Sunday it will not allow any threat to Somalia, after Ethiopia said it would consider recognizing an independence claim by Somaliland in a deal that would give it access to a seaport.   

The remarks by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi were the strongest yet made on the issue by Egypt, which already has frosty relations with Ethiopia, and were a sign that Cairo may get involved in a dispute that has raised fresh tensions in the volatile Horn of Africa.   

Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but has not won recognition from any country. The port lease deal, which was agreed earlier this month but not yet finalized, would be a boon to landlocked Ethiopia and has enraged Somalia.   

“Egypt will not allow anyone to threaten Somalia or affect its security,” Sisi said, speaking at a news conference with visiting Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.   

“Do not try Egypt, or try to threaten its brothers especially if they ask it to intervene,” he added.   

In a Jan. 1 memorandum of understanding, Ethiopia said it would consider recognizing Somaliland’s independence in return for the port access. It would lease 20 km (12 miles) of coastland around the port of Berbera, on the Gulf of Aden, for 50 years for military and commercial purposes.   

Ethiopia’s current main port for maritime exports is in the neighboring country of Djibouti.   

“My message to Ethiopia is that … trying to seize a piece of land to control it is something no one will agree to,” Sisi said, saying cooperation on development was a better strategy.  

Representatives for Ethiopia did not immediately respond to requests for comment on his statements.   

Egypt’s foreign minister last week called Ethiopia a source of instability in the region, which the country’s foreign ministry said was “irrelevant.”  

Relations between Egypt and Ethiopia, which share use of the Nile River, have been tense for years over a major dam Ethiopia has built on the Blue Nile. 
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YENAGOA, NIGERIA — A pipeline owned by Shell’s subsidiary in Nigeria has spilled crude oil in the Niger Delta following a leak, the country’s spills agency and an environmental group said Saturday. 

The Obolo-Ogale pipeline in southern Rivers State feeds the 180,000 barrel-per-day Trans Niger line, one of two conduits to export Bonny Light crude. It had restarted operations this month after being shut for maintenance in December. 

The spill was detected Friday by local communities, who reported it to Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd., or SPDC, and the Nigerian Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, or NOSDRA. 

SPDC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

NOSDRA has received a report on the spill and will hold a joint investigation visit to the site Sunday, Ime Ekanem, the agency’s head in Rivers State, told Reuters. 

Shell has over the years faced several legal battles over oil spills in the Niger Delta, a region blighted by pollution, conflict and corruption related to the oil and gas industry. 

The company this week announced it was set to conclude nearly a century of operations in Nigerian onshore oil and gas after agreeing to sell SPDC to a consortium of five mostly local companies for up to $2.4 billion. 
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Abuja, Nigeria — The abduction of five young Nigerian sisters near Abuja has sparked a national outcry and raised fears about insecurity in the country’s capital.

The sisters were seized at the start of the year by armed men who burst into their home 25 kilometers from the Abuja city center, a family member told AFP.

She said the attackers killed one of the sisters, 21-year-old Nabeeha Al-Kadriyar, when a ransom deadline passed. Negotiations were ongoing for the release of the others.

Kidnapping for ransom has been a major problem in Nigeria with criminal gangs targeting highways, apartments and even snatching pupils from schools.

After public outrage over the sisters’ case this week, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu condemned what he called the “recent spate of kidnappings and bandit attacks.”

Politicians and the media have questioned the government’s strategy after gangs targeted parts of the heavily guarded Federal Capital Territory.

‘Lie low, buy time’

The Nigerian risk consultancy SBM Intelligence told AFP it had documented 283 people abducted in the Federal Capital Territory over the past year.

Some experts believe the country’s economic crisis is driving a rise in kidnappings as desperate Nigerians turn to crime for income.

SBM analyst Confidence Isaiah-MacHarry said insecurity around the capital has been growing for years.

“It’s been getting worse for some time,” he said, citing a 2022 attack on a prison on the outskirts of Abuja as a landmark moment.

Gunmen bombed their way into Kuje jail and freed hundreds of inmates in a raid claimed by Islamic State-allied jihadis.

The minister for the Federal Capital Territory has urged residents not to panic and promised to find a solution.

Isaiah-MacHarry said the government needed a consistent approach and warned that periodic crackdowns on criminals in Abuja’s satellite towns were not working.

“All the bandits have to do is lie low and buy themselves time,” he said.

Bandit attack

Nigerian law bans paying ransom to kidnappers, but many families have little faith in the authorities and feel they have no choice.

On the night the sisters were abducted, they were at home in Bwari inside the Federal Capital Territory, according to a cousin.

Asiya Adamu, 23, described how the attackers, known as bandits in Nigeria, struck around 9 p.m. on January 2. 

They demanded cash but the sisters’ father, Mansoor Al-Kadriyar, had nothing to give and offered his belongings instead.

The attackers rounded up his daughters along with a cousin and tied their hands. They also took Mansoor Al-Kadriyar captive and beat the seven family members before leading them away, Adamu said.

They shot to death Mansoor Al-Kadriyar’s brother when he tried to help, and several police officers were killed in a gunbattle, she said.

Mansoor Al-Kadriyar was released on condition he raise a large ransom within days, but the struggling family could not meet the deadline and the bandits killed Nabeeha, returned her body, and increased the fee, Adamu said.

The family is still trying to negotiate, even after raising the new total thanks to an online crowdfunding campaign and the intervention of a former minister.

Adamu said the youngest of the sisters is just 14.

Her account has been confirmed by politicians. Police acknowledged the “abduction of six young girls” and said a rescue was under way but told AFP they could not provide details for security reasons.

Chronic challenges

Tinubu came to office last year vowing to tackle Nigeria’s insecurity, including jihadis in the northeast, criminal militias in the northwest and a flareup of intercommunal violence in central states.

But critics say the kidnapping crisis is out of control.

Opposition politician Peter Obi said, “the fact that these kidnappings, killings and other reported cases of armed robbery and violent attacks are now taking place in Abuja, the nation’s capital, is a clear pointer to how insecure the rest of the country now is.”

“The trauma being experienced by this family and the blood of this innocent child should prick our conscience as leaders,” he said.

The president said he plans to address the root causes of the violence through education but did not outline a precise strategy.

Abductions became a major problem in Nigeria in the 2000s and are now a lucrative industry.

The kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok in northeastern Nigeria by Boko Haram jihadis made global headlines in 2014, but daily abductions rarely gain attention.

“Every day now you hear about a new kidnapping, even whole families,” Adamu said.

She described Nabeeha as “smart, sweet and kind,” saying she had just finished university and was looking forward to her graduation.

“Nobody deserves this,” Adamu said. “It shouldn’t be happening to anyone.”
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UNITED NATIONS/CAIRO — Between 10,000 and 15,000 people were killed in one city in Sudan’s West Darfur region last year in ethnic violence by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied Arab militia, according to a United Nations report seen by Reuters on Friday.

In the report to the United Nations Security Council, independent U.N. sanctions monitors attributed the toll in El Geneina to intelligence sources and contrasted it with the U.N. estimate that about 12,000 people have been killed across Sudan since war erupted on April 15, 2023, between the Sudanese army and the RSF.

The monitors also described as “credible” accusations that the United Arab Emirates had provided military support to the RSF “several times per week” via Amdjarass in northern Chad. A top Sudanese general accused the UAE in November of backing the RSF war effort.

In a letter to the monitors, the UAE said 122 flights had delivered humanitarian aid to Amdjarass to help Sudanese fleeing the war. The United Nations says about 500,000 people have fled Sudan into eastern Chad, several hundred kilometers south of Amdjarass.

Between April and June last year El Geneina experienced “intense violence,” the monitors wrote, accusing the RSF and allies of targeting the ethnic African Masalit tribe in attacks that “may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

The RSF has previously denied the accusations and said any of its soldiers found to be involved would face justice. The RSF did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Reuters.

“The attacks were planned, coordinated, and executed by RSF and their allied Arab militias,” the sanctions monitors wrote in their annual report to the 15-member Security Council.

‘Shot to the head’

Reuters last year chronicled the ethnically targeted violence committed in West Darfur. In hundreds of interviews with Reuters, survivors described horrific scenes of bloodletting in El Geneina and on the 30-kilometer route from the city to the border with Chad as people fled.

The monitors’ report included similar accounts. They said that between June 14 and June 17, some 12,000 people fled El Geneina on foot for Adre in Chad. The Masalit were the majority in El Geneina until the attacks forced their mass exodus.

“When reaching RSF checkpoints women and men were separated, harassed, searched, robbed, and physically assaulted. RSF and allied militias indiscriminately shot hundreds of people in the legs to prevent them from fleeing,” the monitors said.

“Young men were particularly targeted and interrogated about their ethnicity. If identified as Masalit, many were summarily executed with a shot to the head. Women were physically and sexually assaulted. Indiscriminate shootings also injured and killed women and children,” according to the report.

Everyone who spoke to the monitors mentioned “many dead bodies along the road, including those of women, children and young men.” The monitors also reported “widespread” conflict-related sexual violence committed by RSF and allied militia.

New firepower

The monitors said the RSF takeover of most of Darfur relied on three lines of support — Arab allied communities, dynamic and complex financial networks, and new military supply lines running through Chad, Libya, and South Sudan.

The U.N. missions for Chad, Libya and South Sudan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Complex financial networks established by RSF before and during the war enabled it to acquire weapons, pay salaries, fund media campaigns, lobby, and buy the support of other political and armed groups,” wrote the monitors, adding that the RSF used proceeds from its pre-war gold business to create a network of as many as 50 companies in several industries.

Since the war started “most of the gold, which was previously exported to UAE, was now smuggled to Egypt,” the monitors said.

The new firepower acquired by the RSF “had a massive impact on the balance of forces, both in Darfur and other regions of Sudan,” the report found.

The RSF has recently made military gains, taking control of Wad Madani, one of Sudan’s major cities, and consolidating its grip on the western region of Darfur.

In December, the United States formally determined that warring parties in Sudan committed war crimes and that the RSF and allied militias also had committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

The war has left nearly half of Sudan’s 49 million people needing aid, while more than 7.5 million people have fled their homes — making Sudan the biggest displacement crisis globally — and hunger is rising.

The sanctions monitors told the U.N. Security Council that “an excess of mediation tracks, the entrenched positions of the warring parties, and competing regional interests meant that these peace efforts had yet to stop the war, bring political settlement or address the humanitarian crisis.”
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new york — The 2020s have not been kind. The decade began with the COVID-19 pandemic and has since seen climate disasters and conflicts impact millions around the world; but last year was particularly difficult.

The U.N. Refugee Agency, UNHCR, said Friday in a new report that it responded to the highest number of emergencies in a decade last year. The Emergency Preparedness and Response in 2023 report recorded 43 emergency declarations in 29 countries.

Driven by the deadly February earthquakes in Turkey and Syria and Cyclone Mocha that tore through Myanmar and Bangladesh in May, and the eruption of internal armed conflict in Sudan in mid-April, UNHCR said new crises, plus the deterioration in old unresolved situations, have stretched its capacity to respond.

“Whether sparked by conflict, human rights violations, natural disasters or extreme weather events, these emergencies have resulted in a surge of displacement, leaving countless individuals and families in desperate need of humanitarian assistance and protection,” said Dominique Hyde, UNHCR Director of External Relations. “The scale of human suffering is unmeasurable and a stark reminder of the imperative for collective action and solidarity.”

Globally, there were a record 114 million refugees and displaced people in 2023. The number is expected to grow to 130 million this year. UNHCR says despite raising more than $5 billion last year, including $4.6 billion for emergencies and protracted crises, a $400 million shortfall by year-end prevented it reaching everyone targeted for assistance.

The sheer scale of the emergencies is daunting.

In Turkey and Syria, UNHCR figures show nearly 24 million people were affected by last February’s earthquakes. In Libya, 900,000 people across five provinces were directly affected by flash floods. In Bangladesh and Myanmar, more than 10 million were impacted by Cyclone Mocha in May while Sudan has become the world’s largest displacement crisis, with more than 7 million people forced to flee the fighting that erupted in April.

Afghans also faced new challenges in 2023. More than 100,000 were left in need of humanitarian assistance after two powerful earthquakes struck the Herat Province in October.

That same month, Pakistan’s government announced it would deport all undocumented Afghans living in the country. Some had been there for decades. UNHCR says nearly 479,000 returned to Afghanistan between mid-September and the end of December — over 29,000 of them were deported by the Pakistani authorities.

In Central and South America, more than a half million refugees and migrants cross the dangerous Darien passage headed for North America.

Old unresolved disputes also resulted in emergencies last year.

More than 100,000 Armenians left the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan, when fighting erupted between the two countries over the disputed territory.

In the eastern Congo, more than 7 million people were affected by fighting between the military and armed groups.

The U.N. Refugee Agency said it launched a rapid response to these and other crises, reaching nearly 17 million vulnerable and needy people with essential shelter supplies and other relief items last year.
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NAIROBI, Kenya — The African Union, European Union, and United States called Thursday for an immediate cease-fire and constructive dialogue between warring factions in Sudan.

The groups also called for an end to tension between Somalia and Ethiopia over an agreement signed between Ethiopia and Somalia’s breakaway region Somaliland.

Representatives of the groups, who spoke in Kampala, Uganda, after the meeting of an East African regional bloc, said that the two crises are threatening regional stability in the Horn of Africa.

Sudan’s armed forces and the rival Rapid Support Forces have been fighting for control of Sudan since April. Long-standing tensions erupted into street battles in the capital and other areas including the western Darfur region.

The AU, EU and U.S. and U.N. noted that the fighting has displaced 7 million people and kept 19 million children out of school.

Michael Hammer, U.S. special envoy for the Horn of Africa, called on Sudan’s factions to adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law and to fulfill recent commitments to stop fighting.

“It’s time for them to take action consistent with their stated claims that they want to stop the fighting and meet the needs of the people,” Hammer said.

He spoke after the regional bloc Intergovernmental Authority on Development, or IGAD, held an emergency meeting of heads of states in Kampala to discuss the Sudan war and rising tension between Somalia and Ethiopia.

Hammer said the leader of Sudan’s army, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, who is known as Hemedti, must follow through on their promise at a December 9 IGAD summit to reach an unconditional cease-fire.

“They will be responsible for the break up of Sudan if this conflict continues,” Hammer said.

The first step is an enforceable cease-fire that can be closely monitored, said Ramtane Lamamra, the U.N. envoy for Sudan.

“Guns must be silenced,” he said, adding that the war endangers “stability of the entire region and beyond.”

On Tuesday, the Sudanese government suspended ties with the east African regional bloc, accusing it of violating Sudan’s sovereignty by inviting the paramilitary leader to a summit. Hemedti attended Thursday’s summit in Kampala but did not speak.

Amid the renewed calls for a ceasefire, the United Nations announced Thursday that the U.N. Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan, which is charged with investigating violations of human rights and international humanitarian law since April 15, began its work this week.

Mohamed Chande Othman, the fact-finding mission’s chair, said investigations of alleged violations by the Sudanese Armed Forces, Rapid Support Forces and other warring parties are under way, and particular attention will be paid to sexual violence and other violations against women and children, according to U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.

The Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council established the fact-finding mission in October 2023 with the aim of ensuring that those responsible for violations of human rights and international humanitarian law are brought to justice. Dujarric said the mission will present an oral report on its initial findings at the council’s session that starts in June.

Regarding Somalia, the AU, EU and U.S. said they recognize the country’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, including the breakaway region of Somaliland.

Tension has been rising after land-locked Ethiopia signed an agreement on January 1 with Somaliland to give it access to the sea. Somaliland in return expects Ethiopia soon to recognize the region as an independent state, which angers Somalia.

Hammer said the U.S. is particularly concerned that the tensions could undermine international-backed efforts to combat al-Qaida-linked militants in Somalia.

Annette Weber, the EU special envoy for the Horn of Africa, said the two crises have a common link with Red Sea, which she called a critical waterway carrying 10 percent of global cargo.

Weber also said there needs to be a collective response among Horn of Africa countries against attacks on ships by Yemen-based Houthi rebels.
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