ZiG, short for Zimbabwe Gold, was unveiled on April 5. It is the southern African nation’s sixth attempt in the last 15 years to establish a functioning currency after previous efforts failed amid hyperinflation and collapsing foreign exchange values.

The central bank hopes to get it right this time by promising not to print any more ZiG unless they are backed by reserves.

It’s also explicitly pledged not to finance government spending by printing money, which scuppered past versions of the local currency and has seen the economy shift predominantly to transacting in US dollars.

Since the ZiG’s launch, the central bank has reset its benchmark interest rate to 20% from 130% — at one stage the highest rate in the world — and publishes the ZiG/dollar exchange rate daily on its website.

The central bank’s financial intelligence unit and police have also cracked down on unofficial market trade in the unit and threatened to fine anyone not trading in the ZiG at the official exchange rate.

The central bank’s Deputy Governor Innocent Matshe said that while there’s been enforcement, it relies on market forces to determine the ZiG’s value.

“We don’t depend on enforcement,” Matshe said in a telephone interview. “We want the currency to find itself in the market as it should and build its reputation. It has managed to hold its value steadily.”

On Thursday, the ZiG reached its highest level against the greenback, touching 13.21 per dollar, which is 2.6% above where it began trading on April 8.

The IMF also said that it will send a team to Zimbabwe in late June for the country’s regular economic health checkup.

This “will be an opportunity to discuss and look at the performance of the new currency arrangement,” said the IMF spokesperson. Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube told Bloomberg in an interview last month that he hopes for a staff-monitored program in the second half of the year.

Zimbabwe, which was banished from international capital markets since 1999 for defaulting on its debts, is trying to restore its international standing despite qualms in western capitals about its human rights record. While the US has lifted sanctions on some state-owned firms, it’s applied them to President Emmerson Mnangagwa and other top officials.

Source: The Zimbabwean

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We’ll keep fighting, forest advocates vow

A state wildlife panel on Tuesday faced newly emboldened opponents of a planned toll road through Split Oak Forest, and opted to postpone a vote that just weeks ago seemed likely to endorse the forest route.

The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission decided instead to let its executive director continue to negotiate with Osceola and Orange counties, who share ownership of the 1,700-acre preserve but have differing opinions on the best path for the Osceola County Parkway extension.

Osceola wants it to go through the forest. Orange, after a recent change of heart, doesn’t.

Neither do most of the 75 people who addressed the commission’s governing board meeting at the Hyatt Regency on International Drive in Orlando, pleading for the panel to block the Central Florida Expressway Authority’s preferred plan for the $1 billion project by refusing to lift protective restrictions on the forest acres.

Those restrictions, known as conservation easements, were intended to protect the land in perpetuity.

Many forest advocates groaned and grumbled when the board agreed to let agency executive director Roger Young keep negotiating a deal while commission staff takes a closer look at 1,550 acres developers have offered to swap if the expressway authority, known as CFX, can build a 1.3-mile segment of the highway that cleaves 160 acres of Split Oak Forest from the rest of the preserve.

“This is bad,” said Valerie Anderson, president of the Friends Of Split Oak, an advocacy group. “They should not be negotiating with CFX, Orange County and Osceola County to allow a toll road through Split Oak. They should be protecting Split Oak.”

She said she’s not optimistic of the outcome. “But we’ll keep on fighting,” she said.

For 90 minutes, the seven-member wildlife commission, all appointees of the governor, were peppered with pleas from environmentalists, hikers and nature lovers who implored them to say no to taking any portion of Split Oak. The opponents have been invigorated by the Orange County Commission’s surprise Nov. 28 vote to reverse its historic position and oppose the road through the preserve.

“Building a highway through 1,689 acres of  legally designated mitigation park is not only infuriating, it’s environmentally insane,” said Steven M. Myers, a Maitland attorney specializing in environmental and land use law.

Many forest defenders described Split Oak as an oasis.

“A place where our souls can find peace and wonder,” one said.

Alternate routes have been proposed for the toll road, said Melissa Tucker, director of the fish and wildlife commission’s division of habitat and species conservation, who provided the board with an overview of the project and controversy.

“We recognize the road choice that would go south of the forest area is best for conservation,” she said, referring to the alternative dubbed the “Split Oak Avoidance Route.” “But we also recognize that route would be the one with the greatest impact on the local communities and private homeowners.”

Though outnumbered, a couple members of the Lake Mary Jane Alliance, residents of neighborhoods near the preserve, spoke in favor of the preserve-crossing path CFX calls the “Split Oak Minimization Route,” citing the proposed land donation.

Orange County Commissioner Nicole Wilson, elected three years ago partly because of her pledge to defend Split Oak, thanked the commission for its decades of restoration work managing the forest and urged the panel to “stay the course on your commitment to protecting these public lands and the imperiled species that have found refuge there.”

She pointed out the Expressway Authority has no ownership or investment in the forest.

“Yet somehow we find ourselves beholden to their preferred alignment, which was chosen for financial feasibility, not its conservation value or public benefit,” Wilson said. “The mitigation alternatives that are being presented to you today are nothing more than a shell game…The shell game is that you’d let them take this valuable land that you’ve worked hard to restore and they will give you some other land that you can then start to try to resuscitate.”

Forest defenders ramped up the pressure on the commission in the hours before Tuesday’s meeting, rallying just after dark Monday near the Shingle Creek Trail in Orlando.Protestors stood together and holding tall battery-powered, illuminated letters on an overpass above Florida’s Turnpike that spelled out “SAVE SPLIT OAK.”

“We combined art with renewable energy to raise awareness about protecting the forest,” said Frank OSCAR Weaver, climate and clean energy manager for the Alianza Center, which organized the rally with the friends of Split Oak Forest.

The extension is favored by the Lake Nona-based Tavistock Development Co. and Suburban Land Reserve, part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ corporate family. Both entities have proposed large developments on holdings near the forest.

Osceola County Commission Chairman Brandon Arrington, speaking for his board, said the road would not cross any part of the forest in Orange County. Also vice chair of CFX’s governing board, he praised the land swap, predicting it will someday be held up as the gold standard for other regional transportation projects.

FWC commissioner Albert Maury explained his decision to keep negotiating.

“The devil’s in the details and we don’t have enough of the details here,” he said.

Maury said any deal negotiated by Young, FWC’s executive director, would need board approval.

Source: Orlando Sentinel

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Zambian authorities have said the yet to be identified survivor is being treated in hospital.

Rescue workers in Zambia have pulled out the first survivor of a December 1 landslide that inundated an open-pit copper mine and trapped at least 25 people working there, the disaster management unit said on Wednesday.

The rescue team also retrieved one body which had yet to be identified, the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit said in a statement posted on Facebook.

“A 49-year-old man has been rescued from the collapsed mine slug dump site in Chingola after being trapped with several other miners,” it said, adding that he was being treated in hospital.

Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema said on Tuesday he was still hopeful that the trapped miners, who were working there without a permit, were still alive, as rescue efforts continued.

The miners at Seseli mine in Chingola, about 400km (250 miles) northwest of Lusaka, were trapped in three locations and heavy rains had flooded the pit, the government said.

The mine was previously owned by Vedanta’s Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) but is now in the hands of a local company that has yet to start mining operations as it awaits safety and environmental approvals.

It was still not clear how many miners had been trapped but mines minister Paul Kabuswe said on Monday 25 families had so far come forward to claim missing relatives who were working when the accident happened.

Rescue workers, including military personnel and others from large-scale mining companies, were being cautious due to soft ground, slowing down the operation.

Zambia is among the top 10 copper producers in the world. Chingola, a city in the country’s Copperbelt Province, has large open-pit copper mines surrounded by huge waste piles of rock and earth that have been dug out of the mines.

Informal mining in the country is common, where artisanal miners dig in search of minerals, often without proper safety procedures.

Source: Al Jazeera

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As a busy Zambian parliamentary leader, Princess Kasune had no time to meet with Bupe Lughano Kabaghe, a Kellogg Institute international scholar completing her senior thesis and international development studies capstone on the Zambian National Assembly. But in the end, Kasune – the newly appointed Central Province Minister – spent hours with Kabaghe, eating the ground-maize dish nshima together as they talked about political leadership and the role of Zambian women.

“We had our shoes off, just having this bonding experience,” said Kabaghe, who is majoring in both political science and global affairs, with a concentration in international development studies (IDS). “After walking out I felt treated like an equal, and that’s the leader I aspire to be.”

There’s no doubt in Kabaghe’s mind that she’ll one day return to political life in Zambia, where she grew up in Kitwe with family members who fought for the country’s independence and served as legislators. Even the presidential office, currently held by Hakainde Hichilema, isn’t beyond her aspirations, though defining what a life of high-level service means to Kabaghe has evolved with time and experience.

“I want to be a person that creates change,” she says. “It now means creating immense positive change in the world, to leave communities better than I’ve found them.”

Zambian leaders have influenced those ideas, and Kabaghe had the chance to speak with Kasune, Deputy Speaker Malungo A. Chisangano, and 15 other legislators while conducting field research for both her senior thesis and her IDS capstone project during Summer 2023, supported by a Kellogg/Kroc Undergraduate Research Grant.

“Some are young, some are older, they all have different perspectives and educational backgrounds,” Kabaghe said. “My research was focused on women’s pathways into political leadership. Exploring this question from a political science and development perspective, I am aiming to understand the ways we can increase the number of women in parliament.”

But at Kellogg, Kabaghe integrated into her projects what she has learned from other fields including development and anthropology. She’ll be presenting her research as part of a panel discussion of governance at the African Studies Association conference in San Francisco.

“I have been so impressed with Lughano’s research that I invited her to join a panel with graduate students and professors,” said Jaimie Bleck, associate professor of political science and the senior research advisor for the Ford Program in Human Development Studies and Solidarity at Kellogg.

Kabaghe credits Kellogg Faculty Fellows Bleck, Kellogg-affiliated Africanist Rev. Robert Dowd, CSC, and Steve Reifenberg, director of the International Development Studies minor, with helping her to approach her research in a more academic and informed way: assisting Bleck with research on Malian civil society, studying women’s political participation in Rwanda, reviewing Afrobarometer data on governance.

“In my international development class, teams of students work with clients on real world challenges,” said Reifenberg. “Lughano is working closely with the Education Bridge organization in South Sudan. Her contacts in the political and education sectors, and her experiences living and working across the continent, have proven invaluable.”

Kabaghe said she appreciates the ways in which the University of Notre Dame and the priorities of the Kellogg Institute have called her out of her comfort zone. “I’m taking a nuclear weapons class,” she said, offering an example. “It’s a combination of political science and nuclear physics, and I’m not very much of a math person so I’m learning many new things.”

Rather than pursue a career in finance or consulting, which are often attractive to incoming African students, Kellogg leaders have helped Kabaghe to nurture her own passions with the understanding that leadership is foundational to the future of African nations. “Kellogg is the space that allows me to do research and learn about many things,” she said.

She plans to continue her journey in graduate school, preferring universities in the United Kingdom where Kabaghe has family and where she had the chance to study abroad during her junior year. She hopes to land in London or Edinburgh before ultimately returning to serve her fellow Zambians.

“My heart really is in Zambia and the part of the world I want to change and create impact in is Africa,” she said.

Until then, she nurtures her relationships within the Notre Dame community – kicking off her shoes and sharing a meal with Kellogg colleagues from diverse backgrounds. “Where I also find my home is the African Students Association,” Kabaghe said. “It feels very much like home, and it’s a safe space on campus where we get to be just Africans.”

Source: Political Science

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China has chosen China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) to negotiate a concession to operate the Tanzania-Zambia Railway line, as geopolitical tensions rise over control of trading routes for critical minerals in Africa.

CCECC, a subsidiary of the China Railway Construction Corporation, is expected to negotiate a public-private partnership concession in the form of a build-operate-transfer model with Tanzania and Zambia to operate Tazara.

It is also expected to upgrade the railway – which Chinese President Xi Jinping has called “a symbol of China-Africa friendship” – at an estimated cost of US$1 billion.

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The concession is expected to give a much-needed lifeline to the almost 50-year-old line, also known as Tazara, which was originally funded by Mao Zedong’s government as a foreign aid project.

Last month, the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority announced the news, saying Chinese investors and CCECC were poised to play a significant role, hence the company’s proposal was “expected imminently”.

Observers have said the funding for the railway pointed to Beijing’s keen interest in using Tazara for mining exports from Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

But China is not alone – competition in the area with both the European Union and the United States is intensifying as the race for critical minerals used in the production of electric vehicle batteries heats up.

Tim Zajontz, a lecturer in global political economy at the University of Freiburg, said while the Chinese consortium would commit to invest in Tazara’s ailing infrastructure and insufficient rolling stock, it was not an aid mission.

“The Chinese investors have made it unmistakably clear in previous negotiations that Tazara is no longer considered an aid project but that it must be a commercially viable venture,” said Zajontz, who is also a research fellow in the Centre for International and Comparative Politics at Stellenbosch University.

Aly-Khan Satchu, a sub-­Saharan Africa geoeconomic ­an­­­­­­­­­­a­­­­­­­­­lyst, said the Tanzanian and Zambian governments seemed to be looking for a major revamp of the railway and were happy to concede the running of this line to the private sector.

“So I expect this to be a revamp, to operate as the concessionaire for a meaningful period of time,” Satchu said.

He also noted Xi’s keen interest in upgrading Tazara.

“This railway is a symbol of the Sino-African story and President Xi understands the power of the narrative,” Satchu said.

Xi had promised to overhaul the railway when Tanzanian counterpart Samia Suluhu Hassan visited China last year and during Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema’s visit in September.

“China is willing to support the upgrading and transformation of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway in accordance with the principles of marketisation and commercialisation,” Xi said when he met Hichilema.

Zajontz said Tazara was part of the DNA of Sino-African relations, and often used to emphasise that China’s dealings with Africa were based on equality, solidarity and anti-imperialism.

“Notwithstanding the official rhetoric, Beijing has also keen geoeconomic interests in Tazara’s rehabilitation which would improve the performance of the Dar es Salaam corridor, not least for mining exports from Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” said Zajontz, whose coming book, The Political Economy of China’s Infrastructure Development in Africa, discusses Tazara’s planned privatisation.

When China’s involvement in the Tazara railway began in the 1970s, the country was facing its own financial difficulties.

Meanwhile, Zambia was desperate for a railway link to the Tanzanian coast for its main export, copper. Neighbouring white-controlled Rhodesia – now Zimbabwe – had cut Zambia’s only route to the sea in response to its transfer of power to the black majority.

The US and Russia both refused to fund a new railway, so China stepped in, building Tazara for about a billion yuan, or billions of US dollars at today’s rates.

From 1970 to 1975, as many as 50,000 Chinese workers were deployed to build the 1,860km (1,155 miles) of track stretching from Zambia’s copper belt to the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam on the Indian Ocean.

It remains China’s biggest overseas project to date, and managed to boost Beijing’s political capital during the Cold War.

However, the American embassy in Zambia said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that although China had funded Tazara’s construction, it was the US that kept it running, with over US$45 million in help for “new locomotives and rolling stock” as well as “substantial technical assistance”.

“Tazara has never reached its full potential,” the embassy wrote on Thursday. “By the end of 1978, only two trains were operating daily.”

“In the 1980s, the United States joined international partners in responding to Zambia and Tanzania’s request to rehabilitate Tazara, with the US government providing over US$27 million through USAID,” it added.

Zajontz said the embassy’s post was a great example of how the “great powers” competed for public opinion across Africa.

“Everyone who knows a little bit about Tazara knows that eventually it will be privatised and that the Chinese would not allow a non-Chinese firm to run it – for obvious historical reasons,” Zajontz said.

He added that the tweet showed how “desperate” both China and the West were in stressing how much they had invested in African infrastructure initiatives.

Tazara’s upgrade follows EU and US announcements that they will fund the building of a railway from the Zambian copper belt to an existing line to the Angolan port of Lobito. They will also develop the Lobito transport corridor, which will connect inland southern DRC and northwest Zambia to regional and global trade markets via the Angolan port city.

The interest in the central African countries all circles back to minerals that are vital to the manufacture of electric batteries, including cobalt which is mined in the DRC and Zambia. Chinese companies have made vast investments in both countries.

“The US wants to chalk up something on the board and this Lobito corridor is a relatively bite-sized investment – but the US is a Johnny-come-lately and woefully behind the curve,” Satchu said.

Zajontz said the West was keen to control its own transport routes in the region.

“Both the US and the EU want to prevent a situation in which Chinese transport or logistics firms could interrupt critical value chains if prompted as part of geopolitical escalations,” Zajontz said.

“For Beijing, the recent announcement of Western investments along the Lobito corridor has certainly increased the geopolitical incentive to invest in and operate Tazara.”

Emmanuel Matambo, research director at the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for Africa-China Studies, said China understood the ideological and intangible value of Tazara, and so “the concession will not place high demands, if at all, on Zambia and Tanzania”.

As a landlocked country, Zambia in particular had struggled to make efficient use of its neighbours’ seaports and China was alive to that, he said. “The Tazara is more than a railway; it embodies China’s long-standing solidarity with the developing world.”

Matambo added that, unlike Tanzania where the ruling party had a firm hold on the incumbency, Zambia was more politically open and China had wanted to retain Zambia’s friendship through leadership changes. Helping in tangible ways such as reviving Tazara would boost China’s image in the eyes of Zambians, he said.

Source: Yahoo Finance

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A delegation from the Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security (PAPS) of the African Union Commission (AUC) held a consultation meeting with the African Group Experts of the UN First Committee on 19 October 2023. The meeting, which was chaired by the Team Coordinator of the Group, Mr. Mahmoud M. Lawal, was held in the Mandela Conference Hall of the African Union Permanent Mission to the United Nations, New York, USA.

The meeting was intended to inform the Members of the Group on the efforts by the Commission to support AU Member States elaborate a Common African Commission on the Fourth Review Conference of the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects to be held in June 2024, in New York. The efforts to develop the Common position are pursuant to decision Assembly/AU/Dec.843(XXXVI) of the Thirty-Sixth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union that was held from 18 to 19 February 2023 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which directed the AU Commission to, among others, “… initiate a process of elaborating a common African position”.

The Experts were also updated on steps taken to revise the African Union Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD) Policy Framework, which is expected to incorporate areas such as conflict prevention, early recovery, and transitions into the Policy Framework. The meeting discussed PCRD critical role in shaping the AU approach to rebuild societies emerging from conflict.
The Chair welcomed the work being done by the AU Commission in developing a draft Common African Position, underscoring the importance for Africa to reaffirm its commitment in fostering comprehensive solutions and strengthening durable and sustained peace in the continent. “Our meeting will focus on the work of the Open-Ended Working Group on Conventional Ammunition and the importance of an African Common Position on the upcoming UN 4th Review Conference on Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons. We need to galvanize an African Common Position that emphasizes the importance of effective arms control, border management, and the promotion of responsible and transparent arms transfers, among others” Emphasized Mr. Lawal.

Speaking on behalf of H.E Fatima Kyari Mohammed, Head of the Permanent Observer Mission to the UN, the Charge d’ affairs Mr. Ayoup Elrashdi, stated that, the consultation meeting is an integral part of the AU Commission’s response for Africa’s need for a holistic approach and strengthened mechanisms to curb the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in Africa. He added that, it also reflects the AU commitment to fostering sustainable peace in post-conflict countries, and ensuring that Africa is in the right path towards recovery and resilience. “Africa has long been affected by the devastating consequences of the uncontrolled flow of small arms and light weapons, which is fuelling conflicts, undermining peace and security, impeding development, and spreading violence against innocent civilians” underlined the Charge d’affairs.

Mr. Ayoup recalled that, during the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the OAU-AU in 2013, the AU Heads of State and Government pledged to silence the guns and to end all wars in the continent by 2020. The initiative was then extended to 2030. “Silencing the Guns recognizes the significant role that the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons plays in fuelling conflicts and instability in Africa. We cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that these weapons, when find their way into the hands of various actors, resulting in loss of life, population displacement, and the disruption of livelihoods. It is against this backdrop, in May 2022 the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) directed the African Union Commission to elaborate a continental strategy on the fight against illicit firearms in Africa, including emerging weapon systems” noted the Charge d’affairs. This, he said is expected to include African Common Position in preparation for the 4th Review Conference for the UN Programme of Action to be held in 2024, within the spirit of the “Bamako Declaration on an African Common Position on the Illicit Proliferation, Circulation, and Trafficking of Small Arms and Light Weapons” of 2000. “Our deliberation today is therefore in line with Member States Directives to set the groundwork for the fourth review conference on the PoA on small arms and light weapons, which will take place in New York in June 2024”.

Participants at the meeting listened to a briefing on the Open-Ended Working Group on Conventional Ammunition, presented by Mr. Yasee Lagardien, Permanent Mission of South Africa to the UN followed by a briefing on the Common Position on the upcoming UN Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons 4th Review Conference, presented by Mr. Peter Otim and Mr. Christopher Kayoshe, AUC Ag Head of Division – Disarmament , Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) / Security Sector Reform (SSR) and finally a briefing was presented on the Post-Conflict Reconstruction Strategy Revision Process, by Mr. Adil Elbadoussi, AUC-PAPS  Senior Policy Adviser.  

About the African Union:

The African Union spearheads Africa’s development and integration in close collaboration with African Union Member States, the Regional Economic Communities and African citizens.

The AU Vision is to accelerate progress towards an integrated, prosperous and inclusive Africa, at peace with itself, playing a dynamic role in the continental and global arena, effectively driven by an accountable, efficient and responsive Commission.

About the AU Permanent Observers Mission to the UN:

The Permanent Mission of the African Union to the United Nations (AU Mission to the UN) plays a pivotal role in representing the interests of the African Union within the United Nations system.

The Mission advocates for African interests and concerns on a wide range of global issues, including peace and security, sustainable development, human rights, and climate change. It works to ensure that African perspectives are considered and integrated into UN policies and decisions.

The Mission plays a crucial role in aligning AU positions with UN agendas and initiatives, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and peacekeeping missions.
The Mission serves as a channel for information exchange between the African Union and the United Nations. It relays UN decisions, resolutions, and initiatives to the AU and provides the UN with updates on AU activities and developments in Africa.

Source: AU Int

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Africa stands as a veritable treasure trove of potential. Holding 30% of the globe’s mineral reserves, 8% of natural gas, 12% of oil, 40% of gold, and an astonishing 90% of chromium and platinum, the continent’s promise extends far beyond its physical resources. Within the next 20 years, Africa is projected to boast the world’s most significant working-age population, reaching a peak of around 65%. Furthermore, sub-Saharan Africa is anticipated to account for approximately two-thirds of global population growth, its population nearly doubling by 2050, with a median age of only 22 by 2040—a figure still significantly below the often-cited median age threshold of 30 associated with higher human development levels.

The youth dominate Africa’s demographic profile; over 60% of its population is under 25. By the year 2030, these young Africans are projected to make up about 42% of the global youth population. Intriguingly, the majority of new businesses in Africa are launched by those under the age of 35—a phenomenon that the African Development Bank attributes largely to robust economies and large populations. Projections indicate that sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, will undergo rapid urbanization, contributing significantly to this entrepreneurial trend.

With such expansive population growth come inherent challenges—specifically, considerable strains on infrastructure, education, and healthcare. In the world’s economically poorest continent, opportunities for demographic-based economic growth can only be seized if resources are effectively allocated and strategically directed toward nurturing the next generation into becoming effective innovators, business owners, and labourers.

Africa’s ascendancy occurs against the backdrop of a global landscape fragmented by populist nationalism, trade protectionism, violent extremism, and an increasingly zero-sum competitive outlook among great powers. Successfully navigating this complex milieu is a strategic imperative for Africa. Doing so will provide avenues for diversified relationships with regional powers, stimulate increased trade and investment, improve infrastructure, and amplify Africa’s voice in international affairs as the continent’s negotiating clout expands.

Failure to navigate effectively risks plunging the continent into heightened geopolitical tensions, increased competition over resources, disruptive realignments of alliances, and the unrelenting exploitation by foreign powers, keen on extracting resources or engaging in proxy conflicts to safeguard their strategic interests. The determinant of which future will manifest hinges critically on the capacity for improved African unity, a responsibility primarily incumbent upon the African Union (AU).

The AU’s precursor, the Organisation for African Unity, was established in 1963 with a visionary concept of ‘pan-Africanism,’ envisioning a single market, unified diplomatic corps, and a centralized defense department. That ambitious vision, which would have significantly eroded the sovereignty of sitting African presidents, was ultimately rejected. Consequently, the OAU evolved to more closely resemble organizations like the United Nations, the Arab League, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, all of which adhere to a principle of non-interference in member states’ internal affairs.

The founding of the AU in 2002 marked a revival of the aspiration for pan-African integration. Designed to foster cooperation, integration, and development across Africa, the AU is the most audacious attempt yet to transplant the successes of the European Union to another continent. However, the realization of these ambitions requires deeper integration and a coordinated foreign policy, critical factors in fulfilling the promise of regionalism envisioned by the AU, and in allocating resources to promote collective growth and development.

Historically, the continent’s geography—characterized by deserts, rainforests, and savannas—has played a pivotal role in shaping its political and economic trajectory. The absence of navigable waterways has historically hindered trade, communication, and movement, compounded by the Sahara Desert, which serves as a natural barrier between North Africa and its sub-Saharan counterpart.

Governance challenges are exacerbated by the sheer size of Africa’s territories, infrastructure development needs, resource allocation complexities, and the ever-present quest for political stability. Natural resources such as oil and minerals hold a pivotal role in the continent’s economy but are often the flashpoints for conflict and power struggles. These challenges are further complicated by arbitrary borders established by former colonial powers, which pay little heed to ethnic and cultural divisions, and continue to influence modern conflicts and governance hurdles.

In a world increasingly defined by fragmentation, the project of African unity is not merely a lofty ideal; it is a critical necessity. The onus of fostering this unity rests squarely on the shoulders of the African Union—an organization with the monumental task of either making or breaking Africa’s future. As the continent teeters on the edge of transformative change, unity becomes not merely an ideal but an essential key to unlocking Africa’s untapped potential.

In our contemporary moment, Africa faces a labyrinth of challenges: from a post-pandemic economy marred by health disparities, malnutrition, and pervasive poverty, to the grim irony of experiencing some of the worst effects of climate change despite being among the world’s most modest per capita carbon emitters. Compounding this is the alarming reality that over 100 million Africans are ensnared in a severe food crisis—a quandary further inflamed by ongoing climatic turmoil.

The African Union’s ledger on security offers a variegated tapestry. On the one hand, its Peace and Security Council has been an active theater since 2004, emboldened by military interventions in hotspots like Burundi, Somalia, and Darfur. Yet, its reputation is tarnished by glaring oversights—its incapacity to quell a recent series of coups, predominantly in West Africa, and its limp response to Ethiopia’s civil war, which rages distressingly close to the AU’s own headquarters. The Union’s recourse to sanctions and membership suspensions has proven to be more symbolic than prohibitive.

Electorally, the AU teeters on a precarious ledge. Observers who were supposed to function as democracy’s referees have often faltered, unwilling to chastise regimes that manipulate electoral outcomes. While one must situate this critique within the broader context of the hurdles facing democracy in Africa, it underscores an unsettling instability permeating the continent. Further exacerbating the AU’s existential struggle is the financial delinquency of member states, leading to crippling sanctions.

Collaboration across this vast and varied continent is imperative, yet recent events expose a fragile sense of unity. Case in point: the AU’s failure to broker an agreement between Kenya and Djibouti over a coveted non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Ordinarily, the AU’s imprimatur would back a single, unified candidate; this lapse fractured Africa’s global stance. Similarly, the Union’s inability to coalesce around a candidate for the Director-General of the World Trade Organization highlighted not just a missed opportunity but a chasm between Anglophone and Francophone Africa.

Despite this disunity, the AU’s Agenda 2063 outlines a vision of a more cohesive future. It lays the groundwork for an “integrated, prosperous, and peaceful Africa,” hinging on five pivotal programs: the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA); the Programme for Infrastructure Development; the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme; the Science, Technology, and Innovation Strategy for Africa; and the Accelerated Industrial Development for Africa.

The AFCFTA—poised to become the world’s largest free trade zone, covering 1.2 billion people across 55 countries—holds immense promise. Yet, the fruits of this ambitious endeavor are contingent on resolving issues like ‘rules of origin’ and creating mechanisms for settling disputes. Furthermore, AFCFTA should be leveraged to forge a unified African trade policy—one that transcends the mere flow of goods and services and conceives a powerful customs union capable of singularly taxing imports from non-African nations. Such a regime could partially alleviate the AU’s budgetary reliance on external sovereign donors, which currently account for a staggering 25% of its financial resources.

In the European Union, such import duties and VATs have become self-sustaining revenue streams, channeled into diverse programs ranging from agriculture to research. Africa could adopt a similar model, with revenues funding not just the AU’s activities but also empowering its member states. A harmonized trade policy could also serve as a safeguard against Africa’s transformation into a dumping ground for substandard goods and expired drugs, elevating the health and quality of life across the continent.

In an era teeming with uncertainties, the AU must recommit to its mission of integration. Now, more than ever, Africa’s prosperity is tethered to the strength of its unity—a unity that can drive economic growth, buttress global influence and ultimately fulfill the promise of a continent on the cusp of transformation.

As Africa grapples with staggering levels of debt, the continent finds itself at a financial crossroads. At the center of this predicament is China, which has become Africa’s most significant creditor through its expansive Belt and Road Initiative. Billions have been funneled into infrastructure projects, some of which have proven to be more of a boondoggle than a boon. Case in point: a host of new rail lines crisscrossing eastern and central African nations. Though built, these projects have yet to generate sufficient revenue for governments to service their loans.

But China isn’t the lone actor in this drama; other key stakeholders include the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, France, and the United States. Amid the economic fallout of the pandemic, which has led to ballooning expenditures and stymied growth, the financial predicament of many African countries has worsened. Presently, eight African nations are grappling with debt distress, while another 13 are on a perilous precipice, according to the World Bank. A dark shadow looms over these nations, reminiscent of Sri Lanka—currently engulfed in an economic crisis and defaulting on a staggering amount of international debt.

In stark contrast, Europe has developed a sophisticated arsenal of debt-restructuring tools. The European Stability Mechanism, the European Financial Stability Facility, and the European Commission’s balance-of-payments assistance program each offer distinct lifelines to nations in fiscal peril. The EU also extends financial aid through investment vehicles like the European Development Fund and the European Investment Bank.

It’s not that the African Union lacks the intent; it has laid the groundwork with initiatives such as the African Debt Management Forum and the African Peer Review Mechanism. Yet, these mechanisms are far from comprehensive, lacking a specialized institution focused on debt restructuring. The imperative for Africa is clear: further integration must be aggressively pursued. Doing so would empower the AU to conduct continent-wide debt restructuring, reducing the burden on individual countries to navigate these treacherous financial waters alone.

Moreover, the specter of a unified continental currency looms in the distance—a tantalizing vision that requires setting debt-to-GDP ratios on a sustainable footing as an essential precondition.

In a century that many believe will be Africa’s to define, the question of how to effectively manage its debt crisis may well be the linchpin upon which its future prosperity hinges. Thus, it is high time for the African Union to take inspiration from its European counterpart and construct a more formidable bulwark against a future defined by debt.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has coined the term “travel apartheid” to encapsulate the stark contrast in migration opportunities between African citizens and their counterparts in wealthier nations. This inequity is largely due to Western perceptions that associate Africans with heightened risks—ranging from security concerns to disease, asylum-seeking, and visa violations.

Throughout the pandemic, Africa recorded the lowest infection rates across continents, a feat attributed to its youthful demographic, sparse population density, swift and rigorous lockdown measures, and accrued experience battling infectious diseases like Malaria, HIV/AIDS, and Ebola. While the underreporting of cases remains a caveat, the inequitable travel policies adopted by Western nations underline the urgency for Africa to bolster its bargaining position on such matters.

Migration is not merely about movement; it is an avenue for cultural exchange, educational advancement, investment influx, and the enhancement of national reputation. Accordingly, the African Union should advocate for migration reciprocity with nations beyond the African continent. This would ensure that an African passport holder enjoys the same visa-free travel privileges extended to non-African travelers.

Yet, the unsettling truth persists: the most consequential decisions affecting Africa are often orchestrated beyond its borders. To put this into perspective, France alone boasts a GDP that eclipses the combined economies of all African nations. Recognizing this, the AU has established diplomatic missions to a myriad of international bodies, including the EU, the UN, the World Bank, and the IMF. Despite this diplomatic web, an overarching document delineating a unified African foreign policy is notably absent.

Over the years, the AU has inched closer to continental unanimity through its cultivation of Common African Position (CAP) papers. These negotiated texts encapsulate shared stances on a gamut of themes or policy subjects that bear continental or transcontinental significance. These CAPs are instrumental in guiding the AU’s interactions with global entities like the UN, and they are vital touchstones in defining Africa’s developmental and strategic priorities on the world stage.

This growing consensus is slowly but surely amplifying Africa’s voice on the global stage. A unified trade and economic framework could provide the scaffolding for a comprehensive African foreign policy. Such a policy would not only fortify Africa’s stance on climate change, foreign aid reliance, and global geopolitics, but also offer a counterbalance to the influence of power blocs like the BRICS nations, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Arab League, or the European Union.

As Africa’s demographic landscape shifts and its economic foothold strengthens, the AU is poised to gain increased geopolitical sway. Demanding that foreign actors engage with Africa as a singular economic entity would enhance the dividends of continental integration. Only the AU, with its unique amalgam of natural, human, and organizational resources—and a clearly defined mandate—can undertake this monumental task.

The stakes for Africa, without doubt, are higher than for any other region. Yet, the AU stands as a beacon of untapped potential for transformative dialogues on climate, economics, and global security. It has laid the groundwork for realizing the lofty ideals of pan-Africanism, which encompasses lasting peace, continental integration, sustainable development, and global influence. Unity isn’t just a pipe dream; it’s the linchpin for tackling Africa’s multifaceted challenges and ambitions.

Source: Int Policy Digest

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Jesuit scholars in Zambia are urging the government of the Southern African nation to make economic policies that target the poor and other vulnerable members of society, in view of getting them out of their inhuman situations.  

In their Monday, October 16 Basic Needs and Nutrition Basket (BNNB) statement outlining the cost of living for September 2023, officials of the Jesuit Center for Theological Reflection (JCTR) decry the “prohibitively high” cost of living, which they say is making the lives of poor and vulnerable Zambians difficult.

“JCTR urges the government to give profound consideration to the preferential option for the poor, vulnerable, and marginalized when crafting and executing policies,” officials of the Lusaka-based center that is engaged in research, advocacy, education, and consultancy on social issues say. 

They emphasize, “It is imperative that the government actively extends its support and solidarity to these vulnerable segments of society and establishes, as well as effectively enforces pro-poor policies.”

JCTR officials say the cost of living in the Southern African nation “remains prohibitively high for the majority of Zambians.”

“This persistent challenge continues to burden the Zambian citizens, particularly the vulnerable and marginalized segments of our population,” they say.

They add that while their September BNNB puts the cost of living for a family at K9000 (US$.422), additional expenses such as airtime and data bundles are not included in the data.

“This implies that the actual cost of living for a family of five in Lusaka may well exceed by far the K9000 threshold,” the Jesuit scholars say, and continue, “Families are often faced with additional financial burdens beyond the essentials, and addressing these broader economic challenges is essential for improving the overall well-being of households.”

The Jesuit scholars call upon Zambia’s government, civil society, and the private sector in the country “to have open and honest conversations, collaborate and develop sustainable strategies that address the root causes of high living costs.”

They say the President Hakainde Hichilema-led government could adopt an approach “that encompasses measures to combat inflation, increase income levels, and enhance the accessibility and affordability of essential goods and services including fuel pump prices that have continued to have a negative effect on the cost of commodities and cost of doing business.”

The Zambian government, JCTR officials add, needs to “expand and strengthen social safety net programs to support vulnerable populations during times of inflation and economic uncertainty.”

Source: ACI Africa

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The acting Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, has received a delegation of military officers from Zambia, Lesotho and Zimbabwe to strengthen collaboration in the quest for border security.

During the meeting, Adeniyi warmly welcomed the visiting military officers, assuring them of unwavering support and providing them with essential documents to gain insight into the customs service’s operations.

The acting CGC emphasised the importance of collaboration between the Nigeria Customs Service and security agencies across Africa. He said partnership is pivotal in combating issues such as kidnapping, illegal mining, and other criminal activities plaguing the region.

In line with the meeting’s theme, “Reshaping Africa Security Narratives,” the customs boss promised to involve competent individuals from border communities in the customs service, among other initiatives.

Colonel Masheke Mutimwa, who led the delegation, expressed gratitude for the warm hospitality extended the team by customs management team. He explained that the visit aims to expose their student officers to Nigeria Customs operations to enrich their knowledge and work methodologies.

Source: Guardian

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The discovery of ancient wooden logs in the banks of a river in Zambia has changed archaeologists’ understanding of ancient human life. 

Researchers found evidence the wood had been used to build a structure almost half a million years ago. 

The findings, published in the journal Nature, suggest stone-age people built what may have been shelters.

“This find has changed how I think about our early ancestors,” archaeologist Prof Larry Barham said.

The University of Liverpool scientist leads the Deep Roots of Humanity research project, which excavated and analysed the ancient timber. 

The discovery could transform the current belief ancient humans led simple, nomadic lives.

“They made something new, and large, from wood,” Prof Barham said.

“They used their intelligence, imagination and skills to create something they’d never seen before, something that had never previously existed.”

The researchers also uncovered ancient wooden tools, including digging sticks. But what excited them most were two pieces of wood found at right angles to each other. 

“One is lying over the other and both pieces of wood have notches cut into them,” said Geoff Duller, professor of geography at the University of Aberystwyth and a member of the team.

“You can clearly see those notches have been cut by stone tools.

“It makes the two logs fit together to become structural objects.”

Making fire

Further analysis confirmed the logs were about 476,000 years old.

Team member Perrice Nkombwe, from the Livingstone Museum, in Zambia, said: “I was amazed to know that woodworking was such a deep-rooted tradition.

“It dawned on me that we had uncovered something extraordinary.”

Until now, evidence for the human use of wood has been limited to making fire and crafting tools such as digging sticks and spears.

Luminescence dating

One of the oldest wooden discoveries was a 400,000-year-old spear in prehistoric sands at Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, in 1911.

Unless it is preserved in very specific conditions, wood simply rots away. 

But in the meandering riverbanks above the Kalambo Falls, close to the Zambia-Tanzania border, it was waterlogged and essentially pickled for millennia. 

The team measured the age of layers of earth in which it was buried, using luminescence dating.

Grains of rock absorb natural radioactivity from the environment over time – essentially charging up like tiny batteries, as Prof Duller put it.

And that radioactivity can be released and measured by heating up the grains and analysing the light emitted.

The size of the two logs, the smaller of which is about 1.5m (5ft), suggests whoever fitted them together was building something substantial.

Unlikely to have been a hut or permanent dwelling, it could have formed part of a platform for a shelter, the team says.

“It might be some sort of structure to sit beside the river and fish,” Prof Duller said:.

“But it’s hard to tell what sort of [complete] structure it might have been.”

It is also unclear what species of ancient human – or hominid – built it.

No bones have been found at this site so far.

And the timber is much older than the earliest modern human – or Homo sapien – fossils, which are about 315,000 years old.

Woodworking tradition

“We don’t know – it could have been Homo sapiens and we just haven’t discovered fossils from that age yet,” Prof Duller said.

“But it could be a different species – [perhaps] Homo erectus or Homo naledi – there were a number of hominid species around at that time in southern Africa.”

Transported to the UK for analysis and preservation, the wooden artefacts are being stored in tanks that mimic the waterlogging that preserved them so beautifully for the last half-million years. But they will soon return to Zambia to be displayed.

“With this discovery, we hope to enrich our collection and use the finds to inform the interpretation of the woodworking tradition in Zambia,” Ms Nkombwe said.

Continuing the work at the Kalambo Falls site, she added, “has the potential to deepen our knowledge of ancient woodworking techniques, craftsmanship, and human interactions with the environment”.

Source: British Broadcasting Corporation

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