Ethiopia and Somalia Historic Treaty

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Flag of Ethiopia

With a population of over 100 million inhabitants, Ethiopia is the largest landlocked country in the world. Sea access is not just a common question, but is an existential issue for the country. On January 1, 2024, Ethiopia announced an agreement signed with Somaliland (way to announce the colors of the new year) to lease the port of Berbera in Somaliland, on the Red Sea, and a 20-km stretch of Red Sea coastline for 20 years, Ethiopia – Somaliland Agreement: Will Sea Access lead to Conflict in the Horn of Africa? The agreement made countries in the entire Horn of Africa sweat pools in fear of war, even though those same countries, Ethiopia’s coastal neighbors, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Somalia all rejected its pleas for direct access to a port on the Red Sea. African countries are always ready and eager to lease their lands, ports, airports, railways (Lobito), for a specific duration to European or Chinese or even South African companies, why is it so hard to do the same for fellow African neighbors? Somalia’s president was particularly vocal, calling the Ethiopia-Somaliland agreement an act of agression, saying that the agreement implied that Ethiopia was recognizing Somaliland (which has seceded from Somalia) as an independent state. 

Flag of Somalia

Last week, a historic agreement was signed between Ethiopia and Somalia, under the patronage of Turkey. It centered around, 1) resolving misunderstandings, with both countries committing to resolve issues in upcoming months; 2) cooperation and dialogue to ensure mutual prosperity (should this even be a question among neighbors?); 3) access to the sea for Ethiopia, which Somalia agreed to facilitate under its sovereign authority; 4) both countries will begin technical talks to iron details no later than the end of February 2025, aiming to complete them within 4 months with Turkey’s assistance if needed.

Map of the region with the different countries involved and ports (Source: Medium.com)

We applaud the historic agreement, and can only breathe a sigh of relief for a year which has been tough in the Horn of Africa with war intensifying in neighboring Sudan. However, the agreement still seems a bit vague as to the fundamental issue of whether Ethiopia will use the port of Berbera in Somaliland or whether another port (perhaps in Somalia) will be used instead.

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), specifically Part X of the convention addresses the rights of landlocked states to access the sea and freedom of transit. Sea access should not be used as a carrot and a stick as it is an existential issue for these countries. Part X ensures that landlocked countries have the right to access the sea for the purpose of exercising their rights, including freedom of the high seas. Nobody has heard of European countries blocking Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, or Slovakia from sea access. However, we saw ECOWAS countries try that during the year, particularly Benin which even went as far as blocking the Niger pipeline which goes through its territory until China gave Benin a reminder (want to bet that it was not a gentle one?) that it was not right.  

For more information on this agreement brokered by Turkey between Ethiopia and Somalia, check out the articles on DW and The Economist. 

The Attiéké, Ivory Coast National Dish, enters the UNESCO Intangible List

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Un plat d’attieke poisson

This past weekend, I visited an Ivorian friend who served me Attiéké, Ivory Coast’s iconic dish made from fermented cassava roots, which is part of almost all Ivorian tables. Few days ago, the attiéké, has been inscribed on the UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. What is the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, you may ask? The Intangible heritage focuses on the non-physical aspects of a culture, contrary to the tangible heritage which focuses on monuments and natural landscapes, working on the preservation of traditions, practices, expressions, and knowledge of entire communities. Thus, African treasures which are part of the UNESCO tangible heritage list would be Great Zimbabwe, the Rock-hewn churches of Lalibela (Ethiopia), Timbuktu (Mali), or Pyramids of Giza (Egypt), while intangible heritages would be the Congolese Rumba and now Attiéké.

A pack of Attieke

Attiéké is often nicknamed “Ivorian couscous,” because it is a staple made from grated, fermented cassava roots, which has a texture similar to the semolina couscous consumed in the countries of the Maghreb, in northern Africa. The Attiéké originated in the coastal regions of Ivory Coast centuries ago; today, it has become a culinary cornerstone across the country and even beyond its frontiers. The dish is versatile, often paired with grilled fish and served during meals and special ceremonies such as weddings, baptisms, and funerals. It also represents a livelihood for many women in Ivory Coast, as its production is an intricate, multi-day process which has been traditionally led by women and passed down from generation to generation. This tradition includes peeling, grating, fermenting, pressing, drying, and steaming the cassava pulp. These skills, which are central to its preparation, have also been recognized as intangible cultural heritage. Today, Cote d’Ivoire produces over 40,000 tons of Attieke per year, and its commercialization and consumption has expanded beyond the country’s border to other African countries, and other continents.

Attieke

The UNESCO’s recognition of this Ivorian treasure highlights the importance of preserving not just the dish itself but also the traditional knowledge and skills associated with its preparation. The generational transfer of these skills ensures attiéké’s role as a cultural bridge in Ivorian society.

To learn more, please read Afrikana’s post on Attieke, and this BBC article.

Niger Takes Control of its Uranium

On By Dr. Y.In Great Moments2 Comments
Map of Niger

Last week, Orano, the French nuclear company which until now controlled the mining of uranium in Niger, has announced that the Niger government had taken control of its Somair uranium mining. Orano owns about 63 % of the mine. Orano claims that the government had been stopping them from resuming exports and operation, when we know that the degradation (Niger and Orano: Disagreement) is in part because they were trying to force the government to go through Benin whose border has remained closed, previously due to ECOWAS blockage (fueled by France), and now given that it hosts French military bases. The media tell us that Niger is not that important and Orano, France, and the EU have been able to find alternative suppliers in Canada, Uzbekistan, Australia, Namibia, and others… if that is the case, then why do they persist in Niger? Why not leave Niger alone? Is it because the uranium from Niger was dirt cheap, and now paying from it at regular prices from those other sources hurts the pocket book? The BBC admits that “the timing could hardly be more awkward, as Western countries struggle to meet the challenge of climate change and cut their carbon emissions from electricity generation.” Overall, the West is unhappy that Niger is now seeking other partners such as Russia, China, and others. 

Flag of Niger

The Western mainstream media, in a case of absolute double standard keeps calling the government of Niger, “military junta“, while calling the Syria terrorists “liberators.” These same media are all up in arms in the case of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. Today, the BBC received a 3-month ban in Niger, while the Nigerien government is filing suits against RFI for spreading fake news that could destabilize the social peace and inciting war propaganda against the local government.

Excerpts below are from the BBC. For the full article, check out How a uranium mine became a pawn in the row between Niger and France. Enjoy!

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In the latest sign of a dramatic deterioration in relations, Niger’s military rulers appear increasingly determined to drive France out of any significant sector in their economy – and particularly uranium mining. This week the French state nuclear company Orano announced that the junta … had taken operational control of its local mining firm, Somaïr. …

… the crisis facing Orano in Niger represents a significant practical challenge for French energy supply. With 18 nuclear plants, totalling 56 reactors, which generate almost 65% of its electricity, France has been ahead of the game in containing carbon emissions from the power sector. … So, over the past decade or so, [France] has imported almost 90,000 tonnes – a fifth of which has come from Niger. … Last year, as West African neighbours responded to the coup in Niger by imposing a trade blockade that paralysed uranium exports, other suppliers readily stepped into the breach. The European Union’s imports of the mineral from the country plunged by a third, but these were largely replaced by Canada.

… After last year’s coup, Orano itself tried to stay out of the diplomatic row, keep a low profile and carry on operating normally. But the Ecowas trade blockade prevented it from exporting the output from the Somaïr mine, near Arlit, in the Sahara Desert. And even after the sanctions were lifted in late February, the usual uranium export route, via Benin’s port of Cotonou, remained blocked, because the junta kept the border closed in an ongoing political row with Benin….  In June the junta cancelled the French company’s rights to develop a new mine at the large Imouraren deposit, which had been seen as the uranium sector’s principal new hope for future growth. Meanwhile, the export blockage was pushing Somaïr, which by November was sitting on 1,150 tonnes of blockaded stocks of uranium concentrate worth $210m (£165m), into financial crisis.

… Niger’s junta feels no need to make concessions to Orano because it is now buoyed by a sharp rise in oil exports, thanks to a new Chinese-built pipeline. With that financial cushion, the regime appears prepared to bear the cost of paralysing and probably dismantling the traditional uranium partnership with France – now its main international opponent.

French Court finds Charles Onana Guilty of Downplaying the Rwanda Genocide

On By Dr. Y.In Great Moments, Great People2 Comments

“Rwanda, la Verite sur l’Operation Turquoise” de Charles Onana

On Monday, a French court found the Franco-Cameroonian journalist and author Charles Onana guilty of downplaying the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Onana has been condemned to pay 8400 Euros of penalty. His editor, Damien Serieyx has also been found guilty and condemned to pay 5000 Euros. They also have to further pay 11,000 Euros in compensation to human rights organisations that filed the suit. The book at the center of the controversy is, “Rwanda, la vérité sur l’opération Turquoise: quand les archives parlent.”

The court said that Onana’s book had “trivialised” and “contested” in “an outrageous manner” the genocide that occurred between April and July 1994.  Onana’s lawyer, Emmanuel Pire, insisted that Onana did not question that genocide took place, or that Tutsis were particularly targeted as per the BBC; but rather that many lost lives in the 1994 horrendous events including Tutsis, Hutus, and Twas. Onana invites all to read his book without pulling passages out of context, but reading the book in its entirety. Both Onana and his publisher have appealed against the verdict.

“Holocauste au Congo, L’Omerta de la Communaute Internationale” by Charles Onana

Could this be a vendetta against Onana for shedding light on the horrors happening in the East of the Democractic Republic of Congo (DRC), with his book “Holocaust in Congo: the International Community’s Omerta“? Until his book and a few by others like Patrick Mbeko, Michela Wrong, Pierre Pean, …, the international community had turned a blind eye on the atrocities committed in the DRC. With over 10 million dead, 7 million internally displaced, 500 000 woman raped, the story should have been in the front pages of news outlets around the world, yet it is a total blackout. Why? Because of the Geological Scandal that is the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), The New Scramble for Africa with Congo as the centerpiece, and the special first rate place played by that country ‘wrongfully’ dubbed by some as the Switzerland of Africa.

For more, check out the article by Colette Braeckman, The Looting of the Congo, BBC – DR Congo: Cursed by its natural wealth and the extensive articles written by a fellow blogger at WiPoKuli Schluter. All Support to Charles Onana. Check out the recent interview of Idriss Aberkane with Michela Wrong.

President Biden’s First Visit to Africa : The Lobito Atlantic Railway Project

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Angola President João Lourenço welcomes U.S. President Joe Biden on the day of his arrival on Dec 4, 2024, at Catumbela Airport in Catumbela, Angola 

What could a president who has just pardoned his son from crimes during thanksgiving weekend when everybody was asleep, be doing in a lightning visit to Africa in the ending times of his term? It sounds fishy right? As we have learnt in the past, the transition times are the shady times of an administration. So what was President Biden doing in Angola at this time? Why wait until the end of his term for his first visit to Africa? Why was he not then at the re-opening ceremony of the Notre Dame Cathedral in France with all world leaders at the end of the week? We are told that this lightning first visit to Africa is to cement a deal that will benefit Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Zambia: the deal called the Lobito Atlantic Railway project.

A map of the Lobito Atlantic Railway project (Source: LobitoCorridor.org)

The Lobito Corridor is connected by a stretch of railway infrastructure snaking through mineral (70% of the world’s cobalt is found in the DRC) and oil-rich parts of Angola, the DRC, and Zambia (70% of the world’s copper). Many of these minerals are considered critical for the energy transition adding an additional layer of urgency (The New Scramble for Africa, The Geological Scandal that is the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), DRC and Zambia Sign Over Cobalt and Copper Resources Rights to the United States?, When Einstein Wrote to the US President about Congo for its Uranium ). The Lobito project provides a faster access route to the mines in these parts of the world and a pathway to the Atlantic Ocean. The rail route was established in the early 1900s and thrived until the mid-1970s. During the dark days of Angola, in the civil war era, the Angolan parts of the railway were destroyed. From 2006 to 2015, the Lobito project was resurrected/rehabilitated by the Chinese government in the region, who spent over $2 billion rail-for-oil program, but JLo as João Lourenço, the president of Angola is known, has decided to change hands from the Chinese to the Americans and Europeans. In 2022, the Lobito Atlantic Railway concession, a 30-year concession (extendable an additional 20 years), was awarded to a consortium of Western companies.

Lobito Atlantic Railway (Source: Angola24horas.com)

This investment represents the first alternative from Washington DC to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. As President Biden said in 2023 during JLo’s visit to Washington, “This [the Lobito railway project] first-of-its kind project is the biggest US rail investment in Africa ever,” … “A partnership between Angola and America is more important and more impactful than ever.” President Hichilema of Zambia said, “This corridor is of vital importance to opening up our countries, to opening up our regions, the continent, and truly the global economy,… This project is a huge opportunity for investment, for trade.”

Many see the Lobito Atlantic Railway project more as a West (US/Europe) vs. East (China) war interest on the African continent; while some imagine a money laundering scheme (after all Africa is known for its opacity in accounting) in the last days of an outgoing administration. You, dear reader, what do you think this is?

For more information, please read the Lobito Corridor, US News, CNN, and the White House press release.

Chad and Senegal Order French Military Bases Out of their Territories – is this the end?

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Flag of Chad

Christmas may be coming early this year! On November 29th, during the visit of the French Minister of Foreign Affairs in Ndjamena, Chad, Jean-Noel Barrot thought he was back as the French colonialist and managed to even tell the Chadian president who to collaborate with, and give him lessons. By the time he was on his plane back to France, the Chadian government sent out a notice ordering the French army to leave the Chadian soil.

Map of Chad (Source: Lonely Planet)

After more than a century of presence, the French army has been, at last, kicked out of Chad. The dictator approved by France, Mahamat Idriss Deby, has just denounced the defense agreements that bind his country to France. This was done without even notifying the Elysée. If the idea had been in the back burners for several months already, given the recent trip of Deby to Russia, the first in over 40 years, nothing suggested such a brutal break, yet desired by the vast majority of Chadians.

On Monday, The Chadian president Mahamat Idriss Deby defended on state TV, his decision to break military ties with France, saying at a news conference Sunday that their defense pact no longer meets Chad’s security needs.The decision requires France to withdraw its troops from the central African nation and echoes growing anti-French sentiment with civil society groups who say it is long overdue. Deby said his decision to end cooperation agreements with the French military is part of a promise he made during his May 23 inauguration, ending three years of military transition.

Lake Chad

This rupture comes just a month after a Boko Haram attack killed 40 Chadian soldiers in a military garrison in Lake Chad shared by Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger, this without any help from the 1000+ French troops located in Chad. As can clearly be seen, the presence of French troops seems to be of no use to Chad. Just ask our Malian brothers and they will let tell you all about the uselessness of the Operation Serval, Operation Barkhane and the Task Force Takuba.

Flag of Senegal
Flag of Senegal

On the wake of the Thiaroye celebration (Thiaroye: A French Massacre in Senegal), the Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has called for the closure of all French military bases in the country, asserting in an interview with a French media, that their presence is “incompatible” with the nation’s sovereignty. Faye clarified that this decision decision does not sever ties with France. Unlike other West African nations that have expelled French forces in favor of Russian military support, Senegal aims to maintain its relationship with France. “Today, China is our largest trading partner in terms of investment and trade. Does China have a military presence in Senegal? No. Does that mean our relations are cut? No,” Faye remarked.

Now… let’s move to the end of the biggest elephant in the room, the currency that is the FCFA in our own terms. Moreover, let us not discriminate to only French military bases, but all foreign bases should move out of the continent. Lastly, African Governments should make Contracts, defense and economic treaties, Public to their Populations!

Africans win the Goncourt and Renaudot 2024 Literary Prizes

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Goncourt Prize

This month, African authors made great wins and firsts: they won the most important literary awards in French literature: the Goncourt prize, which was awarded to Kamel Daoud for his third novel titled «Houris», and the Renaudot prize awarded to Gaël Faye pour «Jacaranda». These two books focus on some of the dark periods in the histories of Algeria in one, and Rwanda in the 1990s.

Kamel Daoud and his book Houris (Source: entrevue.fr)

Algeria writer and journalist Kamel Daoud wrote the novel Houris about Algeria’s 1990 civil war. The novel has been banned in his home country of Algeria. In 1994, he entered journalism working for the French daily newspaper Quotidien d’Oran, where he wrote a popular column “Raïna Raïkoum” (Our Opinion, Your Opinion). In parallel, he started writing novels, publishing his first one in 2013, The Meursault, Investigation, a retelling of  Albert Camus‘ famous novel The Stranger, which tells the story from the standpoint of the previously nameless Arab victim killed by Meursault; this first novel won the 2015 Goncourt first novel prize, the 2014 Prix François-Mauriac and the 2014 Prix des cinq continents de la Francophonie. The current book, Houris is a story which focuses on themes such as religion, freedom and identity; the Algerian government sees it as a political gesture amid the current heightened tensions between Algeria and France. A couple of days ago, a woman in Algeria, Saada Arbane accused Daoud of using her personal story without her consent in the award winning novel Houris; thus, she is suing him. Like the heroine of the book, she survived one of the massacres, and had her throat cut in an Islamic attack that wiped out her family. She uses a tube to talk, and was in 2015 one of the patient of Daoud’s wife, psychiatrist Aicha Dahdouh. She said that many details in the heroine’s life – “her speaking tube, her scars, her tattoos, her hairdresser” – came directly from her confidences to Ms. Dahdouh during sessions.  Are these accusations founded? What will happen to this year’s Goncourt novel?

Gael Faye and his book Jacaranda

The winner of the Renaudot prize this year is Gaël Faye for his second novel “Jacaranda” which centers around the dark years of Rwanda. Gaël Faye, is a Franco-Rwandan author, French by his father and Rwandan by his mother, who used to be a London financier, before quitting and returning to live in Rwanda to focus on music, and whose first novel Petit Pays (Small Country) set in Burundi won, among others, the Goncourt prize in 2016.  This time, his comeback novel Jacaranda is set in Rwanda, as a powerful narrative exploring the effects of the 1994 genocide and impacts on current and future generations and the need to the keep the memory. The story encompasses 4 generations, and tells the terrible story of this country which slowly emerges from darkness to light.

 

Members of the African Diaspora Granted Ghanaian Citizenship

On By Dr. Y.In Great Moments1 Comment

Map and Flag of Ghana
Map and Flag of Ghana

Last week, the government of Ghana made history by granting citizenship to 524 Afro-descendants, as part of the “Beyond the Return,” program aimed at reconnecting the diaspora with their ancestral roots. This is part of Ghana’s attempt to market itself as a mecca for African descendants in the diaspora to visit and return back to the continent. Over five centuries, millions of Africans were taken into slavery from the shores of the continent, many passing through the Elmina Castle (Reclaiming African History: Elmina Castle – West Africa’s Oldest Slave Fort) in Ghana. Granting citizenship in an African country to these Afro-descendants is a major step in embracing our brothers and sisters of the diaspora and recognizing and acknowledging that all of Mama Africa’s offspring are needed and welcome. During the citizenship ceremony, President Akufo-Addo of Ghana told all present, “Your presence here is already making a difference… “You are human bridges connecting us to both sides of the Atlantic.” …  “Your ancestors left these shores under tragic and inhumane circumstances. Today, we reclaim that connection by welcoming you as part of our Ghanaian family,” 

Quoting icons of Pan-Africanism, including Marcus Garvey and Peter Tosh, the President underscored the shared heritage that unites all people of African descent. “Africa is your home, and Ghana welcomes you with open arms. This is not just a ceremony—it is a powerful affirmation of our collective identity and destiny,” he concluded.

Check out the article from the Philadelphia Inquirer and also the webpage of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Ghana.

A French Commission to investigate the Thiaroye Massacre ?

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Poster commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Thiaroye Massacre (Source: Seneplus.com)

Five days from the celebration commemorating 80 years since the Thiaroye: A French Massacre in Senegal, French parliamentarians called on Tuesday 26 November for the establishment of a commission of inquiry to shed light on the bloody chapter in the French colonial history in Senegal that is the Thiaroye Massacre. If the commission receives the green light, then the work will start in March 2025, when they could then summon and hear historians, descendants of the victims of the massacre, and more. As a refresher, on the night of 30 November to 1 December 1944, African soldiers who had who had fought alongside French people to liberate France of the Nazi menace, were shot by Frenchmen, for asking for their pay in Thiaroye, thus the Thiaroye massacre !

Flag of Senegal
Flag of Senegal

Like our Cameroonian brothers and sisters would say, “A quelle heure ?” (at what time?) or rather why now? How convenient! Or this is for show for the new government of Senegal, to act as if the French have taken note to please the new Senegalese government? They always wait for everyone to be dead to ask for and open bogus commissions that will end nowhere… did you see our dear Senegalese Tirailleurs who begged for many years, and only until most of them had died did they get some recognition from the French, At Last: Senegalese Tirailleurs now allowed to receive their pension while living in Senegal. We do remember the British Government apologizes for Mau Mau atrocities or that commission created for the French genocide in Cameroon.

To learn more, check out RFI. Do you think this commission will amount to anything? Will it even be accepted in the French parliament?

Mali wins $160m in Gold Mining Dispute

On By Dr. Y.In Great Moments2 Comments

Flag of Mali
Flag of Mali

An Australian mining company, Resolute Mining, has agreed to pay Mali’s government $160 millions to settle a tax dispute. The company was operating in Mali and had significant back taxes it was refusing to pay. As we have seen before, many of these multinationals operate in many African countries, particularly French-speaking ones, without paying any taxes to local governments. This is an ongoing issue in many countries, where the multinationals operate freely, and pay taxes in their home countries, thus giving almost nothing to local governments and as we saw in the case of Niger, paying almost nothing for the resources. The Malian government arrested the British boss of Resolute Mining, Terry Holohan, and his 2 collaborators for 10 days at the end of which Holohan agreed to pay $80 millions immediately, and the remainder over some time. The Western media are in uproar about this, stating that Malians have used blackmail, and unorthodox methods. Quick question: What happens in Western countries, when someone does not pay taxes? Just ask Lauryn Hill or Wesley Snipes or Robert T. Brockman, to name a few … they will tell you that they ended up in jail! So why should it be different in Africa? Why is it okay for these multinationals to operate in our countries with carte blanche? Should they not be held to the same standards?

Excerpts below are from the BBC.

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Map of Mali with its capital Bamako

An Australian mining company, Resolute Mining, says it will pay Mali’s military government $160m (£126m) to settle a tax dispute, after the company’s British boss and two other staff were unexpectedly detained 10 days ago.

Reports say Terry Holohan and his colleagues were arrested while travelling to the capital city, Bamako, … Resolute, which owns a gold mine in Mali, said on Sunday it would pay $80m immediately from existing cash reserves, and the rest in the coming months.

Mali is one of Africa’s top gold producers. …

Part of the conditions for their release were that they must sign the memorandum of understanding and complete the initial payment, …

… Since taking power in a coup in 2021, Mali’s junta has sought to reconfigure its political and trade relationships with international partners.

Last year, President Col Assimi Goïta signed into law a new mining code increasing the maximum stake for state and local investors from 20% to 35%.