Namibia has outlined areas where closer ties with Moscow could help strengthen the southern African state’s national development.

Speaking to RT on the sidelines of the third Russia-Africa Summit held in Moscow from October 28-29, President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said developing these sectors would help Namibia industrialize, create jobs, and reduce its dependence on raw material exports.

“We identify energy, we identify agriculture, we identify technology, and to also concentrate on science and mathematics,” she said, adding that “these are the key areas that one needs.”

Nandi-Ndaitwah also encouraged Russian businesses to establish processing facilities in Namibia, stressing that foreign investment should benefit local communities through skills development and greater participation in the economy.

Reflecting on her visit to a Russian technology exhibition, Nandi-Ndaitwah highlighted opportunities for Namibia to gain expertise in agriculture, energy, and healthcare. She also praised Moscow’s technological progress and approach to information sovereignty.

“So Russia really is advancing,” she said, adding that “there’s a lot that we can really get from here, more particularly when they are offering the training.”

Turning to international affairs, the Namibian leader criticized Western sanctions, arguing that disputes between countries should be settled through dialogue rather than measures affecting entire populations.

“It’s a very, very dangerous trend,” she warned.

Nandi-Ndaitwah also called for comprehensive reform of the UN Security Council. “We need to have a seat in a permanent base with all the powers,” she said.

Washington’s move to strip South Africa of preferential trade access does not define the countries’ broader relationship, South African Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau has said, stressing that a solution depends on both sides’ willingness to engage.

His comments follow President Donald Trump’s notification to Congress of his intention to terminate South Africa’s participation in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) from January 1, 2027.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said an annual review found South Africa and Rwanda were engaging in practices inconsistent with AGOA requirements, including barriers to US trade and investment and threats to American security and foreign policy interests.

The South African government said it was working with affected industries to assess the implications and provide support on a company-by-company basis, adding it had offered additional concessions beyond those made in 2015, while safeguarding constitutional obligations, biosecurity and World Trade Organization rules.

“It is, however, unfortunate that the US is now raising new issues that have not been the basis for discussions as part of the negotiations process that commenced in 2025.”

Government said approximately 89% of South African exports to the US entered under ordinary WTO terms in 2025, while about 10% entered under AGOA, down from 28% in 2024. AGOA exports were valued at approximately $1.7 billion, down from $4 billion in 2024, and accounted for about 1% of total global exports.

Bilateral trade reached $28.8 billion in 2025, while more than 600 American companies operate in South Africa, supporting approximately 134,600 jobs.

Government said it would accelerate export diversification, pursuing opportunities across Africa, India, the EU, the UK, Southeast Asia, South America and China. New markets had been secured for citrus, avocados, grapes and apples.

South African organizations Solidarity and Lex Libertas blamed President Cyril Ramaphosa and International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola for the decision, warning of consequences for workers and exporters.

Solidarity said they had ignored warnings about deteriorating relations with Washington. Lex Libertas accused Pretoria of failing to address US concerns over incitement against minorities, property rights and free-market policies.

First published by IOL

Uganda has begun withdrawing its troops from Somalia after nearly two decades of military operations against Islamist militants, a local news agency announced on Monday, citing the country’s armed forces. 

The pullout initially covers troops deployed under bilateral agreements with Somalia’s federal government, according to Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) spokesman Colonel Chris Magezi. The operation took effect immediately, he said in a statement on November 2.

“The first cohort of troops under the phased withdrawal operation have already arrived back in Uganda,” Magezi said, adding that the withdrawal of soldiers serving under bilateral arrangements would be completed within days. 

The decision comes amid cuts to international and US funding for logistical missions and the gradual transfer of security responsibilities to Somalia’s army. The Ugandan military did not disclose how many personnel had returned.

Around 4,500 soldiers serve under the AUSSOM, while an additional 2,000 troops were deployed under a bilateral agreement with Mogadishu, AFP reported in August, citing a military source.

Uganda was the first country to send troops to Somalia under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in March 2007. Its forces helped Somali authorities fight Al-Shabaab militants, who controlled parts of the capital, Mogadishu, at the time.

The mission later became the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) before being replaced by AUSSOM in January 2025. Other countries, including Kenya, Ethiopia, Burundi and Djibouti, have also contributed troops to African Union operations in Somalia.

Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda-linked militant group, has fought Somalia’s government for nearly two decades. It continues to carry out bombings and armed attacks against military and civilian targets.

“Things are not dire now, but it could create problems if their troops suddenly pull out,” Somali State Minister for Foreign Affairs Ali Omar told Reuters.

The US plans to strip South Africa and Rwanda of preferential access to its market next year, accusing both countries of undermining American trade and foreign policy interests.

Pretoria has pushed back, saying it would accelerate efforts to diversify export markets by pursuing opportunities elsewhere in Africa, India, the European Union, and China to protect jobs.

President Donald Trump has notified Congress and both governments of his intention to terminate their participation in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) from January 1, 2027, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced on Monday. Greer said an annual review identified “barriers that undermine American trade and investment and practices that pose a threat to US national security and foreign policy interests in the region.”

Washington cited corruption and trade barriers in South Africa, while its concerns about Rwanda also included human rights, workers’ rights, political pluralism, and the rule of law.

Established in 2000, AGOA grants eligible sub-Saharan African countries duty-free access for thousands of products. Trump signed an extension through December 2028 in September, but individual countries remain subject to eligibility reviews.

South Africa exported about $1.7 billion in goods under AGOA in 2025, accounting for roughly 10% of its exports to the US and 1% of its worldwide exports, according to the DTIC. The department stressed that it would accelerate efforts to diversify markets. President Cyril Ramaphosa warned last month that exclusion could have a “devastating” impact on jobs, particularly in vehicle manufacturing and agriculture.

Trump previously suspended Rwanda’s apparel benefits in 2018 over tariffs on imported secondhand clothing and footwear, following complaints from the American used-clothing industry.

There was no immediate response from Rwanda’s authorities to the latest move, which follows US sanctions on its Defense Ministry on October 28 over alleged support for rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kigali denies backing the fighters.

Washington has repeatedly withdrawn AGOA benefits over governance and human rights concerns. Ethiopia, Guinea, and Mali lost eligibility in 2022, followed by Burkina Faso in 2023. The Central African Republic, Gabon, Niger, and Uganda were removed in January 2024. Gabon was reinstated under a proclamation issued in May 2026.

Ghana has hailed its participation in the Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow as a success, announcing commitments on nuclear power, defense, and education from a gathering that Western coverage framed around the Kremlin’s supposed pursuit of influence.

Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said President John Dramani Mahama secured six commitments during bilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, including cooperation on a proposed 2,000-megawatt nuclear power plant to strengthen energy security and support industrialization.

The announcement followed Mahama’s participation in the October 28-29 summit and talks with Putin on October 30. His week in Moscow also included meetings with the Ghanaian diaspora, two honorary doctorates, and an interview with RT in which he challenged perceptions of Russia and explained why African governments should choose partners according to their own needs.

Reuters described the gathering as a “showcase summit,” emphasizing Moscow’s effort to expand its political, economic, and military influence. CNN likewise examined Russia’s search for allies, while acknowledging that African governments were pursuing their own interests through multiple partnerships.

Mahama’s explanation to RT centered on access to financing.

“If I wanted to build a railway, I’m more likely to get financing from those countries than from, say, Europe or America,” he said, referring to Russia and China.

African countries, he added, “should be free to look for credit wherever they get it.”

Energy was prominent among the commitments Ablakwa outlined. Russia has agreed to work with Ghana toward establishing a nuclear plant, the minister said, linking the initiative to the country’s longstanding ambition to develop nuclear energy.

The announcement did not specify financing terms or a construction timetable. On October 30, Aleksey Likhachev, CEO of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, said the company was discussing large nuclear power projects with Ghana, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Egypt.

The initiative builds on nuclear cooperation dating to the presidency of Ghana’s first post-independence leader, Kwame Nkrumah, when the country pursued a Soviet-backed research reactor project and established the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission in 1963. The project stalled following Nkrumah’s overthrow in a February 1966 coup supported by the US, whose officials had maintained contact with the plotters and welcomed his removal.

Ablakwa also announced a new defense pact covering the acquisition of strategic military assets and expanded agricultural cooperation to increase grain production and fertilizer supplies.

The two governments would revive their Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation, with Moscow ready to host a meeting in the coming weeks, he said.

Russia also strongly supports Ghana’s application to join BRICS as a partner country, Ablakwa announced on X on October 28 following a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Diplomacy amid Western criticism 

Mahama used the visit to advocate a negotiated end to the Ukraine conflict. In an exclusive interview with RT, he said the conflict was “taking too many lives on both sides,” adding that “I wish that the conflict comes to an end as quickly as possible.”

The West African nation’s diplomatic relations with Moscow date to 1958. The relationship has drawn criticism from Western officials. In September, EU Ambassador to Ghana Rune Skinnebach described Russia as “neither a reliable nor credible partner to Ghana,” citing nuclear, railway, and financing commitments he claimed had not been fulfilled.

The Russian Embassy rejected Skinnebach’s remarks as unfounded, saying Moscow remained a consistent and predictable partner to Ghana and other African countries.

Mahama has stressed that Ghana’s partnerships reflect its longstanding policy of non-alignment. He told the Financial Times Africa Summit in London on October 21 that Accra’s relations, including with the US, the EU, China, and Russia, are “not about competition” but investment and fair returns for all sides.

He also advocated better access for African goods to Russian markets and consideration of local currencies and digital payment systems for legitimate trade settlements.

Beyond the negotiating table

In his RT interview, Mahama challenged stereotypes about Russia, saying members of his delegation had expected to find a sanctions-hit economy in ruins and “bombs were flying all over the place,” but instead experienced “a cultural shock.”

Mahama, who studied social psychology in Soviet-era Moscow, said witnessing reforms under then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev had taught him to put pragmatism before ideology.

“No ideology is perfect. It depends on the peculiarity of your country,” he said.

During the visit, he received honorary doctorates from the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia for advancing education and academic cooperation, and the Russian University of Transport for his contributions to infrastructure and professional training.

He also met the Ghanaian diaspora on Thursday, where he encouraged investment in manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and agro-processing rather than leaving those opportunities to foreign businesses.

The Russia branch of the National Democratic Congress Professionals Forum also honored Mahama, Ablakwa, and Ghana’s ambassador to Russia, Koma Steem Jehu-Appiah, for strengthening Ghana-Russia ties.

The third Russia-Africa Summit brought together delegations from 48 African countries, including 21 heads of state or government. Participants adopted a 2027-2029 action plan covering cooperation in areas including trade, energy, and food security, alongside a declaration on civilian artificial intelligence.

Mozambique and Russia have maintained close political and diplomatic ties for decades, President Daniel Francisco Chapo has said, highlighting the longstanding partnership between the two nations.

Speaking to RT during his visit to Moscow for the third Russia-Africa Summit, Chapo noted the relationship dates back to Mozambique’s struggle for independence, when Moscow provided military and security assistance. He stressed that cooperation in these areas continues today.

“Mozambique and Russia already enjoy excellent political and diplomatic relations,” the president said.

Chapo said his visit to Russia was intended to strengthen economic cooperation and attract new investment, building on the countries’ established political ties. He noted that bilateral trade has increased but that considerable room remains for further growth.

Mozambique is also seeking Russian partners to develop gas pipelines, power plants, and fertilizer production facilities, Chapo said, adding that the countries could “work together to find solutions and develop these projects.”

Security cooperation also featured prominently in the interview. Chapo said Mozambican military and law enforcement cadets are currently receiving training at Russian academies. The president also confirmed that Mozambique is discussing possible cooperation with Russia to address terrorism in the African state. He pointed to Moscow’s counterterrorism experience and said the two sides are exploring potential solutions through their existing security partnership.

Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province has faced an insurgency by Islamic State-linked militants since 2017. The violence has killed thousands and displaced more than a million people, prompting the deployment of Rwandan troops in 2021 to support government forces. The conflict also forced the suspension of a major liquefied natural gas project led by TotalEnergies, which resumed operations in January 2026.

The 2026 Summer Youth Olympic Games have opened in Senegal, marking the first Olympic event ever held on African soil. The inaugural ceremony took place on Saturday at the Abdoulaye Wade Stadium in Diamniadio, near the capital Dakar.

Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye declared the Games open on October 31. The event was also attended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry and Dakar 2026 organizing committee chief Mamadou Diagna Ndiaye.

The ceremony featured traditional African dances, music, light shows, and performances celebrating Senegalese culture. More than 1,100 performers took part, including hundreds of dancers, according to the IOC. The program also included a parade of participating delegations.

Pour l'histoire, pour l'Afrique. Le Sénégal accueille le monde pour les premiers Jeux Olympiques organisés sur le continent africain. Bienvenue à Dakar ! #Dakar2026 #JOJDakar2026 #Olympics #jeunesse https://t.co/m4uQxRGrxM

— Présidence Sénégal (@PR_Senegal) November 1, 2026

Faye praised the ceremony in a post on X on Sunday, highlighting the country’s cultural heritage and thanking the organizers. “Authentic Senegal! What a people! What a culture! Tonight, we showed the world the beauty of what we are,” he wrote.

Sénégal authentique !🇸🇳 Quel peuple ! Quelle culture ! Ce soir, nous avons montré au monde la beauté de ce que nous sommes. Merci à toutes celles et tous ceux qui ont rendu cette soirée inoubliable. https://t.co/U1CYY8nMj4

— Bassirou Diomaye Faye (@PR_Diomaye) October 31, 2026

Kirsty Coventry, a former Olympic swimmer from Zimbabwe, welcomed the athletes and celebrated the significance of holding an Olympic event in Africa for the first time.

“This is the Africa that I am so proud and so excited for the world to experience,” Coventry said.

🔥 The lighting of the cauldron. 🫶 Always a very special moment. #Olympics #YouthOlympics #Dakar2026 #OpeningCeremony @jojdakar2026 https://t.co/ULzo6dliMm

— The Olympic Games™ (@Olympics) October 31, 2026

The ceremony ended with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron, following a torch relay that covered more than 3,600 kilometers across Senegal’s 14 regions.

Russia was represented by 13 athletes carrying the national flag during the opening ceremony, the Russian Olympic Committee reported. Russian competitors are participating under their national symbols at an IOC event for the first time since 2020. The athletes previously faced restrictions imposed after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.

The Games run from October 31 to November 13, with around 2,700 athletes representing 204 national Olympic committees and a refugee team. The event was originally scheduled for 2022 but was postponed for four years following the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The UN’s peacekeeping mission in the disputed territory of Western Sahara has ended after 35 years following a Security Council standoff over a US proposal that Russia said would deny the region’s people the right to decide their future.

The mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) expired on October 31. Moscow expressed regret over the outcome, having vetoed Washington’s proposed overhaul and unsuccessfully sought an extension of the existing mandate.

“Russia was unable to support the intention of depriving Western Sahrawis of the right to vote,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sunday, accusing Washington of trying to “artificially accelerate the settlement process.”

Morocco governs most of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony it annexed in 1975 following Spain’s decision to withdraw. The Algeria-backed Polisario Front seeks independence for the territory.

MINURSO was established alongside a UN-brokered ceasefire in 1991 to organize a referendum offering independence or integration with Morocco. Disputes over voter eligibility prevented the vote, and Polisario resumed hostilities in 2020.

During Friday’s Security Council meeting, Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the council “cannot automatically predetermine issues of sovereignty,” arguing that Washington’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara undermined its impartiality.

Washington recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in 2020 under President Donald Trump as part of a deal involving Rabat’s normalization of relations with Israel.

US Ambassador Mike Waltz defended changing a mission whose referendum had never materialized. “We will not lend our vote to business as usual,” he said. The UK and France criticized Russia’s veto.

Polisario representative Sidi Omar thanked Russia for blocking a text he said would “torpedo the foundations of the UN peace process,” Reuters reported. In a separate statement on Sunday, the movement said Morocco and its allies bore “full responsibility” for weakening MINURSO’s mandate and for any consequences arising from the mission’s closure.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of escalating hostilities on Sunday and said the mission’s departure did not extinguish the Sahrawis’ right to self-determination.

Western broadcasters have long interpreted Africa for the world and, too often, for Africans themselves, while promoting negative portrayals of Russia, speakers at the Russia-Africa Media Forum argued.

Organized by RT in cooperation with Sputnik and TASS, the forum ran in Moscow from October 26 to 29 alongside the third Russia-Africa Summit. It brought calls for greater local control over the continent’s stories and direct exchanges that bypass Western interpretations.

“In Ghana we are overly dependent on Western assessments of international affairs,” Ghana Broadcasting Corporation Director General Amin Alhassan said, explaining his organization’s cooperation with Russian media. Access to another perspective would help make its reporting more balanced, he argued.

The discussions unfolded amid competing accusations of interference. Moscow accused Western governments of obstructing its exchanges with African journalists, while France alleged that Russia was manipulating public opinion on the continent.

African Union of Broadcasting Director General Grégoire Ndjaka urged Russia to support African journalists in producing their own accounts of events, including through training and cooperation on news
content.

“We do not want our history to be written for us and then sent back to Africa,” he told a Wednesday session examining the influence of media from countries of the global majority.

Ndjaka criticized what he described as an overwhelmingly one-way flow of information from the West to Africa. He said that the broadcasting union had established a center to produce news about the continent and wanted partnerships that would help African perspectives reach wider audiences.

Sebastian Maganga, head of content at Tanzania’s Clouds Media Group, similarly highlighted the value of exchanging stories directly. Such gatherings, he told RT, give African outlets opportunities to share their perspectives internationally while obtaining material from Russia and elsewhere.

Western media dominance under scrutiny 

TASS Director General Andrey Kondrashov argued that the era of Western media hegemony had ended, attributing the shift to declining trust, double standards, and the suppression of inconvenient information.

For decades, he said, a small group of Western media companies had exercised disproportionate influence over which events became international news and how countries were portrayed. African journalists were increasingly challenging that arrangement by reporting on their societies themselves.

Mayya Nikolskaya, head of a research program at MGIMO University’s Institute for International Studies, accused major Western broadcasters of increasingly prioritizing criticism of Russia over coverage of development.

“They [Western media] used to focus more on development projects, now they’re talking mostly just about how Russia is bad,” she told RT.

Nikolskaya named CNN, the BBC, RFI, and France 24, arguing that African countries now had greater freedom to choose partners according to their own priorities.

Pressure and competing allegations 

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told African journalists on Tuesday that Western countries were trying to obstruct direct communication between Russia and Africa.

“We must push back against this collectively... not individually, but by acting together,” she said. Zakharova alleged that some participants had faced intimidation or been offered competing events to discourage them from traveling to Moscow. She linked this to broader efforts to restrict African cooperation with Russia, including through pressure involving financing and political support.

Separately, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot accused Russia on Tuesday of manipulating public opinion in sovereign African countries to damage French interests. He said that he would seek EU sanctions against those responsible for an alleged interference operation targeting several countries, particularly Cameroon and the Republic of Congo. Barrot accused Moscow of trying to “colonize minds.”

In July, RT became the first international partner of Tafouk TV, the joint television channel of the Alliance of Sahel States, comprising Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. Their memorandum covers exchanges of content and expertise, alongside joint coverage of developments in Russia and the three countries.

From discussions to newsroom partnerships 

The forum also produced practical cooperation commitments. RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan said that the network signed agreements with African outlets representing Ghana, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Libya, and other countries. Cooperation would include exchanges of experience, training, skills development, and media technologies.

RT Arabic signs agreement with the Mauritanian Radio and Television Corporation at the Russia-Africa media forum in Moscow co-organized by RT https://t.co/WhrVR0QLHa

— Margarita Simonyan (@M_Simonyan) October 30, 2026

Examples included RT Arabic’s partnership with Mauritania’s Radio and Television Broadcasting Corporation. The Mauritanian organization said that the protocol would support exchanges of technical expertise and improvements in broadcasting operations.

TASS reported signing seven cooperation agreements on Monday with news agencies from Burundi, Guinea, Cameroon, Mali, Niger, Seychelles, and Tanzania. The agency also said it already supplied Arabic- and French-language news services free of charge to more than 300 African media outlets.

Other examples included Rossiya Segodnya’s partnerships with outlets in Algeria, Chad, Morocco, Ghana, and Zimbabwe. These covered content exchanges and expanded existing cooperation. Memorandums with Ethiopia’s Debre Markos University and Niger’s Higher School of Journalism and Communication provided for professional dialogue and joint events, with participants also highlighting training in
artificial intelligence.

Liberation’s legacy and changing perceptions 

Thursday’s RT session, “Forging Independence: Lessons from the Founders of African Nations,” brought descendants of liberation leaders into the discussion about Africa’s place in the world.

Samia Nkrumah, daughter of Ghana’s first president Kwame Nkrumah, connected their presence in Moscow to Russian support for African independence movements.

“We are the descendants of African liberation leaders and we are all here in Russia for a reason,” she said, adding: “That is because Russians helped us during our long and sometimes violent independence struggle all over the continent.” 

Musata Kaunda Ndhlovu, granddaughter of Zambia’s first president Kenneth Kaunda, described liberation as an ongoing responsibility. Ndileka Mandela, granddaughter of South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, recalled first meeting him through a prison window on Robben Island in 1981, aged 16.

The question of how personal experience challenges outside narratives also featured in RT’s interview with Ghanaian YouTuber Wode Maya, whose videos challenge negative narratives about Africa and reach more than two million subscribers.

Maya told RT that fears about traveling to Russia had initially made him reluctant to attend the forum. “You won’t believe that I fell for the propaganda,” he said, describing how his reception in Moscow had changed his expectations.

Maya also welcomed the opportunity for Africans to speak for themselves and challenge stereotypes about their continent.

Russia and African countries have agreed to deepen economic cooperation, strengthen political coordination, and push for reforms of global institutions, Russian President Vladimir Putin and African Union chair Evariste Ndayishimiye said in a joint press statement on Thursday.

Speaking at the conclusion of the third Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow, the two leaders outlined the results of the October 28–29 gathering, which brought together senior delegations from 48 African countries, including 21 led by heads of state.

Turning political solidarity into economic cooperation

Ndayishimiye said African countries are seeking to diversify their international partnerships and strengthen their sovereignty, with Russia playing a role in accelerating economic development and regional integration.

Speaking about the summit’s three-year action plan, he said that the leaders “outlined priorities, financing mechanisms, implementation schedules and areas of responsibility, and set dates by which expect to see results.”

The African Union chair called for greater Russian investment to help African countries create added value locally. He also stressed that African youth expected tangible results, including more scholarships, reliable energy supplies, and digital solutions.

Putin said Russia-Africa trade currently stood at $27 billion but remained well below its potential, and called to double it.

The Russian president noted national currencies, including the ruble, now accounted for 85% of settlements in commercial transactions between Russia and African countries.

Reducing technological dependence

Ndayishimiye called for reducing Africa’s technological dependence. He stressed the summit had adopted a separate declaration on artificial intelligence, advocating equitable international cooperation with a central role for the United Nations.

Putin said Russia and African countries had signed agreements aimed at introducing Russian digital solutions, including AI-based technologies, in African economies and public administration.

Africa must choose its own partners

Asked whether Africa risked becoming an arena for competition between major powers, Putin rejected the suggestion that Moscow viewed African countries as objects of geopolitical rivalry.

“We have not pursued any colonial policies. It is the opposite: we helped them to liberate themselves from the neo-colonial yoke,” he stated.

Ndayishimiye similarly stressed that African nations were no longer in a position where outside powers could determine their partnerships.

Putin backed permanent African representation on the UN Security Council. “I am absolutely convinced that Africa must be represented there on a permanent basis, including in the Security Council,” he said.

Ndayishimiye reaffirmed Africa’s position on UN reform, while calling for greater representation in global financial institutions and closer cooperation with BRICS.

Strengthening security and humanitarian cooperation

Putin said Russia would continue consultations with parties involved in African conflicts and expressed hope that Moscow’s diplomatic efforts could help prevent further escalation.

He also pledged to expand cooperation in healthcare and education, including medicine supplies, mobile laboratories, and training for African students.

Russia’s epidemic-control assistance program for African countries has been extended through 2029, Putin said, adding that African partners supported expanding Russian university branches and educational centers on the continent.

Moscow Declaration sets out common political positions

The 101-point declaration, adopted in Moscow on October 29, is divided into five sections covering political and legal cooperation, security, economic ties, humanitarian cooperation, and environmental protection and climate issues. Here are its key points.

• Maritime security: Oppose the unjustified detention, seizure or arrest of civilian vessels, including African-flagged ships, in violation of international law. The document warns that such actions against commercial vessels turn maritime trade into “a tool of economic and political pressure.”
• Sanctions: Oppose unilateral coercive measures that violate international law, including measures imposed outside the UN Security Council, and strengthen coordination to reduce their impact on trade, energy, healthcare and food security.
• Sovereign assets: Oppose the freezing and attempted confiscation of sovereign assets, as well as political and economic coercion against sovereign states.
• Colonial reparations: Pursue legal mechanisms to assess and compensate for damage inflicted on African countries during the colonial era, alongside efforts to complete the continent’s decolonization.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding a series of bilateral meetings with African leaders at the Kremlin on Friday, following the third Russia-Africa Summit.

The talks involve African heads of state, including from Sudan, Madagascar, Ghana, Mali, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Eritrea, as well as the prime minister of Togo.

The meetings follow the two-day summit, held in Moscow on October 28-29, which focused on expanding trade, investment, energy, security, and humanitarian cooperation between Russia and African nations.

Burhan also offered Russian investors access to Sudan’s gold and copper deposits.

Putin presented a roadmap for bilateral cooperation and said Russia-Sudan trade had more than doubled in 2025, rising by a further 25% in January-August 2026.

Addressing the ongoing conflict in Sudan, Putin reiterated Moscow’s support for a political settlement and proposed discussing additional steps Russia could take to help resolve the crisis. 

In a separate meeting with Madagascar President Michael Randrianirina, Putin highlighted expanding educational ties, noting that around 5,000 Malagasy students have studied in Russia and that MGIMO University signed a cooperation memorandum with Madagascar’s Foreign Ministry in June.

Putin also welcomed the Russian Orthodox Church’s recognition as a legal entity in Madagascar in April, noting that it has more than 1,500 parishioners on the island.

Randrianirina called for stronger practical cooperation and urged Moscow to accelerate work on debt conversion.

During talks with Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama, Putin said bilateral trade had grown by 6% between January and August. He added that Ghana ranks 12th among Russia’s African trading partners. The Russian leader also praised Ghana’s independent foreign policy and its opposition to neocolonialism, thanking Accra for its support for Russian resolutions at the UN.

Mahama expressed interest in expanding economic and investment cooperation with Moscow. The leader praised Russia for having “always stood by Africa” during the struggle against apartheid and for supporting the continent during the Covid-19 pandemic through supplies of Sputnik V vaccines.

At a meeting with Mali’s transitional president, Assimi Goita, Putin said Russia had increased its scholarship quota for Malian students to 300 places for the 2026-27 academic year, citing growing interest in Russian education and language studies. He added that six Russian language and cultural centers are operating in the West African country.

During the summit, Putin also held at least nine more bilateral meetings with other African leaders, including the presidents of Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Namibia, the Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and Kenya, as well as Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Libya’s Presidential Council Chairman Mohamed al-Menfi.

Delegations from 48 African countries, including 21 leaders, gathered in Moscow for the third Russia-Africa Summit under the motto “For Peace, Security and Development.” The gathering concluded on Thursday with a final declaration and a new cooperation plan. Organizers reported 146 documents signed across the Summit and its accompanying economic, humanitarian and media forums, comprising 92 agreements and 54 memorandums.

More than 3,500 participants from 74 countries attended, including over 1,200 business representatives from around 630 companies.The forum hosted more than 40 sessions.

Bilateral talks continued on Friday, with the day’s lineup including the leaders of Sudan, Madagascar, Ghana, Mali, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, DR Congo, and Eritrea, as well as Togo’s prime minister.

The October 28-29 summit capped four days of events, beginning with Monday’s media forum and including Tuesday’s separate gas exporters’ summit. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told RT that Western governments had tried to discourage African leaders from attending.

An overnight Ukrainian drone attack also prompted temporary restrictions at three Moscow airports before Thursday’s proceedings. Mayor Sergey Sobyanin reported 231 drones destroyed on the approaches to the capital. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov questioned the timing during an international gathering and praised air defenses.

Here are the main outcomes and key moments.

A framework through 2029

Putin and Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye, the African Union chair, co-chaired Wednesday's and Thursday’s proceedings. Leaders addressed a plenary session in Kremlin before continuing over a working breakfast.

The political declaration backed greater African representation in international institutions, opposed unlawful unilateral sanctions, and supported efforts to address colonial-era damage. It also called for South Africa’s full G20 participation to be restored, following its exclusion from meetings under the US presidency. Pretoria remains a member.

At their closing press conference, Putin emphasized the potential for further cooperation, while Ndayishimiye pressed for measurable benefits. Another summit will follow, with its date and location to be agreed.

Partnership: ‘Africa has not come to ask for aid’

Russia and Africa are “natural allies in building a multipolar, genuinely democratic world order,” Putin told the plenary. He backed stronger African representation in global decision-making and described Russian businesses as partners investing in host countries rather than pursuing colonial exploitation.

African leaders also stressed that cooperation should strengthen their ability to make independent decisions and develop their economies.

Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi made a similar distinction. “Diversifying our partnerships is not about choosing sides: it is about strengthening our freedom of decision-making in the service of our populations,” he said.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa highlighted the need to turn agreements into action while processing more minerals domestically. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi presented his country’s cooperation with Russia, including the El Dabaa nuclear plant and planned Suez Canal industrial zone, as a model for wider partnerships.

Russia also signed several documents to deepen cooperation with African regional organizations. These included memorandums with the East African Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, and the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat, alongside an action plan with the African Union Commission.

Sergey Lavrov met counterparts from 41 African states.

Ghanaian Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said Lavrov pledged support for Accra’s application for BRICS partner status and would seek consensus among founding members.

Peskov said Putin presented country-specific cooperation roadmaps during bilateral meetings. Putin also highlighted expanding diplomatic representation: eight Russian embassies have opened in Africa since 2023, bringing the total to 48. Six trade missions cover 16 countries, while Botswana, Seychelles, and Togo plan embassies in Moscow.

Financing and nuclear cooperation

Signings included a Wednesday memorandum between Russia’s development institution VEB.RF and BCID-AES, the joint investment bank serving Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, to identify and assess development and integration projects.

Rosatom also signed a peaceful nuclear cooperation memorandum with Togo, establishing working groups to examine potential projects and training. Floating nuclear power units are among the possibilities.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sought priority for nuclear cooperation, including financing, engineering training and medical isotopes. A roadmap for Ethiopia’s first nuclear plant was signed in March, Rosatom chief Aleksey Likhachev said in an interview published Friday. Site-selection preparations are underway. Burundi expressed interest in small modular reactors. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi highlighted El Dabaa and the planned Russian industrial zone near the Suez Canal as examples of bilateral cooperation.

Trade and technology at Gostiny Dvor

Wednesday’s Economic and Humanitarian Forum at Gostiny Dvor in the Russian capital set much of the practical agenda. Putin proposed at least doubling Russia-Africa trade to more than $50 billion. On Thursday, he reported that the ruble accounted for up to 85% of commercial transactions between the two sides.

Putin and African leaders toured the “Platform for Sovereign Development” exhibition, showcasing energy, healthcare, agricultural, and digital technologies.

Elsewhere, Kenyan President William Ruto visited Sberbank’s smart city development and highlighted potential AI cooperation in healthcare and education.

Gas diplomacy alongside the summit

Tuesday’s eighth Gas Exporting Countries Forum summit adopted its own Moscow Declaration, separate from the Russia-Africa documents. It reaffirmed sovereign rights over gas resources and supported supply security, investment, and a balanced transition toward lower-carbon energy.

At Monday’s ministerial meeting, Russian Energy Minister Sergey Tsivilev promoted a proposed gas bank for long-term infrastructure financing, including in Africa. The initiative remained under discussion.

The Russia-Africa Media Forum ran from Monday to Thursday, organized by RT alongside Sputnik and TASS. Organizers welcomed more than 200 participants from 46 African countries for discussions on reporting, professional cooperation, and media sovereignty. 

The forum also produced several media partnerships. These included Ethiopia’s Fana renewing its agreement with RT and Libya’s national news agency signing with RT Arabic. Rossiya Segodnya concluded partnerships with outlets in Algeria, Chad, Morocco, Ghana, and Zimbabwe, as well as Ethiopia’s Debre Markos University and Niger’s Higher School of Journalism and Communication.

RT’s Thursday session, “Forging Independence: Lessons from the Founders of African Nations,” featured descendants of African liberation leaders. Samia Nkrumah, daughter of Ghana’s first president Kwame Nkrumah, credited Russian support during Africa’s independence struggles, saying, “We are all here in Russia for a reason.” Ndileka Mandela, granddaughter of South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, recalled first meeting him through a prison window on Robben Island in 1981, aged 16: “I touched the window on one side and he touched on the other.”

Education and healthcare commitments

Putin extended Russia’s epidemic-control assistance program for Africa through 2029.

Eight countries have received 15 mobile laboratories, and around 450 African specialists have been trained under the program, he said.

Among the healthcare agreements was a five-year memorandum with DR Congo covering training, research, maternal and child health, nuclear medicine, and digital healthcare.

Nearly 40,000 Africans study at Russian universities, up 50% since 2020, according to Putin. Government-funded scholarship places have nearly tripled over that period, reaching 5,500 for 2026-2027. Announced initiatives include ten centers helping African applicants enter Russian universities and vocational training programs.

Andrey Maslov, director of HSE University’s Center for African Studies, told RT that extended visits by African leaders and their separate business programs showed political ties with Moscow are gaining practical substance.

The third Russia-Africa Summit has concluded in Moscow, with Russian President Vladimir Putin and African leaders adopting a joint declaration and agreeing on priorities for cooperation in the coming years.

The second and final day of the gathering at the Kremlin focused on international affairs, Africa’s growing global role, economic cooperation and security. Putin and African Union chair Evariste Ndayishimiye addressed the summit before holding a joint press conference.

The leaders adopted a declaration covering issues ranging from UN reform and sanctions to maritime security, trade and infrastructure, alongside a cooperation action plan for 2027–2029. The declaration also called for greater African representation in international institutions and opposed neocolonial practices that undermine national sovereignty.

Putin held a series of bilateral meetings with African counterparts, discussing investment, energy, infrastructure and educational cooperation. Speaking to reporters, he also addressed Russia’s relations with Europe, international maritime security and Moscow’s role in resolving conflicts across Africa.

RT followed the summit’s final day, bringing you the key announcements, agreements, and footage from Moscow.

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Russia and Africa can expand trade and share technology while reducing dependence on Western financial systems, President Vladimir Putin said at the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum in Moscow on Wednesday.

The event forms part of the third Russia-Africa summit, bringing delegations from 48 African countries to Moscow on October 28–29. 

Speaking alongside Burundian President and African Union chair Evariste Ndayishimiye, Putin proposed closer banking links, called for bilateral trade to at least double, and offered Russian expertise in energy, agriculture, healthcare, and artificial intelligence.

Here are the key takeaways from the speeches and opening-day announcements.

An alternative to Western financial dependence

Putin urged Russian and African banks to expand direct ties, open branches in each other’s markets and strengthen payments in national currencies.

He argued that countries that don’t have their own financial systems end up relying on Western infrastructure, which ultimately limits their sovereignty.

Breaking out of ‘debt bondage’

Western countries are resisting the emergence of a multipolar world because they remain accustomed to colonial thinking and “growing fabulously rich at others’ expense,” Putin argued.

Servicing such debts diverts resources from long-term development, Putin argued, calling for reforms of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank and a stronger African role in their decisions.

Doubling trade despite sanctions

He added that neither unprecedented restrictions against Russia nor Western pressure on African partners have been able to stop economic relations between the two from developing and expressed appreciation for this “firm and principled position of our African friends.”

Putin stated that Russian businesses support local processing, employment and tax revenues rather than engaging in “predatory, neocolonial exploitation” of Africa’s natural resources and people. Their investments also support healthcare, education, and environmental projects, he said.

Energy, transport and food security

Russia and African partners are implementing more than 30 energy projects in 16 countries, Putin said, describing affordable and reliable power as essential to industrial development and better living standards.

Russia’s Rosatom and Togo’s Energy Ministry signed a memorandum on nuclear energy cooperation. Rosatom chief Aleksey Likhachev said this could include floating nuclear power plants to supply electricity to the West African country.

Putin also stated that Russia had exported 13 million tons of agricultural products to Africa in the first nine months of 2026 with more than 40 African countries receiving Russian grain and fertilizers.

However, he stressed that Africa has the potential to feed itself, noting that Moscow is offering seeds, machinery, agricultural technology, storage, and processing infrastructure to help develop that capacity.

Russian and Mozambican ministers also signed a road cooperation memorandum and discussed a possible direct shipping route.

Sharing technology and fighting epidemics

Technological independence has become an essential part of sovereignty, Putin argued, pointing to AI, cybersecurity, personal data, and digital infrastructure. Russia is ready to share its expertise, including digital public services and medical technologies, he added.

Under the program, eight countries have already received 15 mobile laboratories and around 450 African specialists have been trained. Russian doctors continue to assist against infections including cholera and the outbreak of a new Ebola strain that began in the spring, he said.

Further cooperation could include local production of medicines and vaccines, diagnostic centers, and digital healthcare services.

Scholarships, youth exchanges and media links

Around 40,000 African citizens are studying at Russian universities, Putin said, with enrollment increasing by half since 2020. Scholarship places have nearly tripled over the same period, reaching 5,500 for the 2026–2027 academic year.

A three-year cooperation plan

In his closing remarks, Putin stressed that discussions between senior officials alone are insufficient, which is why this year’s forum has been designed to be more accessible and focused on practical opportunities.

He invited participants to an exhibition presenting Russian technologies and proposals for joint projects, saying Moscow is ready to share its achievements with African partners.

Africa wants industry, not just resource exports

During the plenary session, Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye said that Africa wants a greater role in the global economy and partnerships that help transform its resources into prosperity for its population.

He also called for diversified trade, payment systems, and logistical routes connecting Africa with Russia and BRICS.

In 1944, an unusual pavilion dedicated to the Soviet Union opened in Johannesburg, South Africa. Visitors could discover more about life in the USSR, view exhibitions, relax in a tea garden, and even stop by a vodka bar. The pavilion was very popular and attracted a total of about 250,000 visitors. This little-known episode is just one example of the rich and varied history of Russia-Africa relations. From Russian officers at the court of the Ethiopian emperor to African students who studied in Russia under the patronage of Nicholas II, the New Moscow Cossack settlement on the Red Sea coast, and the son of a Russian officer who became one of Ethiopia’s first pilots, we explore some of the highlights of Russia-Africa relations below. 

From Peter the Great to New Moscow in Africa

Perhaps the most famous African figure in the history of the Russian Empire is Abram Gannibal, the great-grandfather of the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. In the early 18th century, the African boy found himself at the court of Peter the Great, who became his godfather and later sent him to study in France. Gannibal received military training, became an engineer, and eventually rose to the rank of general. Historians still debate the exact location of his birth, with modern-day Cameroon and Eritrea among the possible locations. 

However, Gannibal was far from the only African at the Russian court. Africans appeared in Russia as early as the 17th century, and later, a specialized court position was instituted: ‘Arap (Moor) of the Imperial Court’. Some of them feature in paintings depicting the life of Russian monarchs.

For a long time, Russians had a limited understanding of Africa, largely shaped by books and traveler accounts. Russian pilgrims traveled to Egypt, merchants traded with North African ports, and scholars gradually discovered Africa’s geography and history. However, by the late 19th century, interest in Africa began to take on a more practical dimension.

One of the most unusual expressions of this interest was Nikolay Ashinov’s expedition. Ashinov called himself the ataman (leader) of the free Cossacks. In 1889, he landed with a group of like-minded individuals on the shores of what is now Djibouti, proclaiming the creation of a Russian settlement called ‘New Moscow’. They raised the Russian flag over it, but it soon turned out that the territory fell under French colonial interests. French military forces commanded the settlers to abandon the fort; when the latter refused, the French shelled the area and detained the expedition members. The Russian government, which did not support Ashinov’s initiative, distanced itself from the endeavor, and that marked the end of one of the most peculiar attempts at establishing a Russian presence in Africa.

Russians at the court of the Ethiopian emperor

Russia’s relationship with Ethiopia fared much better. Ethiopia was one of the few African nations that managed to retain independence during the era of European colonial expansion. Russia and Ethiopia shared the Christian faith, and Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II viewed Russia as a potential partner that did not seek to encroach on his territories. One of the first Russians to establish personal contact with him was military officer Viktor Mashkov. In 1889, he traveled to Ethiopia (formally as a correspondent for the newspaper Novoye Vremya) and managed to secure an audience with the emperor. Upon returning to St. Petersburg, Mashkov brought back a personal letter from Menelik II to Alexander III, along with gifts, including ceremonial weapons. He later returned to Ethiopia with a reply from the Russian monarch. These visits laid the groundwork for the establishment of official diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1898.

Cooperation swiftly extended beyond diplomacy. Following the Ethiopian army’s victory over the Italians at the Battle of Adwa in 1896, a medical mission from the Russian Red Cross Society arrived in Ethiopia. Menelik II was highly impressed by Russian doctors. According to the reports of Russian diplomat Pyotr Vlasov, during a visit to a hospital in 1898, the emperor didn’t just inspect the wards; he donned a hospital gown, attended a surgical operation, questioned patients, and examined medical instruments. The partnership in the field of healthcare became one of the most enduring traditions in Russia-Ethiopia relations.

The story of the first Ethiopian students in Russia is less well known. In 1897, Menelik II reached out to Nicholas II, requesting that several young Ethiopians be accepted to study in Russia. The Russian emperor agreed, and five young men, aged between 17 and 20, made their way to Russia. They were supposed to study medicine and various trades and then return home. However, the Russian education system wasn’t adapted to the needs of African students. For example, two of the young men were expected to enter a vocational school that typically admitted boys aged 12 to 15. The new students were significantly older and didn’t speak Russian, necessitating special language classes and high-level discussions about funding. In April 1898, Finance Minister Sergey Witte appealed to Nicholas II to allocate 250 rubles annually for the education of the students and an additional 1,200 rubles for their instructor. Sixty years before the establishment of the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, the Russian emperor personally supported this small group of African students.

From Transvaal to the Soviet pavilion in Johannesburg

In the same period, the attention of Russian society also turned to South Africa. The Anglo-Boer War broke out in 1899. In the course of this war, two small republics – Transvaal and the Orange Free State – fought against the British Empire. The Russian public strongly sympathized with the Boers (Afrikaners, descendants of Dutch settlers); newspapers extensively covered the situation on the front lines, charity drives were organized, and some Russians volunteered to fight in South Africa. Approximately 200 individuals from Russia fought alongside the Boers. Among them was Evgeny Maximov, who led a contingent of foreign volunteers and was promoted to the rank of general by the Boers, as well as Aleksey Guchkov, who would later become chairman of the State Duma and Minister of War in the Provisional Government.

The most enduring impact of the Anglo-Boer War on Russian culture is reflected in the song ‘Transvaal, Transvaal, my homeland, you’re all on fire!’ which became popular in Russia at the turn of the century. The song, based on Galina Galina’s poem, quickly gained popularity throughout Russia. It was later often heard in movies. 

Decades later, the relationship between Russia and South Africa took an unexpected turn. During WWII, the Soviet Union and the Union of South Africa became allies. In South African cities, various organizations emerged to collect aid for the USSR, and the Society of Friends of the Soviet Union held large-scale events to support the efforts.

In July 1944, the University of the Witwatersrand hosted a two-day congress promoting African-Soviet friendship that brought together about 600 delegates. In November 1944, a Soviet pavilion opened in Johannesburg, featuring exhibition halls, a tea garden, and even a vodka bar. But South African support for the USSR extended beyond donations and exhibitions. In July 1944, Dmitri Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony, known as the Leningrad Symphony, was performed in Johannesburg, and two months later, in Cape Town. Proceeds from both concerts were sent to the Soviet Union.

Nine students and Mandela’s secret mission

In the post-war years, collaboration in the field of education became a cornerstone of Soviet policy in Africa. In 1960, the Peoples’ Friendship University was established in Moscow. It was later named after Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of independent Congo. However, African students studied not only in Moscow, but also in cities throughout the USSR, such as Leningrad, Kiev, Kharkov, Odessa, Minsk, Voronezh, and many others. For many of these students, the trip to the Soviet Union was the first journey outside their home country and an opportunity to experience an entirely different culture and lifestyle. Everything was new – from Russian winters and dorm living to Soviet cafeterias and the challenge of learning a new language.

In January 1962, nine young activists from the African National Congress movement gathered in a house in Johannesburg. To their surprise, Nelson Mandela, who had gone underground, showed up at the meeting. The activists planned to go abroad for military training, but Mandela explained that the movement had other priorities. He tasked them with traveling to the Soviet Union to learn how free education, healthcare, affordable housing, and public transportation were organized, hoping this knowledge would aid in building a future democratic South Africa.

To cross the border discreetly, the young activists posed as a table tennis team headed to a tournament. After an extensive journey across Africa and Europe, they finally reached the USSR. Among them was Sindiso Mfenyana, who traveled to study economic planning in Kiev. But for him, the trip proved life-changing in more ways than one; while traveling by boat to a Black Sea resort, he met Rita, a Soviet woman studying aerospace engineering. They began corresponding, and in June 1963, they were married in Kiev. Later, they welcomed a son, whom they named Nikita. Years later, Mfenyana became full secretary to parliament in democratic South Africa.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia-Africa relations entered a period of minimal engagement. However, certain connections persisted through personal relationships, joint projects, and educational ties. In the 2000s, Russian companies began re-establishing a presence in Africa, including in countries where Soviet geologists, engineers, and educators had worked decades earlier. The first Russia-Africa summit took place in Sochi in 2019, followed by a second summit in St. Petersburg in 2023.

Today, Russia-Africa relations encompass more than just official meetings and economic initiatives. Approximately 35,000 African students are enrolled in Russian universities, and it’s increasingly common to see Africans working in the fields of trade, services, and delivery in various Russian cities. Meanwhile, the number of Russians traveling to African nations is gradually rising. These daily interactions lay the groundwork for new friendships, familial bonds, and both professional and personal relationships. In the future, these stories may be as captivating to read as the adventures of Russian travelers in Ethiopia or the experiences of African students in the Soviet Union.

Russia is ready to expand cooperation with African countries and regional organizations through new partnerships in business and other sectors, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. 

Speaking at a meeting with the heads of leading African media outlets on Tuesday, Lavrov said Moscow was open to developing additional forms of engagement with the African Union, individual countries and regional blocs.  

“Our partnership is already quite extensive, and there is certainly room to enrich and refine it; we are fully open to that,” Lavrov said.  

The minister also stressed that Russia seeks to strengthen ties with Africa on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, helping countries develop domestic industries and become more independent in global finance and technology. He said Moscow’s approach follows UN principles of mutual respect and non-interference. 

“The second awakening [of African countries] will, of course, be economic, including achieving a situation where the richest resources of the African continent are not simply extracted and exported as raw materials, but are used in Africa itself so that added value is created there, rather than in the former colonial powers,” he said. 

Turning to UN reform, Lavrov opposed increasing Western representation on the Security Council, arguing that Western countries already occupy six of its 15 seats despite their declining share of global economic output.  

“Like China and many other countries, we [Russia] maintain that only nations from the Global South should be granted new seats—whether permanent, non-permanent, or a mix of both,” Lavrov said. 

The 15-member UN Security Council has five veto-wielding permanent members and ten elected members serving two-year terms. Africa currently holds three seats, occupied by DR Congo, Liberia and Somalia, with Zimbabwe set to replace Somalia in January 2027. 

Moscow is hosting the third Russia-Africa Summit on Wednesday and Thursday, bringing together leaders and government delegations from 48 African countries for talks on political and economic cooperation.

The agenda covers trade, energy, agriculture, mining, education, healthcare, and artificial intelligence, as well as business cooperation through BRICS.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and African Union chair Evariste Ndayishimiye addressed the summit’s plenary session, while talks between Russian and African officials have covered investment, infrastructure, and economic ties. A series of agreements have also been signed with major African regional organizations.

The gathering follows previous summits in Sochi in 2019 and St. Petersburg in 2023, which helped lay the groundwork for closer relations between Russia and the continent.

RT is bringing you the latest developments, statements, interviews, and footage from the summit and events across Moscow.

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov gave an interview to executives from African media outlets in Moscow on Tuesday, ahead of the third Russia-Africa summit.

The interview took place during the Russia-Africa Media Forum in the Russian capital. Earlier on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also met with African media representatives and answered their questions.

The October 28-29 summit will bring together 22 African leaders, with delegations from 48 of the continent’s 54 countries confirming their participation, according to Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye, the current African Union chair, will co-chair the gathering at the Grand Kremlin Palace.

Watch the full interview below

Russia and African nations must work together to counter attempts by Western countries to undermine cooperation in the information sphere, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday.

Speaking to African journalists at the Russia-Africa Media Forum, Zakharova warned that outside powers seek to obstruct direct communication between Russia and African countries. She argued that restricting access to information and preventing independent exchanges between nations would deepen global inequality and reinforce divisions between countries.

“We must push back against this collectively... not individually, but by acting together,” she said.

Zakharova warned that efforts to limit international cooperation extend beyond the media sphere to cultural exchanges, energy, natural resources, and defense. 

Zakharova thanked African nations for standing firm under pressure, adding that it is “not just support for... Russia. It is support for the principles of justice, equality, and international law, and a rejection of segregation, humiliation, and blackmail.”

She expressed gratitude to the journalists who traveled to Russia for the forum, noting that some participants faced intimidation, “while others were lured with alternative events... to keep them from coming to Russia.”

African leaders and senior delegations continue to arrive in Moscow ahead of the third Russia-Africa Summit, with the presidents of Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, and South Sudan among the latest arrivals.

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir also landed that day, receiving a welcome from Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Borisenko. Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki is also in the capital.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who arrived on Sunday, was offered ceremonial tea, bread, and salt in a traditional Russian welcome. He said his delegation would seek “tangible benefits,” including expanded industrial trade and jobs for young people.

Mozambican President Daniel Chapo is also in Moscow, where he met members of the Mozambican community on Monday. He pledged stronger support for students in Russia, including help with renewing documents and transferring funds, and plans to assign a dedicated official to assist them at Mozambique’s embassy.

Mali’s transitional president, Assimi Goita, received an official airport welcome on Monday before joining officials and members of the Malian diaspora at his residence. His visit includes talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Mali’s government said in a statement.

Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama flew in from Ethiopia on Monday and was met by Russian officials and Ghana’s ambassador. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN) on Tuesday, with a second to be conferred by the Russian University of Transport.

Ugandan Vice President Jessica Alupo was received at Domodedovo Airport by Russian Foreign Ministry official Anatoly Bashkin and Uganda’s ambassador. Representing President Yoweri Museveni, she highlighted cooperation in agro-industrialization, technology transfer, trade, and tourism.

Algerian Prime Minister Sifi Ghrieb and his Burkinabe counterpart, Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo, have also arrived.

Moscow is also hosting the eighth Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) summit on Tuesday, with African delegations participating. Speaking to reporters at the forum’s ministerial meeting on Monday, Russian Energy Minister Sergey Tsivilev said Moscow was promoting a gas bank to provide long-term financing for gas infrastructure in Africa and other regions.

Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said on Monday that delegations from 48 African countries, including 22 represented by heads of state, had confirmed participation in the October 28-29 Russia-Africa Summit. Putin and Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye, the African Union chair, will co-chair the gathering.

Western media outlets are increasingly spreading anti-Russian narratives in Africa, Mayya Nikolskaya has told RT.

Speaking ahead of the third Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow, head of a research program at the Institute for International Studies at Russia’s MGIMO University, pointed to CNN, BBC, RFI and France 24 as examples of Western broadcasters whose coverage has shifted away from development initiatives toward criticism of Moscow. 

“They [Western media] used to focus more on development projects, now they’re talking mostly just about how Russia is bad,” she said, suggesting that this creates opportunities for Russian media to offer alternative perspectives.

“There is a far-reaching consensus in the policy advice circles that Paris is currently very toxic, quote-unquote,” she noted.

According to the expert, former colonial powers must rethink their relations with Africa and consider “not just what they can take from Africa but also what they can give it.” She added that African nations now have greater freedom to choose international partners, including Russia and China, based on their own priorities.

Nikolskaya made the remarks during the Russia-Africa Media Forum, which opened in Moscow on Monday. Organized by RT in cooperation with Sputnik and TASS, the event brought together more than 200 media professionals and experts from 46 African countries to discuss media cooperation and Africa’s representation in international news coverage.

When it comes to media in all its formats, Africa does not lack voices. It has thousands of newspapers, radio stations, television channels and digital platforms. What it often lacks is equal power to shape international conversations about its own affairs, and the resources to ensure that African perspectives reach audiences beyond the continent. The real challenge is who sets the agenda, the background and chooses the frames through which events are understood, breaking out of the stereotypes. And above all, who decides which voices deserve to be heard.

There is an important distinction between challenging an unequal international media landscape and achieving genuine media independence. The real test of the emerging Russia–Africa media cooperation will be whether it strengthens African media institutions’ ability to investigate, hold power to account and tell stories on their own terms.

Separately, BBC Monitoring reported, citing the South African Institute of International Affairs, that as many as 4,000 African news websites republish content from RT and Sputnik, a Russian news agency. This is an estimate of the network’s potential reach, not a measure of audience size or editorial allegiance.

However, the underlying issue is not simply whether Russian media are gaining a foothold in Africa, but whether greater access to international content and training can strengthen African journalism’s independence. Research by Africa No Filter, analyzing 60 African news outlets across 15 countries in 2020, found that approximately one-third of stories in the surveyed outlets about Africa were sourced from non-African news services. The findings point to a structural problem: African newsrooms often rely on external sources to cover the continent itself simply because they lack the means to do the field work themselves.

A 2024 Global Media Index for Africa, produced by the University of Cape Town, South Africa, in partnership with Africa No Filter and The Africa Center, analyzed more than 1,000 articles published by 20 international news organizations over six months.

Its findings offer grounds for questioning how major Western outlets portray the continent. Africa is covered through a narrow set of crises, while the lives, ideas and achievements of its people receive less international attention.

The relationship between media and power has a long history that predates today’s digital platforms and geopolitical competition. During the era of slavery and European colonial expansion, newspapers helped shape how readers understood Africa, its people and the economic systems, built around their exploitation. Their positions were not uniform: some publications campaigned against slavery, while others defended the interests of enslavers or opposed more radical demands for emancipation. The Manchester Guardian, for example, supported abolition but also argued that enslavers should be compensated for losing “their property.”

This reveals a wider contradiction: abolition was championed even as the interests of slaveholders and traders were protected. The historical question, therefore, is not whether all Western media defended slavery or colonialism, but how economic and political power shaped the stories told about Africa – and whose voices were given authority. Literal slavery is here being minimized as a human issue in the first place.

The same question of whose perspective shapes the story is relevant to contemporary demands for reparative justice. African and Caribbean governments and campaigners have long argued that slavery and colonial rule were systems whose consequences continue to shape economic and social inequalities. Yet these demands can be presented in international coverage primarily as disputes over money, political controversy or diplomatic embarrassment, rather than as challenges to the historical and legal foundations of the present order.

This is where Russia-Africa media cooperation can be assessed by more than the number of journalists trained or alternative outlets made available. Challenging Western dominance of international news is not, by itself, the same as securing media independence. Russian media can offer African audiences and journalists perspectives that differ from those of Western outlets, but the same scrutiny must apply to their ownership, funding, editorial priorities and relationship with political power. The meaningful measure of cooperation is whether it helps African newsrooms develop the professional freedom to investigate their own governments, question foreign partners and report beyond the narratives promoted by either side.

Maybe what should be ask is this: not whether Africa should choose between Western and Russian narratives, but whether African journalists have the freedom to develop their own narratives, bring home know-how and strengthen their media institutions at home. That requires investment in African-owned media, stronger local news networks and editorial independence from both foreign powers and domestic authorities.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will host 22 African leaders at the Russia-Africa summit in Moscow this week for talks spanning economic cooperation, energy, and global affairs, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov has said.

Putin’s schedule includes 24 bilateral meetings across the Russia-Africa gathering and Tuesday’s eighth Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) summit, Ushakov told reporters on Monday.

Five are scheduled for Tuesday, with the presidents of Mozambique, Equatorial Guinea, and Iran, as well as Qatar’s emir and Libya’s Presidential Council chairman. Another 11 are planned for Friday, including talks with representatives of Ghana, Mali, Mauritania, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, DR Congo, Togo, Eritrea, Somalia, and Comoros.

Ushakov said the discussions will emphasize “national sovereignty and fair access to food, resources, fertilizers, and modern technologies,” adding: “We have a busy... extremely packed week ahead.”

According to the Kremlin aide, delegations from 48 of Africa’s 54 countries have confirmed that they will take part in the October 28-29 gathering. Putin and Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye, the African Union chair, will co-chair the summit at the Grand Kremlin Palace.

The accompanying Economic and Humanitarian Forum will cover agriculture, energy, mining, finance, and technology, with around 4,000 Russian and African entrepreneurs invited.

The gathering follows the 2019 Sochi summit, attended by 43 African heads of state or government, and the 2023 St. Petersburg summit, which drew delegations from 48 African countries, including 17 heads of state. Russia completed the delivery of 200,000 metric tons of free grain to six African countries in February 2024, fulfilling Putin’s pledge at the 2023 summit, according to the Agriculture Ministry.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier this month that Western governments are attempting to pressure African states, including through financial blackmail, to deter them from attending the Moscow summit. Russia has positioned itself as a strategic ally to African countries, with governments across the continent seeking closer ties in education, energy, and security despite Western criticism.

Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama, who is in Moscow for the Russia-Africa summit, reaffirmed his country’s nonaligned foreign policy in London last week, saying partnerships should deliver investment and fair returns rather than being determined by competition among outside powers.

There were times, in the mid-to-late 20th century, when the Soviet Union was deeply engaged with Africa. It not only welcomed decolonization but actively promoted it and it supported national liberation movements from Algeria to Angola and from Guinea-Bissau to Zimbabwe. It assisted newly independent nations economically, helping them build factories, hospitals, and schools. A number of African countries became Moscow’s political allies and received arms and advisers to strengthen their security.

Having long since recovered from the collapse of the USSR, today’s Russia is again turning its attention to the African continent. Both Africa and Russia, however, are very different from what they were sixty or seventy years ago. Russia’s interest in Africa is largely an expression of its comeback as a world power. It also reflects Moscow’s recognition of African countries’ rapid economic and demographic growth, and their potential as an important component of the 21st-century multipolar world order, which encompasses not just states but civilizations.

Russia, however, is not looking to impose an ideology on its partners because it has no ideology to export in the first place. Nor does it go to Africa primarily in search of natural resources, which it possesses in abundance within its own borders. Russia doesn’t need military bases in Africa as part of its grand strategy, which remains firmly focused on its own neighborhood in Eurasia. Rather, it sees Africa as part of what it calls the Global Majority, the part of the world where it has partners with whom to cooperate, as opposed to the West, which has shut itself off from Russia.

Russia has already established itself as a security provider for African countries facing serious challenges. Under the banner of the Africa Corps, Russian military advisers and specialists are working in several West African countries belonging to the Alliance of Sahel States (Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso), as well as in the Central African Republic. They have managed to thwart a number of large-scale coup attempts and military offensives masterminded and supported from abroad. Such security assistance is essential to upholding the sovereignty of nations that have requested it.

Russia, of course, is much more than a military power. Among other things, it is a leader in digitalization. Moscow is one of the world’s most advanced capitals in this field. Russia is ready to share its expertise in establishing and improving electronic government services. Since Soviet times, Russian scientists have conducted pioneering research into deadly viruses and vaccines to combat them. A vaccine against Ebola was developed in 2019 by the Russian research institute Vector, located in Siberia, while the Sputnik V vaccine, developed against COVID-19, proved highly effective in fighting the pandemic.

To date, three African countries – South Africa, Egypt, and Ethiopia – are full members of the 10-member BRICS grouping. This format offers a novel, non-hierarchical and genuinely consensus-based approach to addressing economic, financial, environmental, educational, and other global issues. The BRICS way of doing business supports sovereignty and rejects diktat. Russia, which helped initiate the formation of BRICS just over two decades ago, works to ensure that the group remains true to its founding principles.

Russia has never been a colonial power in Africa and has never attempted to plunder its resources. It regards Africans as partners and African civilization as an equal in the emerging world order. This week’s Third Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow will bring the two even closer.

Russia is helping African nations strengthen their capabilities through cooperation that benefits both sides, Gamal Abdel Nasser Jr., chairman of the Nasser Foundation for Humanities and Development, has told RT.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa Media Forum in Moscow, the grandson of former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser said Russia’s growing appeal on the continent stems partly from the fact that it never took part in the colonization of the continent. 

He contrasted Moscow’s approach with that of former European colonial powers, which he accused of denying African societies access to education and technological progress. “Now Russia is coming today and offering us a kind of situation where they are helping us become stronger,” Nasser Jr. said.

He acknowledged that Moscow has its own strategic interests in expanding cooperation with African countries, but argued that the relationship is beneficial to both parties.

Nasser Jr. also criticized the legacy of European colonialism, singling out Britain, France, the Netherlands and Belgium for their treatment of African populations. 

Turning to Egypt’s membership in BRICS, Nasser Jr. said he had long advocated for Cairo to join the group, viewing it as an opportunity for developing countries to reduce their dependence on Western-dominated financial institutions.

He argued that the World Bank and International Monetary Fund emerged from a post-World War II system in which the US and Britain exercised disproportionate influence. BRICS, by contrast, is giving developing nations a greater role in shaping international economic arrangements, he said.

The foundation chairman also called for greater attention to colonial reparations, arguing that recovering historical artifacts taken from Egypt should be only part of a broader effort to address the consequences of foreign rule.

The remarks came at the four-day Russia-Africa Media Forum, which opened in Moscow on Monday. Organized by RT in cooperation with Sputnik and TASS, the event has brought together more than 200 media professionals and experts from 46 African countries.

Trade, sovereignty and peace are on the table as African leaders gather in Moscow this week for the third Russia-Africa Summit.

Their participation comes despite what Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has described as Western pressure on African governments to stay away. This prodding prompted Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama to retort that partnerships should deliver investment and fair returns rather than be determined by competition among outside powers.

The October 28-29 meeting will set cooperation priorities for the next three years, alongside an Economic and Humanitarian Forum bringing together officials, businesses and experts. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye, the current African Union (AU) chairman, will co-chair the leaders’ plenary session on the second day.

The gathering follows summits in Sochi in 2019 and St. Petersburg in 2023.

Who is coming to Moscow?

Russia has invited all African heads of state and the leaders of regional organizations. Most African delegations have confirmed their participation, according to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa arrived in Moscow on Sunday. Writing on X, he said Zimbabwe’s participation would focus on “driving economic diversification, boosting industrial trade, and creating sustainable jobs for our youth,” alongside cooperation in energy, food security and technology. 

The presidents of Mali and Mozambique as well as the Senegalese prime minister have also arrived. Delegations from Ghana and Uganda are in Moscow, according to Ruptly footage showing their motorcades in the city center on Monday.

Republic of Congo President Denis Sassou Nguesso left Brazzaville for Moscow on Sunday, according to a Facebook post made by his office.

Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama arrived in Moscow on Monday after confirming his participation at the Financial Times Africa Summit in London last week. At that event, he defended Ghana’s nonaligned foreign policy, citing friendly relations with Russia, China, the US, and the EU.

Mahama also said he would “try to convince President Putin to have a ceasefire if I can,” referring to the Ukraine conflict. His appeal follows earlier African peace efforts, including a seven-country mission led by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to Ukraine and Russia in June 2023.

Kenyan President William Ruto and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni are expected to attend, their ambassadors in Moscow confirmed in June. Kenya’s envoy, Peter Mathuki, said he anticipated “very fruitful talks.”

Burkina Faso President Ibrahim Traore and Niger’s President Abdourahamane Tchiani will also participate, according to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Alimov.

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir confirmed his attendance in a letter to Putin delivered through diplomatic channels in July, according to Russia’s embassy in Juba. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has also announced the participation of Guinea-Bissau’s transitional leader, Horta N’Tam.

Namibian President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah will attend, her office confirmed, announcing her scheduled departure on Monday. It said Namibia would seek partnerships supporting mineral processing, job creation, technology transfer, and economic diversification.

Libya’s Presidential Council Chairman Mohamed al-Menfi is also expected to participate, Sputnik reported, citing a source in the council. Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council Chairman Abdel Fattah al-Burhan will attend, Russian Ambassador to Sudan Andrey Chernovol told RIA Novosti.

Nigerian Vice President Kashim Shettima will lead his country’s delegation, Nigeria’s ambassador to Russia, Joseph Olusola Iji, told TASS.

Ramaphosa will not attend. During talks with Putin in September, he cited local election campaigning, saying he would be “in the middle of a very vigorous campaign.” South Africa’s embassy subsequently confirmed that its delegation would be led by Zane Dangor, director-general of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation.

What is on the agenda?

The topic of sovereignty is central to the forum, which features sessions on development financing, food security, and technological independence.

Interdependence regarding agriculture is a foundational sector for Russia-Africa relations, and the forum is expected to address fertilizer supplies, farm machinery, local production, and the financial and logistical obstacles facing food trade. 

Peaceful nuclear energy is another priority. Rosatom is building four reactors at Egypt’s El Dabaa nuclear power plant and has signed roadmaps to advance planned nuclear power projects in Ethiopia and Rwanda. Its cooperation with Rwanda also includes a proposed nuclear science and technology center for research, specialist training, and applications in medicine, agriculture, and industry.

Digital infrastructure discussions come as Africa’s online economy expands. GSMA’s 2025 assessment put the continent’s mobile internet users at 416 million, projected to reach 576 million by 2030. African companies also bring established financial technology expertise: Kenya’s Safaricom said its M-PESA mobile money service reached 40 million customers in March 2026. Other sessions cover artificial intelligence, healthcare and training African specialists.

Why is the summit important?

African priorities include processing more resources at home, building energy and technological capacity, and diversifying partnerships on their own terms.

Disputes with Western governments have reinforced the emphasis on sovereignty. In September, South Africa’s Foreign Ministry challenged US visa restrictions linked to Washington’s criticism of its domestic policies, declaring: “It is our sovereign right to put in place laws that address the nation’s concern over centuries of racial injustice.”

The summit builds on sustained diplomatic engagement. Since 2022, Lavrov has visited countries across the continent, including repeated trips to Egypt, Ethiopia and South Africa. His July 2026 tour included Ethiopia, Niger, Mozambique, and Burundi.

The summit framework has also developed into regular ministerial consultations. Sochi hosted the first ministerial conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum in November 2024, followed by a second in Cairo in December 2025.

Trade between Russia and Africa rose from $16.8 billion in 2019 to $27.1 billion in 2025, according to Nikolay Golovko, a leading expert at HSE’s Center for African Studies. The balance remains heavily tilted toward Russian exports, which accounted for $22.7 billion, compared with $4.4 billion in imports from Africa.

Has the threat of Western sanctions reached Russia-Africa relations?

There still might be concerns about secondary sanctions; however, “they are being removed from the first plan,” Maslov said. A new group of partners has emerged, ready to develop new logistics networks and payment mechanisms. “Sanctions have gone from being a problem to a cost of doing business,” he noted.

Economic cooperation already includes major projects. Russia is building Egypt’s El Dabaa nuclear power plant, while Rosatom’s subsidiary Mantra Tanzania opened a pilot uranium processing facility at the Mkuju River project in July 2025.

Russia and the AU also reiterated support in July for greater African representation in the UN Security Council, reflecting their push to reform global institutions.

What was the central theme of Summit 1.0? 

The inaugural summit took place in Sochi on October 23-24, 2019, co-chaired by Putin and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, then the AU chair.

Held under the motto “For Peace, Security and Development,” it established a framework for cooperation across politics, security, trade, science, education, and culture.

The event provided a foundation for 92 agreements, contracts and signed memorandums of understanding between participants, with publicly disclosed values totaling more than 1 trillion rubles, approximately $12.5 billion at the time. These were signed commitments rather than a measure of completed investment.

The second gathering, held in St. Petersburg on July 27-28, 2023, expanded the format to include a humanitarian forum. Official delegations from 48 African countries attended.

Participants adopted a joint declaration and a cooperation action plan for 2023–2026. Separate declarations addressed counterterrorism, international information security and preventing an arms race in outer space. Organizers recorded 161 publicly disclosed agreements, many covering education, science, and other humanitarian cooperation.

Food security was a prominent issue and remains a pressing concern. An estimated 309 million people in Africa faced hunger in 2025, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s latest report.

At the 2023 summit, Putin pledged free grain for six African countries. Russia completed the 200,000-metric-ton delivery program in February 2024, according to its Agriculture Ministry. Somalia and the Central African Republic received 50,000 tons each; Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Mali, and Zimbabwe received 25,000 tons each.

In August 2026, Russia delivered nearly 556 metric tons of split peas and sunflower oil to Burkina Faso through the UN World Food Program, according to Russian Ambassador Igor Martynov.

What can we expect for Summit 3.0?

A central expected outcome is a new Russia-Africa action plan for 2027-2029, replacing the framework adopted in St. Petersburg. Lavrov has said it will be approved at the Moscow gathering.

Zakharova has also said a substantial package of intergovernmental agreements and commercial contracts is expected. Putin will hold bilateral meetings, while Lavrov will host a working breakfast for African foreign ministers on October 28.

The gathering will also provide an opportunity to review implementation of the 2023-2026 action plan, Golovko writes. Its 181 points cover areas ranging from politics and security to agriculture, energy, transport, education, and investment.

The Russia-Africa Media Forum opened in Moscow on Monday, bringing together more than 200 participants from 46 African countries. Organized by RT in cooperation with Sputnik and TASS, the four-day event focuses on media cooperation and journalism’s role in shaping Africa’s image abroad.

Sebastian Maganga, head of content at Tanzania’s Clouds Media Group, highlighted the value of exchanging stories.

“If you have forums similar to this, that’s when you get the opportunity to share our stories and get stories from Russia and other places respectively and package them,” he said on the sidelines of the event.

The media forum’s published program identifies “strengthening the media sovereignty of African countries” as a priority. Sessions will examine how African newsrooms can develop their own sources, expand the international reach of their reporting and cooperate with Russian outlets through content production, resource sharing, and journalist exchanges.

Moscow will also host the eighth Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) summit on October 27. The gathering will address global market developments, energy security, and investment opportunities.

The GECF’s members account for 70% of proven global natural gas reserves and 42% of gas exports, according to the organization. Its African members are Algeria, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, and Nigeria, while Angola, Mauritania, Mozambique, and Senegal hold observer status.

Russian companies already have investments in African gas production. Rosneft acquired a 30% stake in the concession containing Egypt’s giant Zohr gas field in 2017 for $1.125 billion, excluding reimbursement for past project costs.

Participants of the Russia-Africa Media Forum are set to meet Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as the gathering gets underway in Moscow.

Organized by RT in cooperation with the Sputnik and TASS news agencies, the event comes ahead of the third Russia-Africa Summit, scheduled for October 28-29 in the Russian capital.

The meeting with Zakharova is scheduled for Tuesday, October 27, at 11 am Moscow time.

The four-day forum opened on Monday, bringing together more than 200 participants from 46 African countries, alongside Russian media executives, journalists, and experts. Among the attendees are African Broadcasting Union Director General Gregoire Ndjaka and Central African Republic Communications and Media Minister Evariste Ngamana.

Discussions will focus on media cooperation, combating disinformation, and the role of journalism in shaping Africa’s image internationally. The program also includes joint broadcasts with Russian media outlets and the signing of cooperation agreements.

Zakharova previously announced that TASS would host a panel discussion on the role of media resources in combating disinformation and promoting a positive image of Russia and Africa.

The Russian side will be represented by RT first deputy editor-in-chief Elizaveta Brodskaya, Rossiya Segodnya director general Dmitry Kiselyov, and TASS director general Andrey Kondrashov.

The Russian Foreign Ministry will also organize two sessions focusing on digital opportunities and challenges, as well as the role of AI in developing cooperation between Russia and Africa, according to Zakharova.

Sessions hosted by RT, Rossiya Segodnya, and TASS are scheduled for October 26-27 at the Russia National Center, followed by a plenary discussion involving senior media executives and regulators at Gostiny Dvor on October 28.

The program also includes an RT session on October 29 featuring descendants of prominent African leaders highlighted in the broadcaster’s African Legacy project. Participants are also expected to hold joint broadcasts with Russian media outlets and sign cooperation agreements.

The Russia-Africa Media Forum has opened in Moscow, bringing together more than 200 participants from 46 African countries. 

The gathering, which began on Monday, is being organized by RT in cooperation with the Sputnik and TASS news agencies. It brings together media executives, journalists, and experts from Russia and African countries. The four-day event will focus on media cooperation and the role of journalism in shaping Africa’s image abroad.

Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Sebastian Maganga, head of content at Tanzania’s Clouds Media Group, highlighted the importance of such gatherings, saying they allow media organizations to exchange stories and share their perspectives with international audiences.

The forum comes ahead of the third Russia-Africa Summit, scheduled for October 28-29 in Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin will co-chair the plenary session on October 29 with Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye, the current chair of the African Union, according to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

Moscow will also host the eighth Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) summit on October 27, bringing energy diplomacy into the same week’s meetings. The gathering will address global market developments, energy security, and investment opportunities.

African leaders have begun arriving in Moscow ahead of the summit, including Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mozambican President Daniel Chapo, and Mali’s transitional president, Assimi Goita. Ugandan Vice President Jessica Alupo has also arrived in the Russian capital, according to media reports.

Putin is also expected to hold bilateral talks with African leaders, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will meet his African counterparts on October 28. More than 2,000 guests are expected to attend the accompanying Economic and Humanitarian Forum, Zakharova said.

The economic forum will be held at Moscow’s Gostiny Dvor exhibition center. Its agenda covers trade, investment, energy, food security, digitalization, education, and technology.

The upcoming event follows two previous summits between Russian and African leaders. The first, held in Sochi in October 2019, attracted delegations from all 54 African countries, while the second, held in St. Petersburg in July 2023, brought together representatives from 48 African nations.

The Russia-Africa Summit taking place in Moscow on October 28-29 will be the third of its kind, and relations have undergone a great transformation since the first summit. Over the past seven years, permanent frameworks have been established, diplomatic presence has expanded, and trade turnover has grown.

This year’s summit will provide an opportunity to evaluate the results of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum Action Plan, which was adopted at the second summit. It contains 181 points covering politics and security, trade, investment, agriculture, energy, industry, transport, digitalization, science, education, and humanitarian cooperation.

Prior to 2022, expert discussions focused mainly on Africa’s place among Moscow’s foreign policy priorities. However, in the past four years, the practical importance of Russia’s relationship with the continent has surged.

African nations have become a higher priority for Russia in terms of diplomacy, business, foreign trade, and international coordination. Today, the primary focus is on the quality of cooperation.

The first Russia-Africa Summit, held in Sochi in October 2019, brought together all 54 African nations, including more than 40 heads of state and government. Its most significant outcome was the establishment of a pan-African approach in Russian foreign policy. This set a framework for regular summits, the ongoing work of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, and cooperation with the African Union.

The second summit took place in St. Petersburg in July 2023 and was attended by delegations from 49 African states, 17 of which were led by heads of state. A three-year Action Plan adopted there featured key topics such as financial settlements, banking ties, logistics, investments, information technology, industry, and transport. Following the summit, expert discussions increasingly focused on shipping, insurance, correspondent accounts, currency settlements, and project finance – that is, issues that directly impact corporate business activity and trade volumes.

Cooperation has since become multi-dimensional. In November 2024, the first Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum took place in Sochi, followed by a second such conference in Cairo in December 2025. In July, African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held high-level consultations in Addis Ababa.

Russia’s diplomatic network has also expanded.There are currently 45 Russian embassies physically operating in African nations. Since 2023, embassies have resumed operations in Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Niger, and Sierra Leone, and a new Russian embassy was opened in South Sudan. The opening of embassies in the Gambia, Liberia, Togo, and the Comoros are next on the agenda. A separate Department for Partnership with Africa has been established within the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The developments are, step-by-step, reducing the extent to which the African agenda depends on meetings between leaders.

Russia’s political presence in Africa has been expanding faster than economic ties. At the same time, tangible progress has been made in commerce: trade turnover between Russia and Africa grew from $16.8 billion in 2019, when the first summit was held, to $27.1 billion in 2025.

However, a pronounced imbalance persists: in 2025, Russian exports accounted for $22.7 billion, while imports amounted to only about $4.4 billion. Much of the growth seen in recent years is linked to shifts in the external environment and the redirection of trade flows. Establishing a sustainable presence, however, requires direct supply channels, infrastructure, local partners, and financing.

The geography of economic ties is also uneven, with about 70% of total trade turnover still concentrated in North African countries. Food, fertilizers, fuel, and metals account for a significant portion of trade turnover. The modest scale of economic engagement becomes clear when compared to that of other major powers; for example, China-Africa trade reached $348 billion in 2025.

Moscow’s policy currently commands fewer financial resources. To make its presence in Africa more effective, Russia is focusing on the sectors where it possesses the necessary technologies and expertise, and where demand is stable. These include the agro-industrial complex, nuclear energy, the extractive industries, digitalization, information security, and education.

Food, fertilizers, energy, and education

Russia maintains a strong position in the food and fertilizer sectors. Following the 2023 summit, a pledge to provide free shipments of wheat to six African countries was fulfilled. In 2024, Russia delivered 200,000 tons of grain (valued at approximately $60 million) to Mali, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Eritrea, Somalia, and the Central African Republic. The deliveries were made independently of any international organizations, which means Russia is establishing a sovereign infrastructure for food supplies to African nations and engages with importers directly.

The next phase of cooperation could focus on developing production capacities in African nations. The African Union’s agenda prioritizes fertilizer production, the storage and processing of agricultural products, mechanization, seed production, transport infrastructure, and enhancing local added value. Talks between Russia and the African Union in July 2026 addressed industrialization, the expansion of trade within the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and food security.

This approach aligns with the objectives of Agenda 2063 – the African Union’s development blueprint –which calls for the strengthening of national economies, fostering domestic production, creating jobs, and reducing reliance on external supplies. The AfCFTA, designed to dismantle trade barriers between the nations of the region and establish a unified market, supports these same goals. Within this framework, fertilizer production, raw material processing, the establishment of service centers, the assembly of machinery, and the training of local specialists help build a sustainable presence in markets.

African demand

The context for cooperation with Africa has also evolved. One of the most notable shifts has been the development of the AfCFTA. By 2026, 50 of the 54 signatory countries had ratified the agreement. The primary challenge now is to ensure that free trade becomes a practical reality. Participants have agreed to phase out tariffs on 90% of product categories – a process set to take five years for more developed economies and 10 years for the least developed nations.

The summit in St. Petersburg in 2023 demonstrated the autonomy of African diplomacy. Prior to the meeting, an African peace delegation visited Kiev and St. Petersburg, presenting their own proposals for resolving the conflict. African leaders raised concerns with the Russian leadership regarding food security and the impact of the hostilities on the continent’s economy. For Moscow, this may signal a need to engage with partners who maintain a broad range of foreign policy options.

The number of leaders attending the summit in fact only offers a limited perspective on the state of relations. A more meaningful indicator lies in the ongoing cooperation with the African Union Commission, the AfCFTA, regional economic communities, relevant government ministries, and private-sector companies.

What are instruments of sovereignty?

There are 54 countries in Africa, and all are very different. The pan-African format is most suitable for education and humanitarian cooperation, international coordination, and shared economic initiatives. Practical projects, however, are better implemented at the level of individual countries and sectors.

Russia’s experience in recent years highlights the value of stable regional powers with large economies and well-developed external ties – such as Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, South Africa, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and several others. Entering these markets, however, requires more thorough preparation and a solid understanding of local conditions. At the same time, the scale of these economies opens up opportunities for long-term projects. Such ventures can serve not only the market of a single country but may also supply neighboring states, gradually expanding the presence of Russian companies throughout the region.

This approach is giving practical meaning to Russia’s rhetoric about sovereignty. Results can be measured by an increase in new capacities, trained specialists, a reduction in import dependence and an increase in the tax base.

What will the Moscow summit show?

The practical results of the summit may be assessed according to five parameters. First, the public assessment of the implementation of the 2023-2026 Action Plan (including by the African side) will reveal functioning aspects, delayed initiatives, and projects that require revision. Then comes the new 2027-2029 Action Plan: Its measurable objectives and realistic timelines will facilitate the work of relevant departments. Third is financial infrastructure: export lending, risk insurance, banking support, and working settlement mechanisms are important for business.

Another important point is deepening the economic presence: developing projects, service centers, processing, energy and digital infrastructure. Lastly there is country prioritization, which means that limited resources necessitate that projects be chosen with a clear economic or political effect.

The woman diagnosed with Nigeria’s first Ebola case in more than a decade did not travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), the Swiss government has said. The statement contradicts claims by Ugandan authorities that she had visited the country where the current outbreak began.

The patient is a 42-year-old Ugandan-born Swiss national married to a Swiss diplomat based in Abuja. She is believed to have contracted the virus while traveling with her husband in Uganda, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs told Reuters on Thursday.  

Uganda’s Health Ministry initially reported that the woman was a Nigerian national who had visited eastern DR Congo on business before traveling through Uganda. The ministry said the source of her infection remained unknown and stressed that Uganda had no active Ebola cases. However, the Swiss government later denied that the woman had traveled to DR Congo, while the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said they had received no confirmed information about such a visit.

The Africa CDC is also investigating whether the woman may have come into contact with a Kenyan Ebola patient, as both traveled through Uganda’s Entebbe airport on October 3.

Nigeria confirmed the infection on October 20. The woman returned to Nigeria on October 3 after spending about two and a half weeks in Uganda, the BBC said. According to the WHO, she developed symptoms four days later and sought medical care on October 11. She remains in isolation and is showing signs of improvement, while her husband is also isolated but has no symptoms. Nigerian Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate warned from “any panic,” stressing there was “no evidence that it has gone into the communities,” as authorities stepped up contact tracing and monitoring.

Uganda recorded 20 Ebola cases earlier this year, mostly imported from DR Congo, before being declared free of the disease in August.

A foreign national has been beaten to death by a group of around 50 people during a protest march in the South African city of Durban, police said on Thursday. Anti-immigrant demonstrations and violence against migrants have been continuing for months.

According to police, two men broke away from a march in central Durban and approached the victim, who was standing by the roadside. He was then allegedly assaulted by a group of about 50 people and pronounced dead at the scene. The authorities believe the victim was in his late 30s or early 40s, but his identity and nationality have not yet been released.

“Police are following several leads and using all investigative aids to identify possible suspects,” the South African Police Service (SAPS) said in the statement. Investigators are working to identify those responsible. The police have also not confirmed the purpose of the march.

In June, thousands of migrants, mostly from Malawi, gathered in Durban seeking assistance to return home. They said they feared for their safety after an anti-immigration group demanded that undocumented foreigners leave South Africa by June 30. 

In September, South African Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi announced that the authorities had processed 86,596 foreign nationals for deportation or repatriation between June 14 and August 20. Malawians accounted for the largest group, followed by Zimbabweans and Mozambicans.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has condemned attacks against migrants and announced measures to strengthen border controls and immigration enforcement. He previously stated that “xenophobia, Afrophobia, or any other form of intolerance” has “no place” in South Africa.

The latest killing follows other deadly incidents linked to anti-immigrant unrest in South Africa. In late May, two Mozambican nationals were killed during violent protests in Mossel Bay, where around 50 makeshift homes were also set on fire.

Algeria and Niger have signed a military cooperation agreement following talks between defense chiefs in Algiers, the Algerian Ministry of National Defense announced on Wednesday. The deal marks another step in the restoration of ties between Algeria and its Sahel neighbors following a diplomatic rift last year.

The agreement was signed at a meeting between Algeria’s chief of staff, Lieutenant General Said Chengriha, and Niger’s defense minister, Lieutenant General Salifou Modi, who arrived in the country leading a military delegation. The two sides discussed strengthening bilateral military and security cooperation and addressing shared challenges.

Chengriha reaffirmed Algeria’s willingness to consider proposals aimed at improving cooperation. “I also wish to reaffirm to you our readiness in the People’s National Army to study any Nigerien proposal that would enhance military and security cooperation,” he said.

The move follows a broader rapprochement between Algeria and the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), comprising Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso, which began earlier this year. 

Relations deteriorated in April 2025 after Algeria shot down a Malian drone near their shared border, claiming it violated Algerian airspace, prompting all three AES members to recall their ambassadors. Bamako rejected the accusation and said the aircraft was destroyed over Mali.

Russian news agency Sputnik has opened an editorial office in Johannesburg, South Africa, expanding its African coverage alongside a second newsroom in Tanzania’s commercial hub of Dar es Salaam.

The centers launched on Tuesday employ dozens of local journalists producing English and Swahili content, including podcasts for partner radio stations across Africa. The agency says those stations reach a combined audience of more than 100 million listeners.

South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile welcomed the Johannesburg opening, saying it reflected growing cooperation with Russia and would broaden the range of perspectives available to audiences.

“We welcome Sputnik’s commitment to amplifying African voices and telling African stories,” he said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a video address that the offices would improve access to verified information without ideological filters. He thanked both governments for supporting the newsrooms and accused Western countries of suppressing dissenting views through censorship and double standards.

Sputnik Africa began operating in 2022 and publishes in five languages, including Swahili, Amharic and Oromo. It is part of the Rossiya Segodnya media group.

The expansion comes despite Western restrictions on Russian media. The EU and UK have banned numerous Russian news outlets since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, including RT and Sputnik. Moscow has denounced the EU-wide ban as an attempt to silence coverage of the conflict that contradicts Brussels maximalist political stance.

Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote has bought a roughly 25% stake in Kenya’s fuel pipeline operator as part of a wider push to expand petroleum distribution across the continent.

The Nigerian industrialist announced the acquisition at the Financial Times Africa Summit in London on Wednesday. Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) operates pipelines and storage facilities supplying Kenya and other regional markets.

“We bought 25% of their pipeline network for the distribution of petroleum products,” Dangote said.

The purchase involved 4.5 billion KPC shares worth $335 million, bought at a slight premium to the last-traded price, the FT reported. Dangote said the acquisition and planned network expansion formed part of a continent-wide fuel distribution strategy. “We are going very aggressively with that,” he said.

Dangote also plans to invest $1.5 billion in expanding the pipeline network as part of a wider African refining, storage, and distribution business, the FT reported.

Kenyan President William Ruto said on Tuesday that private investors had acquired a quarter of KPC from public entities, without identifying the buyers. The government sold a 65% stake through an IPO earlier this year to raise revenue, with the company listing on the Nairobi Securities Exchange in March.

Dangote already operates Africa’s largest refinery near Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital. The roughly $20 billion facility began commercial operations in 2024, helping the country reduce its reliance on imported fuel. In September, the company launched a $1.6 billion public offering to help finance an expansion intended to double its capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will co-chair the plenary session of the third Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow on October 29 alongside Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye, the current chair of the African Union, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced on Wednesday.

The two-day summit, scheduled for October 28-29, will bring together Russian officials and African leaders to discuss trade, investment, security, and broader economic cooperation. The agenda will also include peaceful nuclear energy, independent payment systems, food security, digitalization, and artificial intelligence.

“We have effectively reached the final phase of preparations. Work is being carried out in close cooperation with our African partners,” Zakharova said. 

Putin is expected to hold bilateral talks with African leaders and meet with heads of regional organizations on the sidelines of the summit. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will host a working breakfast for his African counterparts on October 28. Zakharova said a substantial package of intergovernmental agreements and commercial contracts is expected to be signed during the event.

Last month, Zakharova said Western governments were pressuring African states to boycott the gathering and described the interference as a continuation of colonial-era practices. Lavrov also accused France of trying to dissuade African leaders from attending, warning that President Emmanuel Macron would use a visit to Africa to exert pressure.

On Monday, Russian Foreign Ministry official Tatyana Dovgalenko said Western countries continued to exert diplomatic pressure on African governments and had even resorted to financial blackmail to prevent their participation.  

Russia and Türkiye have called for South Africa’s swift return to G20 activities after the US barred the country from participating during America’s presidency amid tensions over Pretoria’s domestic policies and foreign ties.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Pankin and his Turkish counterpart, Berris Ekinci, discussed the issue during consultations in Moscow, according to a Russian Foreign Ministry statement released on Tuesday. They said any changes to G20 membership must be agreed on by consensus, with greater representation for countries of the Global South and East.

The diplomats also discussed preparations for the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta on October 30-31 and the leaders’ summit in Miami December 14-15. They stressed that the forum should remain a platform for equal dialogue on global economic challenges.

Russia and Türkiye are both members of the G20, which comprises 19 countries, the EU, and the African Union.

US President Donald Trump announced in November 2025 that South Africa would not be invited to the Miami summit, saying it demonstrated that it is “unworthy of membership.” 

Trump also accused Pretoria of refusing to hand over the G20 presidency to a US Embassy representative. South Africa said it would breach protocol for President Cyril Ramaphosa to hand over to a junior diplomat. The transfer later took place at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation between officials of similar rank.

The South African presidency said US punitive measures are based on “misinformation and distortions.” Prior to the Johannesburg summit, Ramaphosa also rejected US pressure against issuing a joint declaration without Washington’s support. He told reporters on November 20 that South Africa “will not agree to be bullied.”

Relations have since deteriorated, with the US announcing visa restrictions in September against officials and people it accuses of enabling racial discrimination, uncompensated land seizures, and inciting violence against minorities in South Africa. US Ambassador Brent Bozell also criticized Pretoria’s ties with Russia, China, and Iran, pledging to challenge its “geostrategic drift” toward America’s competitors.

Ramaphosa warned on Monday that South Africa, which already faces steep US tariffs, must prepare for possible exclusion from America’s preferential trade program for African countries.

A Russian Navy training ship has arrived in Namibia as part of a voyage around Eurasia and Africa, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Tuesday. The Baltic Fleet vessel ‘Perekop’ docked at the port of Walvis Bay after crossing the Indian and Atlantic oceans.

According to the ministry, the ship covered more than 1,800 nautical miles in seven days. During the journey, cadets from the Baltic Naval Institute continued their practical training, taking part in navigation watches, plotting courses using onboard instruments, and practicing maneuvers through narrow waterways. They also received instruction in ship operations and damage control.

The vessel was welcomed in Walvis Bay by representatives of the Russian Embassy and the Namibian navу. The visitors who toured the ship were briefed on its operations and the training program for future naval officers. The crew and cadets are also to visit local attractions during their stay.

According to Sputnik, the voyage is scheduled to conclude on December 9, 2026, after taking the vessel through four oceans, 14 seas, 23 straits, nine bays, and two rivers, with calls at 20 ports, including 12 overseas.

The ‘Perekop’ is not the first Russian naval ship to visit Africa. In July 2025, another Baltic Fleet vessel, the ‘Smolny’, visited the Republic of the Congo as part of a regional tour that also included Equatorial Guinea and São Tomé and Príncipe. The ship had previously called at several African ports in 2024, including in Namibia, Angola, and South Africa.

Libya’s eastern-based parliament has approved a disputed maritime agreement with Türkiye, drawing condemnation from Greece and Cyprus over competing boundaries and energy rights in the Mediterranean.

The House of Representatives voted unanimously on Tuesday to endorse the agreement, which was first signed in November 2019 between Ankara and Libya’s internationally recognized government in Tripoli. Lawmakers also overturned a 2020 decision to sever political ties with Türkiye.

The agreement demarcates maritime jurisdiction between the two countries in an area contested by Greece, Egypt, and Cyprus.

The Greek Foreign Ministry called the parliamentary decision “unilateral [and] legally unfounded,” saying the deal disregards Greek islands’ rights to maritime zones between the Turkish and Libyan coasts.

“The memorandum remains illegal, null and void, contravenes international law of the sea, and infringes upon the sovereign rights of states in the region,” the ministry said in a statement.

Ankara welcomed the vote, saying the agreement safeguards “the mutual rights and interests” of both countries under international law and the principle of equity, while deepening cooperation between Türkiye and Libya. “Türkiye will continue to work with all partners to foster trust, stability and peace in the Mediterranean basin, in line with its commitment to international law,” the Foreign Ministry stated.

Greece and Egypt signed an overlapping maritime agreement in 2020, which Türkiye rejects. Athens also approved offshore exploration south of Crete by a consortium led by Chevron last year, prompting Turkish objections.

The move on Tuesday comes amid improving ties between Türkiye and Libya’s eastern authorities, who are aligned with military commander Khalifa Haftar. Ankara helped Tripoli repel his forces’ 2019-2020 campaign to capture the capital, but has since expanded diplomatic contacts and investment in the east. The country remains divided between Abdul Hamid Dbeibah’s government in the capital, Tripoli, in western Libya, and an eastern administration led by Osama Hammad and backed by Haftar.

The long-awaited agreement between Libya’s rival factions was finally signed on August 30 under the auspices of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). On that day, the mission gathered the two negotiating delegations at its Tripoli headquarters to formalize the text ironed out during earlier rounds of talks in Rome and Tunis. UNSMIL invited foreign diplomats, media representatives, and Libyan delegations to the event, where UN Special Representative Hanna Tetteh hailed the accord in her opening remarks as “another important milestone in Libya’s journey toward stability and national unity.”

This, however, bore a resemblance to previous diplomatic milestones – most notably the 2015 Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) signed in Skhirat, Morocco. The LPA established the rules of the political game in the fractured country; rules to which none of the domestic political actors seem fully committed, yet from which none completely depart. In a sense, Skhirat remains the ultimate reference point for every subsequent UN roadmap in Libya.

The August 30 agreement has two main parts. The first is restructuring the High National Elections Commission (HNEC), the agency in charge of organizing elections. In practice, this means replacing its leadership to settle disputes over appointments and regional representation. Although these changes were long delayed by regional quotas and political patronage stemming from the 2015 Skhirat agreement, rivals can still negotiate them with relative ease.

The 24-month timeline to hold elections was also established. However, the countdown is designed to govern the transition only once a single, unified executive authority and unified national institutions are established to oversee the voting process.

The second component concerns the central objective of UNSMIL’s latest roadmap: agreeing on viable election laws, an issue on which the UN has failed to make meaningful progress since the collapse of the planned 2021 elections.

Libya remains divided between rival power centers: the Government of National Unity (GNU), led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibah in Tripoli, the western part of the country, and the Libyan National Army (LNA) command in the east led by General Khalifa Haftar. These exist alongside two political institutions: the Tripoli-based High Council of state (HCS) and the eastern-based House of Representatives (HoR). To break the deadlock, UNSMIL established a smaller negotiating group known as the ‘Smaller Convening’, or the ‘4+4’. It brings together eight representatives from the GNU, Haftar’s military command, the HCS, and the HoR.

The ‘4+4’ format developed alongside (and ultimately eclipsed) UNSMIL’s broader Structured Dialogue. Even before those conclusions were finalized, UNSMIL was already facilitating a parallel ‘Smaller Convening’ behind closed doors – the 4+4 was born. As Hanna Tetteh told the Security Council on June 18, the explicit goal of this smaller format was to bypass the paralysis between the legislative bodies and force an accord on the roadmap’s first two steps: reconstituting the elections commission’s board and resolving the contested electoral framework. Thus, the ‘4+4’ was a deliberate strategy to concentrate decision-making among the political and military figures deemed capable of enforcing an outcome.

After the HoR approved the agreement on September 14, the HCS formally rejected it on October 5, along with the related laws and decisions issued by the House, arguing that they bypassed the constitutional, legal and consensual frameworks governing the political process. In her October 14 briefing to the UN Security Council, Tetteh acknowledged this rejection but maintained that the agreement offers an actionable path to presidential and legislative elections under a single, unified executive authority within 24 months.

She also announced that UNSMIL would meet members of the 4+4 committee later this month to examine the possibility of establishing a broadly representative national mechanism under Article 5 of the agreement in consultation with the Security Council. This proposal implicitly acknowledges that the 4+4 mini-dialogue alone may not be sufficient to advance the roadmap.

Ultimately, the structural core of the August 30 agreement rests on a fundamental contradiction: 4+4 does not equal 1. Combining four delegates from Tripoli’s political-institutional structures, including representatives of the HCS, with four delegates representing the eastern power structure in Benghazi does not produce a unified state. Instead, it seems to function as a shared enterprise in which rival political elites, rather than competing to build a single nation, recognize that their mutual survival depends on dividing power and maintaining exclusive control over the state apparatus.

Setting a 24-month timetable neither offers a guarantee that elections will actually occur; instead, it grants entrenched factions another two years of status quo protection without imposing any penalty for non-compliance.

Still, the UN Security Council appeared to endorse the latest UNSMIL plan. Following Tetteh’s briefing on October 14, the Council reaffirmed its support for the agreement, despite concerns over its implementation and the High Council of State’s rejection.

Last week, the UNSC did not vote to extend UNSMIL’s mandate, which expires on October 31. However, this is largely a technicality, since the Council has already approved UNSMIL’s roadmap.

Nigeria has confirmed its first Ebola case in more than a decade after a woman who recently traveled through Uganda tested positive for the virus in the capital, Abuja.  

The patient arrived in Nigeria in early October and began showing symptoms on October 7, the country’s Health Ministry said on Tuesday. The woman sought treatment at a private hospital on October 11 and was diagnosed with the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola on October 20, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The woman remains in isolation and is receiving medical care. Health authorities have identified 44 people who may have been exposed to the infection.  

The patient was initially treated for malaria-like symptoms, but doctors became concerned after her condition failed to improve, Odianosen Ehiakhamen, an official at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), told Arise TV, as reported by Punch. 

“For the 44 contacts, they are majorly healthcare workers and support staff of the hospital, because everything has happened within the hospital,” Ehiakhamen said.  

Nigeria is the fifth country to report the Bundibugyo virus since the current outbreak began in DR Congo in May, following earlier cases in Uganda, France and Kenya, according to the WHO. Kenya has recorded nine infections linked to an imported case, while the outbreak in DR Congo continues to spread. 

The Ebola outbreak in DR Congo has claimed 4,602 lives, with 9,552 confirmed infections recorded since it began in May, according to the country’s Health Ministry. As of October 18, the virus had affected eight provinces, with Ituri accounting for nearly 73% of all cases. 

Nigeria previously contained an Ebola outbreak in 2014. 

Ghana plans to stop exporting unprocessed mineral ores by 2030 to build domestic industries and retain more of its resource wealth, the West African country’s president, John Dramani Mahama, has announced.

Speaking at the Mining in Motion Summit in Accra on Monday, Mahama said restrictions would be introduced in phases, backed by legislation, requirements for individual minerals, and implementation timetables. The plan covers resources including bauxite, manganese, iron, and lithium.

“I have set a clear goal that by 2030, raw mineral ores should no longer leave our shores,” the president said. Ghana has spent generations supplying foreign industries with manganese and bauxite while importing finished products, losing opportunities for skilled jobs and technological development, he added.

Mahama urged African countries to export manufactured goods, including electric vehicle batteries, cables, and aluminum parts, instead of mineral ores.

Since returning to office in January 2025, his government has expanded local gold refining through the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod). Its partnership with the majority privately owned Gold Coast Refinery in Accra began processing one metric ton of gold weekly in February 2026. From September 1, GoldBod also required licensed self-financing aggregators to refine gold purchased under approved offtake arrangements locally before export.

Other projects include Ghana Manganese Company’s planned $450 million refinery in the country’s western region. Mahama said on Monday that Accra is advancing manganese processing alongside aluminum refining and iron and steel production.

Mahama delivered a similar message at the UN General Assembly on September 24, warning that Western demand for minerals needed for the green-energy transition must benefit Africans. He said Africa’s critical mineral extraction must not repeat colonial-era exploitation, calling for local processing to create jobs and retain more value on the continent.

South Sudan has accused neighboring Sudan of carrying out a drone strike on a market in the disputed Abyei region which reportedly killed 73 people and injured 19 others. 

The South Sudanese Foreign Ministry said on Monday that it had summoned Sudanese Ambassador Essam Mohamed Karrar to express its strong objection to the attack on Amiet Market, located north of Abyei town.

“The Government of the Republic of South Sudan has learned with grave concern of the drone attack carried out by the Sudanese Armed Forces against Amiet Market, situated north of Abyei Town,” the ministry said. However, officials in Juba and Abyei did not provide direct evidence pinning the strike on the Sudanese Army. The Sudanese government has not publicly commented on the allegations.

The attack took place on Monday morning, hitting several sections of the market, including its northern entrance. At least 73 people were killed and 19 injured in the attack, Abyei’s information minister, Yohana Akol Ngor, told Radio Tamazuj.

An anonymous diplomatic source and an aid worker told Reuters that the strike hit a fuel depot at the market. The facility had previously been used to supply Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the source added.

Sudan has been engulfed in conflict since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the army and the RSF. 

Abyei has remained disputed since South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011. The UN maintains a peacekeeping mission in the area, known as UNISFA, to help prevent violence.

In May, Russia’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, Anna Evstigneeva, warned that armed groups were obstructing efforts to settle Abyei’s status. Addressing the UN Security Council, she said RSF activity and continued fighting in neighboring areas were worsening security conditions. “It is the actions of elements opposing Khartoum that are the main obstacle to the start of a comprehensive settlement process,” Evstigneeva said.

Further relief from record fuel prices could force South Africa to divert money from other government programs, President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned as his administration considers a new intervention to ease pressure on households.

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the Bana Pele ECD Summit in Sandton on Monday, Ramaphosa said rising fuel prices were a global problem. “The issue of the fuel price is a problem globally. We’re not the only country that is affected by rising fuel prices and of course there are various responses by various entities and governments and businesses and we are giving serious consideration on what needs to be done,” the president said.

Ramaphosa noted the government had previously intervened when fuel prices increased, spending about 24 billion rand (about $1.46 billion) on a subsidy system.“You must remember that when the fuel price rose a few months ago, government intervened and poured into a subsidy system about 24 billion rand,” he said.

The increases came after the temporary fuel-levy relief introduced between April and June was phased out. The relief reduced the general fuel levy by R3 a litre on petrol and by up to R3.93 a litre on diesel at its peak. Parliament has since advanced a proposed R10 billion fuel-relief allocation for debate in the National Assembly. However, the proposal does not guarantee an immediate reduction in petrol and diesel prices.

With fuel prices rising again, he noted that the government was considering what further action could be taken. “Now that it’s gone up again, everyone in the world is giving consideration on what they should do, so are we,” the president said.

First published by IOL

South Africa must prepare for exclusion from Washington’s preferential trade program for African countries, President Cyril Ramaphosa warned amid deteriorating relations with the US.

Speaking to journalists on Monday, Ramaphosa said his government is discussing South Africa’s continued participation in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) with Washington.

“Congress has decided that we should be kept in AGOA. What now remains is the executive,” he said. “I need, as president, to prepare us if it ever happens.”

AGOA has granted eligible African countries duty-free access to the US market for thousands of products since 2000. US President Donald Trump signed an extension through 2028 last month, although individual countries’ eligibility remains subject to review. South Africa remains eligible.

Ramaphosa warned that exclusion would have a “devastating” impact on jobs, with vehicle manufacturing and agricultural exports among the sectors reliant on access to the US market.

Relations have deteriorated since Trump returned to office in January 2025. He has accused the South African government of allowing “white genocide,” which Pretoria has dismissed as misinformation.

Washington halted aid in February 2025, expelled South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool the following month, and imposed a 30% tariff on South African goods that August.

On Monday, Ramaphosa said he and Deputy President Paul Mashatile are seeking alternative markets, pointing to China’s offer of “the opportunity to be able to export our goods on a tariff-free basis.” Pretoria has also revived preferential trade talks with India.

China effectively eliminated tariffs on nearly all goods (97% to 100% of tariff lines) from 53 African countries from May 1, expanding preferences previously reserved for the least developed nations. Chinese President Xi Jinping initially announced the expansion during a televised address to the 39th African Union Summit on February 14.

At least nine members of a Libyan security force have been killed and several others injured in a mortar explosion during a training exercise in the western city of Zawiya, the country’s Ambulance and Emergency Service has reported.

The blast, which involved an 82mm mortar round, took place during exercises conducted by members of the Anti-Threat Security Agency, according to Asharq News, citing the Libyan emergency service. The agency said the explosion occurred after sunset prayers on Sunday. The emergency service mourned the victims, describing the incident as a “painful tragedy and a painful loss” for Zawiya.

The explosion occurred at a security camp in the Harsha area of Zawiya, according to The Libya Observer. Three personnel reportedly died at the scene, while six others later succumbed to their injuries. Several wounded personnel remained hospitalized, some in critical condition, the outlet reported, citing a local source.

Zawiya is located approximately 40km west of Tripoli and is home to Libya’s largest operating oil refinery. The city has experienced repeated clashes between rival armed groups. The Anti-Threat Security Agency operates under the UN-recognized Government of National Unity based in Tripoli and led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah.

Libya has been split between rival administrations since the NATO-backed uprising that overthrew Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 and plunged the country into turmoil. The western part is controlled by Dbeibah’s administration, while a rival government in the east is backed by the military commander Khalifa Haftar.

A Kenyan court has convicted preacher Paul Mackenzie of murdering 190 children and one adult by forcing them to starve to death to “meet Jesus,” in a massacre that President William Ruto described as “akin to terrorism.”

Justice Diana Kavedza delivered the verdict in Mombasa on Monday, finding Mackenzie and 28 co-defendants guilty on all 191 murder counts. The court found that his Good News International Church used religious teachings and a hierarchy of village elders to organize and enforce fatal fasting in Shakahola Forest in coastal Kilifi County.

“Mackenzie’s followers were first whipped through an established religious and communications network. They were subsequently directed to relocate. Once at the settlement, they were directed to fast,” Justice Kavedza said.

The judge found that children were targeted first, while guards beat followers who tried to eat or escape. Mackenzie also instructed believers to reject schools and healthcare, according to the ruling.

Mackenzie was arrested in April 2023 after police rescued emaciated followers in Shakahola Forest, where investigators subsequently uncovered hundreds of bodies in shallow graves. Postmortem examinations showed that some victims died from suffocation, strangulation, or head injuries. Others were too badly decomposed for a cause of death to be established.

A total of 429 bodies were recovered from graves in Shakahola Forest, according to a 2024 report by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights. The commission accused security officials of “gross abdication of duty and negligence” for ignoring credible warnings dating back to 2017.

Earlier this year, Mackenzie and seven associates faced new charges after investigators discovered the bodies of 52 people who allegedly died between January and July 2025 at Kwa Binzaro, around 30 km from Shakahola.

During the trial, prosecutors called 123 witnesses, including children and adult accomplices, and presented DNA analysis, digital recordings, and forensic reports, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) said in a statement on Monday.

Kenyan runners Agnes Ngetich and Alexander Mutiso set new course records after winning the women’s and men’s races at the Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon in Japan on Sunday.

Ngetich finished the 21.1km race in one hour, four minutes and 23 seconds (1:04:23), cutting three minutes off the previous women’s course record. Her compatriot Tabitha Njeri Kamau came second in 1:08:28, according to the results.

Mutiso won the men’s competition in 59 minutes and 51 seconds, beating the previous course record by one second. He finished five seconds ahead of fellow Kenyan Kiprono Sitonik, who took second place. 

Speaking after the race, Ngetich said she that was pleased with her victory and surprised by her finishing time. She also noted that the course had been challenging, with hills and numerous sharp turns. “I didn’t think I’ll get that time. The course was not easy,” she said.

Mutiso said his victory had boosted his confidence ahead of his next marathon. He explained that he made his decisive move on a hilly section of the course between the 17km and 18.5km marks.

“I feel good. I see now I am in a good position to prepare well for [my] coming marathon,” he said.

The course began and ended at Japan’s National Stadium and followed roads used during the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. 

Ngetich’s victory came less than a month after she broke the women-only half marathon world record at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen. The 25-year-old completed that race in 1:05:15.

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have killed at least 11 people, including nine children, in a drone attack on a displacement camp in West Darfur, according to the region’s Health and Social Welfare Minister, Babiker Hamdin.

In a statement published on Sunday, Hamdin said that the attack targeted displaced civilians on the Sudan-Chad border. According to preliminary figures, the victims included nine children aged between five and ten and two women aged 23 and 36. Five others were injured.

The victims had reportedly fled their villages last year after RSF fighters allegedly burned and looted their homes. They subsequently sought refuge in Sanakit, near the Chadian border, where they were living in difficult humanitarian conditions before the latest attack.

He called on the international community to hold those responsible accountable and designate the paramilitary group as a terrorist organization.

Sudan was plunged into a civil war three years ago after a struggle for power broke out between the SAF and the RSF. 

The RSF has faced similar accusations from rights groups over attacks on civilians. In September, the Sudanese Alliance for Rights reported that five people were killed in an attack on a market in North Kordofan, while the Committee for Justice blamed the group for a courthouse strike that killed ten. On October 9, the Sudan Doctors Network accused the rebels of a drone attack on a displacement camp in Blue Nile state that killed 31 people, including four children.

Kenya has confirmed its eighth case of Ebola after a man tested positive for the virus, health authorities announced on Sunday. Director-General for Health Patrick Amoth announced the latest infection following a new round of testing. 

“Today, 38 people were tested, and one tested positive. He is a 49-year-old man who is not a healthcare worker and developed fever, headache and muscle pain,” Dr. Amoth said. 

Kenya recorded its first Ebola case in early October 2026, when a man who had traveled from DR Congo to Nairobi was diagnosed with the disease. The patient died at a hospital in the Kenyan capital on October 5. His infection prompted heightened surveillance and contact tracing amid concerns about further transmission.

According to a situation report by the country’s Health Ministry dated October 16, the outbreak has affected eight provinces, with North Ubangi becoming the latest to report infections. Two cases, including one death, were identified in the province’s Wapinda health zone. 

The report put the nationwide toll at 9,415 confirmed infections and 4,536 deaths, representing a case fatality rate of 48.2%. A total of 66 health zones across the eight affected provinces have reported infections. 

Earlier this month, Congolese Health Minister Roger Samuel Kamba said the outbreak had passed its peak, citing a decline in new infections and fewer areas reporting active transmission. However, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) cautioned that the epidemic was not yet under control, warning that insecurity in affected areas had disrupted surveillance.  

The Ebola outbreak had also affected neighboring Uganda, which declared itself free of the virus on July 28 after. According to Uganda’s Health Ministry, the outbreak resulted in 20 confirmed cases, including 15 imported infections and five locally transmitted ones. Two people died and 18 recovered.

Egyptian archaeologists have uncovered the remains of two royal statues, at least one depicting Pharaoh Ramses II, during excavations in the Nile Delta, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Wednesday.

The discovery was made in the village of Behbeit el-Hagar in Gharbia Governorate after a local resident, Khaled el-Shahat Khalil, found an inscribed stone block on his property and alerted the authorities. Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sherif Fathy later visited the site and rewarded the man and his wife with a pilgrimage to Mecca for reporting the find.

According to Hisham el-Leithy, secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, the first find is a 1.6-meter-high head of Ramses II wearing the double crown symbolizing the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. Part of the statue’s back pillar was also recovered, bearing an inscription of one of the pharaoh’s royal titles. Archaeologists estimate that the complete monument, including its base, may have stood around 8.5 meters tall.

The second discovery includes a 2.4-meter section of another royal statue, also believed to depict Ramses II. The figure is missing its legs and base, but its head remains well preserved, with facial features resembling those of the first statue. Excavators also uncovered a 1.3-meter block of pink granite bearing hieroglyphic inscriptions with two of the pharaoh’s titles, including “King of Upper and Lower Egypt” and “Son of Ra.”

The ministry said archaeologists are continuing to study the artifacts, and their exact age has yet to be determined. However, the discovery sets clear links to Ramses II, who ruled Egypt from 1279 to 1213 BC. It’s not the first finding of the kind. In February 2024, archaeologists uncovered the upper section of a statue of the pharaoh in Minya Governorate, nearly a century after its lower half was discovered in 1930. The restored statue, standing about 6.7 meters tall, was re-erected in 2026.

South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) has called for the Democratic Alliance’s place in the coalition government to be reviewed after its governing partner opposed its court bid to reinstate barred election candidates.

Mbalula has urged ANC leaders and other Government of National Unity (GNU) partners to reconsider the DA’s place in government, opening a new front in a partnership repeatedly tested by political and policy disagreements. The GNU is made up of 10 political parties.

The latest dispute centres on the ANC’s legal challenge over the exclusion of its candidates from six municipalities ahead of the November 4, 2026, local government election. The party approached the Constitutional Court after its failure to finalise candidate submissions before the deadline left candidates off the ballot.

The DA opposed the ANC’s challenge, putting the coalition partners on opposing sides of a legal battle with potentially significant electoral consequences. The apex heard the case on October 12 and reserved judgment. The outcome could determine whether the affected ANC candidates will be allowed to contest the elections.

These disputes have tested a coalition formed after the ANC lost its parliamentary majority in the 2024 national elections. Mbalula’s demand puts the DA’s role in the coalition under renewed political scrutiny.

Britain has threatened to ban all Eritrean nationals from obtaining visas over their government’s alleged refusal to take back rejected asylum seekers and convicted criminals, prompting the East African country to accuse London of political manipulation.

The Home Office said on Thursday that Eritrea had “abruptly” withdrawn returns cooperation earlier this year and refused to engage constructively despite months of private talks.

The department removed fast-track visa processing for Eritrean officials and VIPs and required its diplomats to obtain permission to travel more than 60 km (37 miles) outside of London. It said the measures were intended to increase “pressure on countries refusing to take back illegal immigrants.” The travel curbs mirror Eritrea’s longstanding restrictions requiring British diplomats to obtain permission to travel outside the capital, Asmara, the Home Office said in a statement.

“My message to the Eritrean government is simple: take back your nationals or face a complete ban on your citizens entering the UK,” Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood warned.

The embassy said Asmara suspended escorted returns after British authorities allegedly passed off forced repatriations as voluntary and failed to disclose that some deportees were still serving prison sentences. It said no Eritrean official had received a UK visa since 2023.

The dispute reflects Britain’s drive to curb irregular migration. Eritreans accounted for 18% of approximately 33,000 small-boat arrivals across the English Channel in the year to June 2026, the largest nationality group, according to Home Office figures.

Around 84% of Eritrean asylum claims received positive initial decisions, according to Home Office figures, while UN reporting has documented indefinite national service, arbitrary detention and risks facing people forcibly returned. Britain has used similar pressure against Angola, Namibia and DR Congo to secure greater cooperation on migrant returns.

The policy cost £700 million (about $930 million) and sent only four volunteers to Rwanda, according to British ministers. Kigali pursued arbitration over unpaid commitments, but a tribunal rejected its claims, including two £50 million payments, in a ruling announced in June.

Somalia has scheduled its presidential election for May 15, 2027, following constitutional changes that extended President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s term by one year, the country’s electoral commission announced on Thursday. The decision comes amid opposition criticism of the amendments adopted earlier this year.

The announcement was made by Abdikarim Ahmed Hassan, chairman of the National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, during an appearance on state television. Elections for both chambers of parliament will take place on April 15, one month before the presidential vote, he said. 

The commission also released a timetable for preparations, with voter and political party registration set to begin on November 1, 2026, according to the Somali National News Agency (SONNA).

Former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has challenged the constitutional amendments in the Supreme Court, arguing that they were adopted without proper legal procedures or broad political agreement. He also rejected the new election timetable, warning that it could lead to “parallel elections, political divisions, internal conflict and a threat to Somalia’s statehood,” Somalia Today reported on Thursday.

Somalia last held a presidential election in 2022, when lawmakers elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud for a second term, defeating Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed. The vote followed months of delays and was conducted through an indirect system in which members of parliament chose the president.

German lawmakers have clashed over demands for reparations for the killing of tens of thousands of Africans in colonial-era Namibia in what is widely regarded as the first genocide of the 20th century.

The Bundestag debated opposition motions on Wednesday seeking recognition, an apology and redress for the Ovaherero and Nama communities. Both proposals were referred to the German Foreign Affairs Committee for further consideration.

Germany ruled present-day Namibia from 1884 to 1915. Between 1904 and 1908, its forces waged an extermination campaign against the Ovaherero and Nama, driving families into the desert and imprisoning survivors in concentration camps. Estimates suggest that up to 80% of the Ovaherero and about half the Nama died.

Berlin recognized the atrocities as genocide in 2021 and pledged €1.1 billion ($1.23 billion) over 30 years for reconstruction and development. It, however, explicitly ruled out legal compensation claims arising from the arrangement.

Green MP Jamila Schafer urged parliament to “explicitly recognize the genocide against the Ovaherero and Nama, as well as colonial crimes committed against the Damara and San, and ask their descendants for forgiveness.”

Alternative for Germany MP Ronald Glaser opposed the €1.1 billion commitment, arguing that Berlin had no legal obligation to pay. He called for a commission of historians to investigate the events.

The Left’s motion sought recognition of legal liability and comprehensive reparations paid directly to descendants, alongside measures to return land, looted cultural property and human remains.

Ovaherero and Nama representatives have rejected development funding as a substitute for reparations and say they were excluded from negotiations. Germany maintains that community representatives were involved on the Namibian side.

The dispute comes amid growing African and Caribbean demands for redress for slavery and colonial crimes. The African Union has designated 2026–2035 a reparations decade and established expert bodies to develop a common continental position and legal strategies. The Caribbean Community has revised its ten-point reparations plan, seeking measures including monetary compensation, debt cancellation and investment in health and education.

South Africa’s Constitutional Court has cleared 181 African National Congress (ANC) candidates to contest next month’s local elections, overturning their exclusion over the party’s failure to complete a final online nomination step.

The court upheld the ANC’s appeal against a September 16 Electoral Court ruling that had backed the Electoral Commission of SA’s decision to exclude the candidates in six municipalities. The Electoral Commission of SA, or IEC, rejected the nominations after the ANC failed to complete the final submission step on the commission’s online system before the 5pm deadline on August 28, despite having uploaded the candidates’ details and paid the required deposits.

The matter was heard on Monday by a bench led by Deputy Chief Justice Dunstan Mlambo, which included Justices Rammaka Mathopo, Nonkosi Mhlantla, Nambitha Dambuza-Mayosi, Leona Theron, Andre le Grange and Kate Savage, and Acting Justice Lister Nuku. During the argument, advocate Daniel Berger SC, for the ANC, said the “submit as final” button was a feature of the IEC’s software and not a requirement of the law. “It is not law, and it cannot be brought in through the back door as being incorporated somehow into the regulations,” Berger said.

Mathopo noted from the bench on Monday that his concern was not only the ANC’s case. ”My worry, it’s not this case itself, it’s the far-reaching implications that a judgment of this court would have, either for the ANC or for the IEC,” he said. ”If it’s for the IEC, for example, the message that will be conveyed would be absent clicking of a button, final submit, you are excluded.”

Advocate Terry Motau SC, for the IEC, told the court that the commission had checked its system and found no glitches, and that the ANC had left its nominations too late. ”It’s not only because a party decides not to contest, a party might have neglected its duties to use a system that was open since June 21 2016 and left it to the last moment and it missed the deadline,” Motau said.

Justice Kate Savage put it to Berger during the hearing that it was “quite extraordinary” the ANC had finalised its lists across the country but not in these six municipalities, and that there was no explanation other than gross negligence.

The DA, represented by advocate Michael Bishop SC, opposed the ANC’s appeal and backed the IEC.

First published by IOL

Russia has called for the views of all major political forces in Libya to be taken into account in efforts to resolve the country’s prolonged political crisis, warning that excluding influential institutions could undermine long-term stability.

Speaking at a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia expressed Moscow’s support for the UN-backed roadmap aimed at ending Libya’s political deadlock, including plans to hold nationwide elections within two years. However, he noted that a recent agreement reached through UN-mediated talks has received mixed reactions from political groups that were not involved in the negotiations.

“We believe that it would be, at the very least, counterproductive to sideline the country’s influential institutions in view of the country’s long-term political stability,” Nebenzia said. “We understand that sometimes it can be quite challenging to work with Libyan institutions. However, that is no reason to ignore their opinion.”

“As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Russia will be prepared to support whatever is endorsed by Libya’s leading political forces,” Nebenzia pointed out.

Libya has been split between rival administrations since the NATO-backed uprising that overthrew Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 and plunged the country into turmoil. The western part is controlled by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah’s administration, while a rival government in the east is backed by the military commander Khalifa Haftar.

The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) introduced a new political roadmap in August 2025, focusing on establishing an electoral framework. On August 30, representatives of the opposing sides agreed to a UN-backed roadmap calling for presidential and parliamentary elections within two years under a unified executive authority.

Weapons supplied to Ukraine from US military stocks have been found in the possession of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a senior Russian diplomat has said, citing markings linking them to deliveries to Kiev.

Yulia Zhdanova, head of Russia’s delegation to the Vienna Negotiations on Military Security and Arms Control, made the statement on Wednesday at a meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Forum for Security Co-operation.

Sudanese troops recovered MK19 automatic grenade launchers, M72 anti-tank weapons, and Swedish-made AT4 launchers during an operation near Bara, she said, according to TASS. “A preliminary examination of the markings revealed that these weapons were donated to the Ukrainian Armed Forces in December 2024 from US military stock,” Zhdanova said.

Sudan’s army and the RSF have been at war since April 2023, forcing millions from their homes and exposing civilians to bombardment, hunger, and widespread abuses. In June last year, Sudanese Foreign Ministry official Muhammad Al-Sirr told RT that Ukraine was supplying drones to the paramilitary forces at very low prices and helping its fighters use the technology to strike Sudanese infrastructure.

Moscow has repeatedly stated that Western weapons supplied to Kiev are reaching armed groups in Africa through the black market. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova raised the alarm as early as 2022, warning that Stinger missiles, Javelin anti-tank systems, and grenade launchers could enter illicit trading networks worldwide.

Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso jointly appealed to the UN Security Council in August 2024, accusing Ukraine of supporting international terrorism following a deadly ambush on Malian forces near Tinzaouaten. Mali severed diplomatic ties with Kiev after Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andrey Yusov said rebels received information enabling the ambush.

Last week, AFP reported that sources within the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), a Tuareg-led separatist rebel coalition fighting Mali’s government, acknowledged receiving Ukrainian training, including instruction in operating drones.

On September 7, a Jamaican delegation delivered an unprecedented legal petition to London – directly to the Privy Council, a royal advisory body functioning as a court for issues related to the British Empire and Commonwealth realms.

In a historical irony, the petition was addressed to Charles III in his capacity as King of Jamaica, a role he still holds. The filing demands that the British Crown answer the call of its subjects in Jamaica, asking him, as their head of state and the inheritor of one of history’s darkest chapters, to formally define the legality of slave trade and his royal family’s role in it.

Long before this, in March 2022, the King’s elder son and heir, William the Prince of Wales, had also found himself cornered while touring the Caribbean, including Jamaica. While in the capital Kingston, he was greeted by protesters demanding accountability. He expressed his “profound sorrow” for Britain’s role in the slave trade, admitting that the atrocity will “forever stain our history.”

While he was still Crown Prince, King Charles III had already experienced his share of being chased by the same questions. In June 2022, while attending another Commonwealth summit in Kigali, Rwanda, he spoke openly about the “most painful period of our history,” stating that he could not describe the depths of his “personal sorrow” at the suffering caused by the slave trade and its enduring impact.

Before King Charles inherited the crown, his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, faced her own share of reckoning with the ghosts of empire. During her state visit to India in October 1997, the Queen faced intense controversy and calls for accountability when she visited the site of the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar, ultimately stopping short of a formal apology while navigating a volatile political reception. Throughout her seven-decade reign, particularly during later milestones like her Diamond and Platinum Jubilees, her visits to former colonies or Commonwealth summits were increasingly overshadowed by organized protests demanding structural apologies and financial amends for Britain’s imperial history. Most notably, as republican movements gained ground in realms like the Caribbean, activists and academics continually deflected from her personal image as a “constitutional monarch” to challenge the enduring institutional wealth accumulated on the backs of enslaved ancestors.

It is worth noting that the Royal Archives are housed in Windsor Castle and managed separately from the UK National Archives with special arrangements for access. Clearly, the royal family retains extraordinary control over what the world can find out about its history of human trafficking, enslavement, and wealth theft across continents.

Take the Imperial State Crown itself, that glittering emblem of power. It is set with stones stolen from at least two continents, among them a diamond looted during the colonial era. So, the evidence is not only in the archives but on the monarch’s head. Worn by Charles as he left Westminster Abbey after his coronation in 2023, the crown carries the Cullinan II diamond, cut from the largest gem-quality diamond ever found, discovered in South Africa in 1905 and later given to King Edward VII by the colonial government while the territory was under British rule.

The Sovereign’s Sceptre holds the even larger Cullinan I, and some South Africans called for its return in the days before Charles III was coronated. Elsewhere in the Crown Jewels, the Koh-i-Noor was forcibly surrendered to Queen Victoria, Charles III’s great-great-grandmother, by Duleep Singh, a boy of ten, proclaimed as Maharaja of the Sikh Empire as a child. Regardless of the legal issues surrounding this “gift” or “treaty,” these were objects acquired under the shadow of imperial power, and the Crown has so far shown no appetite to discuss returning them.

The scale of the problem becomes even clearer when one considers what lies beyond the Crown Jewels in Britain’s museums. During a visit to India in 2010, then-Prime Minister David Cameron was asked about returning the Koh-i-Noor diamond. His response was revealing: “If you say yes to one you suddenly find the British Museum would be empty.” He rejected the idea of returning it, saying it would “have to stay put.”

What makes this ongoing reckoning different is that former colonies are no longer treating these grievances as isolated historical footnotes or polite talking points during diplomatic summits. Instead, African and Caribbean states, most of which were British colonies, have synchronized their political diplomatic and legal strategies into a coordinated structural challenge, moving from moral appeals to hard international law. This momentum crystallized at the United Nations General Assembly, where African and Caribbean nations spearheaded a landmark resolution classifying the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans as the gravest crime against humanity, establishing that historical atrocities generate continuing legal obligations.

Reinforced by continental milestones such as the African Union’s declaration centering reparations, amplified by frameworks like the Algiers Declaration, and spearheaded diplomatically by nations like Ghana, this coalition has upended traditional diplomatic containment. By weaponizing multilateral platforms, regional summits, and formal legal routes like the Privy Council petition, these nations are dismantling the monarchy’s decades-old strategy of deflection, exposing an imperial institution whose modern wealth remains directly tethered to an unreckoned past.

The British Crown’s desperate balancing act can no longer convince anybody let alone entire nations who were victimized. The monarchy can no longer hide behind the polite fiction that colonialism and the slave trade are closed chapters safely confined to history textbooks. When legal challenges bypass royal protocol to land directly on the doorstep of the Privy Council, and when international bodies codify chattel slavery as a continuing crime against humanity, the illusion of untouchability begins to crack.

Kenya has confirmed a second case of Ebola, with a family member of the country’s first patient testing positive for the virus, the Health Ministry announced on Wednesday. The latest infection brings the total number of confirmed cases to two, including one death.

The new patient, a 39-year-old man, had already been placed in quarantine after being identified as a close contact of the first case. He developed symptoms on Tuesday, including fever, fatigue and joint pain, and was subsequently tested for the virus. The man has been transferred to a designated treatment facility, where he is receiving supportive care.

Health authorities said the two cases are linked and there is currently no evidence that the virus has spread into the wider community.

The ministry has identified 128 people who came into contact with the first patient, of whom 113 had been traced as of Tuesday. Among them, 108 are undergoing quarantine in Kenya, with daily health checks over a 21-day period. Another five contacts are outside the country.

Kenya has also banned the repatriation of bodies of people who died from Ebola abroad under new public health regulations introduced on Monday. The rules also impose strict requirements for handling and burying the bodies of Ebola victims to prevent further transmission of the virus.

Niger has condemned France’s expulsion of two embassy security officers and their families, including a man who the authorities said was left paraplegic after being stabbed during a mission carried out with French forces more than a decade ago.

Justice Minister Alio Daouda described the decision as a “serious and unacceptable act of ingratitude” in a government statement broadcast on national television on Tuesday. He accused Paris of circumventing its own courts to remove one of the men.

The officer, Abdoul-Razak Ibrahim Moussa Toro, was stabbed in the spine during a mission in 2014 in Diffa, southeastern Niger, and evacuated to France for treatment, according to the statement. The minister said French partners financed the operation and provided fuel, logistics, and allowances.

“This is how France thanks those who served alongside it,” Daouda said. “It solicits men, recruits them and finances them. Then, when they fall, it throws them out with their families,” he added.

Six days later, the Versailles Administrative Court annulled the original departure order and instructed the French Foreign Ministry to reconsider his situation, according to Daouda. “This is not an administrative error. It is a deliberate violation of the rule of law,” he said.

A French diplomatic source told AFP that the two men were intelligence agents whose presence was no longer justified because bilateral cooperation had ended. Le Monde reported, citing a Nigerien source, that one was suspected of monitoring opposition figures in France. The French Foreign Ministry has yet to publicly comment.

In August 2023, Niamey ordered French Ambassador Sylvain Itte to leave amid a standoff over France’s refusal to recognize the military leadership.

Last month, Niger accused France of inciting an August 29 mutiny in which soldiers attacked Niamey’s international airport, the adjoining Air Base 101, and the presidential palace. The authorities said loyalist forces backed by Russia’s Africa Corps regained control of the base. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot rejected the allegations as “pure fantasies.”

South Africa’s opposition uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party has called off a major rally ahead of next month’s local elections, as party leader and former President Jacob Zuma remains under medical care in the hospital.

The party said the rally, which had been scheduled to be held in Mpumalanga on Sunday and where the party was to launch its election manifesto, had been cancelled to allow it to focus its resources on ward-level campaigning and community engagement. However, there was speculation that the party’s finances were in disarray and it was unable to pay for the function.

The announcement comes amid reports about Zuma’s health, with the Jacob Zuma Foundation responding to speculation about his condition and appealing for his privacy to be respected.

MK Party spokesperson Sifiso Mahlangu said the party would conduct an urgent and independent investigation into reported discrepancies in the final councillor candidate lists published by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).

Zuma was admitted to Netcare St Anne’s Hospital in Pietermaritzburg last week after reportedly falling ill during an MK Party election campaign in uMsinga, KwaZulu-Natal. The party described his hospital visit as a routine medical check-up. However, speculation about his condition continued after reports suggested he had been discharged and returned to his Nkandla home.

On Tuesday, the Jacob Zuma Foundation dismissed the reports, saying he remained under medical care at the hospital. Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi said the former president was in good spirits, based on information from someone who had spoken to him and spent time with him. The foundation has appealed for Zuma’s privacy and dignity to be respected while he receives medical care.

The party said candidates whose names had been omitted or inadvertently excluded from the IEC’s final councillor candidate list would be prioritised for the first available positions, subject to its processes and requirements. Its leadership would engage directly with affected ward candidates who had been nominated through community meetings. The party also resolved to establish proportional representation (PR) councillor deployment committees at national, provincial and regional levels to finalise the deployment of councillors from its PR lists.

The party said its candidates and volunteers must be visible in communities as it seeks to strengthen its relationship with residents. “The streets must now be green!” said Mahlangu. 

First published by IOL

British energy giant Shell has agreed to sell its domestic gas distribution business in Nigeria, further reshaping its operations in the West African country amid unresolved legal battles over oil pollution.

The company announced on Tuesday that Vaaris Energy, a privately owned Nigerian firm, will acquire its entire interest in Shell Nigeria Gas Group. Financial terms were not disclosed, and the transaction requires regulatory approvals. Operations will continue under Shell until completion.

Established in 1998, the business supplies more than 130 industrial and commercial customers through around 170 kilometers of pipelines across Ogun, Abia, and Rivers states. Shell said the sale would simplify its portfolio and concentrate investment where it has competitive strengths.

“We believe this agreement provides a much stronger platform for the business’ next chapter under new ownership,” Shell’s chair in Nigeria, Elohor Aiboni, said. The deal covers gas distribution rather than production or exports. Shell will retain its deepwater oil and gas operations and its interest in Nigeria LNG.

Shell’s operations in Africa’s most populous nation have been marked by long-running disputes over oil pollution. Residents of Ogale and Bille in the Niger Delta are seeking compensation and cleanup over spills they say devastated their land and waterways.

French oil major TotalEnergies has also faced criticism from Nigerian communities and activists over oil spills and environmental damage. Its planned withdrawal from onshore oil operations suffered a setback in September 2025 when regulators revoked approval for an $860 million asset sale to Chappal Energies over unmet financial commitments, before the company signed a replacement agreement with Vaaris in January this year.

At the end of September, the US refused to issue a visa to Sudanese Armed Forces leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, just days before his scheduled speech at the UN General Assembly in New York City. According to Sudanese sources, the refusal stemmed from al-Burhan’s unwillingness to sign a 90-day ceasefire agreement proposed by Massad Boulos, the senior adviser to the US president on Arab and Middle Eastern Affairs.

When civil war broke out in Sudan on April 15, 2023, the US refused to support either side of the conflict. Washington officially maintained a neutral stance toward both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and pushed for a transfer of power to a civilian-led government.

However, US policy has recently become tougher with regard to the SAF and al-Burhan, who also heads the Transitional Sovereignty Council recognized by most countries. Besides denying al-Burhan a visa, Washington is also pushing the UN to expand the existing arms embargo (which currently targets only the Darfur region, largely controlled by the RSF) to encompass all of Sudan.

The US decision to deny al-Burhan a visa drew sharp criticism from the UN and various international observers. A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Stephane Dujarric, said Guterres is “deeply concerned that a visa has reportedly not yet been issued to the President of the Transitional Sovereign Council of Sudan.”

A few days before the planned trip, Sudan’s permanent representative to the UN, al-Harith Idriss al-Harith Muhammad, sent a letter requesting UN intervention to allow al-Burhan to attend the meeting.

The US State Department, however, declined to comment on the visa controversy. Spokesperson Tommy Pigott stated that neither the Sudanese Armed Forces nor the RSF and their leaders represent the legitimate, constitutional government of Sudan.

“The United States and President Trump stand ready to work with anyone who is a serious partner for peace in Sudan,” Pigott added.

In accordance with the 1947 UN Headquarters Agreement, the US is committed to facilitating visa issuance for representatives of UN member states, including political opponents. However, the US has frequently deviated from these obligations in practice. Notably, the Obama administration denied entry to former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in 2013, preventing him from attending the UN General Assembly.

Al-Burhan, who was scheduled to speak at the General Assembly on September 24, ultimately canceled his trip to New York City. Instead, the Sudanese delegation was led by the foreign minister.

The Boulos plan

Massad Boulos’ proposal, initially presented in February, consists of five key elements: establishing an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, ensuring access for humanitarian organizations and protecting civilians, establishing a permanent ceasefire, transitioning to a civilian government, and post-war reconstruction.

In July, the Sudanese government expressed doubts regarding the political aspects of this plan but generally supported the humanitarian initiatives. The RSF, on the other hand, agreed to a three-month humanitarian ceasefire but rejected the demand for troop withdrawals from captured territories.

In September, Boulos confirmed that the US continues to collaborate with partners – including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Türkiye, and European nations – to achieve a humanitarian ceasefire in Sudan. Nevertheless, both sides remain skeptical: The army fears that a pause would allow the RSF to regroup, while the Rapid Support Forces are reluctant to lose ground in Darfur and Kordofan.

US sanctions and allegations of the use of chemical weapons

In Washington, many view al-Burhan as the more favorable partner compared to his rival, RSF commander Muhammad Hamdan Daglo. However, despite the numerous war crimes committed by the RSF – especially following their takeover of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State – Washington has officially maintained an equidistant stance toward both sides and positioned itself as a mediator.

The US has repeatedly imposed sanctions on both the armed forces and the RSF, but the primary focus has been on Sudan’s Armed Forces and General al-Burhan. The first round of sanctions was announced on June 26-27, 2025. At the time, the US State Department declared that the armed forces used chemical or biological weapons (reportedly chlorine) against their own population during clashes with the RSF in 2024. Washington called this a violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and international law.

The Sudanese government adamantly rejected the accusations, calling them baseless and politically motivated, asserting that Sudan neither produces, stores, nor uses chemical weapons, and expressed willingness to cooperate with the US in a technical investigation of the claims.

A second package of sanctions was implemented in June-July 2026, further restricting the government’s access to international financing, banning the export of certain American goods to Sudan, and preventing Sudanese airlines from using US airspace. According to the US State Department spokesperson, these sanctions will remain in effect until Sudan eliminates “all chemical weapons and production facilities under international verification.”

In regard to the RSF, the US has applied individual measures. In April, at Washington’s initiative, the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on four RSF leaders, including Muhammad Hamdan Daglo’s brother, citing war crimes and crimes against humanity in El Fasher. Nevertheless, the main economic pressure points are directed against Sudan’s Armed Forces.

Critics argue that while the aim of these sanctions is to penalize violators of international law, they could exacerbate the humanitarian crisis by limiting supplies not only of arms but also of essential goods, as all resources will be diverted toward military operations, leading to the worsening of living conditions.

Does US policy legitimize the divide?

Following the fall of El Fasher – the last stronghold of the army in Darfur – the RSF solidified control over the entire region. In July 2025, they announced the formation of a parallel government in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur State. The presidential council, made up of 15 members, was headed by RSF commander Muhammad Hamdan Daglo himself.

The US has not officially recognized the structure, but is effectively engaging with it as a legitimate political actor, even in the wake of UN sanctions against its members. Washington continues to view the RSF as a potential participant in peace talks; however, this stance inadvertently legitimizes Sudan’s fragmentation by acknowledging the RSF as a parallel political entity with its own administration and agenda. The proposals risk leading to a de facto division of the country, with the Sudanese Army controlling the north, east, and center of the country, and the RSF controlling Darfur and parts of the south.

Russia’s veto

On September 11, 2026, the UN Security Council unanimously voted to extend the existing arms embargo on the Darfur region for another month, a measure initially implemented in 2004 amid the brutal ethnic War in Darfur. However, US efforts to broaden these restrictions to encompass all of Sudan have met with strong opposition from Russia and China. Russian Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Anna Evstigneeva questioned why the council was being asked to expand the embargo at this particular moment, pointing out that similar concerns were not raised in 2023 when the Rapid Support Forces posed a threat to Khartoum and other major cities.

“The Sudanese government and its armed forces now have an undisputed advantage on the ground and serve as guarantors of state institutions, national unity, and civilian protection,” she said, noting that all available resources are necessary for achieving these goals.

The US argues that the current sanctions framework is outdated and no longer reflects the realities of the ongoing conflict. Russia’s potential veto has effectively blocked a US resolution aimed at extending the embargo to all of Sudan and increasing sanctions pressure on both sides of the conflict.

However, the US is not backing down. On October 8, the UN Security Council extended the arms embargo on Sudan’s Darfur region for another two months, until December 11, unanimously adopting a draft resolution tabled by the US. Once again, the renewal period is as short as possible – essentially a technical rollover. Over the course of these two months, member states will continue negotiations on broader amendments to the sanctions regime. China, Russia, as well as the DR Congo, Somalia, Liberia, and Pakistan, oppose the US initiative, favoring instead a sanctions regime strictly limited to Darfur without expanding its scope.

Campaign in the US media

Just days before the Security Council vote, the US media again started talking about the Sudanese Army’s alleged use of chemical weapons – a key factor influencing the US initiative to broaden the embargo. In early September, The New York Times and Washington Post published findings from a joint investigation based on a supposedly leaked confidential dossier, which included videos, photographs, blueprints, and intercepted communications – totaling around 150 files.

Massad Boulos, while presenting his initiative to the UN Security Council, explicitly cited the use of chemical weapons as one of the justifications for the need to extend the embargo.

Russia and China oppose this proposal, even though there was no formal vote on the US resolution. According to Evstigneeva, Moscow “will not allow even a hint of broadening the restrictions.” China’s representative to the UN, Sun Lei, stated that expanding the embargo could worsen the humanitarian situation and lead to the further fragmentation of Sudan.

The Boulos initiative comes amid an apparent shift in the dynamics of the war in Sudan. The Rapid Support Forces have been affected by a new wave of desertions; meanwhile, the Sudanese Army is ramping up operations in Darfur and the Blue Nile region. It has also achieved significant gains in North Kordofan by capturing several strategic locations in recent months. This offensive ensured the safety of the National Export Highway linking Khartoum (via Omdurman) to El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, and intensified pressure on RSF supply lines.

The risks of US intervention

Despite its stated peacekeeping intentions, US involvement in Sudanese affairs risks complicating an already challenging situation. Firstly, tying visa issuance to specific ceasefire conditions sets a dangerous precedent for using access to international institutions as leverage.

Lastly, expanding sanctions and embargoes without considering local realities may trigger an even greater humanitarian disaster, limiting supplies of not just weapons but also essential goods. History shows that unilateral pressure seldom leads to peace; more often, it prolongs conflict and fuels radicalization. The US policy toward Sudan risks deepening the country’s divisions and extending the conflict, potentially turning Sudan into yet another ‘frozen’ hotspot on the African map.

The death toll from an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has surpassed 4,400, with more than 9,100 infections recorded since the epidemic began, the country’s Health Ministry reported on Tuesday.  

According to its latest figures, 4,410 people have died out of 9,144 confirmed cases, putting the fatality rate at 48.2%. The majority of new cases were reported in Ituri Province, which remains the epicenter of the outbreak, accounting for nearly three-quarters of all infections. Sixty-five health zones across seven provinces have been affected. 

The outbreak was officially declared on May 15 and involves the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus for which there are currently no approved vaccines or targeted treatments available. 

Earlier this month, Congolese Health Minister Roger Samuel Kamba said the outbreak had passed its peak, citing a decline in new infections and fewer areas reporting active transmission. However, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) cautioned that the epidemic was not yet under control, warning that insecurity in affected areas had disrupted surveillance.  

The impact of the outbreak on the region’s humanitarian situation was also raised at the UN Security Council on Tuesday. Russia’s Deputy Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva warned that the Ebola epidemic was exacerbating an already severe humanitarian crisis in eastern DR Congo, where fighting between government forces and armed groups continues.  

Morocco’s election-winning Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) has agreed to form a government with three other parties, securing a parliamentary majority for the country’s first female prime minister, Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri. The new coalition excludes outgoing premier Aziz Akhannouch’s party.

The liberal-centrist party will govern alongside the nationalist Istiqlal Party, the Socialist Union of Popular Forces, and the Party of Progress and Socialism, according to a joint statement issued on Monday. The group holds 207 of the lower house’s 395 seats, above the 198 required for a majority.

The agreement followed two rounds of consultations led by Mansouri, the statement said. The parties pledged a “strong political government” committed to a shared reform agenda, including stronger rights and freedoms, social justice, and reducing regional inequalities. They said they would propose ministerial candidates “who are competent, politically astute, honest, and upright” and prepare a government program as “quickly as possible.”

King Mohammed VI appointed Mansouri, a former housing minister and Marrakech mayor, on September 29 after PAM won 97 seats in the vote. RNI finished second with 66, followed by Istiqlal with 65. Turnout fell to about 38%, compared with around 50% in 2021.

The new government will oversee preparations for Morocco to co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup with Spain and Portugal. It faces demands for jobs and better education and healthcare, grievances that fueled deadly youth-led protests last year and July’s mass migrant crossing into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.

South Africa is releasing about 2.5 million hectares of state-owned land to black farmers and providing title deeds to expand their role in commercial agriculture, President Cyril Ramaphosa has said.

In his weekly letter to the nation, Ramaphosa said expanding access to land, financing and agricultural training was essential to transforming the sector, creating jobs and strengthening South Africa’s food security.

”The first step in building a new generation of South African farmers is providing them with titled access to land,” he said. Through the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy, the government is releasing the land in various parts of the country to black farmers, Ramaphosa added.

The president stressed, however, that access to land needed to be accompanied by funding, skills development, mentorship and technology to help emerging farmers establish commercially successful businesses. ”Far too often, emerging farmers are kept trapped at subsistence level because they cannot get the financing they need for farming inputs, infrastructure and additional land,” he said.

The farm has grown its operations with assistance from the Land Bank and is a beneficiary of its Blended Finance Scheme, which combines government grant funding with loan finance. The president encouraged more lenders and agribusinesses to participate and develop additional funding instruments for farmers.

However, the sector’s growth had not benefited all communities equally. ”We still have what has been called ‘two agricultures’. Predominantly white-owned commercial farms account for the bulk of the country’s commercial farming output, while black farmers only account for around 10%,” Ramaphosa said.

The president warned that relying on a relatively small segment of the population to meet the country’s food needs was unsustainable as the population grew and demand for food increased. Ramaphosa added that transformation was necessary both to address historical inequalities and to ensure the country could meet future food demand.

Agriculture employs around 944,000 people, with a further 200,000 working across the broader value chain. The president cited a 2025 University of Pretoria study that found a strong correlation between investment in agriculture and poverty reduction. According to him, land ownership alone would not guarantee success, as farmers also needed practical experience and knowledge of crops, weather conditions and animal diseases.

Stronger partnerships between government, farmers, businesses, lenders, traditional leaders and communities would help grow the sector and create jobs. ”We can bring more land under cultivation, create a new generation of black commercial farmers and ensure that we grow enough not only to feed all our people, but to sell to markets across the world,” the president concluded.

First published by IOL

Formula 1 will return to Africa for the first time in more than three decades after signing a 10-year agreement to host a Grand Prix in Rwanda, the racing championship announced on Tuesday. 

The first race is expected to take place in the early 2030s, once a new circuit has been completed. The purpose-built track will be located in Bugesera, around 40 km south of the capital, Kigali, near the new international airport. Developed under the Rwanda Development Board, the circuit will meet the FIA’s safety and technical standards. 

South Africa hosted Formula 1 races from 1962 to 1985. The championship returned to the country for two more races in 1992 and 1993. Morocco is the only other African country to have hosted a Formula 1 World Championship race, held in Casablanca in 1958.

The championship estimates that it now has more than 100 million fans across the continent, with nearly 60% of followers in key sub-Saharan African markets under the age of 35.

FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem described the return as “a historic moment” for the sport and “an important step in the continued global growth of motorsport.”

Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said Rwanda’s inclusion will bring the championship to every inhabited continent. The date of the inaugural Grand Prix has yet to be announced.

Africa already hosts major motorsport competitions, including Kenya’s Safari Rally, part of the World Rally Championship, and the African Rally Championship, which features events in Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania. The continent was also home to the Dakar Rally before the event moved to South America in 2009 and has been held in Saudi Arabia since 2020.

Former Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) President Joseph Kabila has launched a political and military front with rebel leaders, including those of M23, which has captured large parts of the country’s east in its war against the government.

The Front for the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN) was announced on Monday at Kabila’s residence in Goma, the rebel-held capital of North Kivu province. Coalition adviser Claude Ibalanky said it would unite resistance forces to end what it calls “tyranny” through “any means necessary, including the use of force.”

The FRN replaces the Congo River Alliance (AFC), according to the declaration. Kabila heads it, with AFC leader Corneille Nangaa and M23 political chief Bertrand Bisimwa as vice presidents. M23 military commander Sultani Makenga will lead its armed forces.

On Friday, Kabila accused President Felix Tshisekedi’s government of corruption, poor governance, and military failures, and criticized its critical minerals agreement with the US.

On September 30 last year, the High Military Court sentenced him to death in absentia for treason, war crimes, and crimes against humanity over alleged support for M23. The verdict came about five months after Kinshasa suspended his party’s activities and ordered his assets seized. He denied the charges and called the proceedings politically motivated.

Washington imposed sanctions on him in April, accusing him of financing the AFC and encouraging Congolese troops to defect.

Fighting has continued despite a US-brokered peace accord with Rwanda and Qatar-mediated talks with the rebels. Congolese news outlet Actualite.cd reported renewed clashes between AFC/M23 and pro-government Wazalendo militias near Bukavu on Sunday and Monday, with at least one child wounded by gunfire and residents fleeing.

The Libyan authorities have seized around 400 kg of hashish worth nearly $1 million near the eastern coastal city of Tobruk, officials reported on Sunday. Several suspects were arrested in the operation, with investigators saying the drugs were smuggled across the border from Egypt.

The shipment, valued at approximately 6 million Libyan dinars ($934,000), was discovered on Saturday at a house in an agricultural area southeast of Tobruk, according to Ahmed al-Mismari, an information and documentation officer at Libya’s anti-drugs agency. The suspects included Libyan and Egyptian nationals, although officials did not confirm the number detained.

“The preliminary investigations revealed the shipment had been smuggled across the border with Egypt and was intended for local marketing and distribution within the ⁠Libyan market,” Mismari told Reuters.

The seizures follow another major drug interception in September, when Libyan security officers discovered approximately 100,000 ecstasy tablets smuggled from Europe. The pills, shaped like the face of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, were concealed inside a cargo van, the Deterrence Agency for Combating Terrorism and Organized Crime said.

Libya has emerged as a major North African transit hub for synthetic drugs and other narcotics targeting domestic and regional markets, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The UN agency notes that trafficking networks are actively exploiting the security vacuums and political fragmentation left in the wake of the 2011 NATO-backed overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. Today, the nation remains divided between the Government of National Unity based in Tripoli and the eastern administration backed by military commander Khalifa Haftar.

In 2025, Libya’s eastern-based anti-drugs agency seized over 6.4 tonnes of hashish, 68.4 kg of cocaine, and nearly 1.9 million narcotic tablets worth a total of $34.3 million, according to the Libyan News Agency.

Ethiopia has opened its first gold refinery to increase earnings from its mineral resources and offer African producers an alternative to processing their gold overseas, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has announced.

Abiy inaugurated the National Precious Metals Refinery on Saturday at the Bole Lemi Special Economic Zone in the capital, Addis Ababa. The $50 million venture is majority owned by the Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH) and Dubai-based Sam Precious Metals.

The facility can process more than 600 metric tons of precious metals annually and has “the capacity to serve not only Ethiopia but also the broader East African and pan-African markets,” Abiy wrote on X on Saturday. It is intended to boost export earnings, create skilled jobs, support the jewelry industry, and serve East African and wider African markets, he said.

“It enables neighboring countries and regional mining companies to bring their gold to Ethiopia for advanced refining, certification, value addition, and sale, eliminating the need to export it outside the continent,” he added.

Gold is a major source of foreign exchange for Ethiopia, generating $5.6 billion last year, according to government figures. Abiy said African countries have long exported raw materials cheaply while importing finished products at substantially higher prices.

Ghana has required licensed self-financing gold aggregators to refine their gold locally before export since September 1. Burkina Faso opened its first gold refinery, Raffinor-BF, on September 28 as the transitional authorities seek greater economic sovereignty after cutting ties with traditional Western partners. DR Congo, where the US brokered a peace deal tied to access to critical minerals, has banned copper and cobalt concentrate exports to encourage domestic processing. Zimbabwe has introduced lithium concentrate export quotas and required producers to commit to building local processing plants ahead of a planned January 2027 ban on concentrate exports.

The National Precious Metals Refinery, constructed within the Bole Lemi Special Economic Zone, has the capacity to serve not only Ethiopia but also the broader East African and pan-African markets. By providing internationally credible refining and testing services, it enables neighboring countries and regional mining companies to bring their gold to Ethiopia for advanced refining, certification, value addition, and sale, eliminating the need to export it outside the continent.

— Abiy Ahmed Ali 🇪🇹 (@AbiyAhmedAli) October 10, 2026

At least 139 migrants, including 15 children, have died after a boat carrying more than 300 people capsized off the coast of Djibouti while heading to Yemen, the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Sunday. A further 84 people remain missing.

The vessel was carrying 305 passengers when it overturned near Guhere, north of the Djiboutian port town of Obock, during the night of October 8-9, according to survivors cited by the agency. Around 82 people survived, all Ethiopian nationals, while search and rescue operations continue along the coast.

“This is a devastating loss of life,” Alexandre Coissac, the IOM’s chief of mission in Djibouti, said. “This tragedy is a stark reminder of the dangers faced by migrants along this migration corridor as they seek economic opportunities.”

The death toll initially stood at 109 before another 30 bodies were recovered, according to the IOM. The first confirmed victims included 52 men, 42 women, and 15 children.

The agency noted that poverty, food and financial insecurity, and climate change continue to push people to undertake the dangerous journey. Its monitoring system recorded more than 20,000 movements from Ethiopia into Djibouti since September 10.

The latest tragedy follows another shipwreck off Djibouti in March, when nine migrants died and 45 others went missing while attempting to reach Yemen.

South Africa has withdrawn a directive requiring refugee reception offices to accept asylum applications from people who entered the country irregularly, following violent anti-migrant protests in Soweto and Durban.

The Department of Home Affairs announced the reversal on Friday, citing overwhelmed refugee reception offices, risks to staff, and threats to public order. The measure, introduced on September 28, had sought to implement a July 7 Constitutional Court ruling that struck down restrictions on access to the asylum process.

The department described the directive as a “purely operational attempt” to comply with the court’s order and rejected claims that it was politically motivated, noting that it had opposed the case.

“The attempt to practically implement the judgement immediately led to serious consequences that could not have been foreseen in the Court order,” Home Affairs said in a statement.

Anti-migrant groups including March and March and Operation Dudula have demanded tougher immigration enforcement, blaming foreigners for crime, job shortages, and pressure on public services. Protests intensified from April, with campaigners setting an unofficial June 30 deadline for undocumented migrants to leave. The government has since stepped up immigration enforcement under a five-point plan announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa to tighten border controls and overhaul immigration laws. Ramaphosa warned against vigilantism, saying enforcement was the sole responsibility of authorized officials.

At a briefing on Sunday, Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said 30 people were arrested in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, where soldiers were deployed to support police. Kubayi said the government would seek court supervision of the asylum ruling’s implementation and introduce online registration, biometric checks, and appointments by November 10. She stressed that the ruling remained binding despite the directive’s withdrawal and that deportations of people whose asylum claims have been finally rejected would continue.

Chaos and violence has broken out in Durban, with rioters setting buildings and cars alight after foreign nationals shot and killed at least one South African. There are reportedly 7 vehicles and 8 buildings on fire, with multiple shops being looted. SAPS is apparently outnumbered. Just another day in South Africa.

— Pookie's Polls & Opinions (@pookiepolls) October 8, 2026

At the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in September, appeals for Africa to gain two permanent seats on the UN Security Council (UNSC) grew louder, with leaders from Asia, Latin America, and Africa advocating for systemic equality.

Demands for fair representation have become Africa’s most persistent diplomatic priority at the United Nations since the African Union adopted the Ezulwini Consensus in 2005. At the September sitting, Kenyan President William Ruto reminded delegates that the equality proclaimed in the General Assembly ends at the Security Council doors.

Ruto argued that Africa’s 54 countries comprise almost a quarter of the UN’s membership, and its people represent about one-fifth of humanity. Nevertheless, the continent still has no permanent Security Council seat.

Ghana President John Dramani Mahama said Africa’s exclusion from permanent membership of the Security Council was “fundamentally unacceptable in the 21st century,” calling for permanent representation with full rights and veto powers.

“Security Council reform is not a favor to Africa; it is an imperative for the legitimacy, credibility, and survival of the United Nations,” Mahama said.

Outgoing UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres observed that the Security Council, designed in the aftermath of World War II, must be reformed to reflect today’s world with the legitimacy and effectiveness that today’s challenges demand.

“When the UN was founded, most of Africa was still under colonial rule. Today, Africa still has no permanent representation on the Council. A 21st-century Security Council without permanent African seats is unjust and indefensible. This must change,” Guterres said.

“Not just fill seats but bring meaningful change”

But even as calls for Africa to get a permanent UNSC seat grew bolder, experts on the continent say something needs to be put right first. Faisal Roble, a Horn of Africa political analyst based in Arusha, Tanzania, says Africa’s grievance is legitimate, but diplomacy alone cannot fix it.

Roble says Africa must be well-represented in rooms where decisions about its future are made because the current arrangement befits neither the continent nor the United Nations’ legitimacy.

“Africa is asking to help govern global security while at the same time it is home to several places providing a setting for some of the world’s gravest security failures. The continent must show it has capability by first putting its house in order,” Roble told RT.

Roble observes that support for Africa’s demand for equal power on the Security Council exists beyond the continent. Still, leaders must show the continent “will not just fill seats but bring meaningful change to the critical UN institution.”

Roble argues that for Africa to succeed, it must move “beyond mere diplomatic rhetoric” and strategize on how to overcome structural obstacles to pushing through an amendment to the UN Charter that will grant the continent two permanent seats on the UNSC.

“Africa can get the required two-thirds support from member states to push through the amendment, but it must strategize on how such an amendment can get ratification by all five permanent members because here is where the real obstacle is,” he notes.

“Homegrown solutions that can fix the continent’s problems”

Dr. Jalale Getachew Birru, a security and peace analyst at Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), says it will be impossible for Africa to secure a permanent seat with veto powers at the UNSC if the continent cannot prove that it can end its own wars.

“Africa has continuously relied on the big brothers in solving every economic, social and political problem at home. The continent has unending conflicts, and this portrays it as poorly placed to help manage the world’s security concerns,” Dr. Birru told RT.

According to the expert, permanent UNSC membership carries responsibility for international peace and security. If Africa cannot handle its own conflicts, it will find it harder to persuade skeptical capitals like Washington and London that the continent deserves equal powers on the council.

Dr. Birru argues that Africa’s leverage in its quest for a permanent UNSC seat is to “show that African institutions and solutions work.”

“Africa must take more responsibility for its own security”

Mesenbet Assefa, Senior Fellow at the HORN Institute, explains that having a functional AU Peace and Security Council will strengthen Africa’s quest to gain power at the UNSC.

He says the AU must stop responding selectively to crises on the continent, especially those perpetuated by sitting heads of state, and that African governments need to show they can carry out the responsibilities they are asking to share.

“It will be ironic for Africa to get a permanent seat and veto powers at the UNSC when the AU peace and security council is dysfunctional. Africa must take more responsibility for its own security by funding mechanisms that curb the flow of arms and illicit minerals that sustain the unending crises on the continent,” said Assefa.

He added, “Africa must take a prominent and leading role in ending the current conflicts in Sudan, DR Congo, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and the Sahel.”

At the same time, Assefa notes that Africa must arrive at the negotiating table with a settled proposal on which of its members will serve as permanent members of the UNSC.

“With support from Russia, China and France, Africa might succeed in pushing for two permanent seats on the UNSC, but there will be trouble on the allocation of the seats, and this will complicate the whole process. The continent’s quest will be deflected the moment they start arguing over who sits where,” Assefa told RT.

Each member of the council has one vote. The five permanent members – China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States – have veto powers which they can use to overrule any decision made.

The death toll from a drone strike blamed on Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) near a camp for displaced people in Blue Nile state has risen to 41, according to a local rights group. 

On Friday, the Emergency Lawyers group reported the revised death toll, accusing the RSF of targeting civilians. Local authorities have put the number of fatalities at 32, with another 43 people injured, according to Al Jazeera Arabic. The attack took place also on Friday in the Abu Shandi area, near the Ethiopian border.

The RSF-allied Sudan Founding Alliance (TASIS) has denied responsibility for the attack, instead accusing Egypt of carrying it out. In a statement reported by the Sudan Times on Saturday, coalition spokesman Ahmed Tugud Lisan claimed that an Egyptian drone had been launched from a police facility in Wad al-Mahi with the involvement of Egyptian specialists. The allegations against Egypt have not been independently verified.

Separately, at least 72 gold miners were killed in an airstrike near Sudan’s border with Egypt on Saturday, according to Emergency Lawyers. The organization accused the Egyptian Air Force of carrying out the attack, but the allegation has not been independently verified. Egypt has not officially commented on the incident. The Sudan Tribune reported that survivors put the death toll at more than 200, although the figure remains unconfirmed.

The attacks come amid an ongoing civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF, which erupted in April 2023.  According to UN estimates, 33.7 million people in Sudan need humanitarian assistance, while more than 8.5 million remain internally displaced. 

Several RSF commanders have defected to the Sudanese Army since 2024. Most recently, Lieutenant Colonel Mohamed Azraq al-Fanjari reportedly switched sides with around 300 fighters and 30 military vehicles on Thursday.

Eritrea has asked the UN Security Council to take deterrent measures against Ethiopia, accusing its neighbor of using allegations of invasion by Eritrean forces to justify a war aimed at securing sovereign access to the Red Sea.

The appeal follows Ethiopia’s notification to the Security Council last week that Eritrean forces, including mechanized units, had advanced up to 60 km inside the northern Tigray region. Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos sought international support for Ethiopia’s right to self-defense, demanded the immediate withdrawal of the troops, and called for the UN to unequivocally condemn the alleged incursion.

Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel rejected the accusations on Friday, calling them “audacity and duplicity in their most extreme forms.” 

In a letter published on Saturday, Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh rejected Addis Ababa’s claim that it was acting in self-defense as “deceitful attempts to rationalize its brazen acts of war against a sovereign UN member State.” He warned that a confrontation would devastate both countries and destabilize the region.

The confrontation comes amid renewed fighting in northern Ethiopia after the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) formed an alliance with six other armed groups last month to overthrow the federal government. TPLF forces seized airports in Mekelle, Tigray’s regional capital, and the cities of Axum and Shire. Federal troops and allied fighters retook Mekelle on October 4 following the TPLF’s withdrawal.

At least 52 civilians were killed around Alamata in southern Tigray in late September, the BBC reported, citing hospital sources. More than 720 wounded people had been admitted to hospitals in Korem, Alamata, and Shire by September 25, according to Doctors Without Borders.

The violence has sparked fears of a return to full-blown war in the East African country, which has struggled to maintain stability since a peace deal in November 2022 ended a brutal two-year conflict in Tigray. Eritrean troops fought alongside Ethiopia’s federal army during the 2020–2022 Tigray war, but relations have since soured over Addis Ababa’s maritime ambitions. On October 1, Asmara severed diplomatic ties after Ethiopia expelled ten Eritrean diplomats and closed its embassy in Eritrea.

Ethiopia became landlocked when Eritrea gained independence in 1993. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed calls sea access an existential issue and says it should be secured through peaceful dialogue, while Asmara sees his government’s ambitions as a threat to its sovereignty.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) disproportionately targets Africans while failing to hold perpetrators of war crimes elsewhere accountable, Nigerian investigative journalist David Hundeyin has told RT.

Hundeyin questioned the court’s record, claiming that Africans account for more than 90% of those prosecuted under the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC. “It’s either crimes against humanity only happen in Africa, or Africans are disproportionately targeted by the ICC,” he said. The journalist disputed the ICC’s impartiality, asking whether it has become an instrument of selective justice.

Hundeyin said the ICC could be considered “useless or toothless” at best, or, at worst, a tool used specifically to target Africans.

Established in 2002, the court is tasked with prosecuting genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and aggression, and relies heavily on the cooperation of its 125 members. However, some of the world’s most powerful states, including the US, China, India and Russia, reject its authority.

The court has long faced accusations of selective justice and political bias. Chad recently notified the UN of its decision to withdraw from the ICC, accusing the tribunal of disproportionately targeting countries in Africa. The Chadian Foreign Ministry claimed that nine of the 13 investigations it counted concerned African states, describing the court’s effectiveness as “limited and uneven.”

Another senior commander of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has defected to the Sudanese army, bringing around 300 fighters and 30 military vehicles with him, The Sudan Times reported on Thursday.

Lieutenant Colonel Mohamed Azraq al-Fanjari, who identified himself as commander of the RSF’s Special Tasks Group, announced his departure in a video circulated on Thursday. He described the conflict as a “futile war.”

“I, Lieutenant Colonel Mohamed Azraq al-Fanjari ... announce my resignation and withdrawal from all military duties and responsibilities within the ranks of the Rapid Support Forces,” he said. Fanjari apologized to Sudanese families who had lost relatives, been displaced or suffered during the fighting.

The move comes as Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has ruled out negotiations with the RSF, pledging to continue military operations until the paramilitary group is defeated. “We say it again: We have no negotiations with anyone, we are not speaking with anyone, and we have nothing to do with anyone,” Burhan said on Tuesday during a visit to Northern State.

Sudan’s conflict erupted in April 2023 following months of tensions between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF. 

Several senior RSF commanders have switched sides since 2024. Abuagla Keikal, commander of the Sudan Shield Forces, defected in October that year, followed by Major General Al-Nour Ahmed Adam, known as Al-Nour al-Qubba, in April 2026 and Ali Rizqallah, also known as Al-Savana, in May 2026.

Ethiopia has accused Eritrea of sending troops deep into its territory and warned that it must defend itself against an “all-out invasion,” escalating a confrontation between the former allies.

Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos alleged that Eritrean forces, including mechanized units, had advanced up to 60 km into Tigray. His October 8 letter was addressed to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and circulated to other UN Security Council members, Reuters reported Friday. The letter described the incursion as a “blatant act of aggression” and sought international support for Ethiopia’s right to self-defense.

Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that Gedion briefed UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed on what it called Eritrea’s “continued aggression,” demanded the immediate withdrawal of Eritrean forces and urged a “clear and principled UN response.”

In separate talks with senior UN officials, Ethiopian State Minister Berhanu Tsegaye alleged direct Eritrean military involvement “across different fronts along the border” and called for the UN to unequivocally condemn the “flagrant violations of sovereignty.”

On Sunday, the government-allied Tigray Peace Force announced it had retaken Mekelle following the TPLF’s withdrawal. The TPLF said it had decided to “temporarily leave” and operate from another location while continuing military operations.

Conflict monitor ACLED reported suspected Ethiopian drone strikes against Eritrean forces near the border town of Adigrat on Wednesday and Thursday. A resident told Reuters that explosions continued overnight into Friday.

Ethiopia has accused Eritrea, Egypt, and Sudan of supporting the rebel alliance. The three countries have rejected the allegations. Last week, Addis Ababa expelled ten Eritrean diplomats and closed its embassy in Asmara, prompting Eritrea to sever diplomatic ties. Eritrean troops previously backed Ethiopia’s federal army during the 2020-2022 Tigray war, which ended with the Pretoria peace agreement.

The African Union has urged restraint, while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for dialogue to resolve the disputes between the Horn of Africa states and prevent further escalation.

African civil society organizations have called for an international tribunal to prosecute corporate human rights and environmental abuses, citing decades of oil pollution in Nigeria’s Niger Delta as a major example.

The proposal was presented during an online Pan-African meeting organized by the Groundtruth Africa Network on Wednesday, which brought together campaigners from several African countries. Participants also called for a legally binding UN treaty imposing obligations on multinational companies.

“Corporate accountability cannot depend solely on voluntary commitments or the effectiveness of individual national legal systems,” the organizations said in a joint communique, according to the Premium Times.

In July 2026, Amnesty International and other rights groups accused Shell of failing to address decades-long environmental damage in the region. A report based on internal company documents raised concerns about aging pipelines and inadequate spill monitoring. Shell rejected the report’s characterization of its operations. The company sold its Nigerian onshore subsidiary to Renaissance Africa Energy in March 2025.

A US federal judge has ordered the administration of President Donald Trump to facilitate the return of an Egyptian man deported to Equatorial Guinea, finding that the transfer violated his constitutional rights.

Arizona District Judge John Hinderaker said in a ruling seen on Thursday that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had deported Ahmed Soliman, 31, from the US in April without a meaningful opportunity to challenge his destination. Soliman arrived in the US at age four.

Soliman had lost his immigration status following convictions for aggravated assault and possession of a synthetic narcotic but secured protection against deportation to Egypt over fears of persecution because he is gay and members of his family had reportedly been tortured and imprisoned by Egyptian authorities.

DHS argued that Equatorial Guinea’s diplomatic assurances against persecution or torture made an individual hearing unnecessary. Judge Hinderaker rejected the argument, saying the approach provided “no notice of the country of removal and no opportunity to be heard,” according to the court order dated October 6. He ordered the Trump administration to report within three days on Soliman’s whereabouts, custody, and physical condition, along with steps taken to secure his return and the anticipated timeline.

Human Rights Watch’s analysis of US immigration data counted 536 such transfers to Africa between January 20, 2025 and August 5, 2026, including to Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, South Sudan, Rwanda, Uganda, Cameroon, DR Congo, and the Central African Republic.

Rights groups have reported beatings, threats at gunpoint, and inadequate medical care in Equatorial Guinea. In Eswatini, Laotian deportee Phone Chomsavanh was released on October 4 after more than a year in a maximum-security prison, AP reported, citing his lawyer.

Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar rejected pressure to accept Venezuelan deportees last year, saying the West African country has “enough problems” of its own.

The African Union (AU) has called on parties to the conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) to respect ceasefire agreements and refrain from actions that could undermine peace efforts, according to a statement released on Wednesday.

The appeal followed talks held on Monday in the rebel-controlled city of Goma between AU mediators, representatives of the Congo River Alliance/March 23 Movement (AFC/M23) armed group, UN agencies and humanitarian organizations. The discussions focused on the security situation, humanitarian conditions and efforts to advance peace negotiations.

AFC/M23 captured Goma and Bukavu, the respective capitals of North and South Kivu provinces, during a major offensive in early 2025 and now controls large parts of both regions. 

The AU panel called for “strict respect for ceasefire commitments, full cooperation with verification mechanisms, and restraint from actions that could undermine the peace process.” It also urged the parties to continue negotiations under the Doha peace process.

The appeal comes following the resumption of fighting in North Kivu province in September, with clashes reported between Congolese government forces and AFC/M23 rebels in the Masisi, Rutshuru and Walikale territories. 

On September 20, the Congolese army accused the rebels of launching attacks on several fronts in violation of ceasefire agreements reached through the Doha and Washington peace processes. The rebel group has also accused government-aligned forces of carrying out attacks. 

The country also continues to struggle with an Ebola outbreak. Although the health authorities said last week that the outbreak had passed its peak, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) warned that declining case numbers did not mean the disease was under control. 

South Africa is stepping up efforts to manufacture medicines and pharmaceutical ingredients locally to reduce reliance on imports and strengthen its ability to secure critical medical supplies during future health emergencies, the government has said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, accompanied by Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Professor Blade Nzimande and Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, toured the FuturePharma facility at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Pretoria. The facility is expected to strengthen South Africa’s pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities by helping researchers move technologies from laboratories towards large-scale production and commercialisation.

The move towards greater domestic production is aimed at giving South Africa stronger control over the availability of essential medicines while building local pharmaceutical capacity.

According to GCIS, one of the major objectives of the facility is to close the gap between scientific discoveries and medicines or pharmaceutical technologies that can be produced commercially. ”It will provide researchers, innovators and industry partners with access to specialised infrastructure and expertise to advance technologies towards manufacturing, while supporting technology transfer and skills development,” GCIS added.

The facility is also expected to form part of South Africa’s preparations for future pandemics and other major public health emergencies. The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the risks countries face when they are heavily dependent on international supply chains for medicines, vaccines and other critical health products.

First published by IOL

Russian truckmaker KAMAZ has signed a contract reportedly worth about $51.5 million to supply vehicles to Mali, as the landlocked West African country seeks to strengthen its transport network and secure essential supplies.

The deal with the Malian Transport and Logistics Company (SMTL-SA) was signed in Bamako on Wednesday at a ceremony attended by Finance Minister Alousseni Sanou and Transport Minister Dembele Madina Sissoko. Malian broadcaster Kati24 put its value at above 30 billion CFA francs.

In a press release on Thursday, KAMAZ said the contract falls under an intergovernmental agreement between Russia and Mali and aims to expand the country’s capacity to transport food and industrial goods. “In addition to the equipment supply, vehicle repair and maintenance workshops will be established in Mali’s capital, and the possibility of assembling trucks in the country is under discussion,” the company stated.

According to the statement, the parties also discussed spare parts, technology transfer, and training Malian technicians in Kazan, the capital of Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan. KAMAZ did not specify vehicle numbers, models or delivery dates.

KAMAZ already has a supply history in Mali, which Russian state-owned industrial conglomerate Rostec listed among the truckmaker’s African markets in 2023.

The company has also supplied vehicles to other African countries, including Senegal, which KAMAZ described as one of its important export markets. It supplied 167 vehicles to the country, mainly KAMAZ-5460 tractor units for transporting containers from the port of Dakar, and trained Senegalese drivers and mechanics in 2021.

The latest agreement adds to Mali’s growing economic ties with Russia in recent years as part of efforts by the transitional authorities of the Sahel nation to assert control over strategic industries. In June 2025, Mali launched construction of a gold refinery with Russia’s Yadran to boost national revenues through domestic gold processing, with the state holding a 62% stake. The refinery project followed disputes with Western mining companies, including Canada’s Barrick and Australia’s Resolute Mining, over alleged unpaid taxes and the implementation of a new mining code aimed at increasing state revenues and ownership.

On October 7, the African Union officially launched the Africa Credit Rating Agency (AfCRA) in Mauritius, giving the continent its own institution for assessing African sovereigns, companies, and financial institutions. AfCRA is not intended to replace Moody’s, S&P, or Fitch, but to introduce an African source of authority into a system that has long helped determine the price at which African countries can borrow.

On the surface, this is a technical event about ratings and capital markets. But the questions underneath it are political. Who decides whether an African country is a safe place to lend money? Who decides what interest that country should pay? And why should judgements made by institutions far outside the continent carry such enormous weight over the price of African development?

The AU says AfCRA will rate African sovereigns, sub-sovereigns, companies, and institutions. It is designed as a private-sector-driven, self-funded body, with governments barred from owning shares, and is meant to complement rather than simply replace the established global agencies. That may sound modest. In fact, it touches one of the unfinished questions of African independence.

A sovereign credit rating impacts directly the price of money. A government borrowing to build a railway or refinance debt enters a market in which investors judge the possibility of repayment, and ratings shape that perception. A lower rating can mean a higher yield demanded by investors and can influence the borrowing conditions facing banks and state-owned companies. An apparently technical judgement can therefore become a very material question: How much of the wealth produced by a country must be transferred to creditors simply to obtain capital?

The AU says Africa’s external debt-service payments rose from $61 billion in 2010 to $163 billion in 2024. UNDP research published in 2023 estimated that African countries could save up to $74.5 billion in excess interest and foregone financing if sovereign ratings were based on less subjective assessments. One does not have to accept every estimate, or conclude that every downgrade of an African country is unfair, to recognize the scale of the issue.

African states have real weaknesses: unsustainable debt, commodity dependence, narrow tax bases, incomplete statistics, corruption, and vulnerable currencies. An African agency that concealed these realities would destroy its credibility. But that does not make the existing system neutral. Ratings combine measurable indicators with judgements about institutions, reserves, and policy credibility. UNDP has identified foreign-currency bias and insufficient recognition of informal activity among the structural problems affecting African assessments.

Critics dispute that this amounts to systematic bias. That disagreement is precisely why Africa needs its own analytical capacity. The point is not to guarantee a better grade; it is to stop being the object being graded.

This is where the question of liberation enters. Political sovereignty answers the question: Who governs? Economic sovereignty asks a harder question: Who controls the conditions under which development is possible?

Colonial rule, while occupying territory, organized economies. Railways ran from mines and plantations to ports, commodities moved outward, manufactured goods moved inward, and financial authority remained elsewhere. Independence changed the political map, but much of that economic geography survived. Africa still exports raw materials, imports much of its machinery, and often borrows in currencies it does not control. Rating agencies did not create that structure, but they operate inside an architecture shaped by it.

This is why AfCRA is more important than whether it awards one country BBB instead of BB. It begins to contest who has the authority to interpret African economic reality. The AU says one objective is to strengthen Africa’s voice in global financial governance. Ratings agencies possess credibility that is itself is a form of institutional power.

AfCRA will still operate inside international capital markets. But changing who is authorized to produce credible judgements inside a system can still alter the balance of power within it. Financial independence is built by accumulating alternatives. A continental ratings agency challenges who defines risk. Regional payments systems reduce dependence on external channels. Local-currency finance reduces exposure to currencies controlled elsewhere. Development banks, monetary funds and, eventually, deeper monetary integration push the challenge further.

Africa has been discussing this architecture for decades. The 1991 Abuja Treaty envisaged deeper economic integration. The 1999 Sirte Declaration, adopted at a summit hosted in Libya and strongly influenced by Muammar Gaddafi’s campaign for a more united Africa, called for accelerating the institutions of the African Economic Community. The AU’s Constitutive Act later provided for an African Central Bank, an African Monetary Fund, and an African Investment Bank.

The AU still describes the intended purpose of the African Central Bank as creating a common monetary policy and eventually a single African currency. This history matters because Gaddafi’s argument about African unity was never only diplomatic. He pushed the question towards the material foundations of sovereignty. Could Africa be genuinely independent if its trade, reserves, borrowing, and development remained structurally dependent on financial institutions and currencies centered elsewhere?

There is a popular claim that Libya was preparing a gold-backed pan-African dinar that would displace the dollar and the CFA franc. That specific claim remains disputed and should not be treated as established fact. What is firmly documented is the wider project: Gaddafi’s pressure for continental union, the Sirte process, and the institutional agenda for an African central bank, monetary fund, and investment bank. The historical question is whether political unity can survive without economic and monetary power.

The same question now appears in another form through BRICS. The bloc has not created a common currency, and predictions of an imminent replacement for the dollar are exaggerated. But it is widening room for maneuver. In 2024, 43.5% of New Development Bank approvals were denominated mainly in Chinese renminbi and South African rand. The 2025 BRICS Rio Declaration also called for further work on cross-border payments and greater interoperability among payment systems.

These are attempts to create optionality, and optionality is where dependence begins to weaken. A country with only one lender accepts the lender’s conditions. A country with several credible sources of finance has bargaining power. The same is true of currencies, payment systems, markets, and rating institutions.

AfCRA belongs in that wider movement. It does not abolish Moody’s, S&P, or Fitch, but it introduces an African source of recognized judgement into a field where Africa has had little institutional power. That can influence how African risk is discussed, what data are considered, and which assumptions are challenged.

Still, cheaper borrowing cannot be the final objective. Africa does not need liberation from expensive debt so that it can accumulate more cheap debt. The deeper question is what borrowed capital produces.

There is a profound difference between borrowing to finance consumption, recurrent deficits, or an extractive enclave that exports most of its value, and borrowing to build power generation, railways, fertilizer plants, machine industries, food-processing capacity, and regional supply chains. The first can reproduce dependency. The second can expand the productive base from which future repayment and development become possible.

That is why financial liberation and productive liberation cannot be separated. And neither can be separated from African unity.

Fifty-five fragmented states, many with small domestic markets and colonial trade patterns, will always negotiate from a weaker position than an integrated continental economy. A mine in one African country should be able to supply a factory in another, financed by African capital, transported on African infrastructure, sold across an African market and paid for through African financial systems. And that is actually the economic content of Pan-Africanism.

National sovereignty has limits when capital, production, trade, and finance operate at continental and global scale. For Africa, sovereignty has to rise to the continental level. The African Continental Free Trade Area enlarges the market; African payment systems can reduce dependence on third currencies; development institutions can mobilize savings towards African priorities. And AfCRA adds another capacity: to interpret and price African economic reality.

None of these institutions should be romanticized. AfCRA can fail. If governments pressure it for favorable ratings, it will lose credibility. If it simply reproduces the methodologies of the established agencies with African personnel, its political significance will be limited. And if African ruling classes speak about financial sovereignty while continuing capital flight, raw-material dependency, and unproductive borrowing, the language of liberation becomes another slogan.

Its credibility may even require the agency, at times, to rate an African government more harshly than the established agencies. Independence is not demonstrated by giving Africa better marks. It is demonstrated by producing better analysis.

The launch in Mauritius should therefore be seen for what it is: one institution in a much larger struggle over economic power. African liberation was never completed by lowering colonial flags. It requires control over production, trade, finance, and the circulation of wealth. A fragmented Africa can ask for better treatment. A united Africa can create alternatives.

And that is where financial reform begins to become liberation.

Benin has renewed its demand for the return of 35 cultural artifacts and archival materials held in France, including a sacred statue taken during the colonial era, Benin Web TV reported on Tuesday.

President Romuald Wadagni raised the issue during talks with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Monday. The requested objects include a carved wooden divination tray at the Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac Museum, a statue of Gou, the Vodun god of iron and war, and the throne of King Toffa of Porto-Novo.

The statue of Gou was taken to France during its conquest of Dahomey in the late 19th century. Benin had previously sought its return under former President Patrice Talon, but the sculpture was not among the objects handed back by France in 2021.

Benin could receive an initial response from Paris by mid-October, RFI reported on Wednesday, citing informed sources. Further discussions are expected to determine whether France will return all 35 objects or only some of them.

France previously returned 26 royal treasures to Benin in November 2021. They had been seized by French troops during the conquest of the Kingdom of Dahomey in 1892 and were held in French museum collections for more than a century.

African countries have repeatedly called for the return of cultural artifacts taken under colonial rule. Nigeria has secured agreements with European countries, including Germany, for the restitution of the Benin Bronzes looted by British troops in 1897.

In June, three Swiss museums returned 18 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, including 14 from the University of Zurich. The handover followed a formal request submitted by the Nigerian authorities in 2024.

The African Union (AU) has launched its first credit rating agency in a move it says will advance economic sovereignty, amid longstanding accusations of bias against the continent by Western rating agencies.

The Africa Credit Rating Agency (AfCRA), unveiled on Wednesday in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, where it will be headquartered, will assess governments, financial institutions, and businesses. The AU says it will operate independently, with governments barred from owning shares.

The initiative follows years of complaints against Moody’s, S&P Global, and Fitch, the dominant Western rating agencies, over their treatment of African borrowers, particularly downgrades during crises. Credit ratings influence borrowing costs and investors’ willingness to lend.

AU Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf described AfCRA as an “important pillar” in Africa’s efforts to build a stronger and more resilient financial architecture.

“The agency will provide African and international investors, as well as economic partners, with reliable, independent and technically rigorous analysis of African economies and credit risk,” he said, according to an AU statement.

A 2023 UN Development Program study estimated that less subjective ratings could save African countries up to $74.5 billion. The AU says the continent’s external debt service rose from $61 billion in 2010 to $163 billion in 2024.

Ghana’s Finance Ministry accused Moody’s of “institutionalized bias against African economies” after a February 2022 downgrade. It said the agency, which cited Ghana’s mounting liquidity and debt challenges, omitted critical information and relied on an analyst who had not visited the country. Last year, Kenyan President William Ruto said global agencies had “deliberately failed Africa,” blaming flawed models and outdated assumptions for inflated borrowing costs.

Several countries outside Africa have also questioned the fairness of global credit ratings or called for alternatives. In 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a Eurasian rating agency to provide “absolutely objective” assessments. India’s Finance Ministry alleged systemic bias in sovereign ratings in 2021, while China’s Finance Ministry called a Fitch downgrade “biased” in April 2025.

Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has reiterated his rejection of negotiations with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), vowing to continue the military campaign against the group.

Burhan, who also chairs Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council, made the remarks on Tuesday during a visit to the Amri area in the country’s Northern State.  

“We say it again: We have no negotiations with anyone, we are not speaking with anyone, and we have nothing to do with anyone,” Burhan said, according to the Sudan Tribune.

The army chief also reiterated the military’s intention to continue its campaign against the RSF. “We tell the rebels among you that we are coming to you with force,” he said. “We want to uproot the enemy and eliminate it completely.”

Burhan has repeatedly rejected negotiations with the RSF during the conflict. In May 2024, he said, “there will be no negotiations, no peace, and no ceasefire” until the RSF was defeated. In April this year, he again ruled out talks with the paramilitary group or its supporters.

Sudan’s conflict erupted in April 2023 following months of tensions between the SAF and the RSF. 

On Sunday, US senior adviser for Arab and African affairs Massad Boulos met with Burhan in Egypt. “The United States stands ready to support all efforts leading to a comprehensive dialogue among the Sudanese political forces, leading to a preliminary road map of the future of the Sudan,” Boulos said. The meeting, however, followed a dispute over Burhan’s planned trip to the UN General Assembly in New York last month, when the US did not issue him an entry visa. Foreign Minister Mohieldin Salim Ahmed Ibrahim had to address the gathering on his behalf.

In his address, Salim called for international pressure on foreign parties supporting the RSF, saying peace would require the paramilitary group to be disarmed and weapons to remain under the control of state institutions.

Ethiopia’s parliament has re-elected Abiy Ahmed as prime minister for another five-year term, two weeks after armed groups formed an alliance to overthrow his government amid renewed fighting in the country’s north.

Abiy was sworn in on Monday at the inaugural session of the newly elected House of Peoples’ Representatives after his ruling Prosperity Party won a sweeping majority with 438 seats in elections held in June. Addressing lawmakers, Abiy expressed his government’s readiness to confront threats and protect its national interests.

“Getting tripped up by an obstacle once is natural, but stumbling repeatedly is not normal,” he said, urging unity and greater preparedness for domestic and external challenges.

Fighting has since intensified between federal troops and TPLF forces, which seized airports in Tigray’s regional capital, Mekelle, and the cities of Axum and Shire, disrupting commercial flights. On September 24, the army said it had killed 272 rebel fighters and wounded 260. Federal troops and allied fighters retook Mekelle and its airport last weekend, while the TPLF vowed to continue fighting. More than 720 patients wounded in the conflict had been admitted to hospitals in Korem, Alamata and Shire as of September 25, according to Doctors Without Borders.

During his address following reelection, Abiy renewed his pledge to secure maritime access for landlocked Ethiopia through dialogue and mutually beneficial arrangements. That ambition has strained relations with Eritrea over its Assab Port and with Somalia over Ethiopia’s 2024 coastline deal with Somaliland, which Mogadishu condemned as a violation of its sovereignty. A Turkish-mediated agreement later that year eased the dispute with Somalia.

The agenda for the third Russia-Africa Summit has been released ahead of the gathering in Moscow later this month.

The summit will take place on October 28-29. Its program, released by the Roscongress Foundation, one of the organizers, is divided into four main tracks covering sovereignty and sustainable development, the economy, humanitarian cooperation and human capital, and technology and innovation.

Previous summits “marked a key stage in the strengthening of Russia’s relations with the countries of Africa,” Anton Kobyakov, an adviser to the Russian president and executive secretary of the summit’s organizing committee, said. He added that this year’s gathering would focus not only on reaching agreements, but also on “adopting practical solutions.”

Panel discussions will focus on trade and investment, industry, technology transfer, food and energy security, digitalization, healthcare, education, and science.

The agenda has been unveiled days after Moscow accused Western countries of pressuring African states to stay away from the summit. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said last week that Western nations are attempting to dissuade African partners from attending.

The inaugural Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi in 2019 drew official delegations from all 54 African countries, with 45 represented by heads of state or government. The second summit in St. Petersburg in 2023 drew official delegations from 48 countries, with 27 represented by a head of state or the second-highest-ranking official.

Malian troops backed by Russian forces have retaken the northern separatist stronghold of Kidal, the government has announced, reversing the loss of the strategic town during a coordinated rebel and jihadist offensive in April.

The transitional authorities said troops consolidated their positions in the regional capital on Tuesday following intensive air and ground operations. Their return would enable the gradual restoration of public administration and basic services, according to the government statement.

The Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) acknowledged leaving Kidal and claimed there had been “disproportionate” airstrikes by Mali’s military and the Russian Defense Ministry-run Africa Corps. Its spokesperson, Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, described the move as a “controlled withdrawal” to preserve personnel and equipment, saying its forces had pulled out without direct combat and that the retreat was temporary.

Kidal has long been a center of separatist demands for an independent state in northern Mali. Malian troops and fighters from the Russian private military company Wagner recaptured it in November 2023, before losing control following a nationwide offensive in April by the FLA and the Al-Qaeda-linked Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) that also killed Defense Minister Sadio Camara.

Bamako and its Sahel allies have accused foreign powers of supporting the armed groups. Addressing the UN General Assembly on September 28, Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop accused Ukraine of aiding jihadists and separatists, citing coordinated attacks in April and July. Mali severed diplomatic ties with Kiev in August 2024 after Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andrey Yusov said rebels received information enabling an ambush on Malian and Wagner forces.

Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have also accused France of supporting terrorist groups in the Sahel. All three former French colonies have ended defense cooperation with Paris and strengthened security ties with Moscow. Personnel from the Africa Corps, which replaced Wagner in Mali by 2025, have since supported Malian troops in operations against jihadists and separatist armed groups.

In July, the joint forces recaptured Anefis, a strategic town about 100 km south of Kidal, after more than a week of fighting. Mali’s military said operations there and in two nearby localities killed nearly 100 militants and destroyed 12 combat vehicles.

Le 06 octobre 2026 Région de Kidal. Les FAMa et leurs partenaires Russes ont engagé des opérations aéroterrestres d'envergure. Pour plus d'infos cliquez sur ce lien : https://t.co/0QQ7zsvBqn. https://t.co/sskkdn5KRD

— FAMa (@DirpaFa) October 6, 2026

Kenya has confirmed its first Ebola case after a citizen returning from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) died in a Nairobi hospital, extending a regional outbreak that has killed more than 4,000 people.

In a statement on Tuesday, Health Minister Aden Duale said the patient lived in DR Congo for seven years and received treatment at several hospitals after falling ill about a month ago. He traveled by road to Uganda’s capital, Kampala, before boarding a Jambojet flight to Nairobi on October 3.

He underwent routine screening at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport before a relative and a friend took him directly to Nairobi Hospital, where he was immediately isolated, the minister said. Two laboratories confirmed the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, and he died on Monday night, according to the statement.

The authorities have identified 28 contacts, including relatives and healthcare workers, and are tracing another 23 passengers and four crew members who were on the same flight as the patient.

“I wish to reassure the public not to panic, as all systems are in place to mitigate the spread of the disease,” Duale said.

There is no licensed vaccine or specific treatment for the Bundibugyo strain, although trials are underway. Ebola spreads through direct contact with infected bodily fluids, including those of deceased patients.

Uganda also recorded 20 confirmed cases and two deaths before the WHO declared the country Ebola-free in August.

Nairobi announced heightened surveillance and screening in May following the outbreaks in DR Congo and Uganda. It agreed to host a controversial US-backed quarantine facility at Laikipia Air Base for Americans exposed to the virus abroad, prompting protests and a legal challenge over fears of importing infections.

However, the Law Society of Kenya and constitutional watchdog Katiba Institute alleged in July that the facility was operating despite the court ban. US-based Christian relief organization Samaritan’s Purse confirmed that seven employees returning from DR Congo were quarantined in Kenya but did not disclose their location. Katiba Institute called reports that they had been transferred to Laikipia Air Base “deeply alarming” and a violation of the court’s orders.

Twenty-five people were killed when a Nigerian Air Force aircraft crashed in southwestern Nigeria on Monday, the military said on Tuesday, revising down an earlier government figure of 32.

The air force said the ATR-42 was carrying 20 passengers and five crew members and that there were no survivors. Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo had initially said preliminary information indicated that 32 people – 25 passengers and seven crew members – were on board.

“NAF 931 had 25 persons on board, comprising five crew members and 20 passengers,” the air force clarified in a statement.

The ATR-42 was flying from Benin City to Lagos when air traffic controllers lost contact with it at 9:13 am local time, Keyamo said. The aircraft later crashed near a naval base in the Igbokoda area of Ondo State.

“This is a painful moment for our Armed Forces and for the entire nation. Our Air Force personnel put their lives on the line every day to secure Nigeria. Their sacrifice will never be forgotten,” Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said in a statement released by his office.

Tinubu ordered the Air Force to launch a full investigation into the cause of the crash. “I have declared three days of national mourning and directed that our flags be flown at half-mast throughout the country in honor of those we have lost,” the president added. 

Nigeria has recorded several deadly military aviation accidents in recent years. In May 2021, a military aircraft crashed near Kaduna airport, killing all 11 people aboard, including then-Army chief Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru. Three months earlier, seven Air Force personnel died when a Beechcraft King Air B350i crashed near Abuja after reporting engine failure.

🚨🇳🇬 “Only scattered pieces of wreckage, military wear in sight.” Villagers describe an unbelievable crash scene after military aircraft NGR 931 reportedly crashed in Ondo, with over 25 people said to have been on board. 😭💔 Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families, and the people of Nigeria. 🇳🇬🙏🏾

— Prince Jidulah (@PrinceJidulah) October 6, 2026

South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola told the US ambassador to “get out of the kitchen” if he is tired of dialogue, amid tensions over Washington’s demands to scrap black economic empowerment policies and roll back land reform.

The remarks, published by the Sunday Times, followed South Africa’s third formal diplomatic protest against Ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III since he took up his post in February. Lamola said the envoy’s public interventions amount to interference in South Africa’s domestic affairs.

Lamola was responding to Bozell’s September 16 post on X declaring that the time for further dialogue is over and warning of “severe” consequences. The ambassador said newly announced US visa restrictions on South African officials and others accused of enabling uncompensated land seizures, racial discrimination, and incitement to violence against minority groups, including Afrikaners, are “only the first step in a series of escalatory measures.”

“You can’t have a diplomat who says the time for talking is over… It’s our job to talk. So if you can’t talk as a diplomat and you cannot dialogue, get out of the kitchen,” Lamola told the Sunday Times.

So here we go again. Another Minister Lamola personal insult aimed at an American leader (this time me) which, when denounced (which I’m doing now), will result in a demarche with a lecture about being “undiplomatic.” And then the South African government wonders why relations are collapsing.

— U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa (@USAmbRSA) October 4, 2026

The confrontation is the latest sign of deteriorating relations between Pretoria and Washington since US President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025. The two governments have clashed over land reform, Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) requirements, Pretoria’s ties with Russia, China, and Iran, and its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

Trump ordered a halt to US aid in February 2025, citing alleged discrimination against Afrikaners and South Africa’s foreign policy. Washington expelled South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool the following month and has since announced targeted visa restrictions.

In an interview published on Sunday, South African Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni rejected the demand to abandon the B-BBEE. “Redress is a constitutional obligation, not a bargaining chip,” she said, arguing that scrapping it would preserve apartheid’s economic outcomes.

Ethiopia has warned that coercion and aggression will not undermine its interests in the Red Sea and Nile, a day after Egypt, Eritrea, Sudan, and Somalia declared maritime governance the exclusive responsibility of coastal states and rejected unilateral measures harming downstream water supplies.

In a statement on Monday, Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry cited the East African country’s historical and geographical connections to the Red Sea and its position as the source of the Blue Nile, saying these realities cannot be altered by coercion or destabilization measures.

“Actions taken through proxies or acts of aggression will not change the facts on the ground,” the ministry said, declaring Ethiopia ready to defend its sovereignty and “core national interests.”

Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan have long clashed over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam with a generating capacity of 5,150 megawatts, which Ethiopia built on the Blue Nile and inaugurated in September 2025. Egypt and Sudan fear its operation could threaten their water supplies and demand a binding agreement on filling and operation. Ethiopia considers the dam essential for electricity generation and development and maintains that it will not harm its downstream neighbors.

According to the Foreign Ministry’s statement, the Blue Nile originates almost entirely in the Ethiopian highlands and supplies around 85% of the Nile’s total flow.

Ethiopia’s push for sovereign access to Eritrea’s Assab Port has also strained relations with Eritrea, which accuses the country of plotting to take its ports by force. The two countries broke diplomatic ties last week after Ethiopia accused the Eritrean authorities of financing armed groups seeking to overthrow Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Multiracial households have become increasingly common in South Africa over the past two decades, with more than one in ten now comprising people from different racial groups, Statistics South Africa reported.

The proportion has risen from just 1.3% in 2001 and 1.7% in 2011 to 11.4% in 2022, with most of the change taking place in the decade between the last two censuses. Statistics South Africa defines a multi-racial household as one in which two or more people from different population groups live together as one household. These include black African, white, coloured, Indian or Asian, and other population groups.

The Western Cape has the highest proportion of multi-racial households, where they account for almost one in five households. Gauteng follows, while Limpopo has the lowest proportion. This partly reflects the racial make-up of individual provinces, with multi-racial households more common in areas with more diverse populations, according to the report.

Johannesburg and Cape Town stand out among South Africa’s metros, although multi-racial households are increasingly found outside the country’s major cities. More than four in five multi-racial households were located in urban areas in each of the three censuses studied.

However, the proportion living outside urban areas has also grown, from about 15% in 2001 to more than 18% in 2022. Indeed, about two in five multi-racial households are now found in non-metropolitan municipalities.

The make-up of these households has changed substantially too. In 2001, large households were common, with almost three in 10 multi-racial households containing six or more people. By 2022, they accounted for fewer than one in 25. At the same time, three-person households have become dominant. Fewer than one in five fell into this category in 2001, compared with almost half by 2022, according to the Census figures.

”The rise of multi-racial households in South Africa is a direct reflection of democratic freedom in several aspects of life,” says Statistics South Africa. According to the report, the increase reflects greater cultural integration through urbanisation, migration and education, as well as the freedom to marry, cohabit and form families across racial lines. 

First published by IOL

The current Ebola outbreak has passed its peak, the DR Congo Health Ministry said on Friday, citing a decline in new cases in the country and a shrinking number of areas reporting active transmission.

According to the statement, transmission is now concentrated in individual health zones rather than across entire provinces. Of the 63 health zones under surveillance, 12 have recorded no new cases for at least 42 days, while another eight have gone between 22 and 42 days without reporting an infection. The share of identified contacts being monitored has nearly tripled, climbing from around 28% in May to 82% by September 28.

“The peak is really behind us,” Congolese Health Minister Roger Samuel Kamba said at a press briefing in Kinshasa, according to the Congolese Press Agency (ACP). The trend allows health teams to concentrate their response on areas where infections are still being detected, Kamba added.

Despite the improving trend cited by the minister, the virus continues to spread in several parts of the country. The latest Health Ministry data recorded 66 new confirmed cases and 38 deaths, bringing the toll as of October 2 to 8,442 infections and 4,080 deaths. The case fatality rate stood at 48.3%.

“Falling in this curve doesn’t mean that the outbreak is totally under control,” Africa CDC’s Wessam Mankoula said. “We cannot say at this stage the outbreak is under control.”

DR Congo continues to grapple with instability as the M23 rebel group maintains control over parts of the country, fueling clashes and humanitarian emergencies.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised similar concerns, warning that insecurity in eastern Congo has hampered surveillance, case detection and contact tracing.

Ethiopian government forces and allied fighters have retaken the capital of the northern Tigray region, which rebels seized less than two weeks ago.

Fighters from the pro-government Tigray Peace Forces (TPF) announced in a post on Facebook on Sunday that they had “completely taken control” of Mekelle.

Footage shared by the TPF and dated October 3 shows armed men in military uniforms and vans moving through the streets, with horns sounding as people cheer. The forces entered the city center on Saturday afternoon, followed by federal troops, Reuters reported, citing a source close to the militia.

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which governs the region, acknowledged its retreat in a statement posted on Facebook. It said the regional administration “has decided to temporarily leave Mekelle and operate from another location, while our forces continue carrying out their military operations.”

Residents reported looting of government offices during the withdrawal, while internet and cellphone disruptions have hampered verification of developments, AP reported.

Federal troops also recovered Mekelle’s airport, which TPLF fighters seized on September 23, prompting Ethiopian Airlines to suspend flights to the city and two other Tigrayan destinations.

The East African country has struggled to secure lasting stability since an African Union-mediated peace agreement signed in November 2022 ended the two-year Tigray war, which killed hundreds of thousands. The conflict grew out of a power struggle between the federal government and the TPLF, whose decades of dominance in national politics ended when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in 2018. Disputes over disarmament, territory, and the return of displaced people remain unresolved.

Renewed fighting between Ethiopia’s federal government and regional armed groups has escalated into a diplomatic rupture with former wartime ally Eritrea. What was an internal conflict has become a wider regional confrontation over ports, water, and alleged foreign interference. The violence threatens a fragile 2022 peace deal that ended Ethiopia’s two-year Tigray war, raising fears of a return to full-scale conflict. 

What triggered the diplomatic rupture?

Ethiopia announced on Thursday the closure of its embassy in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, and ordered ten Eritrean diplomats stationed in Addis Ababa to leave Ethiopia within 48 hours. Its Foreign Ministry accused them of threatening national security and blamed Eritrea for “direct and indirect acts of hostility and belligerence against Ethiopia.”

Eritrea reciprocated the measure and severed “all diplomatic ties with Ethiopia with all the negative corollaries that this entails.” It rejected the allegations and accused Addis Ababa of planning to take Eritrean ports and of training and arming Eritrean opposition groups to pursue regime change. Addis Ababa said it remained committed to peaceful coexistence and resolving disputes through dialogue.

The breakdown in relations came days after Addis Ababa accused Eritrea of financing armed groups seeking to overthrow Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Asmara denies the accusations. 

What are they fighting over?

The conflict grew out of a struggle over federal power and regional autonomy. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the political party governing Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, dominated national politics for nearly three decades before Abiy took office in 2018. Tigrayan leaders accused his government of seeking to centralize power at the region’s expense. Their confrontation erupted into war in November 2020.

Eritrean troops and Amhara forces fought alongside the federal army. Hundreds of thousands died before an African Union-mediated agreement signed in Pretoria, South Africa, in November 2022 halted the large-scale fighting. But disputes over territory claimed by both Amhara and Tigray, the return of displaced people, and the disarmament of Tigrayan forces remained unresolved. Addis Ababa accuses the TPLF of failing to disarm; Tigrayan leaders accuse the government of failing to honor the settlement.

The TPLF further strained the settlement in May by restoring Tigray’s prewar regional council, displacing the interim administration established under the agreement. Amhara militia fighters known as Fano, meanwhile, had turned against Addis Ababa in 2023 after the government moved to dismantle regional security forces. 

Why has fighting resumed in Ethiopia?

On September 20, seven armed groups, including the TPLF and its former battlefield enemies, announced an alliance pledging to oust Abiy’s government and establish a transitional administration. The coalition, known as the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival, accused the ruling Prosperity Party of imposing “dictatorial” rule and pushing the East African country toward disintegration. 

Clashes erupted two days later. TPLF forces took control of airports in Mekelle, Axum and Shire, prompting state-owned Ethiopian Airlines to suspend flights to all three cities. Flights were also suspended to the Amhara town of Lalibela, home to UNESCO-listed rock-hewn churches, as fighting spread.

On September 23, Addis Ababa accused the TPLF of launching an “all-out offensive” against government positions in Amhara and Afar. Tigray’s regional authorities said their troops entered a “defensive battle” after federal forces attacked them with aircraft, drones, and artillery. The federal army said it had repelled attacks in Amhara’s North Wollo Zone and killed 272 Tigrayan fighters and wounded 260 others in a counteroffensive.

What is the impact on civilians?

Doctors Without Borders reported more than 420 war-wounded patients at Korem and Alamata hospitals between September 22 and 25, and over 300 at Suhul hospital in Shire during the latest fighting. Insecurity forced the organization to suspend activities at Alamata hospital.

On September 25, UN human rights chief Volker Turk condemned forced recruitment by the TPLF, including of children, and reprisals against those resisting recruitment and their families. He also raised reports of arbitrary conscription by government forces.

Why did Ethiopia and Eritrea fall out? 

Eritrea was once part of Ethiopia but gained independence in 1993 after a decades-long liberation war, leaving Ethiopia landlocked. The neighbors fought a border war in 1998–2000, followed by years of hostility until Abiy and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki reconciled in 2018. The rapprochement helped earn Abiy the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.

Their partnership fractured after the Tigray war. Eritrea was not a party to the Pretoria agreement despite its military involvement. According to the International Crisis Group, Asmara resented being sidelined and wanted Addis Ababa to pursue a complete battlefield victory over the TPLF rather than a negotiated settlement.

Ethiopia’s accusations extend beyond Eritrea. Army chief Birhanu Jula also accused Egypt and Sudan of supporting the rebels. Both countries denied the allegations. On Thursday, Ethiopia ordered an Egyptian diplomat to leave within 48 hours. Egypt retaliated by giving an Ethiopian Embassy counselor the same deadline, calling Addis Ababa’s decision unjustified.

Sudan’s army has also accused Ethiopia of supporting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, its opponent in a civil war that began in April 2023.

How are regional and international bodies responding?

The AU has urged Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Egypt to exercise “maximum restraint and refrain from actions or statements that could further escalate tensions and undermine regional peace and stability.” It asked the three countries to resolve their differences through diplomatic channels.

The UN and EU also urged de-escalation. Russia called for a ceasefire on September 25. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova urged compliance with peace commitments and noninterference, stressing Ethiopia’s unity and territorial integrity.

Thousands of people have fled an Ebola-hit displacement camp in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), leaving it largely abandoned after clashes erupted during a security operation, the UN said on Thursday.

The Kigonze camp in Ituri Province had housed around 19,000 people. Residents began fleeing after security forces entered the site to search for weapons and suspected members of armed groups, with gunfire reported during the operation.

”The enormous challenge of halting the spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo just became even harder,” the UN said.

An Ebola transit center at Kigonze was also destroyed by fire this week, further disrupting containment efforts. The facility, operated by International Medical Corps and supported by more than 50 staff, was used to isolate and assess suspected cases before patients were transferred for treatment.

Fighting has also hampered the Ebola response elsewhere in eastern DR Congo. More than 3,000 people have fled the Rhoe displacement camp in Ituri’s Djugu territory since clashes intensified on September 27, according to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA. At least four people were reportedly killed and seven injured.

As of September 29, Congolese authorities had recorded 8,224 confirmed cases and 3,982 deaths, putting the case fatality rate at 48.4%.

On Thursday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) warned against interpreting a recent decline in reported cases as evidence that the outbreak is easing, saying insecurity has disrupted surveillance in affected areas. Of the 63 health zones affected, 45 were still reporting active transmission.

”Falling in this curve doesn't mean that the outbreak is totally under control,” Africa CDC’s Dr. Wessam Mankoula said. “We cannot say at this stage the outbreak is under control.”

Algeria’s lower house of parliament has approved expanding the death penalty to cover forest and field arson and crimes against children. The North African country retains capital punishment, but no executions have been carried out since 1993.

The People’s National Assembly moved to make the amendments to the Penal Code on Thursday. The legislation must still pass the Council of the Nation, parliament’s upper house, before taking effect.

“The adoption of the death penalty for these acts is the appropriate legal response to curb these crimes,” Justice Minister Lotfi Boudjemaa said following the vote.

The legislation introduces capital punishment for “anyone who deliberately sets fire to forests, bushes, or fields, whether planted, unplanted, trees, or parts of forests” and timber stored within forest areas. The amendments would raise the maximum punishment for such offenses from 20 years in prison to death. Algerian law already allowed the death penalty for arson if the fire resulted in a person’s death.

The amendments also apply capital punishment to certain forms of intentional destruction of public or private property carried out on behalf of foreign parties in cases involving treason, espionage, or organized crime, according to Algeria Press Service (APS).

The revised code expands the use of the death penalty for crimes against children, prescribing capital punishment for anyone who abducts, tortures or sexually assaults a child or amputates one of a child’s limbs. Those convicted of the offenses would also be barred from invoking mitigating circumstances.

The tougher penalties for crimes against children were added to the proposed amendments in early September, amid public outrage over the killing of a five-year-old boy in Blida Province. The authorities have also linked the measure to an increase in such crimes in recent years, without providing nationwide figures.

In Algeria, capital punishment is already provided for offenses including murder and certain terrorism and state-security crimes. In 2025, its scope was expanded to cover several drug-related offenses. Algerian courts have continued to hand down death sentences, but no executions have been carried out for more than 30 years.

The death penalty remains on the books in a number of African countries, although most have either abolished it or stopped carrying out executions.