Month: September 2024

NAIROBI, Kenya — The number of children who died in a fire in a school dormitory in central Kenya has risen to 21, the government spokesperson said Saturday. 

Officials began removing the bodies of the children as they tried to account for the dozens of boys still missing. 

Journalists were moved to wait outside the Hillside Endarasha Primary School compound as a team that included the government pathologist and morticians from the Nyeri provincial hospital set up tables outside the dormitory Saturday. 

The Thursday night fire razed a dormitory that was housing 156 boys ages 10 to 14. More than 100 boys have been accounted for and the government is urging parents and people living near the privately owned school to help account for all the boys. 

Government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura called for patience from members of the public as government agencies comb through the scene to ascertain the numbers of those who died and what caused the fire. Police are still investigating. 

Mwaura said that some of the children were burned beyond recognition and agencies would take longer to identify the victims. 

“These figures are still preliminary because the process is ongoing. … It’s a DNA process that will take a number of days,” he said. 

Kenya’s president, William Ruto, declared three days of mourning Friday. Anxious parents, who had been waiting all day for news about their children, were allowed to see Friday evening what remained of the dormitory. Some parents broke down as they left the scene. 

The government has urged school administrators to enforce boarding guidelines that require dormitories to be spacious, with three doors and no grills on the windows for easy escape in case of fire. 

School fires are common in Kenyan boarding schools, often caused by arson fueled by drug abuse and overcrowding, according to a recent education ministry report. Many students board because parents believe it gives them more time to study without long commutes. 

Some fires have been started by students during protests over the workload or living conditions. In 2017, 10 high school students died in a school fire in Nairobi started by a student. 

Kenya’s deadliest school fire in recent history was in 2001, when 67 students died in a dormitory fire in Machakos county. 
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ALGIERS, Algeria — Algerians head to the polls Saturday to cast votes for president and determine who will govern their gas-rich North African nation — five years after pro-democracy protests prompted the military to oust the previous president after two decades in power.

Since elections were scheduled in March — ahead of the predicted schedule — there has been little suspense about the result.

Although few doubt he will be named the winner by the time results are finalized, military-backed President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said Saturday after voting that he hoped “whoever wins will continue on the path towards a point of no return in the construction of democracy.”

Members of Tebboune’s government as well as his challengers have urged voters to cast ballots after boycotts and high abstention rates in previous elections marred the government’s ability to claim popular support.

“I call on Algerians to vote en masse to reinforce our country’s democratic processes,” Mohamed Larbaoui, Tebboune’s prime minister, said at the polls Saturday.

Algeria is Africa’s largest country by area and, with almost 45 million people, it’s the continent’s second-most populous after South Africa to hold presidential elections in 2024 — a year in which more than 50 elections are being held worldwide, encompassing more than half the world’s population.

The campaign — rescheduled to take place during North Africa’s hot summer — has been characterized by widespread apathy from the population, which continues to be plagued by high costs of living and a punishing drought that brought water shortages to some parts of the country.

On Saturday morning, many polling places sat mostly empty. Without crowds or lines of voters queuing to cast their ballots, administrators hoped things would pick up later in the day before polls close at 7 p.m.

“Residents generally vote in the afternoon,” said Rabah Belamri, poll station chief in Rouiba, a neighborhood east of downtown Algiers.

“Uncle Tebboune,” as his campaign has framed the 78-year-old, was elected in December 2019 after nearly a year of weekly “Hirak” demonstrations demanding the resignation of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Their demands were met when Bouteflika resigned that April and was replaced by an interim government of his former allies, which called for elections later in the year.

Protestors opposed holding elections too soon, fearing the candidates running that year each were close to the old regime and would derail dreams of a civilian-led, nonmilitary state. Tebboune, a former prime minister seen as close to the military, won. But his victory was stained by low turnout, boycotts and Election Day tumult, during which crowds sacked voting stations and police broke up demonstrations.

To cement his legitimacy, Tebboune hopes more of the country’s 24 million eligible voters will participate in Saturday’s election than in his first when only 39.9% voted.

But many of the last election’s boycotters remain unconvinced about elections ushering in change.

Activists and international organizations, including Amnesty International, have railed against how authorities continue prosecuting those involved in opposition parties, media organizations and civil society groups.

Some have also denounced this election as a rubber stamp exercise that can only entrench the status quo.

“Algerians don’t give a damn about this bogus election,” said former Hirak leader Hakim Addad, who was banned from participating in politics three years ago. “The political crisis will persist as long as the regime remains in place.”

Twenty-six candidates submitted preliminary paperwork to run in the election, although only two were ultimately approved to challenge Tebboune.

Neither political novices, they have avoided directly criticizing Tebboune on the campaign trail and, like the incumbent, emphasized participation.

Abdelali Hassani Cherif, a 57-year-old head of the Islamist party Movement of Society for Peace has made populist appeals to Algerian youth, running on the slogan “Opportunity!”

At his polling place Saturday, he thanked his opponents and said it was “an important election for the country’s future.”

Youcef Aouchiche, a 41-year-old former journalist running with the Socialist Forces Front, campaigned on a “vision for tomorrow,” and made appeals to those concerned about human rights and political repression. It’s the first time since 1999 that his party, which enjoys strong support among ethnic minorities in central Algeria, has put forth a candidate.

Voting in Kabylia on Saturday, Aouchiche called on Algerians to break with the system that rules the country “to give young people the confidence to put an end to the despair that drives them to take the boats of death in an attempt to reach the other side of the Mediterranean,” referencing many who elect to migrate to Europe in search of opportunity rather than remain at home.

Andrew Farrand, the Middle East and North Africa director at the geopolitical risk consultancy Horizon Engage, said both opposition candidates were more aimed at the 2025 legislative elections than the 2024 presidential contest. Because Algerian law funds political parties based on the number of seats they win in legislative elections, they hope campaigning positions them for a strong 2025 performance.

“It’s a long game: How can I mobilize my base? How can I build up a campaign machine? And how can I get into the good graces of the authorities so that I can be in a position to increase my seats?” he said. “We’ve seen that in their choice not to overtly criticize [the] president … paired with a very strong message to Algerians to come out and vote.”
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NAIROBI, KENYA/BEIJING — China stopped short of providing the debt relief sought by many African countries this week, but pledged $50.7 billion over three years in credit lines and investments.

The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, or FOCAC, launched in 2000 took on an enhanced role after the 2013 inception of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to recreate the ancient Silk Road for the world’s second-largest economy and biggest bilateral lender to Africa.

“China is moving back on to the front foot in terms of overseas deployment of capital in the emerging markets,” said Tellimer’s Hasnain Malik, while adding it was not yet at pre-COVID levels.

China has also sought to use FOCAC to counter growing competition in Africa from the United States, the European Union, Japan and others.

In Beijing, diplomats and delegates from around the world mingled in the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square as leaders from more than 50 African countries and Chinese officials led by Xi gathered for a group photo. The new financial pledge is more than what Beijing promised at the last FOCAC, in 2021, but below the $60 billion of 2015 and 2018, which marked the peak of lending to Africa under the Belt and Road Initiative.

During those peak years, Beijing bankrolled the construction of roads, railways and bridges. But a drying up of funds since 2019 has left Africa with stalled construction projects. The new funds will go toward 30 infrastructure projects to improve trade links, China said, without giving details.

The 54-nation continent of more than 1 billion people has an annual infrastructure funding deficit estimated at $100 billion and needs transport links to make a new giant pan-African trade bloc a reality.

Beijing has in recent years cut funding for such projects as it shifted focus to “small and beautiful” projects, mainly due to its own domestic economic pressures and an increase in debt risks among African countries.

Asked how the new commitments fit into China’s current cautious overseas lending strategy, a foreign ministry spokesperson said there was no contradiction.

“The cooperation between China and African countries, including the specific implementation of projects, is discussed and determined by both sides,” Mao Ning, a foreign ministry spokesperson, told a news conference on Friday.

China also said it will launch 30 clean-energy projects in Africa, offer cooperation on nuclear technology and tackle a power deficit that has delayed industrialization efforts. “The outcomes of the FOCAC summit signal an impetus for green projects and especially for renewable energy installations,” said Goolam Ballim, head of research at South Africa’s Standard Bank.

China has become a global leader in wind and solar energy, Ballim said, controlling significant supply chains and reducing production costs.

Others were skeptical.

“The issue is not so much about the size of the investments, it’s been about the lack of transparency around the terms of the debt,” said Trang Nguyen, global head of emerging markets credit strategy at French bank BNP Paribas.

Success was less clear-cut for countries owing a large share of their debt to China, which made no express offer of assistance to those struggling with repayments.

Beijing instead urged other creditors “to participate in the handling and restructuring of African countries’ debts under the principle of joint actions and fair burden-sharing.”

African leaders hoping to bask in large deals for their countries had to settle for less splashy announcements. Ethiopia and Mauritius announced new currency swap lines with China’s central bank. Kenya said it made progress on talks to reopen the lending taps for key projects such as its modern railway to link the region.

Still, there was optimism from some, as they welcomed China’s increased commitments to Africa’s security, humanitarian challenges and other nonfinancial affairs.

“After nearly 70 years of hard work, China-Africa relations are at their best in history,” Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu said on her X account.
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Kinshasa, Congo —  

Officials from the Democratic Republic of Congo will be heading home from the two-day Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing with limited success in their bid to expand economic relations beyond the mineral exports that have dominated trade, analysts say.

“The Chinese will continue to want to consolidate their position in Congo, including on minerals,” says Jean-Pierre Okenda, a Congolese consultant on mining issues.

Although the DRC has a trade surplus with China, while most African countries have large deficits, almost all of it is from minerals China is buying to feed its manufacturers that are hungry for raw materials.

The central African nation is the world’s largest producer of copper and cobalt, a metal used in electronics and a key material for batteries used in electric vehicles.  The DRC has about 70% of the planet’s cobalt reserves.

Expanding trade, investment?

China’s customs authority shows trade flows to the DRC dropped 13% last year to $18.75 billion compared to 2022, the vast majority of it due to China’s decreased imports from the DRC, which dropped by nearly 14% to $14.27 billion.

While the drop was largely due to fluctuating prices, it underscored how deeply the DRC, one of the poorest countries in the world, relies on China.  

China is by far its largest single trading partner, representing nearly half of its merchandise exports and more than a quarter of its imports, according to 2022 data from the World Trade Organization.

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi was the first African leader to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of the conference. According to a statement from his office, Tshisekedi made it clear he wants to see bilateral trade expanded to other sectors “such as agriculture, renewable energy and especially industrialization through the local processing of the DRC’s mineral wealth.” 

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said ahead of the forum that Xi declared his nation is ready to “deepen cooperation in agriculture, mineral products processing, vocational training and other fields.”

Many in the Congolese leadership were hoping to come away from the conference with large pledges of Chinese investment in the country.

Julien Paluku, the DRC’s trade minister, on Thursday published a plea for Kinshasa to be given a large chunk of the $50 billion that Xi promised at the conference to invest in Africa over the next three years.

“We focused our arguments on DRC’s pivotal role in the Belt and Road Initiative, highlighting its strategic location as a connectivity point from North to South and East to West across the African continent,” he wrote on X.

Business climate

Christian-Geraud Neema, a Congolese researcher on China-Africa relations and the Francophone Africa Editor of the China Global South Project, says complaints about the investment climate in the DRC are an issue.

“There is a sort of reluctance to increase projects,” he says, referring to Chinese investments in Congo. “China will make promises, but not very committed promises.”

The DRC is one of the most corrupt countries in the world, ranking 162 out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index.

Chinese businesses have also come under increasing pressure under Tshisekedi’s administration, with the government working to renegotiate long-standing deals with Chinese mining firms.

In January, the Congolese government concluded talks on renegotiating a deal with the Chinese consortium running Sicomines, a copper-cobalt mine in Congo’s southeast. That renegotiation saw the investors behind the consortium agree to spend a massive $7 billion on developing infrastructure, such as badly needed roads and bridges, in the DRC.

Another Chinese company, CMOC, which runs the largest copper-cobalt mine in the world, situated in the DRC, agreed to pay $2 billion to the Congolese state last year after a commercial dispute.

Although many analysts believe those mining deals are still favorable to China, the uncertain business environment and the costs associated with rampant corruption have caused unease, say analysts.

“The operating conditions in Congo, everyone knows what they’re like,” says Okenda, explaining that Chinese firms were among the few willing to brave Congo’s tough business environment.

Defense cooperation

Defense is another area where some in the Congolese administration had been hoping for more cooperation in light of the country’s struggle to end the brutal conflict in eastern DRC.

Tshisekedi’s office said he discussed security concerns with Xi and that he “praised China’s influence on the lifting of the [U.N.] arms embargo on the DRC while it is unjustly attacked by Rwanda and M23 terrorists.”

The M23, a Rwandan-backed rebel group, has captured swathes of territory in the region since launching a rebellion in late 2021, and displaced more than 1 million people from their homes.

The DRC’s army, which critics say is weak and plagued with corruption, has struggled to fight back, losing battles and territory. But the DRC army did purchase nine high-tech Chinese CH-4 Rainbow attack drones, which it has used effectively in battle despite some being shot down.

Jean-Pierre Bemba, who was the DRC’s defense minister before moving to the transport portfolio in April, said in Beijing this week that he hoped China and the DRC could go beyond their traditional areas of cooperation and work more closely on defense.

Analysts are skeptical the defense relationship will go much further. Okenda, the mining consultant, said “China’s interest isn’t in defense,” and that Beijing’s overriding concern was natural resources.

Neema, the researcher, said the prospect of a minerals-for-arms deal with Chinese firms had been a vague idea for years, but that Congolese leaders had never pursued it for fear of angering the United States, another important diplomatic partner.

He said that closer defense cooperation remained unlikely, unless the situation in the eastern DRC deteriorates further.

“Expediting military factors could push the Congolese government to make a deal,” he said.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in their statement on Xi’s meeting with Tshisekedi indicated he made no reference to defense cooperation and gave only a boiler plate comment about working together for peace.  
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ABUJA, NIGERIA — Nigeria’s difficult victory over polio faces a challenge as the poliovirus type 2 variant reemerges and the nation considers new measures to tackle the outbreak.

Nigeria eradicated wild polio in 2020, but more than 50 cases of the poliovirus type 2 variant were reported between January and May. Authorities and global partners met Wednesday in Abuja with northern traditional leaders to strengthen efforts against the disease, particularly in under-immunized areas.

Bill Gates, a key global funder of Nigeria’s polio fight, said eradicating this strain is a top priority for the Gates Foundation.

“We do have this circulating variant, poliovirus type 2. The acronym is cVDPV2. … Unfortunately, it’s equally bad as the wild poliovirus,” Gates said. “It can paralyze or even kill children, and we still have work to do to get rid of this.”

Efforts focus on improving surveillance and expanding vaccination coverage. The World Health Organization noted setbacks earlier this year, stressing the need for continuing vigilance.

“We are facing the challenge of interrupting transmission of significant variant poliovirus type 2,” said Walter Kazadi Mulombo, WHO country representative to Nigeria. “We nearly got there several months ago but then we experienced some setbacks.”

Reluctance to take the vaccine, driven by religious and traditional beliefs, has hampered polio eradication efforts in Nigeria. However, northern traditional leaders have played a pivotal role in community outreach and health campaigns.

Muyi Aina, executive director of the Nigerian Primary Healthcare Development Agency, said traditional leaders have helped close the immunization gap in remote areas.

“The results we’re getting are due largely to the commitment received from our revered traditional leaders,” Aina said. “For example, we had a 57% reduction in pending noncompliance from the April campaign, and we were able to vaccinate an additional 117,000 zero-plus children [newborns and older] across 14 states with the help of the traditional leaders.”

Nigeria’s routine vaccination efforts, including recent campaigns to immunize against the human papilloma virus have been lauded. However, the resurgence of poliovirus type 2 highlights the need for sustained immunization, especially in vulnerable regions.

Cristian Munduate, the UNICEF country representative, called for more collaboration.

“We need to accelerate with polio, but we also need to accelerate in line with all these effects to link more routine immunization to reach those children,” Munduate said. “To work and strengthen primary health care, we are very committed to at least having one primary health care [worker] fully equipped per ward.”

Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, the sultan of Sokoto, representing northern traditional rulers, reaffirmed their commitment to supporting vaccination efforts while thanking stakeholders.

“We are more concerned in the welfare of our people, so whoever is going to help us to help our people is part and parcel of us and is always welcomed,” Abubakar said.

Despite progress, the resurgence of poliovirus type 2 remains a serious threat. The Abuja meeting concluded with calls for stronger efforts, better surveillance, and continued collaboration between traditional leaders and health officials to ensure eradication.
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