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Eye on Africa
Regional reporting and analysis from across Africa, covering diplomacy, security, politics, business, and major developments shaping the continent.
a new step towards a comprehensive peace following a meeting between Hemeti and al-Hilu
Number 2 of the Sovereign Transitional Council, General Hemeti, met in Juba, South Sudan, the leader of one of the country's most important uprisings, Abdelaziz al-Hilu. The latter was not a signatory to the peace treaty signed on 3 October.
General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as "Hemeti", wore a civilian costume on Thursday in Juba, a purple shirt and a tie, while usually wearing the sand-colored uniform of his rapid support forces instead. But this time the occasion was special.
Abdelaziz al-Hilu agreed to seek an…
Nigerian Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is fighting for WTO leadership
They are two candidates for the head of the organization: a Korean, Yoo Myung-hee, and a Nigerian, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Portrait of the latter carrying hope on the African continent.
as reported from Lagos, Liza FabbianShe is the first woman to have held the positionMinister of Finance in her country she has been twice. Ngozi…
so far exemplary, Tunisia is sinking in the health crisis
The curfew has been established in several major provinces such as Tunis, Sousse or Monastir. Prayers and weekly markets are now banned and festivities and gatherings are canceled. While in early summer the Tunisian model was praised for its control of the pandemic, the tone has changed.
as reported from Tunis Michel PicardThe…
a Swiss missionary, held hostage, was killed by her captors
Another hostage in Mali, a Swiss woman, was killed by her captors. Bern officially announced it on Friday evening, October 9th. We do not currently know if his death has anything to do with the release of Soumaila Cissé and Sophie Pétronin.
The Swiss authorities have not announced the name of the hostage who would have been…
World Mental Health Day: in Kenya, mentally ill people are locked up by their families
On World Mental Health Day, Saturday 10 October, NGO Human Rights Watch released a report. Globally, 792 million people have a mental health problem - one in 10 people and one in five children. And yet governments spend less than 2% of their health budget on mental health. In Kenya, there are only two psychiatrists per Million inhabitants. As a result, patients find themselves locked up, bound, or…
In Mali, relief after the release of Soumaïla Cissé
Several hostages in the hands of jihadists were released on Thursday. Among them the leader of the Malian opposition. Soumaïla Cissé was kidnapped in March 2020 in the north of the country while fighting for the legislative election. And that is the relief in Mali after his release.
as reported from Bamako
For Soumaïla Cissé, it's a first day of freedom. The leader of the Malian opposition has returned home since Wednesday night after more than six months in captivity.
"Physically, I have no problem. I feel good.…
The release of hostages, a political success for the new Malian power?
This release comes less than two months after the CNSP's military coup, the junta that brought down President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta. Yet it was under the old regime that the negotiations were actively launched, but the moment of effective liberation necessarily favors the current strong men in Mali.
The release of Soumaïla Cissé in Mali had become a national, transpartisan, unifying cause. While this is clearly not the primary goal, the associated political gain is indisputable. But to whom can this success be…
The police to help children illegally employed in the cocoa sector
According to a report by the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) Foundation, child labor increased by almost 20% in Côte d'Ivoire between mid-March and mid-May, when schools closed. More generally, the phenomenon has been on the rise for ten years, according to NGOs, but the Ivorian government wants to show its progress in the fight against child labor.
as reported from Abidjan,
Police said they had rescued eleven children and two youths who were working illegally in cocoa plantations in the southwestern part of the…
In focus: the release of hostages in Mali
"The good news finally fell yesterday", poster in large letters on the front of L'Indépendant, the Malian daily. "Soumaïla Cissé and other Western hostages, including the French Sophie Petronin, are free," we read."It is now confirmed and official," the article insists. "After more than six months in captivity or more than 190 days, the leader of the opposition was released yesterday, Thursday 8 October." He was in the…
Ibrahim Maïga: “The security situation on earth is deteriorating in Mali”
The release of Sophie Pétronin and Soumaïla Cissé completes an operation whose underside remains unclear. Prior to the release on the weekend of October 3 and 4, by the new Malian authorities, a significant number of prisoners - more than 200 years old, according to an al-Qaeda news agency - were presented by Malian officials as well as jihadists. Was the release of the jihadists as a bargaining chip…