Africa

Conflict trends

SUDAN U.S. President Trump announced a normalisation agreement between Sudan and Israel on Friday, shortly after signing an order to remove Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism in exchange for the country paying $335mn to the families of victims of the 1998 Al Qaeda bombings in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi. Crisis Group expert Jonas Horner says removing Sudan from the U.S. State Department’s terror list will boost Prime Minister Hamdok politically and facilitate Khartoum’s access to desperately needed international debt relief and loans to combat the country’s dire economic crisis. While the Trump administration will herald the normalisation agreement as a foreign policy victory ahead of the U.S. presidential election, the deal may catalyse a new wave of dissent among Sudanese Islamists.

Africa is the next global influencer. That’s an opportunity.

In a COVID-altered landscape of global security threats, economic opportunities and strategic change, Africa is seizing center stage. Africans form the world’s fastest-growing population and national economies. Violent crises, democracy movements, extremist threats, international investments, human displacement and strategic opportunities all are rising. The coronavirus pandemic underscores both Africa’s risks to global stability from fragile states—and the overlooked potential of a continent now outperforming wealthier regions in containing the public health crisis. COVID is the latest reminder that “Africa’s deepening vulnerabilities and its rising capacities will shape global realities whether we prepare for that or not,” according to scholar Joseph Sany.

Mali: Coopération Mali-France : la visite de Jean-Yves Le Drian au Mali reporté de trois jours

Le chef de la diplomatie française, Jean-Yves Le Drian qui devait se rendre jeudi à Bamako, a reporté son voyage à dimanche en raison d’un incident technique, a-t-on annoncé dans son entourage. Le Falcon dans lequel il devrait arriver à Bamako via Tunis n’a pas pu décoller pour des raisons techniques, nécessitant un changement de programme, a-t-on précisé.