🔅 Equatorial Guinea President's Son Arrested Over Aircraft Sale
Plus: Lake Chad Basin — a ticking time bomb, Protests in DRC over foreign troops, And much more… ☕
Photo of the day: Freetown, Sierra Leone
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America’s Booming Entrepreneurial Spirit: 5 million Americans filed new business applications last year. The US was actually experiencing a 40-year decline in entrepreneurship before the pandemic, but the number of new businesses created in 2020 increased by 24% and the trend continued in 2021, and again in 2022. Sure, the pandemic helped kickstart the entrepreneurial boom, but now the question is: can it last? It’s hard to say. While stimulus payments, rock-bottom interest rates, and a bull market all helped small businesses get off the ground, a looming recession, high inflation, and a near 60-year low in personal savings all point to a potentially rocky road ahead.
China’s Big Comeback: There is one word on everyone’s lips at the Davos summit: China. And why not? Beijing’s economy proved more resilient than expected in the last quarter of 2021, and its leaders have been talking up a positive outlook for the world’s second-largest economy this year. Economists predict that the country’s pent-up demand and manufacturing sector will result in an economic expansion of nearly 5%.
*Data accurate as of the close of markets across the continent
CORRUPTION
Equatorial Guinea President's Son Arrested Over Aircraft Sale
In Equatorial Guinea, the vice president has personally ordered the arrest of his half-brother over allegations he sold a plane owned by the state airline.
Both are sons of the world’s longest-serving president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mangue, who has been in power for the past 43 years.
Ruslan Obiang Nsue, a former director of the Ceiba International airline, is accused of selling the ATR72-500 without the approval of the company’s board while it was getting maintenance in Spain. He is accused of pocketing the proceeds.
Scandals seem to follow the Obiangs:
Vice president Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, known as ‘Teodorin’ in the country, is reportedly being groomed to succeed President Obiang.
But he’s also known for his eccentric lifestyle in the US and Europe, with US authorities seizing a $30m mansion in Malibu and other assets in 2014.
Two years later, Swiss prosecutors seized 11 luxury cars belonging to him. And he was recently fined and handed a suspended sentence by a French court.
So is the arrest the end of this story?
It’s hard to tell. President Obiang has a firm grip on the oil-rich central African nation, and it’s clear that the family ties run deep.
The long-time ruler started his sixth term in office last December after securing almost 95% of the votes in the previous month’s elections. Critics say the ballot was not free and fair, but Mr Obiang celebrated the victory, saying it showed his party was greatness.
OTHER HEADLINES
Across the Continent
🇹🇩 The Lake Chad Basin: A Climate Change Crisis in the Making | The Lake Chad basin is a ticking time bomb. Human rights group Refugees International just released a report that calls for more attention to the region’s climate crisis, which is making conflicts worse and causing displacement. They’re hoping that the international community takes note of the report ahead of the high-level conference on the Lake Chad basin next week. The Lake Chad basin is in West and Central Africa and is home to 42 million people who rely on pastoralism, fishing, and farming for their livelihoods. It has shrunk about 90% in 60 years due to climate change, irrigation, the construction of dams, and population increase. The result? Increased tensions between communities, droughts, floods, and a whopping 3 million people displaced.
🇸🇳 Sonko’s Trial: A Test for Senegal’s Ruling Party? | Ousmane Sonko, Senegal’s opposition leader, will face trial on charges of rape and making death threats to a beauty salon employee. While Sonko and his backers claim this is all politically motivated, El Hadj Diouf, the lawyer for the plaintiff, said his client was “delighted” by the judge’s decision. It’s an interesting situation: if Sonko’s convicted, it could eliminate him from the 2024 presidential race, potentially giving President Macky Sall an easy ride. It’s no secret that Sall’s support has been waning, and with cries of “Macky Sall is a dictator” ringing out in Dakar, the trial of Sonko could be a make-or-break moment for Sall’s bid for a third term.
🇨🇩 Congo’s Eastside Story: Local Residents Protest Foreign Troops | The East African Community has been sending troops to the Congo since last year to try and help quell the violence from armed groups like the M23, but locals aren’t feeling it. A protest broke out in Goma on Wednesday, with police having to fire tear gas to break it up. People are accusing the foreign troops of “tourism” and being part of a plot to “Balkanize” the country. The M23 has been causing trouble in eastern Congo for a while now, with Congo accusing Rwanda of supporting them (which Rwanda denies). The conflict is worsening a dire humanitarian crisis, with over 6 million people internally displaced in the country and 450,000 in North Kivu province alone.
🇨🇩 Congo’s Financial Re-Do | The Democratic Republic of Congo is doing some financial housekeeping this year. Finance Minister Nicolas Kazadi told Reuters that they’re renegotiating a $6 billion infrastructure-for-minerals deal with Chinese investors, setting up a joint venture with the United Arab Emirates to curb the illicit movement of precious metals, and applying for funding from the IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Trust. The DRC also plans to issue green bonds.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Proverb of the Day
“Rain does not fall on one roof alone.”
— Cameroonian Proverb.
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