🔅 Kenya troops deploy to Congo
Today's Issue: A new malaria-propagating mosquito is spreading across the continent, and Nigeria received its first deep sea port... ☕
Markets
🔺 Nigerian SE: 44,283.02 (+1.23%)
🔺 Johannesburg SE: 67,146.37 (+0.40%)
🔻 Ghana SE: 2,448.53 (-0.48%)
🔻 Nairobi SE: 127.94 (-0.51%)
🔺 US S&P 500: 3,862.63 (+0.17%)
🔺 Shanghai Composite: 3,003.37 (+1.15%)
*Data accurate as of close of markets across the continent
Global Markets: Wall Street is beginning to sense that global interest rate increases may be about to peak. Case in point, the European Central Bank says it feels it has made progress in fighting inflation, and Australia, Canada and a couple of other Western countries have already reduced or paused their hikes. That said, U.S. job openings figures for September continued to improve, which would signal a healthy economy, but could also force the Fed to continue its rate hikes.
Nigeria: Nigeria received its first deep sea port on Monday. It was constructed and handed over by the China Harbor Engineering Company Ltd. The Lekki Deep Sea Port is the largest seaport in Nigeria and one of the biggest in West Africa. It is designed to handle 1.2 million standard containers annually. The state governor said the port could add tens of billions of dollars in revenue to the country.
SECURITY
Kenya deploys to eastern Congo
What is happening?
Kenya is sending hundreds of military personnel to eastern Congo to join a new regional force tasked with trying to calm tensions fueled by armed groups.
The Kenyan forces will be based in Goma, eastern Congo’s largest city, where there are already battalions from Uganda, Burundi and South Sudan.
The move comes as violence led to Congo accusing Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebels (a claim the U.S. supports), and expelling Rwanda's ambassador. Rwanda denies any kind of support, and accuses Congo of backing a group hostile to it.
In addition, Congolese residents in Goma targeted the U.N. peacekeeping mission on Tuesday, amid false rumours that it was transporting rebels. This highlighted the population's dissatisfaction with the years'-long U.N. peacekeeping mission.
The Bigger Picture:
The M23 rose to prominence more than a decade ago when its fighters seized Goma, which sits along the border with Rwanda. After a peace deal, many M23′s soldiers were integrated into the national military. The group reemerged last November, saying the government had failed to live up to its decade-long promises.
Over the weekend, the rebels doubled the territory they hold, seizing control of two major towns, and they have been trying to advance on the city of Rumangabo, which houses a military base.
ACROSS THE CONTINENT
Other Headlines
🇪🇹 🇩🇯 🇸🇩 🇸🇴 🇳🇬 Scientists say that an invasive mosquito species, known as the Anopheles stephensi, is likely responsible for a large malaria outbreak in Ethiopia earlier this year. The A. stephensi mosquito has been seen in India and the Persian Gulf, and was discovered in Djibouti in 2012. It has since been found in Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and Nigeria. The mosquitoes are suspected to be behind a recent rise in malaria in Djibouti, prompting the World Health Organization to try to stop the insects from spreading further in Africa.
🇸🇴 🇰🇪 Attackers from al Shabaab, a Somali militant group, have abducted four people near Kenya's border with Somalia. The attackers ambushed an ambulance and forced it across the border into Somalia. The victims include two paramedics, a driver and a patient. Al Shabaab has been fighting for over a decade to establish its own rule in Somalia. The group has been under pressure since August when Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud began an offensive against them, supported by the United States and local allied militias.
🇱🇷 A Paris court will hand down a verdict on Wednesday in the trial of a former Liberian rebel leader accused of complicity in torture, atrocities, and crimes against humanity during Liberia's civil war in the early 1990s. Kunti Kamara, 47, is accused of being involved in a range of abuses, including rape, murder, and cannibalism. Kamara denies all the charges against him. If convicted, he faces a life sentence. The Liberian Civil War was a conflict that lasted from 1989 to 1997, with occasional fighting continuing until 2003. It began when rebel groups emerged to overthrow the government of then-President Samuel Doe. The war resulted in the death of approximately 250,000 people and the displacement of nearly one million others.
AROUND THE WORLD
Israel elections: Netanyahu is back
What is happening?
Benjamin Netanyahu is back as prime minister, as his Likud party is on course to win a majority of seats in parliament. Netanyahu's main rival, Yair Lapid, has conceded defeat, and the right-wing leader is now set to form a government with the help of the far-right Religious Zionism party.
The party's leaders, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, have gained notoriety for using anti-Arab rhetoric.
This is a significant victory for Netanyahu, who has been facing charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust from his previous time as Prime Minister. His potential coalition partners have said they would reform the law, in a move which would bring a halt to his trial.
Why it matters:
Netanyahu strongly supports Israel's settlement-building in the West Bank, which is considered illegal under international law.
He also opposes the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, a position that is at odds with the Biden administration in the U.S.
Mr Netanyahu’s return to power is likely to further complicate the already-tense relationship between Israel and the U.S.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Proverb of the Day
“God has created lands with lakes and bountiful rivers for man to live. And the wide deserts so that he can find his soul."
— Tuareg Proverb.