🔅 Lights Out at Lagos Airport, Kenya Protest Deaths
Plus, Truckers on Fire in South Africa & A Legendary Football Player in Hot Water
Photo of the day: Lesotho
Markets:
🔴 Nigerian SE: 64,046.93 (-2.47%)
🟢 Johannesburg SE: 76,544.79 (+2.23%)
🔴 Ghana SE: 2,861.11 (-3.69%)
🟢 Nairobi SE: 114.47 (+0.56%)
🟢 US S&P 500: 4,472.16 (+0.74%)
🔴 Shanghai Composite: 3,196.13 (-0.78%)
*Data accurate as of the close of markets across the continent
Brief & Bright: Africa's Top Five Highlights
🇰🇪 Kenya's Anti-Tax Protests: Demonstrations Take a Deadly Turn | Kenya's protesters are at it again. The demonstrations against rising taxes and prices, led by opposition leader Raila Odinga, turned deadly yesterday. According to the Associated Press, six people were killed by police, while 53 schoolchildren in Nairobi were being treated for tear gas. Ordinary Kenyans are stuck between a rock and a hard place: They're already dealing with debt and rising prices, and the new taxes are only making things worse. And now the protests are keeping them from working and going to school. Lilian Anyango, a Nairobi resident, said it best: “We do not have options. We do not know what we will do with the current government.” The police's response has been criticized by human rights watchdogs, who say that the right to demonstrate peacefully is protected by the Kenyan constitution. But for now, it looks like the protests are continuing—and the government is in a deadlock.
🇳🇬 Lagos Airport's Shocking Theft | The lights are out at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria—literally. Just months after installing new runway lighting, thieves have made off with the entire system. Airport officials have launched an investigation to track down the culprits and get the lights back on. But some sources are pointing the finger at a syndicate of airport workers with outside accomplices. The lights had been installed in November, and their theft has been a real headache for domestic carriers, who have to divert to the international section and taxi back to the right terminal, which can cause flight disruptions.
🇸🇳 Senegal's Missing Migrants: What's the Real Story? | Over 300 migrants from Senegal were reportedly missing at sea after attempting to make their way to Spain's Canary Islands, but the Senegalese government is saying not so fast. They reported that 260 people had been rescued in Moroccan waters since June 28th, and called the reports of the missing boats “unfounded”. The aid group Walking Borders that initially reported the boats missing is standing by their report, and has asked the Senegalese government to explain why the reports don’t correspond. With 559 people having died in attempts to reach the Canary Islands so far this year, it’s an incredibly dangerous journey.
🇿🇦 Truckers on Fire in South Africa | South Africa's N2 highway is not your typical drive-thru lane. Armed men forced truck drivers out of their vehicles before setting them ablaze, making it the third such attack in two days. Apparently, truckers regularly block major arterial roads in South Africa to protest the hiring of foreign drivers. The protests are serious business, as 80% of goods moved in and around the country are ferried by road. All this drama and road-blocking has got people worried, and not just about the extra traffic.
🇨🇲 Samuel Eto'o: A Legendary Player in Hot Water | An association representing amateur clubs in Cameroon has called on the four-time African Footballer of the Year to resign from his post as president of the country’s football federation due to some serious irregularities in the organisation. The accusations include changing the president’s mandate from four to seven years without permission, not publishing new statutes, and having a deal with a sports betting company, which could be a violation of Fifa rules. Ouch. To make matters worse, there are even claims of manipulating matches in order to successfully bet on their outcomes.
Food for Thought
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— Swahili Proverb.
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