🔅 Mandela's Legacy at Stake in South Africa, Kabila Accused of Supporting Rebel Group
Plus, US Military Emails Go Rogue in Mali & Soyinka Seeks Traditionalist Holidays
Photo of the day: Mali
Markets:
🟢 Nigerian SE: 63,766.72 (+1.31%)
🔴 Johannesburg SE: 77,098.55 (-0.20%)
🔴 Ghana SE: 2,862.27 (-0.03%)
🔴 Nairobi SE: 112.96 (-1.79%)
🟢 US S&P 500: 4,554.98 (+0.71%)
🔴 Shanghai Composite: 3,197.82 (-0.37%)
IMF Funds a Lifeline for Kenya | The International Monetary Fund has thrown Kenya a lifeline: nearly $1 billion in new funding to help the East African nation’s economy weather the worst drought in decades and a challenging external environment. This will come in the form of an Extended Fund Facility, Extended Credit Facility, and a Resilience and Sustainability arrangement. The IMF’s Deputy Managing Director Antoinette Sayeh said the approval of Kenya’s budget and Finance Act were “crucial steps” for the nation to reduce debt vulnerability and protect social and development expenditures. But in the words of the IMF: “Tighter financing conditions also required a ‘prudent debt policy’ and continued efforts to prioritize concessional loans.”
*Data accurate as of the close of markets across the continent
Brief & Bright: Africa's Top Five Highlights
🇿🇦 What's Happening to Mandela's Legacy in South Africa? | Nelson Mandela's smiling face is everywhere in South Africa. The country's currency has his mug, and at least 32 streets bear his name. South Africans even celebrate Mandela Day every July 18th, when people volunteer for 67 minutes (in honor of the 67 years he served the country as an anti-apartheid leader) to do things like paint schools, knit blankets, and clean up city parks. His name is celebrated internationally, but 10 years after his death, attitudes have changed in South Africa. The party Mr. Mandela led after his release from prison, the African National Congress, is in serious danger of losing its majority for the first time since he became president in 1994. Corruption, ineptitude, and elitism have tarnished the ANC, and some South Africans have started to shift their view of Mandela from hero to scapegoat. Many South Africans, especially young people, believe that Mandela didn't do enough to create structural changes that would lift the fortunes of the country's Black majority. White South Africans still hold a disproportionate share of the nation's land, and earn three and a half times more than Black people. The verdict is still out on what will happen next in South Africa, but it's clear that Mandela's legacy is a contentious issue.
🇲🇱 "Whoops!" US Military Emails Go Rogue in Mali | You know how you’re always typing in the wrong address when you’re sending emails? Well, email senders to the US military have been making a similar mistake—with a lot bigger consequences. For over a decade, military emails have been ending up in Mali, the result of people mistyping the “.MIL” suffix for “.ML”. Johannes Zuurbier, a Dutch internet entrepreneur who has a contract to manage Mali’s country domain, has been collecting the misdirected emails and warning the US government about the issue—but the US isn’t doing anything to stop it. The consequence? When Zuurbier’s 10-year contract expires on Monday, Malian authorities will have access to the emails, which include sensitive information like diplomatic documents, tax returns, passwords, and travel details of top officers (including the US army’s chief of staff). Uh oh!
🇳🇬 Prof. Soyinka's 89th Birthday Request: Traditionalists Need a National Holiday | On his 89th birthday, Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka asked the Federal Government for a special gift: A national holiday for traditionalists. He argued that traditionalists have been treated like second-class citizens in the Nigeria, and that they should be given the same recognition and respect as other religions - "an annual holiday like Islam and Christianity". He’s not asking for much, just a day to recognize the importance of traditional religions and their contributions to the nation.
🌾 Russia's Big Exit: What it Means for Food Insecurity in Africa | Russia’s decision yesterday to pull out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative has thrown a wrench into the global food supply system—and Africa is one of the regions that could suffer the most. Last year, the UN and Turkey brokered a deal between Russia and Ukraine that stabilized global food prices and provided much-needed relief to the world’s most vulnerable. But now, with Russia withdrawing from the agreement, wheat futures jumped, and food insecurity is expected to rise in East Africa, where an estimated 80% of the region’s grain supply comes from Russia and Ukraine.
🇨🇩 Joseph Kabila: Accused of Supporting a Rebel Group | Joseph Kabila, former president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is making some enemies. His neighbour Yoweri Museveni, President of Uganda, is accusing him of harbouring the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist rebel group, and allowing them to mine gold and sell timber. But Kabila denies the allegations and says Museveni is just trying to “distract” and “divide” the Congolese people. This accusation comes a month after the ADF were blamed for killing more than 42 students at a school in Uganda. Not to mention the fact that a top UN court last year ordered Uganda to pay Kinshasa hundreds of millions of dollars in reparations for atrocities committed during a war in eastern DR Congo. Kabila has called President Museveni, "one of the main destabilisers in the region."
Food for Thought
“A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.”
— Kenyan Proverb.
Are we hitting the mark?
Enjoying Baobab's updates? Spread the joy and share us with friends and colleagues — we'd be thrilled to have them join!
Feedback or thoughts? Just hit reply. We're all ears!