ARC East Africa Weekly Chronology
6-13 September 2023

ARC Logo

Africa Risk Consulting monitors events around the region and provides users of the EAA website with this weekly summary.

 

 


Weekly Update on events in East Africa


Africa Risk Consulting – Your first choice for Africa due diligence, country assessments, strategic advice and compliance consulting.

12 Sep 2023 Kinshasa (DRC) The East African. United Kingdom-headquartered Amnesty International in conjunction with local rights group Initiative pour la Bonne Gouvernance et les Droits Humains (IBGDH) release a report noting that the expansion of cobalt and copper mines near Kolwezi, southern DRC, has led to the forced eviction of entire communities and human rights abuses;

12 Sep 2023 Kinshasa (DRC) Africanews. International rights groups join the calls for the release of journalist Stanis Bujakera, the Reuters and Jeune Afrique correspondent for DRC as well as deputy editor of local news site Actualité.CD, who is accused of spreading false rumours and disseminating false information over an article published by Jeune Afrique implicating military intelligence in the assassination of former minister Chérubin Okend even though Bujakera was not the article’s author;

12 Sep 2023 Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Mining Weekly. Canada-listed Allied Gold approves $500m for a two-phased development plan for its Kurmuk gold mining project in western Ethiopia;

12 Sep 2023 Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Agence Ecofin. Ethio Telecom confirms it launched commercial 5G technology on 9 September which is now available at 145 sites throughout Addis Ababa before extending to other parts of the country;

12 Sep 2023 Nairobi (Kenya) Business Daily Africa. Nearly all commercial banks are now selling United States dollars at higher than KSh150 to customers as the local shilling continues to depreciate against the dollar, with the official exchange rate on 8 September quoted as KSh146.22;

12 Sep 2023 Nairobi (Kenya) The East African. Central Bank of Kenya reports that mobile money payments grew 6.3% in July and expects wider growth in the coming months as it has approved higher transaction limits;

12 Sep 2023 Nairobi (Kenya) The East African. Nigerian fintech company Flutterwave says it plans to invest $50m in Kenya, noting that it has applied for both a payments services provider and remittances licence;

12 Sep 2023 Antananarivo (Madagascar)France24. Opposition parties denounce what they call an ‘institutional coup’, noting that upon president Andry Rajoelina’s resignation before the presidential election, he instilled his prime minister Christian Ntsay, an ally, to take over the role so they can manipulate results and the electoral environment. Usually, the head of the senate takes over, but Herimanana Razafimahefa, declined to take over for personal reasons;

12 Sep 2023 Rwanda (Kigali) Reuters. Rwanda Atomic Energy Board says it will build a test nuclear energy reactor using technology under an agreement with Canada-headquartered Dual Fluid Energy Inc;

12 Sep 2023 Kampala (Uganda) Independent. Dairy Development Authority says it will begin dairy exports to Algeria next month under a deal that will see Uganda export $500m worth of products to Algeria;

12 Sep 2023 Kampala (Uganda) Business Insider Africa. Bank of Uganda (central bank) grants a licence to Salaam Bank, the country’s first Islamic bank;

12 Sep 2023 Kampala (Uganda) Daily Monitor. Several United States companies, under the Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA), stop buying textiles from Uganda over the enactment of the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) 2023;

11 Sep 2023 Bujumbura (Burundi) Region Week. Energy, water and mineral resources ministry announces an increase in the prices of fuels with petrol increasing from BIF 3,985 ($1.41) to BIF 4,450 ($1.58) and diesel from BIF 3,795 ($1.35) to BIF 4,250 ($1.51) per litre;

11 Sep 2023 Kinshasa (DRC) Mining Weekly. Canada-headquartered mining junior Tantalex Lithium secures the backing of Switzerland-based Glencore for the development of a lithium mine which would be DRC’s first;

11 Sep 2023 Asmara (Eritrea) Anadolu Agency. Sudan’s de-facto leader, Abdel Fatah al-Burhan, arrives in Eritrea for an official visit to discuss bilateral ties with President Isaias Afwerki;

11 Sep 2023 Antananarivo (Madagascar) AFP. The electoral period officially begins after the constitutional court rejected appeals by opposition parties to have incumbent president Andry Rajoelina, who has now resigned as the per the constitution, struck off the ballot due to his reported dual nationality;
11 Sep 2023 Kigali (Rwanda) The Citizen. Tanzanian businessman Mohamed Dewji announces he will sign a $100m deal to invest in four Rwandan firms, mainly in the manufacturing and processing sector;

11 Sep 2023 Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) Daily News. China’s ambassador to Tanzania, Chen Mingjian, notes during a visit to the Magafuli Bridge and the central line of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), which were built by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), that bilateral trade between China and Tanzania has tripled in the last ten years, from $2.47 billion in 2012 to $8.31 billion in 2022;

11 Sep 2023 Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) The Citizen. Bank of Tanzania (central bank) indicates that tourism earnings rose to $2.999 billion during the year ending July 2023 from $1.95 billion in the year ending July 2022, making it the top foreign exchange earner for the country after outperforming gold which earned $2.939 billion;

11 Sep 2023 Kampala (Uganda) The East Africa. Uganda is reportedly continuing talks with the World Bank to rescind its decision to withhold budgetary support due to its anti-homosexual law;

10 Sep 2023 Lake Goubet (Djibouti) African Business. President Ismail Omar Guelleh inaugurates Djibouti’s first wind farm, the Red Sea Power wind farm, which will provide 60MW;

10 Sep 2023 Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) AFP. Prime minister Abiy Ahmed announces that Ethiopia has completed its fourth filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), noting that there were several internal challenges and external pressure facing Ethiopia in this round of filing;

10 Sep 2023 Nairobi (Kenya) Business Insider Africa. Central Bank of Kenya governor Kamau Thugge says the risk of money laundering and terrorism financing has increased with the boom of cryptocurrency in the country and calls for better regulation;

10 Sep 2023 Arusha (Tanzania) The Citizen. Police arrest opposition party Chadema vice chairman Tundu Lissu, his bodyguard and three other party leaders for holding a mass meeting without a permit and preventing the police force from carrying out its duties;

10 Sep 2023 Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) The Citizen. East African Community (EAC) secretary general Peter Mathuki lauds Tanzania and Kenya for waiving visa requirements for citizens of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC);

9 Sep 2023 London (United Kingdom) Le Monde. Former chief of staff to Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina, Romy Voos Andrianarisoa, pleads not guilty to charges of corruption. Andrianarisoa is accused of soliciting bribes from UK-based Gemfields;

8 Sep 2023 Kinshasa (DRC) Business Insider Africa. DRC and Kenya agree to eliminate visa requirements for citizens as a way to enhance trade opportunities between the two countries and promote integration within the East African Community (EAC);

7 Sep 2023 Bujumbura (Burundi) Anadolu Agency. Health ministry declares an outbreak of cholera with 125 cases reported in the western part of the country, namely Bujumbura, Gatumba and Rugombo areas;

7 Sep 2023 Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) VOA. United States-based Committee to Protect Journalists indicates that authorities have arrested three journalists since the declaration of a state of emergency in Amhara region, stating that the arrested journalists had published information on the conflict;

7 Sep 2023 Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) Jambo TV. Ngorongoro police confirm that opposition party Chadema cannot hold political rallies scheduled for 8 and 9 September, citing intelligence reports that indicate the region is volatile and not a good area for a political rally to be held;

6 Sep 2023 Bujumbura (Burundi) Africanews. Belgian authorities confirm that several Burundian handball players who went missing in Croatia last month have applied for asylum in Belgium;

6 Sep 2023 Asmara (Eritrea) Times of Israel. The government accuses Israel’s Mossad spy agency of causing unrest between expat communities, days after clashes between Eritrean regime supporters, opponents and the Israeli police broke out. The information ministry also accuses Israeli officials and media of demonising Eritrea by blaming its citizens for the mob violence;

6 Sep 2023 Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Think Geo Energy. Canada-headquartered 4th Resource signs a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ethiopia Investment Holdings for the joint development of the Harmokale Geothermal Project;

6 Sep 2023 Antananarivo (Madagascar) Africanews. President Andry Rajoelina announces he will run for re-election in the upcoming November elections despite questions over his dual French and Malagasy nationality;

6 Sep 2023 Nairobi (Kenya) The East African. President William Ruto and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen sign a deal that will see the European Union (EU) provide approximately $13m in grants for investment in Kenya’s green hydrogen sector;

6 Sep 2023 Kampala (Uganda) The East Africa. United States urges citizens to reconsider travel to Uganda following the arrest of several people involved in a planned mass terror attack;

 

Click here to download this update:

ARC East Africa Weekly Chronology 6 – 13 Sep 2023