Africa

[blindpig]

The Enemies of the People of Africa: Imperialism, Zionism, and Reactionism
Posted by Internationalist 360° on April 23, 2025
Essam Elkorghli



Pan-Africanism or barbarism! Given the colossal human suffering in Palestine and Congo, the people of Global Africa must take position on the liberation movements in the Sahel and anti-people reactionary regimes that serve imperialism and Zionism.

Conditions across Global Africa must be noted. Why do we produce what we do not consume and consume what we do not produce? Why is the force that is expanding across the African continent (US Africa Command, AFRICOM) supports the genocidal entity and has used its dollar hegemony to sanction the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court? And are we doomed to be confined to this vortex of violence or is there a revolutionary potential at this multipolar moment? Regardless how close or far, physically and intellectually, an African is from these articulations, they speak to symptoms found across much of Global Africa and therefore they necessitate a renewed analysis to better tackle such conditions through a revolutionary vocabulary.

According to Western Mass Media (WMM), these conditions are discrete and are not caused by a remnant of colonialism nor are they proliferated by the peripheral conditions the masses exist in. This is why the relaunch of Pambazuka News at this moment in time is much needed for it to be the avant-garde of Pan-African analysis. Since its hiatus in 2019, a void has been filled by aggressive liberal campaigns bankrolled by imperialist forces thanks to the US dollar hegemony. So, how can we understand the aforementioned conditions of Global Africa with a revolutionary Pan-African vocabulary?

“Imperialism Walks on Two Legs: Financial and Military”

Pambazuka News’ special issue on imperialism and multipolarity is timely because it pegs us to situate these terms because of their relevance to historical and present-day conditions of Global Africa. Take the case of Mali, which is extremely rich in gold, to have drastically fewer gold reserves than its former colonizer, France — a country with no gold mines of its own. How did this come about? Why does it persist? And is Mali an anomaly in this political-economic condition?

Since the independence of Mali, the country has been mired by a financial contradiction, which is the lack of monetary sovereignty, imposed by France through intimidations, destabilization campaigns and even assassinations and series of coups d’état to its neighbors who use the CFA. Furthermore, the country has been engulfed by colonial agreements where the mines are owned by foreign countries while the Malian people are used as cheap labor for extractive purposes. And when the question arose that the Malian people should revolt against such system, WMM launched a media campaign that these foreign enterprises are providing jobs to impoverished Africans, while neglecting the fact that the profits are deposited in French and other European banks.

This condition of raw material extraction to the core of imperialism only for it to be remunerated in pittances is not confined solely to Mali. Other countries are forcibly subjected to such conditionalities. Being an export-dependent country for national development leaves economies prone to the whims of sanctions on exporting countries and recessions of the importing countries. The post-colonial states were not able to access the needed technology of industrialized economies to extract the natural resources and produce them in their final form as consumer goods. Ghana exports cocoa, yet the biggest chocolate producers are spread between Germany, Belgium, France, and Switzerland. Botswana extracted arguably the world’s largest diamond only for it to be shipped faraway across the Atlantic to Canada and the profits usurped by the Canadian transnational company, Lucara[ii]. Libya, the holder of the continent’s largest oil reserves extracts crude oil, ships it to Europe to be refined, and then buys it back. When Africa sought to launch a golden-backed currency, NATO bombed the country for spearheading that effort[iii]. Then imperialism persevered the lack of technology and industry transfer through its monopoly capitalism that gatekeeps the deterritorialization of technology because of so-called patents and copyrights. The African people and Pan-African leadership to fissure from this system are fiercely met with sanctions, thanks to financial monopoly, bombed, thanks to militarism, and coups d’etat instigated by imperial forces as exemplified in the overthrow of Lumumba, Nkrumah, Sankara, and Qaddafi.

Imperialism and monopoly capitalism go hand in hand with militarism as a necessary component to maintain the subjugation of African people. Since the destruction of Libya by NATO forces because of its revolutionary politics and Pan-Africanism, the country has been buried by an avalanche of arm flows that the so-called rebels have sold or trickled to its southern neighbors to instigate the destabilizing violence in the Sahel. This destabilization legitimized the self-invitation of France and other NATO countries to begin operating across much of the Sahel states. The US-Africa Command in 2011 operated in a few countries that can be counted on a single hand. But since the destruction of Libya and its sanctioning, the country’s contributions to the African continent and the African Union are circumscribed, and AFRICOM has expanded to nearly fifty countries. It must be also stated that AFRICOM is not a friend of the African people: it has killed numerous civilians in Libya and Somalia with complete impunity[iv] and carried out an act of piracy and imperialist gangsterism by kidnapping a civilian airplane in Cape Verde just because it has a business contractor associated with Venezuela[v]. AFRICOM’s expansion in Africa is an invitation for the USA to expand its oppressive police state to the African continent through camouflaged rhetoric of fighting terrorism and promoting stability, democracy and freedom.

The Intersecting Triad of Imperialism, Zionism and Reactionism

The loss of human life at the hands of imperialism just to maintain its hegemony is not something happening mistakenly and randomly like the WMM would tell. Look at what is happening in Palestine. In the West Bank, the worst application of surveillance, apartheid and ethnic cleansing is taking place while the settler colonial entity is using the Palestinians as a human laboratory to experiment on them the most inhumane technologies of oppression[vi] which gets then transferred and practiced on African people globally, including in the US[vii]. Meanwhile in Gaza, even the usual pro-West organization, Amnesty International concluded that the settler colonial entity is committing genocide against the people of Palestine[viii]. The whole collective west and its mantra of the sanctity of human life and protecting civilians not only turned a blind eye towards the genocide, but they sent weapons, money, logistics, and joined the propaganda warfare to legitimize the genocide. And even when the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against the Prime Minister and Defense Minister of the Zionist entity, the US have put the prosecutor on the sanctions list[ix]. This is happening because a steadfast people rose up to liberate themselves from the shackles of apartheid, which the settler colonial entity has been ascribed to[x]. The liberation of the people of the Global South, be it in Africa, Latin America or Asia threatens imperialism, and this is our fate; if we do not consolidate our efforts, financial and military to combat this barbarism, we will be next.

Unfortunately, many Africans see this national liberation through a religious lens, a battle between Muslims and Jews, or worse a fight between Arabs of “North Africa” and a “Jewish state”. These two groups of people have lived peacefully for centuries; the Islamic caliphate defended Jews’ persecution after the fall of Andalusia, and they coexisted in Palestine through numerous epochs. Until the Europeans committed the most horrendous crimes against Jews in Europe through the Holocaust, the British Empire decided to forcefully implant a settler colonial entity on Palestine that does not recognize borders and serves as a military outpost for the US army. The existence of this entity in its current imperialist fashion is a threat to Global Africa. When South Africa was under apartheid, the Zionist entity supported them financially and militarily; they also funded the separatists in Nigeria. Further, the Zionist entity has an ever-expansionist aspiration, that infringes on African borders too. The idea of the “Greater Homeland” expands the entity’s borders until they seize the Nile River. They attempted to materialize this when they colonized the Sinai Peninsula in 1967. In addition, this entity is contributing to the exploitation of the people of Congo by supporting the onslaught by the Kagame regime of Rwanda, which the US enables through ease of sanctions on the entity’s transnational exploitative companies[xi]. The Zionist entity’s existence is an extension of imperialism as long as Palestine is occupied by such an entity.

And the masses ought not to be fooled by the divisive language of imperialism that attempts to separate the people of Africa through racial lines, with the lighter skinned Africans as “Arab” or “North African” while the rest is “Sub-Saharan”. This racist articulation did not include South Africa when it was under apartheid; after 1994, South Africa became part of this “Sub”[xii]. This separation attempts to de-Africanize[xiii] northern Africa from the rest of Africa, while making the rest of Africa disassociated from its northern neighbors. If the fate of Africans were to be indeed separated as such, then the US-Africa Command (AFRICOM) would be divided and called “Sub-Saharicom” and “Arab-Fricom”. But just as imperialists consolidate their military operations across the continent, we must strive for continental unity that counters the imperialist division.

Given that imperialism and Zionism have inflicted so much harm to the people of Global Africa, it would be remiss to present this as solely foreign actors conducting these acts against the people. We must recognize the national bourgeoisie and the reactionary leaders who are worried more about appeasing the collective west while using their militaries to oppress the people. The reactionary regimes across many African states enable this form of imperialist maldevelopment — cheap labor coupled with raw material extraction in return of regime protection to stifle the people’s revolution. These reactionary leaders of Malawi and Kenya have gladly substituted exploited Palestinian workers in the Zionist entity’s farms by sending their own people to satisfy the Zionist economy’s demands[xiv]. Kenya’s Ruto has taken his country’s army thousands of kilometres away to oppress the people of Haiti and their struggle for liberation, awarding his country the shame of becoming a Non-NATO Major Ally.

Pan-Africanism or Barbarism!

This is not just merely an issue of leadership and governance that the WMM tries to present; it is an issue of Pan-Africanism or barbarism. It is a matter of political consciousness, knowledge of history, and will. The people of South Africa are being demonized today because they themselves felt the brunt of apartheid and have launched the case against the genocide in Gaza, Palestine. It is for this growing political consciousness amongst South Africans, in terms of local policy (á la the land question) and the international positionality of the country as a member of the BRICS alliance, that they are being attacked by the tech oligarchy and the transnational Boers emboldened by Elon Musk. Despite the pressures of cutting aid by the US South Africa remains steadfast and principled on being on the right side of history[xv].

Similarly, the people of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have learned from history’s abundant lessons of African liberation. Since the destruction of Libya that consequently destabilized the Sahel countries, these three countries carried out a people’s revolution that led to the consolidation of efforts against imperialism and reactionary leadership, while espousing Pan-Africanism. They face the same fate, and they act in unison in response to the common fate and common threats. Through national liberation and the kicking out of foreign troops (AFRICOM and French troops), they formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES, Alliance des États du Sahel), erasing colonial divisions between the same people as an initial step that Pan-Africanists hope to see it spread.

This confederation leverages the multipolar moment that we are witnessing. The hegemony of the US-led imperialist system is diminishing while a new pole is rising. With its technology and knowledge advancements without practicing monopoly capitalism, this new pole views the Global South as a partner and not as a potential geographic space to be exploited. The AES is addressing Africa’s major contradiction of being arguably the richest continent with the poorest people through such leveraging, where they are contracting various countries from BRICS to construct power plants to provide electricity to the masses and contribute to the industrializing demands of these newly liberated countries while revisiting their farming policies[xvi] — necessary steps for self-reliance and escape from dependency.

Imperialism, Zionism and reactionism are the ultimate enemies of the people of Global Africa. While the lessons of history are endless for us to forge unity, we must engage with this unprecedented multipolar moment by reading, writing, organizing and fighting for Pan-Africanism against reactionary analysis bankrolled by the west and performed by mercenary journalists. It is Pan-Africanism or barbarism!

Endnotes

i] Pigeaud, F., & Sylla, N. S. (2021). Africa’s Last Colonial Currency: The CFA Franc Story (T. Fazi, Trans.). Pluto Press.

[ii] https://lucaradiamond.com/newsroom/news ... ers-epic-2…

[iii] Elkorghli, E. A. B. (2023, May 31). Centering Imperialism in Libya: Implications for the African Continent. Black Agenda Report. http://blackagendareport.com/centering- ... ications-a…

Elkorghli, E. A. B. (2024, March 13). The de-Africanization and re-Europeanization of Libya: The Political Economy of NATO’s Legacy in Libya. Black Agenda Report. http://blackagendareport.com/de-african ... nization-l…

[iv] Turse, N. (2020, February 27). Pentagon’s Own Map of U.S. Bases in Africa Contradicts Its Claim of “Light” Footprint. The Intercept. https://theintercept.com/2020/02/27/afr ... s-africom/

Turse, N. (2022, April 3). U.S. Airstrike Killed 11 Libyan Civilians and Allies, Human Rights Groups Say. The Intercept. https://theintercept.com/2022/04/03/lib ... deaths-law…

Turse, N. (2023, December 18). Advocates Demand Compensation for U.S. Drone Strike Victims in Somalia. The Intercept. https://theintercept.com/2023/12/18/som ... lians-lett…

Turse, N. (2024, March 5). Three More Members of Congress Call on Pentagon to Make Amends to Somali Family. The Intercept. https://theintercept.com/2024/03/05/con ... drone-civi…

[v] Goodman, J. (2020, June 15). Venezuela demands release of businessman connected to Maduro. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/6b20d5164e76 ... d4eb45da79

[vi] Loewenstein, A. (2023). The Palestine Laboratory. Verso Books. https://www.versobooks.com/products/268 ... laboratory

[vii] Baltimore & Israel: A Global Gang of Colonizers. (2023, November 17). The Black Alliance for Peace. https://blackallianceforpeace.com/bapst ... eandisrael

[viii] Amnesty International concludes Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. (2024, December 5). Amnesty International. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/ ... ational-co…

[ix] Office of Foreign Assets Control. (2025, February 6). Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court. https://ofac.treasury.gov/media/933981/download?inline

[x] Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians. (2022, February 1). Amnesty International. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campa ... ystem-of-a…

[xi] Lipton, E. (2024, May 16). Seeking Access to Congo’s Metals, White House Aims to Ease Sanctions. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/16/us/p ... s-sanction…

[xii] Ekwe-Ekwe, H. (2012, January 18). What exactly does ‘sub-Sahara Africa’ mean? https://www.pambazuka.org/what-exactly- ... ara-africa%…

[xiii] Elkorghli, E. A. B. (2024, March 13). The de-Africanization and re-Europeanization of Libya: The Political Economy of NATO’s Legacy in Libya. Black Agenda Report. http://blackagendareport.com/de-african ... nization-l…

[xiv] Aradi, G., & Sippy, P. (2023, December 7). Kenya follows Malawi in sending farm workers to Israel amid Hamas war. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-67622511

[xv] The White House. (2025, February 8). Addressing Egregious Actions of The Republic of South Africa. The White House. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential ... ssing-egre…

[xvi] Editor. (2024, May 26). Burkina Faso President Distributes Agricultural Equipment to Farmers -. https://africacontemporaryfarming.com/b ... o-farmers/

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2025/04/ ... actionism/

Free Africa Should Not Let Down its Guard with the West
Posted by Internationalist 360° on April 22, 2025
Mikhail Gamandiy-Egorov



Regardless of all the mottos and new approaches, the truly sovereign and independent countries of Africa should not let down their guard in the fight against the West; on the contrary, they should try harder to displace Western interests from the continent.

Current events once again confirm the correctness of the path chosen by many African countries, where genuine sovereignty, independence, pan-African values and commitment to a multipolar world are key in continuing the fight against enemies, as well as their subcontractors, and for furthering their own interests. While the neo-colonialist regimes of Europe remain crystal clear about their plans for Africa, the United States, declaring minimal interest in the continent, will probably try to strike at the positions of China and Russia.

Uncle Sam’s servants

In addition to the aforementioned Western European regimes, Washington should not be forgotten. The UK and France still dream of a rematch in Africa, and other regimes of the Old World also have their own neo-colonial ambitions, from Italy to Germany, from Spain to Belgium.

Despite the fact that Trump’s relative indifference to African affairs is well known, and, importantly, that the US is unable to offer anything viable with China and Russia on the continent, agents of various American structures are still very active in Africa. It will, most likely, continue to be so, especially considering the maniacal desire to strike at Chinese interests, which will also affect Russia, as the Americans understand that they cannot destroy the Chinese-Russian alliance.

It is noteworthy that recently the head of the African Command of the US Armed Forces (Africom), General Michael Langley, verbally attacked the leadership of Burkina Faso, who said that the funds the country’s received from cooperation with China “do not benefit the population”. The government of Burkina Faso promptly responded to the general, calling his accusations a lie and once again setting a course for real sovereignty.

Burkina Faso is a member of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) Alliance along with Mali and Niger, and is one of Russia’s main allies on the African continent. Michael Langley, being African-American, resembles a certain literary character, who sought to please his master. Of course this is not an isolated case, but it is rather astounding how a descendent of slaves is trying to preach to honourable, free people, having so quickly forgotten about the perils of his ancestors and fellow tribesmen. It should not be forgotten that Burkina Faso means ‘the land of worthy people’, and is also the birthplace of the great pan-African figure Thomas Sankara, whose has been succeeded by the current head of state, Captain Ibrahim Traore. Thus, a descendent of slaves like Michael Langley can go and preach to someone else, but definitely not to the leadership and people of Burkina Faso.

Stay alert at all times

No significant changes in Western policy should be expected vis-à-vis Africa. The collective West, including the US, desperately needs access to Africa’s strategic resources, especially given the economic and trade standoff with China, in which Washington has few chances of success.

In this regard, all the countries of the continent that maintain allied and strategic partnerships with China and Russia will be targeted by new Western attempts to destabilise the situation and should already start for prepare for this now. The Collective West, i.e. the planetary minority, understands perfectly well that it is necessary to significantly limit the strategic interaction of the main forces of the multipolar world order represented by China and Russia with the countries of the global South, including Africa.

This is recognised not only by the West itself, but also by its subcontractors on the continent, old and new, including those who previously positioned themselves as strategic partners of Beijing and Moscow. That is why truly sovereign and independent African countries and their allies must be prepared for new attempts at destabilisation by Western elites. Even the fact that Washington has cut funding for such a loathsome structure as USAID should not be a reason to relax. If necessary, this financing can be resumed at any time or replaced with something else that is no less hostile to the supporters of the modern multipolar world. Therefore, the desire to eradicate Western interests in Africa should not only be maintained at the current pace, but also intensified.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2025/04/ ... -the-west/

Youth Lead the Fight Against Neocolonialism in the Sahel Region
Posted by Internationalist 360° on April 22, 2025
Pedro Stropasolas


The Union des Scolaires Niger (USN) formed many Nigerien leaders, influencing the creation of schools and the first university of Niger, in 1971 – Pedro Stropasolas/Brasil de Fato

Youths represent about 65% of the African continent and lead popular uprising.

“When I talk about France, I feel angry inside. I hate France, but I speak French, you know? The French stole from us and massacred us for 400 years. Our ancestors were killed. They took everything from us.”

The words of Bilal Sali Sussani, a first-year journalism student at Abdou Moumouni University (AMU) in Niamey, the capital of Niger, sum up the sovereigntist wave that is currently sweeping West Africa.

Today, around 65% of the African continent’s population is under 30, according to the African Union. In the Sahel region, it is young people like Sussani who have been supporting the uprisings that put the military in power between 2020 and 2023.

It happens for a reason: The new governments express the anti-French sentiment that was already strong among young people even before the military took power in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

BdF spoke to young Sahelians to understand their perspectives on the ongoing struggle against imperialism in the region. The Sahel is the stage of intense geopolitical disputes, particularly over natural resources such as gold and uranium.

“I would say that this is a very good moment for young people in Niger. After the coup, a lot has happened in the country. If it doesn’t come from young people, nothing can be achieved in Niger because we are the majority of its population. We are truly free thanks to us,” Sani said.

Union des Scolaires Niger

Effred Al Hassane is Secretary General of the Union des Scolaires Niger (USN). Since its creation on July 16, 1960, the USN has been one of the first social groups to oppose French colonial rule in Niger.

Throughout the history of Niger, several governments have tried to dissolve the organization because of its work. USN members have even been murdered, deported or exiled for denouncing France and the governments that served the interests of the European country, such as Hamani Diori (1960-1974) and later Seyni Kountché (1974 – 1991).

Since the emblematic July 26, 2023, the USN has been drawing up reports on social and economic issues and making recommendations to the military junta led by Abdourahamane Tchiani, the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland (Conseil national pour la sauvegarde de la Patrie, or CNSP).

According to Al Hassane, the youth and the CNSP share the same “anti-imperialist and pan-African ideology”, which justifies their joint support and fight against neo-colonialism.

“Today, our headquarters are well-structured thanks to the military. This means that our organization is an honest and constant CNSP supporter as long as the CNSP is on the anti-imperialist side. What binds us to the CNSP – what binds the people to the CNSP – is the anti-imperialist struggle. If this anti-imperialist struggle turns into something else, the Nigerien Students’ Union will speak out against any initiative aimed at distorting the meaning of the pan-African struggle for the liberation of our people,” says Al Hassane.

Today, the USN covers nine universities in Niger, as well as institutes, vocational schools, technical, technological and general education colleges and also Nigerien students in the diaspora. In all, it is present in 56 of the country’s 103 departments.

“I’m studying communication to show people in Niger what’s really happening,” said Bilal Sali Sussani.

Present and past in Burkina Faso

Inem Richardson, president of the Thomas Sankara Center for the Liberation and Unity of Africa in Burkina Faso, notes an evolution in the pan-Africanist perspective in the Sahel since the creation of the Alliance des États du Sahel (AES), or Alliance of Sahel States, in English.

“We used to talk about Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger as three separate nations. But now, when you talk to people, they are very aware of them being one thing. In fact, when you ask some people if they are from Burkina Faso, some say no, they are from the AES. So, we can see that even concepts of nation and state are changing,” Richardson points out.

Richardson stresses the importance of unifying the revolutionary forces of the past and present. The reference to the famous revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara in the three countries, she says, is a symbol of the path towards unity and regional sovereignty.

In this sense, she highlights the work of the so-called citizens’ vigils, which are a kind of popular committee that acts as the “eyes and ears of the revolution”, and which are inspired by the legacy left by Sankara.

“They are there every night, between 9 pm and 4 or 5 am, to protect the government leadership, to protect President Ibrahim Traoré and all his officials. It’s an inspiration we take from Thomas Sankara’s revolution, from 1983 to 1987,” says Richardson.

Mali: the continuity of a historic struggle

In Mali, popular support for the coups in the three countries that make up the AES was driven by the work of young activists and progressive organizations that “made the population aware of the evils of French imperialism.”

Ibrahima Kebe is one of the leaders of the Faso Kanu Political Association, a socialist movement in Mali that he describes as a continuation of the historic struggles for independence and against French colonial rule in his country.

“For a long time now, the militants of progressive organizations have been working to emancipate the people, to make them understand that French policy in Africa, that imperialist policy and capitalism have already done enough damage, that they have already made enough fun of the future of our citizens,” said Kebe.

“This policy of raising awareness and political, cultural and ideological rearmament of our citizens has contributed decisively to condemning France and orchestrating this vast popular movement in support of different overthrows of power,” adds the young Malian.

Repression of youth in Benin

Nidol Ishola Salami, a member of the Union of Communist Youth of Benin (IJCB), is very concerned about the current situation in his country. He blames the government of President Patrice Talon for unemployment and hopelessness among young Beninese.

According to Salami, since 2016, Talon, who is an ally of Emmanuel Macron’s French government in West Africa, has been implementing dictatorial acts, destroying rights such as the right to strike and freedom of expression, and imprisoning young people “on unfounded charges.”

As an example, he mentions the arrest of two members of the Patriotic Youth Council (CoJeP) in January of this year, a case that BdF exclusively reported. At the time, the young people were staging a peaceful demonstration in the center of Cotonou against the French military presence in the country.

“Today, we can’t talk anymore. Even the press is afraid to interview people if they say they don’t agree with the government. Many people are being sent to prison. They create unfounded accusations, and we end up in prison. In sum, the current situation in Benin takes us back years. And today’s youth is more awake because anti-imperialist awareness today, whether in Benin or Africa as a whole, is stronger. People now know that Benin’s problem is not just the government we have, but [a consequence of] imperialism,” says Salami.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2025/04/ ... el-region/

What Do Congo’s Minerals and a Shadowy Prison Deal Have in Common? Erik Prince
Posted by Internationalist 360° on April 22, 2025
Robert Inlakesh



Erik Prince, the controversial founder of Blackwater and longtime ally of Donald Trump, is mounting a major comeback. He has secured a new deal to “protect” the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) lucrative mineral sector and is pitching a privatized prison complex in El Salvador that critics say echoes Guantanamo Bay.

In a letter dated Feb. 8, 2025, Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi proposed that, in exchange for U.S. military support to combat a rebel insurgency, the Democratic Republic of Congo would grant lucrative mining contracts to the United States. This proposal aligned with the Trump administration’s recent initiative to establish a sovereign wealth fund aimed at investing in strategic sectors, including critical minerals.”

Tshisekedi was simultaneously holding negotiations with Princ aimed at allowing his private firm to tax and “secure” the DRC’s mineral wealth. Reuters recently confirmed that a deal has been reached.

While the letter did not specify the type of military support Tshisekedi was seeking, the exchange on offer would open up Congolese reserves of cobalt, lithium, copper, and tantalum—critical components in high-tech manufacturing—to U.S. firms. The proposal aligned closely with Trump’s “Stargate” initiative, a $500 billion joint high-tech investment launched at the start of his new term.

On his podcast “Off Leash” earlier this year, Prince declared: “It’s time for us to just put the imperial hat back on, to say, we’re going to govern those countries.” He added, “You can say that about pretty much all of Africa; they’re incapable of governing themselves.”

A Legacy of Violence

Prince rose to prominence during the George W. Bush administration, when his firm Blackwater became a central part of U.S. military operations in Iraq. The company was so deeply embedded that it was sometimes called the private wing of the U.S. military. Blackwater was later implicated in a CIA assassination program.

But the firm’s reputation was irreparably damaged after the 2007 Nisour Square massacre, in which Blackwater personnel killed 17 Iraqi civilians. The incident stands as one of the grimmest examples of the Iraq War’s failures. A federal jury found several of the mercenaries guilty of murder in 2014. Trump pardoned them in 2020.

Through the Obama years, Prince faded from public view. Tainted by Blackwater’s legacy and the fallout from the Nisour Square massacre, he struggled to regain his former influence. But his alignment with Donald Trump and the Republican Party opened the door to a new round of ambitious proposals.

That resurgence was soon complicated by a fresh scandal. In 2021, Prince was accused of violating a United Nations arms embargo by aiding Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar—a scandal that derailed his efforts to regain a foothold in Washington. A U.N. report alleges that Prince provided military support to Haftar, including weapons, aircraft, and proposals for a mercenary operation known as “Project Opus.”

Despite the setback, Prince is forging ahead, emboldened by Trump’s return to power. A 26-page plan he pitched to the Trump team outlines a $25 billion private deportation force capable of deporting up to 600,000 people per month.

Another recently leaked proposal reveals Prince’s plans to build a mega-prison in El Salvador, partially under U.S. jurisdiction and shielded from legal oversight. Though framed as a tool for deporting undocumented immigrants, concerns grew after Trump was caught on a hot mic telling President Bukele, “The homegrowns are next.”

Around the same time, the Trump administration began instructing immigration officers to flag “antisemitic” social media content as grounds for denial or removal. Civil liberties groups warn that such policies are already being used to suppress pro-Palestinian speech. Taken together, Prince’s prison and Trump’s crackdown suggest a terrifying possibility: that political expression—particularly criticism of Israel—could land people in offshore detention.

Former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince wants US taxpayers to fund privately run deportation camps in El Salvador.

No legal challenges, no due process, no accountability.

Hiring private companies is a key way the US evades oversight and accountability for human rights abuses. pic.twitter.com/BBuDKrkp36

— CODEPINK (@codepink) April 18, 2025

Human rights groups have already raised concerns about potential violence, overcrowding, and abuse at the proposed facility. The comparisons to Guantanamo Bay have sparked widespread alarm online, though no official announcement has indicated that the plan will move forward.

Meanwhile, the agreement with the DRC is already underway. Prince has previously voiced frustration that U.S. military intervention did not come sooner during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, when hundreds of thousands of Tutsis were massacred. That conflict ended with the fall of Rwanda’s Hutu-led government and the rise of President Paul Kagame, a Tutsi.

Now, as the Tutsi-led M23 rebel group advances across eastern Congo—a movement the United Nations accuses Rwanda of supporting—Prince finds himself profiting from a crisis rooted in the very conflict he once lamented.

Feature photo | Erik Prince meets with Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa in Quito, Ecuador, on March 11, 2025. The image was shared on Noboa’s official X account. Daniel Noboa | X

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2025/04/ ... ik-prince/

[blindpig]

The US/EU/NATO’s Regime Change Playbook for Burkina Faso and Captain Ibrahim Traoré
Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor 30 Apr 2025



The U.S. increases pressure on Burkina Faso through military propaganda, as Africans rise to protect the developing project.

On April 3, US Africa Command (AFRICOM) Commander Michael Langley testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee during an excruciating two hours obsessively devoted to the ill-fated project of preserving US hegemony. Langley’s testimony was all about stopping Russia and China’s advances on the continent. Some Senators expressed concern that Trump had dispensed with the soft power—their term—projected by USAID and worried that China is stepping in to fill the breach.

Alarm bells went off in Africa, the African diaspora, and peace and justice communities all over the world when he turned attention to Burkina Faso and its leader, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, accusing him of using the gold reserves he nationalized “to protect his junta.”

It would be challenging, of course, to come up with a more arrogant, illogical, and downright idiotic assertion. The head of AFRICOM, a military command openly devoted to securing US interests, with a $2 billion dollar annual budget, accuses an African leader of devoting his own country’s resources to its security?

In a pathetic attempt to give this a bit of humanity or legitimacy, Langley complained that Traoré was using the country’s gold to finance his own security rather than for the benefit of his people, as though there were some universe in which this was a plausible US concern. In the same breath he described North Africa as “NATO’s southern flank.”

Since mid-April a slew of social media posts have reported that the Burkina Faso diaspora, particularly in France, have been protesting and demanding that Captain Traoré step down, accusing him of being a dictator, with some even calling for his arrest. None of these posts are conclusively evidenced, and their scale, sometimes described as "hundreds" or a "small group,” varies across reports. No major news outlets seem to have reported such protests, but real or not, they’re a classic element in the Western regime change playbook.

Human Rights Watch has been playing its usual role as well, reporting that Burkina Faso has cracked down on dissent and that some members of its civilian militia, Volunteers in Defense of the Homeland (VDH), have killed members of the Fulani ethnic minority. It seems likely that there is some incidence of VDH violence against the Fulani, but this is an internal problem for the Burkinabe people and their government, not cause for the “humanitarian intervention” that’s usually on the US/EU/NATO drawing board before these reports are published. Watch out for the emergence of the word "genocide.”

Volunteers in Defense of the Homeland are civilian self-defense militia organized to defend communities against the jihadist violence unleashed by the US/EU/NATO destruction of Libya. In response to Ibrahim Traoré’s mobilization call, the numbers of volunteers increased to 90,000, well beyond the goal of 50,000, according to ACLED .

These are Western playbook moves for overthrowing any government that actually tries to do something for its people in the Global South.

Traoré’s Crimes, in the Eyes of the West

What are Traoré’s crimes in the eyes of the West? As Langley alleged, he nationalized much of the country’s gold reserves. Imagine that. In November 2023, he approved the construction of Burkina Faso’s first refinery to process gold domestically, halting the export of unrefined gold to Europe and advancing the industrialization and skills development needed to create a prosperous domestic economy and lift the Burkinabe people out of the imperialist extractive economy trap.

He suspended export permits for small-scale private gold production to combat illicit trade, such as smuggling, and to regulate the artisanal gold sector.

He renegotiated mining contracts with foreign corporations, demanding greater percentages of ore extracted and favoring local participation, again developing skills needed for a complex, prosperous domestic economy.

He prioritized local processing in other sectors, such as agriculture and cotton. He established two tomato-processing plants and a second cotton processing plant, alongside the National Support Center for Artisanal Cotton Processing, to enhance local value addition and further reduce reliance on exporting raw materials.

In a broader push for economic autonomy, he invested in agriculture to achieve food self-sufficiency, providing farmers with modern machinery and improved seeds, leading to a 2024 harvest of nearly six million tons of cereal.

He expelled French military forces from Burkina Faso. In January 2023, he announced the termination of a 2018 defense agreement with France, giving French forces one month to leave. This followed public protests in Ouagadougou demanding their departure. They’d been stationed in the country for over a decade to combat jihadist insurgencies, which had only gotten worse. By February 2023, French forces had withdrawn , marking the end of their failed Operation Sabre.

He established military sovereignty and diversification of military partnerships, including partnerships with Russia.

Upon assuming the presidency, he announced that he would continue to live on his army captain’s salary.

He appealed to the Pan-Africanist ideals of Burkina’s revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara, who served as its president from 1983 to 1987 before being assassinated in a French-backed coup d’état. He erected a new statue of Sankara on the site where he was assassinated,

Africa, the African Diaspora, and Peace and Justice Communities Rise in Response to Langley’s Threat to Traoré

On April 22, Burkina Faso's Security Minister Mahamadou Sana told press that security forces had foiled a "major plot" to Capt Ibrahim Traoré, with the army alleging the plotters were based in neighboring Ivory Coast. He said they had aimed to "sow total chaos and place the country under the supervision of an international organisation." This is one of many coup plots reported since Traoré assumed the presidency, and heavy security has been instituted around him.

AFRICOM’s annual Operation Flintlock is underway now, until May 14. This year it’s based in Burkina Faso’s Ivory Coast, the alleged site of the foiled coup plot, whose president, Alassane Ouattara, could not be a more dedicated US/EU/NATO collaborator .

Commander Michael Langley arrived for its outset on April 24-25 .

When Commander Michael Langley identified Captain Traoré as an enemy of US interests to the Senate Armed Services Committee, alarm bells went off in Africa, the African diaspora, and peace and justice communities worldwide. There have since been cries that there must never be another Libya all over social media, including countless YouTube channels. A global rally in support of Captain Traoré and Burkina Faso was called for April 30 , the date of this publication. News and video will no doubt be available across the Web.

Long live revolutionary Burkina Faso and its Captain Ibrahim Traoré!

https://blackagendareport.com/useunatos ... him-traore
******

Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to have access to the Atlantic ocean


Photo: Africalix

April 29, 2025 Hour: 5:51 pm

The landlocked countries of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have endorsed an initiative by Morocco to give them access to the Atlantic Ocean, the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The foreign ministers of the three military-ruled West African nations shared their countries positions during a meeting Monday with King Mohammed VI in Rabat, the capital of Morocco, according to a ministry statement.

The three-nation block of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger announced last year that they were leaving the regional bloc known as ECOWAS. They then created their own security partnership, known as the Alliance of Sahel States, severed military ties with longstanding Western partners such as U.S. and France, and turned to Russia for military support.

Foreign ministers of the military-ruled #Sahel states of Burkina Faso, #Mali, and #Niger said on Monday they endorse an initiative offering them access to global #trade through #Morocco’s Atlantic ports …

Read More:https://t.co/v9OL5quUc5#qiraatafrican #BurkinaFaso #africa pic.twitter.com/MpnQgDtOPD

— Qiraat Africa (@africanqiraat) April 29, 2025

In December 2023, Morocco announced a trade initiative to facilitate Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger’s access to the Atlantic Ocean using Moroccan ports after ECOWAS imposed trade restrictions on the the three junta-led countries.

The foreign ministers of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger reaffirmed their “full support for and commitment to accelerating its implementation,” during the royal meeting, the ministry said. The meeting comes at a time of growing tensions between Morocco’s regional rival Algeria and the Sahel states. Last month, Algeria says it shot down a Malian drone when it crossed into its air space near the border town of Tin Zaouatine. Mali denied the drone crossed the border.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/mali-bur ... tic-ocean/

[blindpig]

The Rising Star of Cpt. Ibrahim Traore – Burkina Faso’s Spirit of Sankara
Posted by Internationalist 360° on April 30, 2025
Nicholas Jones


The new, bold and vibrant leader of Burkina Faso, has left his continental colleagues in the dust, when representing Pan-African leadership…

The Star rose through the ranks…

Many people in the world are unaware of the towering figure of Cpt. Ibrahim Traoré, the interim President of Burkina Faso since 2022. The mainstream media does not wish to shine a light on this man, who already has enough real glow to turn many powerful heads, especially within Africa. Not only in Africa does he turn heads, but also in the powerful states of the U.S., France and the UK, for the former masters are seriously threatened by the vision of this young leader.

He was born in a small town called Bondokuy and was raised in a humble family with little privilege. From a young age he showed his quality and was talented both physically and mentally, though he also impressed his teachers with his humility, a quality that today, is essential to his character. With his mental aptitude apparent, in 2006, he attended the University of Ouagadougou (from which he graduated with honors) and took up Geology as his main subject of study, a subject that is also likely aiding him in his current role as President and this could be where he began his interests in physical economy. Then he started developing his political skills and took a bold and vocal part in the Association of Muslim Students and the Marxist Association nationale des étudiants burkinabè (ANEB). It is said that in the latter of these two parties, he became a delegate due to his strong willed but humble nature and mainly because he was such a staunch defender of his fellow classmates and they elected him duly for this.

Upon graduation, he joined the Army in 2009 and made a quick impression, rising through the ranks rapidly. Initially he was sent to Morocco for anti-aircraft training before then being redirected to an infantry unit base in Northern Burkina Faso where he was about to witness first hand the rapid growth of terrorist activity in that region. In 2014 he was promoted to Lieutenant before joining MINUSMA, a United Nations peacekeeping force involved in the Mali War, on 7 different counter-terrorism missions, for which he received several high level recommendations for courage and quality of leadership. The long-running Mali civil war with the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad, a northern region of Tuareg people that have been fighting a separatist war with the Malian government for many years now; is the war that largely helped prepare the regional instability for the oncoming horde of terrorists. It is this experience that helped him earn important knowledge in the tactics being used by the extremists and prepared him for what was to come with the increased spread of Islamist terrorism across the Sahel region. Following his time at MINUSMA and due to the increasing jihadi insurgencies, Traoré was recalled to Burkina Faso to begin assisting in the fight. He fought at Djibo, in the “Otapuanu offensive” of 2019, and several other counter-insurgency operations in the country’s north before being promoted to Captain in the Army in 2020. In late 2021, an army of jihadists overran the base of a police station in Inata, Soum, killing 49 policemen and four civilians and the public outroar was enough to offset the quiet murmurings of change. It was around this time that Traoré started to lose faith and trust in the Government due to a severe lack of resources for his soldiers and just like in his University days, his fellow soldiers duly elected him as their spokesman and leader to voice their issues to the leadership back in the capital. Much to the demise of Burkina Faso, those leaders were already compromised by their masters back in London and Paris and offered no hope to the Military in their fight against this extremism. Imagine you are going out to fight and potentially die for your people and country, while suited men sit in the capital handing out “suitcases of money” to bribe local officials and would rather do the bidding of their masters on a foreign continent, in the hope that they keep their political power!


Billboard of Traore and Putin in Burkina Faso

The fake coup leads to the real coup…

And so a coup happened in January 2022 under a man named Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba. He was a colleague and fellow soldier with Traoré in the ranks of the Army and was initially supported by Traoré in the early months of the coup. But after 9 months passed it was September and very little progress had been seen in a fight that now was a battle for the nation, as 40% of Burkina Faso’s territory was under ISIS-Sahel and other extremist group’s control. While military efforts were considerable during Damiba’s eight-month reign with more than 200 airstrikes and operations in which nearly 1,300 militants reportedly were killed and over 20 militant bases destroyed; they were not enough to stop the increasing militant activities and it appeared to those around him that he focused too much on finding a political end to the war that included dialogue and reconciliation. The trouble is, who would you expect to trust in dialogue or reconciliation, when dealing with extremists. And so it appears that Damiba himself was either compromised or he was simply unable to perform the demands of the job. He was quite effective in fighting the terrorists as an operative of the Army and so it begs the question, what changed as being its leader?

He was trained at the Ecole Militaire in Paris and holds a masters degree from the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers. Between 2010-20 he periodically received military training in the U.S. before returning to Burkina Faso each time. These periods include his participation in the Flintlock Joint Combined Exchange Training exercises in 2010 and 2020, while in 2013 he attended the U.S. State Department funded African Contingency Operations Training and Assistance course. In 2013 and 2014 he joined the Military Intelligence Basic Officer Course for Africa and finally in 2018 and 2019, he was trained in Burkina Faso with a U.S. Defense Department Civil Military Support Element linked to the failed G5. It is now a fact, that the region became overrun with terrorist activity during the American and French-led G5 group’s tenure, between 2014-23 and Damiba did not seek to remove them. And so, though the above information does not offer definitive proof of a traitor, it does throw up many questions; questions that I’ll leave the reader to form and make their own judgement from…


Traore and Putin with other African leaders at the Russia-Africa Summit 2023

The dynamic coups swept across West Africa rapidly and it was quickly apparent in the streets of the capital cities of Ouagadougou, Niamey and Bamako, that the people were full of joy and hopeful of change. Russian flags started to appear at the rallies and billboards with support for Putin and Traoré were ever present. Russia’s fight in Ukraine against the Globalist Oligarchy seemed to align the country with the entire West African populace. The inevitable coup for Burkina Faso arrives in September 2022 and here enters Cpt. Ibrahim Traoré to the stage; a stage encased in fire and chaos and yet this young man was only 34 when he took power, faced with this seriously daunting task. He immediately showed his honor by rejecting the presidential salary and instead preferred to continue his commander salary from the Army and in doing so, made it easy to announce a pay cut of 30% for his now fellow government ministers and an increase of 50% in pay for civil servants. This was no power grab, these were the actions of a man with a real plan and vision for his nation and his first important plan for Burkina Faso, and regionally for the AES (A newly formed Alliance of Sahel States – Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali), includes the total defeat of terrorism in the Sahel region.

We need to make a list of all the achievements under his leadership that have set Burkina Faso on the path to peace by security and prosperity with economy.

In February 2023, he expelled the French forces assisting in fighting the local insurgency from Burkina Faso. “We really want to look at other horizons, because we want win-win partnerships” – Traoré.
In April 2023, he declared a general mobilization of the population to support the military. Already between October and November of 2022 a recruitment drive for the VDPs resulted in over 90,000 volunteers, exceeding the initial goal of 50,000. Under Traoré, the VDP’s role in military strategy has been significantly enlarged, not just as auxiliary forces but as a key element of the national defense strategy against terrorism.
On 29 July 2023, following the 2023 Russia–Africa Summit, Traoré said that the people of his country support Russia, and communicated that a decision had been made to reopen the Russian embassy, which was closed in 1992. In December, 2023 the Russian embassy was reopened.
In September 2023, he made the explosive announcement that Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger had come together to form the confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
He banned the use of British legal wigs and gowns in local courts in favor of traditional Burkinabé attire.
Since we are two years into President Ibrahim Traoré’s leadership, Burkina Faso has witnessed significant GDP growth. The country’s GDP has grown from approximately US$18.8 billion to US$22.1 billion.
Early on he made bold moves in rejecting the help of multinational lenders, the IMF and the World Bank stating firmly that “Africa doesn’t need the World Bank, IMF, Europe, or America”, showcasing his commitment to economic independence. This is spiritually paralleled in Sankara’s speech made to the United Nations General Assembly, 4th of October, 1984.
In November 2023, Burkina Faso’s Council of Ministers approved the construction of the country’s first gold refinery. The refinery is set to create 100 new jobs and 5,000 new indirect jobs, with the refinery producing roughly 400 kg of gold daily. A market-value equivalent of US$41,500,000 per day.
In February 2024, Traoré ordered the suspension of the issuance of export permits for small-scale private gold production, a move aimed at tackling illegal trade. According to the World Gold Council’s 2023 figures, Burkina Faso is the 13th-largest gold producer in the world, producing about 100 tonnes, equivalent to about US$6 billion in value, each year.
In March 2024, Burkina Faso and Russia signed a roadmap aimed at establishing cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Rosatom is leading the negotiations with the Government of Burkina Faso. In August, a delegation of technical experts from the Russian nuclear corporation arrived in Burkina Faso to negotiate the construction of a nuclear power plant.
In August 2024, Burkina Faso nationalized two gold mines at a cost of about US$80 million. The Boungou and Wahgnion mines were sold last year by London-listed Endeavour Mining to Lilium Mining for US$300 million. On August 27, the mines were purchased by Burkina Faso’s government.
In August 2024, Burkina Faso built its first pharmaceutical production plant, specializing in the production of generic drugs. Named Propharm and certified by an independent Spanish organization, it will start producing paracetamol 500 mg, phloroglucinol, an antispasmodic, as well as a “kit of oral rehydration salts and zinc, for the treatment of diarrhea”, explained Propharm’s General Manager, Armel Coéfé. “Our production capacity, at present, meets the local need and solves the problem of drastic rupture,” he added, noting that the list of molecules to be produced will grow, especially “with the production of drugs for the management of malaria.”
In August 2024, Moroccan group CIMAF inaugurated a new industrial unit in the Burkinabe capital, Ouagadougou. This opening comes as part of Morocco’s “win-win” strategy in its relations with African countries. This investment is likely to not only boost local manufacturing capabilities but also facilitate technology transfer and knowledge sharing between Morocco and Burkina Faso. More South-South cooperation like this will bolster the African economy long-term.
In November and December of 2024, the government, through APEC and Société Faso Tomates (SOFATO), facilitated the launch of two tomato processing units in Bobo-Dioulasso and Yako. These facilities have a combined capacity to process 11 tonnes of tomatoes per hour. One factory cost US$8.9m, covers 1 ha and has a processing capacity of 100 tonnes of tomatoes per day (5 tonnes of tomatoes per hour). The facility has created 100 direct jobs and more than 1,500 indirect jobs, with these numbers expected to rise as operations expand. Expected to generate 7 billion FCFA or US$12.1 million in the first year. In 2022 alone, the country produced 313,500 tonnes of fresh tomatoes, yet it imported around 23,600 tonnes of tomato puree due to a lack of local processing capacity.
In February 2025, a new flour mill with a daily capacity of 220 tonnes of flour and 80 tonnes of bran was inaugurated in Gampéla, Burkina Faso, as part of national efforts to boost domestic production and reduce reliance on wheat and flour imports. The Moulin Double Star Mill (M2S) was constructed by the Zidnaba Group at a cost of 15 billion CFA francs (US$23.6 million). Burkina Faso imported 270,300 tonnes of wheat and 16,700 tonnes of wheat flour to meet domestic demand in 2023. Burkina Faso does not yet produce wheat. The government announced in October the country had dedicated 5,000 hectares to the grain for the 2024-25 season to enhance food security and begin to reduce dependency on imports.
He distributed over 400 tractors, 239 tillers, 710 motor pumps and 714 motorcycles to boost production and support rural stakeholders. Access to improved seeds and other farm inputs was also provided to maximize agricultural output. As a result, tomato production increased from 315,000 tonnes in 2022 to 360,000 tonnes in 2024. Millet production rose from 907,000 tonnes in 2022 to 1.1 million tonnes in 2024, while rice production increased from 280,000 tonnes in 2022 to 326,000 tonnes in 2024.

In March 2025, Burkina Faso inaugurates a new cement plant, CISINOB SA, with 2,000 tonnes-per-day capacity. The plant is a mutually beneficial partnership between Burkina Faso and China. “It is with legitimate pride that I inaugurated today, March 20, 2025, in Laongo, the cement plant of CISINOB SA. With a production capacity of 2,000 tonnes per day, it will provide employment opportunities for hundreds of young people in our country,” Traoré stated on his official X handle


New Cement Plant in Burkina Faso

Now rebranded as SOFITEX, the reopening of the iconic FASO FANI textile factory in Koudougou, which once symbolized the nation’s industrial pride, has been completed this April, while two newly launched cotton processing plants in the economic hubs of Bobo-Dioulasso and Ouagadougou, equipped with modern equipment, have opened too. For years, the nation exported over 95% of its raw cotton without processing it locally.
In 2025, Burkina Faso’s President Ibrahim Traoré turned down Saudi Arabia’s offer to construct 200 masjids in his country, stating that Burkina Faso already has enough masjids. Instead, he requested that Saudi Arabia invests in infrastructure projects such as schools, hospitals, and job-creating businesses, which he believes are more crucial for the nation’s development and long-term sustainability.
In the essential department of infrastructure development, Traoré’s government is constructing new roads, widening existing ones and upgrading gravel roads to paved surfaces. A new state-of-the-art airport, the Ouagadougou-Donsin Airport, is also being built, expected to be completed in 2025 with a capacity to handle 1 million passengers annually.


Thomas Sankara (L) & Ibrahim Traore (R)

The spirit of Sankara is reborn…


President Ibrahim Traore in a Stadium of supporters

Ibrahim Traoré is a threat to the West because he is a true Pan-African leader, who wants to defeat terrorism and restore real, lasting sovereignty for the nation and security across its borders. Like Sankara before him and, as clearly witnessed in the achievements listed above, Traoré wishes to and has already begun restoring the national economy via the building of the productive powers that will unlock the value that has laid dormant due to the generational corruption. He dreams of a national education standard where every Burkinabe is not only literate in reading, writing and math but scientifically and culturally uplifted by knowledge too.

Left to succeed, he is a dangerous force for anyone who seeks to dominate or control Africa any longer. His 18 or more assassination attempts only succeed in increasing his popularity and icon and demonstrate the almighty fear he puts into those who want to continue the current status quo. Right now, the entire youth of Africa that has access to the internet, knows about this man and they wholeheartedly support his leadership with a renewed vigor. This was made apparent at a recent rally for the new President of Ghana, John Mahama (a fellow Pan-Africanist), when amongst other welcomed leaders, it was Traoré who received a celebrity like welcome from the crowd, with everyone celebrating his attendance like he was a superstar. The world would do well to watch this man because he is a star that only seeks to rise and with it, will rise a nation from the dust to the heavens…

Sankara poetically said this – “While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas”.

It would appear that Traoré is lit by the very same flame, so long may he light up this world with more visionary Pan-African ideas and may the African youth continue to unite around this Pan-African spirit…


Youth in Ouagadougou with Burkinabe and Russian Flags

Source: Nkrumah’s Africa

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2025/04/ ... f-sankara/

Message From Captain Ibrahim Traore to Africa and the African Diaspora
Posted by Internationalist 360° on April 30, 2025



Message From Captain Ibrahim Traore to Africa and The African Diaspora. April 30th Massive Protests

On April 30, 2025, Burkina Faso witnessed massive protests supporting Captain Ibrahim Traoré and opposing Western influence, particularly from France and the United States. These demonstrations were part of a broader African movement rejecting neo-colonialism and external interference.​

In response, Captain Traoré delivered a powerful message emphasizing national sovereignty and self-determination. He stated, “We either agree to fight for our country or we remain slaves forever,” highlighting the urgency for Africans to take control of their destiny.​

The protests and Traoré’s message reflect a growing sentiment across Africa advocating for autonomy and a reevaluation of foreign relationships. This movement underscores the desire among many Africans to assert their independence and chart a course free from external pressures.



Captain Ibrahim TRAORÉ
@CapitaineIb226

I would like to express my gratitude to all the peace-loving, freedom-loving patriots and pan-Africanists who rallied around the world on Wednesday April 30, 2025 to support our commitment and vision for a new Burkina Faso and a new Africa, free from imperialism and neo-colonialism.

Your active solidarity and this demonstration of sympathy reinforce our conviction that the struggle we are waging for a fairer and more equitable world is justified.

We will never bend our backs in the face of adversity; we will stand firm until our peoples are truly emancipated. With you, we are certain that victory over the forces of evil is at hand.

Together and in solidarity, we will triumph over imperialism and neo-colonialism for a free, dignified and sovereign Africa.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2025/04/ ... -diaspora/

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Algeria: Decolonizing the Mind, Liberating Water, Inventing the Future
Posted by Internationalist 360° on April 27, 2025
Elhabib Benamara


Taghit Oasis, Algeria | Image via LowImpact.or

Sixty years after its independence, Algeria stands at a crossroads. Though it has broken the political chains of colonialism, it remains shackled by invisible bonds: mental alienation, disastrous water management, and an economic model inherited from the colonial era. To survive — and truly live free — Algeria must undergo a revolution far deeper than that of arms: a decolonization of minds, infrastructures, and imaginaries.

Water: A Mirror of Alienation

In a country plagued by chronic drought and devastating floods, 90% of rainwater is lost each year to the sea and deserts. In Béchar, deep in the Sahara, newly built gas stations mechanically drain the rare rainfall into storm drains, treating water as waste. In Algiers, even mosques — places where people pray for rain — funnel rooftop water directly into the sewers.

This paradox reveals a deep fracture: the severed bond between humans and nature, a direct consequence of a colonial-era water infrastructure designed to drain rather than nourish. Indigenous hydraulic genius — foggaras, matmoras, traditional wells — has been abandoned in favor of costly, underutilized mega-dams.

Meanwhile:
– 3 to 4 billion dollars are spent each year on cereal imports, primarily wheat.
– 40% of agricultural land lies abandoned.
– Southern aquifers are being depleted to feed extractive industries.

Without water, there is no agriculture. Without agriculture, there is no food sovereignty. And without food sovereignty, there is no true independence.

The Aberration of Rainwater Drainage

One of the most devastating legacies of colonial-era management is the systematic drainage of rainwater toward the seas and deserts. Even in arid areas where every drop is precious, rainwater is funneled into storm drains, lost forever. This practice reflects a mindset that sees rain not as a blessing to be preserved, but as a nuisance to be eliminated.

Before any large urban water management strategy, Algeria must first adopt a philosophy of rainwater retention across its entire territory. From rural villages to the heart of cities, every building, every mosque, every public facility must be designed to capture, store, and wisely use rainwater.

If we preserve the raindrops where they fall, we will preserve life itself. And if we preserve life, we will no longer need to import sheep and grains to survive.

Silent Betrayal: The Architecture of Mimicry

Urban architecture also bears witness to this internal colonization. Over the past two decades, glass facades have spread across Algerian cities, even in the sahara, heralded as symbols of imported modernity — yet utterly unfit for local realities. Under more than 3,000 hours of sunlight per year and constant dusty winds, these buildings become energy-guzzling greenhouses with quickly dirtied surfaces.

As a result, 62% of public building electricity consumption during summer is absorbed by air conditioning (CREG, 2021). Glass curtain walls, incompatible with both the climate and the local culture of privacy, expose an identity crisis: a desperate desire to mimic the West, at any cost.

The South: Reservoir of Wealth or Internal Colony?

The South of Algeria, cradle of ancient African civilizations, today is not treated as an internal colony. Its hydrocarbons fund the state, and its inhabitants don´t live in neglect and poverty. Despite the fact that extractivist logic continues: gas drilling, pharaonic dams, and the abandonment of ancestral oases. Regenerating these oases should be the start point of a real indépendance.

Solutions: Building True Sovereignty

1. Decolonizing Water:
– Revive the foggaras: passively irrigate 200,000 hectares.
– Transform mosques into rainwater harvesting and eco-purification centers.
– Strengthen natural retention: rain gardens, infiltration basins, urban greening.

2. Reinventing Agriculture:
– Replace imported wheat with drought-resistant sorghum and millet.
– Develop Saharan agroecology: resilient oasis farming, traditional micro-irrigation.
– Create indigenous seed banks and establish oasis-based schools.

3. Rooted Architecture:
– Limit glazed surfaces to 30% in new constructions (DTR C3-4.7).
– Favor local materials: stone, rammed earth, compressed earth bricks.
– Integrate sunbreakers, vegetated loggias, and green roofs for bioclimatic comfort.

-To reconcile with nature by planting shead-giving trees and banning washingtonias in the desert.

4. Hydric and Ecological Federalism:
– Create a Climate Court to punish organized water waste.
– Impose decolonial building permits: mandatory rainwater collection and storage.
– Support community-led water and land management committees.

5. An Educational Revolution:
– Honor thinkers like Ibn Khaldoun, Ibn Badis, and Kateb Yacine in school curricula.
– Expand the teaching of Tamazight and Algerian Arabic in scientific education.
– Instill conservation values from early childhood through school gardens, hands-on workshops, and mosque-based awareness campaigns.

Conclusion: The Oath of the Drop

Without mastering water, there can be no sustainable economy, no food sovereignty, and no human life. The raindrop falling in the desert must no longer end in a drain — it must nourish the land, the roots, and the minds.

True decolonization is not nostalgia, nor mere rhetoric. It is a civilizational project: the ability to build an Algeria proud of its roots, inventive in its solutions, and courageous in facing climatic challenges.

Liberate water, liberate the land, liberate the mind — this is the triple revolution awaiting Algeria.

And as Kateb Yacine wrote:

“Our freedom will sprout when our wells cease to weep.”

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2025/04/ ... he-future/

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“Hands off AES!”: Solidarity protests sweep West Africa in defense of Burkina Faso and Captain Traoré

Recent aggression against the Sahel countries saw thousands across Africa rally in solidarity with Burkina Faso and Captain Ibrahim Traoré, denouncing foreign interference and imperialist destabilization.

April 30, 2025 by Nicholas Mwangi


Solidarity rally in Accra, Ghana on April 30. Photo: SMG

Thousands of Africans across the continent rallied today under the unified call of “Hands Off the AES!” to express their solidarity with Burkina Faso and its revolutionary leader, Captain Ibrahim Traoré. Demonstrations were held in Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Liberia, led by grassroots organizations and people’s movements. Protesters strongly condemned foreign interference and affirmed their support for the country’s resistance against imperialist destabilization.

Solidarity grows amid coup attempt
This continental wave of solidarity follows recent revelations by Burkina Faso’s military authorities that they had foiled a major coup attempt on April 21. The government described the plot as an effort to “sow total chaos” and reverse the country’s sovereign and revolutionary path under Traoré’s leadership.

“Under Captain Traoré, Burkina Faso has become a symbol of African dignity and resistance,” said the Socialist Movement of Ghana which co-organized the solidarity protest in Ghana. “We stand with the people of Burkina Faso who are fighting to reclaim their wealth and future from the clutches of neocolonialism.”

In Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, hundreds gathered in Nation Square waving Burkinabe flags in solidarity with their leader.

The SMG’s statement, strongly condemned what it called “acts of destabilization and assassination that reactionary forces have perpetuated” and global powers attempting to return Burkina Faso and other Alliance of Sahel States (AES) countries “to the humiliating control of France, the US and their NATO allies.”

The AES, a newly formed regional alliance between Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger has emerged as a symbol of West African resistance against neocolonialism. The alliance was formed after all three nations expelled French troops and ended military cooperation with former colonial powers.

US escalates pressure on AES
Adding fuel to the regional tension was the controversial statement by the US AFRICOM Commander General Michael Langley before the US Senate on April 3. Langley accused Captain Traoré of misusing the country’s gold reserves for personal protection. The general’s claims, paired with his recent visit to Côte d’Ivoire, an AES neighbor accused of sheltering coup plotters, have sparked outrage. Blaise Compaoré, the man widely condemned for betraying and orchestrating the assassination of revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara in 1987, continues to live in exile in Côte d’Ivoire under the protection of the Ivorian government.

“Langley demonizing Captain Traoré is a clear case of ‘give the dog a bad name and hang it,’” SMG said, comparing the current smear campaign to past Western tactics used to justify regime change in countries like Libya, Iraq, and even Ghana​.

The statement also linked the current destabilization efforts to a long history of Western attacks on independent African leaders: “Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkrumah, Amílcar Cabral, Thomas Sankara…Their only crime was to insist that their countries’ natural resources serve their people,” it read​.

A revolutionary path forward for Burkina Faso and the Sahel
Under Traoré, Burkina Faso has expelled French military forces, terminated exploitative agreements, rejected the CFA Franc, and redirected national wealth to grassroots development, including education, healthcare, and food security – all while facing illegal sanctions and external pressure​.

The SMG called on all Pan-Africanists and progressive forces to:

Condemn the coup attempt and foreign interference
Organize anti-imperialist demonstrations
Demand accountability from Côte d’Ivoire for hosting alleged coup plotters
Urge the African Union and ECOWAS to defend Burkina Faso’s sovereignty​
What is unfolding in the Sahel today represents a growing wind of change sweeping across Africa. This rising tide of defiance is an affirmation of African agency, pride, and the right to build systems that reflect the values, histories, and aspirations of its people.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/04/30/ ... in-traore/

[blindpig]

From Sankara to Traoré: continuing the legacy of anti-imperialist revolution in Burkina Faso
May 13, 2025 Colby Byrd


In Burkina Faso, tens of thousands rallied in support of interim President Ibrahim Traoré on April 30.

Right now, Burkina Faso sits again on the frontlines against U.S./western imperialism.

Prior to 2022, Burkina Faso was completely under the control of French neocolonial rule and oppression. The Burkinabe government — previously under the rule of Paul-Henri Damiba, a high-ranking officer of the Burkinabe military — allowed France to plunder the country for natural resources, including gold and uranium.

Under France’s “supervision” the military was not allowed to procure weapons to defend the country from attacks. Burkina Faso had to borrow weapons and ammunition from neighboring countries in order to respond to attacks by groups like the Nusra Front and Islamic State.

As a result, response times exceeded 72 hours before a counterattack could be mounted to defend the villages and people of Burkina Faso. France would also dictate if and when the Burkinabe military could respond and defend its territory.

This humiliating pattern of neocolonial domination was broken in September 2022 when Field Artillery Captain Ibrahim Traoré led a military coup ousting Damiba and many other French-backed officers and politicians. After the ousting of these puppet figures, Ibrahim Traoré and the new revolutionary government of Burkina Faso set out to erase all remnants of French rule.

They nationalized the country’s gold mines and set up its own gold refineries. Ibrahim Traoré personally ensured that education and health care for all people of Burkina Faso were accessible. The government also modernized the country’s infrastructure.

From modernizing the Thomas Sankara International Airport in Ouagadougou to paving fresh roads and purchasing state-of-the-art agricultural and medical machinery and equipment, the revolutionary government has invested the country’s newfound wealth back into the people.

These great strides were met with an outpouring of love from not only the people of Burkina Faso, but the greater community of the Black diaspora.

However, the West has not sat idly. U.S. General Michael Langley, the head of AFRICOM, declared Ibrahim Traoré a threat to the people of Burkina Faso. Langley lied, saying Traoré was using the country’s wealth for himself. The lie is meant to justify the schemes meant to create instability in Burkina Faso.

There have been multiple coups and assassination attempts against Ibrahim Traoré. Most recently, the intelligence services uncovered and foiled a coup attempt that was meant to take place on April 16. The coup was organized by current and former members of the Burkinabe military and government alongside the Islamic extremists whom the West backs.

After the coup was foiled, the government accelerated the necessary steps to reach a long-lasting, self-sustaining national defense industry. They have built factories to produce all forms of military hardware. These improvements in national defense have shortened response times to attacks to 18 hours at most.

Also, following the failed coup, the people of Burkina Faso took to the streets on April 30 to show massive support for Ibrahim Traore and the revolutionary government.

Burkina Faso has also gone about creating stronger alliances with its Sahel neighbors, namely creating the Alliance of Sahel States with Mali and Niger. Ibrahim Traoré has made it his mission to, in his own words, “finish what Thomas Sankara started.”

The Russian government has taken steps to aid in the defense of Burkina Faso and its new government, with the countries entering into mutual aid pacts and Russian military assets deployed to help defend government officials and buildings.

Ibrahim Traoré is a guiding light to all revolutionaries and a true leader for the Global South and Black people everywhere.

Power to Ibrahim Traoré and the Revolutionary government!
Rest in Power Thomas Sankara!
Long live the people of Burkina Faso!
Long live International Solidarity!

https://www.struggle-la-lucha.org/2025/ ... kina-faso/

*******

“Terrorism we are witnessing today comes from imperialism”, Burkina Faso’s President Ibrahim Traoré tells Putin

“In addition to defense and security, there is another important sphere, namely, science and education. We would like Russia to” teach science to young Burkinabes “so that we can develop our own production, industry, and engineering,” Traoré told Putin in their meeting after Victory Day.

May 12, 2025 by Pavan Kulkarni


Captain Ibrahim Traoré, President of Burkina Faso. Photo: Ibrahim Traoré/X

The “terrorism we are witnessing today comes from imperialism, and we are fighting it,” Burkina Faso’s charismatic president, 37-year-old Capt. Ibrahim Traoré told Vladimir Putin on May 10.

The Russian president in turn assured him, “We are united by a common goal of fighting terrorism and extremism. We will continue to help the Republic in… suppressing the radical (Jihadist) groups that are still active in certain parts of Burkina Faso.”

The leaders met in Moscow a day after attending the Victory Day Parade on May 9, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany by the Soviet Union in 1945.

European ingratitude amid tributes by the Global South
Except for Belarus, Serbia, Slovakia, and Republika Srpska, no other heads of state participated from Europe, whose liberation from Nazi occupation was in large part owing to the 27 million lives lost by the Soviet Union, suffering over a third of all casualties of World War II.

Referring to the war in Ukraine, the European Union issued a fatwa, warning, “Any participation in the 9th May parades or celebrations in Moscow will not be taken lightly on the European side.”

The US had also boycotted the commemoration. Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy even threatened that his government could not guarantee the security of foreign leaders attending the commemoration.

In defiance, state heads from 27 countries gathered in Moscow, mainly from the three continents of the Global South, including the presidents of seven African countries.

Why is Traoré in the limelight?
Traoré was among the most popular attendees, widely discussed in Russian media and on the African social media space, where he is compared to Burkina Faso’s first revolutionary socialist leader Thomas Sankara, often described in the West as “Africa’s Che Guevara”.

Traoré took power in late 2022 after the ouster of France-backed President Roch Kaboré that January, amid mass protests demanding the expulsion of French troops, ostensibly fighting terror groups that were only increasing their attacks and the territory under their control.

Within three months of taking power, he ordered the French troops out in January 2023, ensuring their withdrawal by February of that year.

After witnessing similar mass anti-French protests that led to the ouster of its President, domestically perceived as a French puppet, the popular military government of its northern neighbor Mali had also expelled French troops earlier in 2022.

Later in July 2023, Burkina Faso’s eastern neighbor Niger also took the same route. When threatened with war, Mali and Burkina Faso went to Niger’s defense. The military pact between the three made way for the establishment of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).

People of the three countries can now travel without passports across the borders, largely secured by the joint efforts of their defense forces under AES. To disrupt their stability, France is arming and financing the terror groups, which it helped spawn across the region by destroying Libya in 2011, the AES has accused.

“The terrorists are reinforced by many foreign fighters and trainers,” Traoré reiterated in an interview he gave jointly to RT News and Sputnik during his visit. “But what is their interest?” asked the interviewer. “It’s not really terrorism, it’s imperialism,” Traoré replied. “Their goal is to keep us in a state of permanent war so that we cannot develop and they can continue to plunder our resources.”

Nationalization
In a move against this plunder, Traoré has nationalized the country’s main gold mines, valued at USD 80 million. His government has established a state-owned mining company to which foreign corporations mining in the country, including Russian Nordgold, are required to share a 15% stake in their local operations, in addition to transferring technical know-how to Burkinabes.

To break out from the bottom of the value chain by expanding beyond the production of only raw materials, Traoré’s government has set up Burkina Faso’s first gold refinery and plants to process agricultural produce like tomatoes.

Farmers are supplied with tractors and fertilizers to increase agricultural output. Acknowledging that Russia’s wheat donation in 2023 was used to feed displaced Burkinabes, Traoré added in his interview, “We made a promise to President Putin that we no longer wish to be supplied with wheat because we are going to produce the wheat. And I’ll keep this promise because we have started to produce the wheat in [sufficient] quantities to satisfy the local demand.”

Further, his government disallowed ownership of farmlands by foreigners, reportedly nationalizing all rural land this February, less than a year after limiting the private ownership of urban real estate to prevent land grabbing and speculation.

Airport infrastructure is expanding. Mobile clinics have been set into motion to improve healthcare access.

In a step toward breaking free from CFA Franc, his government has also launched a national postal bank to reduce dependence on this neocolonial currency through which France continues to wield monetary influence over its former West African colonies.

“Africa’s Most Popular Leader”
These measures have won him praise and support not only in Burkina Faso and its AES neighbors but across Africa and the young Black population in the US and UK, to the point that even Western media has come to acknowledge it.

“Everyone who has experienced racism, colonialism, and slavery can relate to his messages,” Beverly Ochieng, senior researcher at a global consultancy firm called Control Risks, told the BBC. Enoch Randy Aikins of South Africa’s Institute for Security Studies added that he is “arguably Africa’s most popular” leader.

However, the policies that have won him such popularity have also provoked the domestic and global elite.

A regime change operation against Traoré?
Earlier last month, the Commander of US Africa Command (AFRICOM) Michael Langley accused Traoré of using the country’s gold reserves to “protect the Junta regime”, rather than for the benefit of its people.

Retorting, Traoré said in his interview that Langley “should look himself in the mirror” and “feel ashamed”, adding that for the first time, Burkina Faso has accumulated gold reserves in its treasury.

Soon after making this accusation – widely construed as a classic maneuver from the US regime-change playbook – Langley visited Ivory Coast, whose government, hostile to Burkina Faso and the AES, continues to protect the orchestrator of Sankara’s assassination, Blaise Compaoré.

Amid heightened apprehension among his supporters that the US was plotting against him, yet another military coup attempt against Traoré was foiled on April 21. In its aftermath, thousands of people rallied in his defense in several African countries, expressing solidarity with the Burkinabes and their leader.

His popularity was also evident in Moscow as several Africans living there flocked around him for selfies soon after he descended the red-carpeted stairs from a Russian jet on May 9, clad in his combat fatigues with a holstered sidearm, donning his iconic red beret.

On his visit to Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia (MUCTR), African students welcomed him with a standing ovation. “There are young talents, inventors, and scientists in our country… but sometimes they lack the mathematical knowledge to perfect their invention,” he told the students.

“Science and education is our fundamental objective”
“But if we have branches [of Russian universities] or develop cooperation in some other way… then young people will have everything they need to study,” he added, placing “special emphasis on the field of science and education” in advancing ties with Russia.

He reiterated this in his meeting with Putin later that day, attended also by Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, its Minister of Economic Development, the Deputy Chief of Staff, and Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, among others.

Traoré told them that “in addition to defense and security, there is another important sphere, namely, science and education. We would like Russia to help us educate our young people and teach them science so that we can develop our own production, industry, and engineering.” Calling for the opening of branches of Russian universities in Burkina Faso, he stressed, “This is our fundamental objective.”

“Unaware of their colonial history, many Africans are still asleep”
Putin opened this meeting after welcoming the Burkinabe delegates by acknowledging their country’s role in the victory over Nazism. “About 30,000 people from modern-day Burkina Faso fought as part of the anti-Hitler Coalition, in the Free France formations led by… General Charles de Gaulle,” Putin remarked.

“Some don’t even know that our grandparents fought – were put on the frontlines as cannon fodder,” Traoré recalled earlier in his interview, referring to the contribution of Africans from former French colonies to freeing France from Nazi occupation. “And when they returned, they were killed like animals” by France for demanding their own countries’ independence.

“All of this needs to be communicated so that young Africans understand. Because there are still many who are asleep, and continue to speak on behalf of the imperialists.”

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/05/12/ ... lls-putin/

[blindpig]

Africa’s Faustian Bargain with the International Monetary Fund

Decades of IMF interventions have locked African nations into cycles of debt, austerity, and economic dependency, stifling real development while reinforcing neocolonial control over the continent’s financial sovereignty.

13 May 2025



The artwork in this dossier illustrates the Faustian bargain that all African countries have to make, which comes at a cost to their financial, industrial, agricultural, and political sovereignty. The images are created by members of Tricontinental’s art department.

On 20 June 1960, Senegal won its independence from France. Two years later, on 31 August 1962, Senegal became a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Almost two decades after independence, in 1979, Senegal entered into an arrangement to gain credit in exchange for more IMF control over Senegal’s economy. From 1979, Senegal’s many governments have sought IMF assistance over twenty times over the forty-six years since then. The IMF arrangements have had different names: Extended Fund Facility, Extended Credit Facility, Standby Arrangements, Structural Adjustment Facility Commitment, Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility, Concessional Facility Arrangement, Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility, Exogenous Shock Facility, Rapid Credit Facility, Rapid Financing Instrument, and Standby Credit Facility. But their essence is the same: in exchange for the IMF’s help, including accessing funds from the private and public credit markets, the government of Senegal has had diminished sovereignty over its fiscal policy (Senegal’s power over its monetary policy has already been lessened by its use of the CFA franc).1

It was a Faustian bargain that all African countries made at some point in their history. Countries that had no established exchequers, poorly funded central banks, barely any control over their raw materials, and very low levels of industrialisation faced an uphill task after independence to build the integrity of their national economies and regional trade networks. They remained integrated in a neocolonial structure, which IMF interventions reinforced. They were discouraged from diverting their resources to build up human capacity or the industrial base of their economies.

At no point did the IMF interventions for Senegal, for instance, produce growth of a robust kind; an IMF study from 1996, after almost two decades of the same adjustment policies, noted, ‘While the policies pursued under these programs have contributed to a reduction in macroeconomic imbalances, economic growth has remained erratic and subdued, and savings and investment ratios have been relatively low’.2
In other words, there had been no development. Where there was growth, these studies acknowledge, it was largely sporadic and due to the rise of commodity prices. This commodity price-driven growth was not converted into net fixed capital since it was frequently used to pay off exorbitant debt payments, and to finance social welfare to prevent the large-scale collapse of society.

In an important 2002 report, the IMF acknowledged the problems of what it called ‘prolonged use’ of IMF resources.3
The report features two Asian countries (the Philippines and Pakistan) and one African country (Senegal). In the chapter on Senegal, IMF researchers wrote that the policy from 1979 to 2002 had been marked by ‘an incentive to “overpromise” on the pace of restoration of sustainability that stemmed from internal guidelines requiring that there be significant progress toward external viability by the end of three-year arrangements’.4
Furthermore, the overoptimism was blamed on ‘the heavy weight given to export-based indicators’, which meant that IMF staff reports ‘tended to downplay the extent of Senegal’s debt problems’. The report concluded that Senegal could not export its way out of the crisis. Yet, despite this startling admission it did not inform subsequent IMF policy – certainly not in the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility that ran from 2003 to 2006 in Senegal.

This dossier looks at the IMF’s long history with the fifty-four countries on the African continent, all of whom are IMF members. Here, we build on two previous dossiers on the general contours of Washington Consensus policy: Life or Debt: The Stranglehold of Neocolonialism and Africa’s Search for Alternatives (dossier no. 63, April 2023) and How Neoliberalism Has Wielded ‘Corruption’ To Privatise Life in Africa (dossier no. 82, November 2024). It also builds on our Inkani Books volume Can Africans Do Economics? (2024), edited by Grieve Chelwa.

In this dossier, we will turn our attention to the structural adjustment policies predating the first major bankruptcy in the Third World Debt Crisis (Mexico, 1982), and therefore, not in response to the financial chaos created by the rise of US interest rates after October 1979. The dossier draws on two case studies, from Kenya and Zambia, to illustrate our overall analysis, and the prolonged use of the same policies to stifle genuine development for Africans. While this dossier is largely critical of the IMF, our overall work from Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research is to build a theory of development that can produce genuine development. This theory is being built on the actual conditions that the African working class and peasantry require to drive forward their own dreams of emancipation, which are not the dreams of the IMF staff missions dispatched to our part of the world.

A Nightmare that Returns Every Night
From its formation in 1944, the IMF mainly focused on the provision of short-term finance to prevent countries, particularly in war-torn Europe beginning their reconstruction, from collapsing under the weight of balance-of-payments crises. This was illustrated by the IMF’s first loan, $25 million to France in 1947, which was intended to prevent a catastrophic devaluation of the franc. It was only after 1952 that the IMF began to consider longer-term financing, particularly in the Third World, but made this finance conditional on certain important changes in their policy orientation. For instance, through the newly developed Stand-By Arrangement (SBA), the IMF would provide short-term and longer-term funding to a Third World country if it would reduce its budget deficits (‘fiscal consolidation’), control inflation (‘monetary policy adjustments’), and conduct important structural reforms, such as privatising state functions and creating market conditions that favoured the private sector (‘enhance competitiveness’). The IMF grant to Chile in 1955 for $12.5 million was the first to be structured through the SBA and to demand conditions. Chile’s main revenue earner was copper exports, which were in high demand in those years due to rebuilding after World War II. Chile had little problem paying off this first SBA, which set an IMF precedent to demand payment and reject the strategy of debt forgiveness.5

The conditions imposed for taking IMF loans produced an almost immediate backlash from populations unwilling to accept austerity conditions for themselves to pay off badly structured loans. Anti-IMF protests took place in Greece (1953) and Argentina (1956), where governments put their relationship with Western creditors and the IMF ahead of their own people. It is important to absorb the politics of this moment: while the IMF set up a policy framework around conditions to enforce the modernisation of the Third World, it accepted fairer rules for Western allies such as the Federal Republic of Germany. It was detailed in the February 1953 Agreement on German External Debts that Germany was to reconcile its debts in its national currency, and it was forbidden from using more than 5% of its export revenues to service its debt. They also benefitted from a preferential interest rate capped at a maximum of 5%.6
It was clear by the late 1950s that the IMF policy logic was to ensure that newly independent countries, largely in the Global South, remained within a neocolonial economic structure. They could not try to enforce their sovereignty, and only those with fealty to the Western security apparatus would be given any leeway regarding the rules.

The IMF did not have an active role on the African continent until the decolonisation process fully set in. In 1962, the first SBA for an African country was a loan to Egypt. A string of SBAs followed, going mostly to North African states (Morocco, 1963; Tunisia, 1964; Algeria, 1966) and to the newly free states of Ghana (1966) and Kenya (1967). Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah refused to engage with the IMF, understanding that it would interfere with national sovereignty; it was only after the coup d’état against Nkrumah that the new military government went to the IMF. Jomo Kenyatta, meanwhile, went to the IMF only because Kenya had emerged from colonialism through a bloody and destructive war that wrecked its economy. Immense fluctuations in the prices of tea and coffee, the country’s main exports, exacerbated a difficult situation. None of these states approached the IMF enthusiastically. They knew its problems from the first. In his landmark 1965 book Neocolonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism, Nkrumah described multilateral aid through international organisations such as the IMF as a neocolonialist trap. ‘These agencies have the habit’, Nkrumah wrote, ‘of forcing would-be borrowers to submit to various offensive conditions, such as supplying information about their economies, submitting their policy and plans to review by the World Bank, and accepting agency supervision of their use of loans’.7

Due to the lack of credible alternatives, in some cases African countries have also sought long-term aid for large-scale projects from the World Bank and the IMF. Over the 1952–2023 period, almost half of the commitments the IMF made were to African countries, largely due to the lack of continental alternatives.8
By 2023, the continent’s total external debt was estimated by the African Development Bank to be $1.152 trillion, with annual debt service payments of $163 billion (up from $61 billion in 2010).9
The African Export-Import Bank’s State of Play of Debt Burden in Africa 2024 pointed to several key factors: already high debt levels, rising particularly fast from private creditors, and the cost of borrowing attached to external debt growing ‘markedly’.10
Compounding the situation, low domestic saving rates (mostly due to rising austerity and inflation) and a lack of control over raw material extraction and export have left many African countries in a serious monetary spiral. Each year, therefore, when the IMF study team arrives in any of the fifty-four capitals across the continent, the nightmare of IMF arrogance begins anew and the noose of conditions, austerity, low savings, more borrowing, and greater debt whips populations into despair.



Africa’s Institutions
To prevent the ‘neocolonial trap’, Nkrumah and others insisted upon the need to create robust African institutions both to generate political unity and to build economic integration across the rich African continent. The Organisation for African Unity (OAU) set the process in motion in 1963, followed by the Monrovia Declaration (1979), the Lagos Plan of Action (1980), the Abuja Treaty (1991), the Sirte Declaration (1999), and the African Union’s Agenda 2063 (2013). Central to this process was the recognition of the need for regional cooperation (through the building of Regional Economic Communities or RECs), a continental free trade area, and the creation of a system of monetary unification (including perhaps a continental currency). For monetary unity, African countries agreed to build an African Central Bank, an African Investment Bank (AIB), a Pan-African Stock Exchange, and an African Monetary Fund, with 2016 and 2018 being the target establishment dates for the latter three. None of these institutions have seen the light of day.11

Given the grip of colonial powers on the African continent, monetary policy was not devolved to the colonies until the last decades of colonial rule. In some cases, as with former French colonies, this foreign grip persisted after independence. Very few African states developed central banks (the first was in South Africa – a country subject to colonialism of a special type – in 1921). In 1931, Emperor Haile Selassie closed the old, private Bank of Abyssinia and established a modern Bank of Ethiopia, which could have become an important initiative in central banking on the continent, but it was shut down after the Italian invasion in 1935. Following Ghana’s independence in 1957, the new government in Accra set up the Bank of Ghana, but its sovereignty was constrained by the IMF in 1966 (after the coup that removed Nkrumah). Given the paucity of funds on the continent due to colonial plunder, the early central banks became institutions to attract finance rather than nodes for either long-term monetary planning or for any direct social goal (such as to advocate for full employment). The experience of independent central banking has, therefore, not been significant enough and has partially led to a lack of confidence in creating an African Central Bank or African Investment Bank (AIB). It is important to record that the AIB was envisaged to be in Tripoli, Libya, with initial funds coming from the oil sales of a Libyan sovereign wealth fund. The overthrow of the government of Muammar al-Gaddafi in 2011 has suspended that conversation.12

Of the three institutions, the African Monetary Fund has held the most promise. In a key study from 1985 by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the authors wrote that because there is ‘no unified monetary system in Africa, individual central banks find it difficult to respond effectively to the vagaries of the international monetary situation’.13
Because Africa’s central banks ‘hardly consult each other on monetary policy’, the report continued, and there is an absence of any other mechanism for consultation, ‘the continent needs a regional institution’. The authors of the study went on to indicate six problems:

The diminishing power of domestic monetary policy to cope with the current economic crisis.
The growing influence of external factors on such policies.
The drastic decline in Africa’s export earning capacity and the consequent depletion of countries’ foreign exchange reserves.
Mounting balance-of-payments deficits and the resulting slowing or stopping of development growth.
Increasing interest rates and other charges on external borrowing.
Growing external debt, which has cumulatively created a vicious circle out of which many African economies have been unable to emerge.
Unless there are major changes, the report notes, ‘it is estimated that Africa’s economic situation will be worse at the end of this century than it is now’.14
This is a clearsighted message. Forty years later, an analogous statement about the 21st century could be made.

African Continental Free Trade Area
One of the most serious impediments to the creation of these continental arrangements is the low level of intra-African trade, itself caused by low manufacturing and processing capacity in most countries.15
Low levels of integration are caused by the high export levels of unprocessed and manufactured raw materials to other continents and the consequent import of goods from outside Africa. Africa’s share of global manufacturing fell from 1.9% in 1980 to 1.5% in 2010) and it is declining (in sub-Saharan Africa, manufacturing’s share of GDP fell from 13% in 2000 to 10% in 2017).16
The situation is so dire that the OAU (now the African Union, or AU) proclaimed in July 1989 that 20 November would be celebrated as Africa Industrialisation Day (which was then adopted by the United Nations).17
In 2012, the AU member states began to negotiate an African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which was then agreed upon in 2018. There is immense enthusiasm for the treaty because its territorial area includes over 1.3 billion people with a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion.18
However, South Africa and Nigeria – Africa’s first and fourth largest economies – threaten the viability of the AfCFTA because they are putting their national interests ahead of continental interests.

The AfCFTA has an enormous task ahead. Currently, intra-African trade only accounts for 15% of total trade in the region.19
Some of this has to do with the colonial shape of the continent’s infrastructure, which was first understood to be an obstacle in the initial two decades of independence. In most African countries, roads and railways had been designed to carry goods from mines and fields to ports and to link provincial centres with colonial capitals. Little other infrastructure existed. Reconstructing transportation networks remains expensive, so a range of continental initiatives, such as Trans-African Highways Bureau (1971); Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Policy Programme (1987); Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (2012); and the African Integrated High Speed Railway Network (2013), have not been able to advance. The most credible estimate suggests that African countries will need to raise $130 billion to $170 billion per year to begin dealing with the infrastructure gap.20
Despite the potential benefits of this investment, private investment is simply unavailable, and public investment has been squeezed dry. African countries have begun to rely upon various global initiatives, such as China’s Belt and Road Initiative (2013), the European Union’s Global Gateway (2021), and the G-7 countries’ Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (2022).



Case Studies: Kenya and Zambia
Kenya
On 18 June 2024, mass youth-led protests broke out across Kenya, culminating in the storming of the Kenyan Parliament seven days later. The Finance Bill of 2024, a piece of legislation that proposed a slew of tax measures that would grant concessions to the wealthy and multinational corporations at the expense of Kenya’s poor, was being contested.21
The bill sought to raise government revenues by levying additional taxes on food (such as eggs, potatoes, bread, and vegetable oil), public transportation, sanitary towels, and mobile money transactions – the kinds of goods and services vital to the welfare of Kenya’s working class.22
Although the bill was ostensibly sold as being the brainchild of Kenya’s National Treasury, it was effectively the result of a financing arrangement that the Kenyan government had entered into with the IMF in April 2021. Many of the young protestors on the streets were aware of this fact and, therefore, in some circles, the protests were known as ‘anti-IMF’ demonstrations. On 27 June 2024, two days after the protesters stormed parliament, President William Ruto announced the withdrawal of the bill along with the dismissal of his entire cabinet, including Finance Minister Njuguna Ndung’u. President Ruto’s actions were unprecedented in Kenyan history.

Kenya’s historic anti-IMF protests flew in the face of many, including the IMF, which had been arguing for some time that it had reformed from its insistence on the anti-poor austerity that had been a defining feature of its interventions in the 1980s and 1990s. For example, in 2016, the IMF published a remarkable essay titled ‘Neoliberalism: Oversold?’, presenting a partial critique of the defining tenets of neoliberalism. The authors wrote:

There is much to cheer in the neoliberal agenda… However, there are aspects of the neoliberal agenda that have not delivered as expected. Our assessment of the agenda is confined to the effects of two policies: removing restrictions on the movement of capital across a country’s borders (so-called capital account liberalisation); and fiscal consolidation, sometimes called ‘austerity’, which is shorthand for policies to reduce fiscal deficits and debt levels. An assessment of these specific policies (rather than the broad neoliberal agenda) reaches three disquieting conclusions:

The benefits in terms of increased growth seem fairly difficult to establish when looking at a broad group of countries.
The costs in terms of increased inequality are prominent. Such costs epitomise the trade-off between the growth and equity effects of some aspects of the neoliberal agenda.
Increased inequality in turn hurts the level and sustainability of growth. Even if growth is the sole or main purpose of the neoliberal agenda, advocates of that agenda still need to pay attention to the distributional effects.23
The IMF concluded: ‘Policymakers, and institutions like the IMF that advise them, must be guided not by faith, but by evidence of what has worked’.24

As one would expect, this publication caused a stir in the finance and economics world. The economist Rick Rowden argued that the IMF had dropped ‘a political bombshell’ and that their critique of neoliberalism was akin to ‘the Pope declaring that there is no God’.25
Mark Weisbrot, the co-director of the Centre for Economic Policy and Research (CEPR), jokingly said it was as if Donald Trump had written an op-ed with the title ‘Insulting Your Opponents: Oversold?’.26
More importantly, some came to see the IMF’s mea culpa as signalling a hopeful change in how the fund would conduct its affairs going forward. These hopes were urged on by comments from Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF’s managing director since 2019, who remarkably warned against ‘the suffocating force of austerity’.27

In this section, we closely study two relatively recent forays of the IMF into Africa to determine whether the fund has truly reformed in ways that would support widely held aspirations for sovereignty. Specifically, we study the financial terms of two major programmes agreed with Kenya (in April 2021) and Zambia (in September 2022).

The IMF and Kenya
At the beginning of the last decade, Kenya’s economy was heralded as one of Africa’s rising stars by The Economist.28
Encouraged by such positive press and IMF advice to diversify the sources of its credit, the country went on a borrowing binge that saw its external debt stock rise by over 300%, from $7 billion in 2010 to $34 billion in 2020.29
The World Bank’s International Debt Statistics shows that debt service payments grew from $90 million in 2010 to $1.2 billion from in 2020.30
With such an unsustainable debt profile, the Kenyan economy was predictably sent into an economic tailspin with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.

On 19 March 2021, Kenya’s Minister of Finance Ukur Yatani and Central Bank Governor Patrick Njoroge jointly wrote a letter addressed to the IMF’s Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in which they pleaded for immediate assistance to weather mounting debt service costs, a declining economy, and the global pandemic. Their letter explicitly stated: ‘we wish to request a [three-year financing] arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) [totalling] USD2.3 billion’.31

Yatani and Njoroge went on to argue that the loan, if granted, would fill Kenya’s ‘fiscal and external financing gaps’ and restore the country to economic health in record time. Georgieva promptly presented the letter to the IMF’s executive board for consideration along with a detailed report on the state of the Kenyan economy that had been prepared by IMF economists. Two weeks later, on 2 April 2021, Georgieva announced in Washington that they had favourably considered Kenya’s request and granted the country the full amount that had been requested.

However, lost in all the celebrations was the fact that the IMF had structured the loan so that Kenya would not receive the $2.3 billion in one fell swoop but would do so in instalments over a three-year period.32
Executive board approval meant that a sum of $307 million was immediately made available to the country, but the balance of some $2 billion would only be released after Kenya satisfied the IMF’s conditions.33

What were these conditions? First, the lynchpin of the programme would be fiscal consolidation achieved through tax increases and spending cuts. On the spending side, the IMF wanted to see a drastic reduction in Kenya’s primary fiscal balance from a deficit of 5% of GDP in 2021 to a surplus of 0.2% of GDP by 2024, virtually wiping out billions of dollars in government expenditure over a very narrow window of only three years. On the tax side, the IMF wanted Kenya to increase its tax-to-GDP ratio, a measure of the efficiency of tax collection, from 12.9% of GDP in 2021 to 15.6% by 2024.34
Generally, increases in tax collection efficiency are desirable as they can afford the state the necessary resources to invest in social sectors. In this case, however, the majority of the increases in tax efficiency would have to be borne by increases in taxes, such as on wages, VAT, mobile financial services, and so on, which disproportionately affect the working class. Taxes levied on Kenya’s private sector and on multinational corporations were left virtually unchanged.

The second part of the programme required so-called structural and governance reforms. On the structural reforms side, the IMF argued that subsidies to Kenya’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were adding an unnecessary burden to the country’s finances. Accordingly, the fund wanted to see reduced government support to the following SOEs: Kenya Railways, Kenya Airways, Kenya Ports Authority, Kenya Airports Authority, Kenya Power, Kenya Electricity Generating Company, and Kenya Ports Authority. Also earmarked for spending cuts were Kenya’s three largest public universities. The IMF also wanted the government to strengthen its anti-corruption framework, having identified corruption as a driver of Kenya’s fiscal problems.35

The final part of the programme addressed monetary arrangements. The IMF required the Central Bank of Kenya to move from accommodative monetary policy (lower interest rates) to tighter monetary policy (higher interest rates) over the medium term. These conditions were to be strictly monitored via quarterly assessments by the IMF. Failure to deliver on some or all of them risked jeopardising the programme and the suspension of further disbursements. This point is important given the verbal sleight of hand. The programme was billed as the Kenyan authorities’ programme. Why did it require such close monitoring, and why was it tied to financial disbursements if it was wholly designed and owned by the Kenyan government?

As voluminous literature has established, the IMF’s conditions were anti-growth, anti-poor, and, importantly, anti-development. Unsurprisingly, even though the ECF/EFF was meant to run until April 2024 (three years), the Kenyan authorities requested an extension, additional funds, and a new loan facility under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).36
The RSF came with another round of conditions that were similar to the previous arrangements. In other words, even though austerity had not worked under the ECF and EFF, the Kenyan government bizarrely asked for more austerity in the hope that the additional dose would somehow work.

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Zambia
Zambia was one of the countries that was seen as being on the verge of take-off at the beginning of the second decade of the twenty-first century. The forecast for the price of copper (the country’s mainstay) was hopeful owing to the increased demand for the commodity coming from a growing China. In 2011, Zambia obtained its first Fitch sovereign credit rating, giving it the license to borrow on international capital markets. Zambia’s external debt increased by an incredible 1,100% from $1 billion in 2011 to $12 billion at the end of 2019.37
Debt service payments ballooned from $67 million in 2011 to $1 billion in 2019, consuming 16% of the national budget from just 2% in 2011.38
Given the similarity of Zambia’s debt trajectory to that of Kenya, it was not surprising that when the COVID-19 shock arrived, Zambia’s economy, much like Kenya’s, plummeted. In November 2020, a couple of months after the onset of the pandemic, Zambia ceased interest payments on its external debt and became the first country in the COVID-19 era to enter into debt default.

Like Kenya, Zambia looked to the IMF for assistance. Two years into the default, on 8 August 2022, Zambia’s Minister of Finance Situmbeko Musokwatane and Central Bank Governor Denny Kalyalya wrote an urgent letter addressed to IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva:

the Zambian Government requests the IMF’s support [under] this policy programme… The request is for financial assistance through a [three-year] arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF), covering the period 2022 to 2025, in an amount of [$1.2 billion] … This financial support and the catalytic impact of the Fund programme would help us address our pressing balance of payments needs (totalling $11 billion over 2022–25) and support our reform agenda. We intend to use half of the IMF financing as budget support and the other half to rebuild buffers by boosting the country’s international reserve position.39

As in Kenya’s case, the request was approved. Two weeks later, on 31 August, the IMF’s executive board immediately gave the Zambian government access to $185 million, with the remainder of about $1.1 billion to be disbursed over three years and tied, like the Kenyan case, to conditions.



In deriving Zambia’s conditions, the IMF saw the objectives of the new ECF as follows:

The proposed ECF-supported programme aims to restore macroeconomic stability and foster higher, more resilient, and more inclusive growth… and is tailored to addressing Zambia’s most pressing macroeconomic challenges, namely (i) restoring sustainability through fiscal adjustment and debt restructuring; (ii) creating fiscal space for social spending to cushion the burden of adjustment; and (iii) strengthening governance and reducing corruption vulnerabilities, including by improving public financial management. The programme will seek to ensure that monetary and exchange rate policies support the restoration of macroeconomic stability, international reserves return to adequate levels, and the financial sector remains stable.40

Zambia’s programme, like Kenya’s, had three objectives: fiscal austerity, structural and governance reforms, and, finally, monetary reforms. In terms of austerity, Zambia’s ECF was much more aggressive than Kenya’s, requiring ‘a large, front-loaded, and sustained fiscal consolidation’ between 2022 and 2025.41
Specifically, the IMF wanted to see the fiscal deficit reduced from 6% of GDP at the beginning of 2022 to a fiscal surplus of 3.2% of GDP in 2025.42

This drastic fiscal consolidation had two sides: expenditure reductions and tax increases. On the expenditure side, the IMF wanted the Zambian government to reduce public expenditure in the billions of dollars from 2022 to 2025. They demanded an immediate stop to new capital expenditure (on public goods such as roads and power stations) and a reduction or elimination of expenditure favourable to the poor and working class. In the latter category, the IMF wanted the government to abolish fuel and electricity subsidies, although this would lead to cost-of-living increases.43
Crucially, the IMF singled out the highly successful Farm Input Support Programme (FISP), which had been introduced in 2002 and had greatly aided Zambia’s food sovereignty by providing input support to millions of peasant farmers. The IMF required the government to reduce its funding to the FISP from 3% of GDP at the beginning of 2022 to 1% of GDP by 2025. A recent analysis has argued that this decision is largely responsible for the hunger crisis that enveloped Zambia in 2024 and continues to the present day.44

Revenue increases accounted for the other side of the fiscal consolidation. Here, as in the Kenyan case, the burden of the increases was to be borne largely by the poor through higher taxes on wages and through a reduction in the number of goods that had been zero-rated for purposes of value-added tax (VAT). As is well known, VAT is a regressive tax in the sense that it impacts the poor more than the rich, and governments will often charge a VAT rate of zero on some necessities to protect the poor. In this case, the IMF recommended the removal of such exemptions. Taxes on corporate profits and especially profits realised from Zambia’s giant multinational mining houses were hardly changed and in some cases were reduced.

A second part of the IMF’s conditions focused on structural and governance reforms. As in Kenya, the IMF targeted Zambia’s SOEs. Key among these was the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO), whose implicit subsidy the IMF wanted the government to eliminate, which would increase electricity tariffs charged to poor households. Further, the IMF wanted the government to begin drawing up plans for the possible privatisation of the electricity utility or, at the very least, unbundle it into smaller units that would be easier to manage.

A final part of the IMF programme, concerned with the conduct of monetary policy, encouraged monetary tightening (raising of interest rates), a scenario that would affect the cost of credit across the economy.

The above conditions were to be closely monitored via semi-annual reviews which tied satisfactory performance to the release of further disbursements of the ECF loan. Just as in the Kenyan case, the IMF referred to the programme of conditions as ‘homegrown’, another verbal sleight of hand meant to hoodwink readers into thinking the policy prescriptions were autonomously derived by the Zambian government. Unsurprisingly, the Zambian economy has struggled to recover during the life of the ECF loan. The current loan is set to expire in October 2025, and the minister of finance recently suggested that he would ask the IMF for an extension and augmentation of the loan in a similar fashion to Kenya.45

The Kenyan and Zambian case studies show that IMF austerity is alive and well despite the organisation’s protestations to the contrary, a reality that is widespread across the Global South. A 2021 study from the International Labour Organization (ILO) found that the IMF was tragically still requesting austerity as a precondition for assistance during the worst months of the COVID-19 pandemic.46
A new book from political economists Alexandros Kentikelenis and Thomas Stubbs entitled A Thousand Cuts (2023) has found that the only consistent aspect of IMF lending policy over the period from 1980 to 2019 has been its insistence on austerity, especially in the poorest countries.47

Rather than engendering development and enhancing sovereignty, the IMF’s forays into Africa continue to impoverish the continent while eroding national sovereignty and its broader continental project. Senegal, where we began this dossier, sits at a crossroads. A government audit shows that the previous administration misreported data, which reflected far lower debt burdens and budget deficits. This means that the loans were secured on false presumptions.48
The IMF, therefore, has suspended the $1.8 billion credit facility to the country. Now, the government of Diomaye Faye, which came to power with a progressive mandate, will seek a new IMF loan in June.49
Will other paths open up for Senegal, or will it be fated to trudge through the IMF debt-austerity agenda that has plagued countries of the Global South for decades?



(Notes at link.)

https://thetricontinental.org/dossier-f ... mf-africa/

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A Language of Blood Has Gripped Our World: The Twentieth Newsletter (2025)

Sudan’s forgotten civil war has killed at least 150,000 and displaced nearly 13 million. Understanding its political details is key to tracing the causes and potential solutions to the conflict.

15 May 2025


Dahlia Abdelilah Baasher (Sudan), Untitled, n.d.

Dear friends,

Greetings from the desk of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research.

Over the past weeks, international focus has no doubt been on the escalation between India and Pakistan, which we will write more about once the dust settles. Though none of the armies crossed the border or the Line of Control, concern is nonetheless understandable: both countries wield nuclear weapons in their arsenal. Now, there has effectively been a return to the ceasefire of 1948, which has lingered in the decades since without a proper and full peace treaty. International attention has also rightly remained on the genocide in Palestine, with Israelis tightening the total siege on Gaza, perhaps as vengeance for Palestinians’ return to northern Gaza on 27 January 2025 in total defiance of the genocidal war.

Meanwhile, some conflicts, like the ongoing war in Sudan, have been almost utterly forgotten. That is the focus of this newsletter, built through conversations with humanitarian workers and Sudanese political figures. The argument that this war is bewildering and that there are no easy explanations for it is a reflection of the racism of our reportage that sees conflicts in Africa as inexplicable and interminable. There are, of course, causes for the war, which means that there are ways for it to end. One must set aside the language of blood that has gripped our world and find instead the political details within which reside the possibility of peace.


Rashid Diab (Sudan), Untitled, 2016.

Two years ago, the fragile but hopeful peace in Sudan was broken when the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – both arms of the Sudanese state – went to war with each other. The second anniversary of this war was commemorated on 11 April 2025 with a ghastly RSF attack on the Zamzam refugee camp in North Darfur. As Hawa, a mother of three who survived the attack, recounted, ‘bombs were falling on the hospital. … Those of us who survived left with only our children on our backs’.

By 16 April, the camp – which had once housed half a million refugees – was destroyed, leaving hundreds dead and the rest to flee to nearby El Fasher and Tawila. In two years of fighting, at least 150,000 people have been killed and nearly 13 million – over one fifth of Sudan’s population of 51 million – displaced. This ongoing catastrophe appears utterly senseless to most Sudanese people.

Everything appeared differently on 11 April 2019, six years before the Zamzam massacre, when longtime President Omar al-Bashir was deposed by a mass movement and, eventually, the military. The protests against al-Bashir’s government first began in December 2018 over inflation and an escalating social crisis. Unable to answer to the people, al-Bashir could not sustain his rule – even by force – particularly when the Sudanese military turned against him (as the Egyptian military had turned against their country’s president, Hosni Mubarak, in 2011). Al-Bashir was overthrown by what later became known as the Transitional Military Council, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan with the assistance of Lieutenant General Mohamed ‘Hemedti’ Hamdan Dagalo.


Galal Yousif (Sudan), A Peaceful Revolution, 2021.

The groups that led the protests on the ground formed a coalition called Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC). The FFC included the Sudanese Communist Party, National Consensus Forces, Sudanese Professional Association, Sudan Revolutionary Front, Women of Sudanese Civic and Political Groups, and many Sudanese resistance or neighbourhood committees. Pressured by FFC-led protests, the military signed an agreement in mid-2019 to oversee a transition to a civilian government.

With the assistance of the African Union, the Transitional Sovereignty Council was set up, composed of five military and six civilian members. The council appointed Abdalla Hamdok (born in 1956) as the new prime minister and Nemat Abdullah Khair (born in 1957) as the chief justice. Hamdok, a quiet diplomat who had done very important work at the Economic Commission for Africa, seemed well suited for his role as a transitional prime minister. Khair, a lifelong judge who joined the protest movements against al-Bashir, struck the right tone as a competent head of the judiciary. The door to a new future seemed to open for Sudan.


Abu’Obayda Mohamed (Sudan), March of Millions, 2021.

But, before long, Sudan fell prey to the pressures of its own history. In 2021, after several failed coups, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan took power, ostensibly to defend the transition but in reality to bring in al-Bashir’s people back from isolation and into government. Revolutions are frequently interrupted by returns of the old regime, whose grip on the armed forces and on society is never so easily shrugged off. The two military men – al-Burhan and Hemedti – knew that any pursuit of justice against the government of al-Bashir would strike them hard, since they had been the hammer of his regime (Hemedti’s forces, known colloquially as the Janja’wid – or ‘devils on horseback’ – were implicated in human rights violations during al-Bashir’s campaign in Darfur). Equally importantly, the two men and their coterie had material interests at stake, including control over the Sudanese gold mines in Darfur and Kordofan.

With men such as these, fear of the gibbet and hunger for greater bounty are paramount. A genuine transfer of power requires a complete break with the old society, which is difficult to achieve unless the military collapses or is thoroughly reconstructed in the image of the new society rather than with the elements of the old. Both al-Burhan and Hemedti pushed against this transition and – with swift repression against the mass movements, especially trade unions and communists – secured power in Khartoum.


Reem Aljeally (Sudan), Entwined, 2022.

When a gaggle of ruffians forms a group for any country, it should worry all its people. In 2021, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States formed the ‘QUAD for Sudan’ with the alleged purpose – they announced – of returning the country to democracy. Sudan sat on the knife’s edge of geopolitical intrigue as accusations began to fly about how the counter-revolutionary military in Sudan had begun to develop close relations with Russia. In 2019, al-Bashir discussed a deal that would have allowed Russia to build a naval base on the Red Sea, which would have given the country a foothold on the African continent. The fall of al-Bashir jeopardised the base’s existence, which was again reopened when his old team returned to power. This brought Sudan into the crosshairs of the growing conflict between the West and Russia, as well as among the Gulf Arab monarchies.

When a country gets caught up in other countries’ entanglements, its own problems become hard to discern. Within the ruling clique of the military and the al-Bashir remnants, a disagreement began to swell over the integration of the armed forces and the division of the spoils. On the surface, they seemed to be arguing about the timeline for a return to civilian government, but in fact the dispute was about military power and control over resources.


Salah Elmur (Sudan), The Road to the Fish Market, 2024.

These internal power struggles eventually boiled over into the 2023 civil war, an inevitable struggle that has all the hallmarks of a proxy war, with the SAF backed by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the RSF backed by the United Arab Emirates, and other outside actors pulling strings behind the scenes. Talks continue here and there, but they are not moving forward at all. The war seems to have its own logic, with the SAF’s 300,000 troops unable to make major gains against 100,000 highly motivated RSF soldiers. Endless resources from gold sales and outside support could keep this war going on forever, or at least until most of the world forgets that it is taking place (like the forgotten wars in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and along Myanmar’s frontiers).

The United Nations keeps making statements as various human rights groups plead for further pressure on both the SAF and RSF. But nothing has been forthcoming. Even the peace talks are divided: the Emiratis and the Egyptians are brokering some in Cairo while the Saudis held others in Jeddah and the British decided to create yet others in London. It is not clear who is talking to whom and about what.


Amna Elhassan (Sudan), Hair and Love, 2019.

The most active attempt to broker a peace deal came from the African Union (AU) in January 2024 with the creation of the High-Level Panel for Sudan (HLP-Sudan). The panel is chaired by Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, a Ghanian diplomat who was the African Union-United Nations special representative for Darfur and head of the AU-UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) from 2012 to 2014. He knows both generals and is aware of the complexity of the situation in Sudan. The other two panel members are Dr. Specioza Wandira-Kazibwe, a former vice president of Uganda, and Ambassador Francisco Madeira of Mozambique, a former AU special representative to Somalia and head of the AU mission in that country. The HLP-Sudan is working with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) – East Africa’s regional body – to get the two sides to the table for a ceasefire agreement and then ultimately a deal.

Importantly, the HLP-Sudan met with a range of people from across the country’s political spectrum, including members of political parties, the military, and civil society groups. Many of them were signatories of the 2020 Juba Peace Agreement, which also included warring factions from Darfur, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile. But the negotiators face a problem amongst the civilian sections. In October 2023, deposed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok formed the Taqaddum (Progress) coalition, which brought civilian voices to the negotiating table. However, over the course of the past two years, dissention broke out over allegiances to one side or the other, and so in February 2025 it dissolved. Hamdok then formed a new group, Sumoud (Resilience), which wants to remain equidistant from both sides. In March, al-Hadi Idris, a former member of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, formed the Ta’sis (Founding Sudan) coalition, which then nominated Hemedti of the RSF as its leader. Even the civilian groups effectively broke along the lines of the civil war.


Ibrahim El-Salahi (Sudan), The Mosque, 1964.

Last year, I spoke with Hamdok, who seemed exhausted by the long war and the futility of the negotiations. Ever the impassive diplomat, Hamdok felt that wars can exhaust armies and force them to negotiate. He knows his history: Sudan won its independence from Britain and Egypt in 1956 but then entered its first civil war between the north and the south until it ended with the 1972 Addis Ababa Agreement; the decade of peace that followed (helped along by oil revenues from the south) is now a distant memory; a second civil war between north and south ran from 1983 to 2005, which resulted in the 2011 referendum that partitioned the country into Sudan and South Sudan; finally, a terrible conflict in Darfur began in 2003 and slowly came to a conclusion in 2010, eventually leading to the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir in 2019. At the time, the chant against al-Bashir was tisqut bas: ‘Just fall’. He fell. But the ground continues to shake.

Sudan’s people have not seen peace in generations. Hamdok’s hope is a hope against history, but for a future.

Warmly,

Vijay

[blindpig]

Propaganda Watch: Kagame Is Not Traoré
Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor 21 May 2025


Rwandan President Paul Kagame, center, with Michael Milken, Bill Gates, Tony Blair and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa after the "Investing in African Prosperity" panel at the 2013 Milken Institute Global Conference.

A recurring social media trope casts Rwandan President Paul Kagame as a defiant African hero, like Burkina Faso’s Ibrahim Traoré, resisting the West’s dictates, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Anti-imperialists, socialists, and peace and justice communities across Africa and the world are inspired by the newly federated Alliance of Sahel States and by its leaders, especially Burkina Faso’s charismatic Ibrahim Traoré. Seeing this groundswell of support, Paul Kagame’s propagandists have rushed to liken him to Traoré. Others may sincerely imagine a likeness that doesn’t in fact exist.

Kagame has ruled Rwanda for 30 years, since seizing power at the end of his four-year war to re-establish Tutsi dominance in July 1994. Traoré has been in power for less than three years, since seizing power in a popular coup in September 2022. So, if one were to emulate the other’s example, wouldn’t Traoré be emulating Kagame, not the other way around?

Kagame doesn’t reject faux Western “democracy”

The most common argument for likening Kagame to Traoré is that they are both authoritarians who reject the faux democracy imposed by the US/EU/NATO Axis of Domination so as to prioritize development. Instead, like Thomas Sankara, this argument goes, they inspire and mobilize popular will to achieve development goals and foil counterrevolutionary attacks. Traoré has famously said , “No country has developed under democracy,” and, “we are not in a democracy, we are in a popular, progressive revolution.”

However, Kagame has never rejected Western-style electoral process. He instead mimics it, staging elections, not allowing any other credible candidates to run, even imprisoning them, and then declaring outlandish victories. He was first elected by Rwanda’s Transitional National Assembly in 2000, then in a general election in 2003, which he claimed to win in a highly unlikely 94.3% landslide. '”It's a big democratic step that has been taken by our country,'' he reportedly said. ''It's a huge stride.''

He has staged more Western-style presidential elections every seven years since, winning with 93% in 2010 , 98.78% in 2017 , and 99% in 2024 . In 2015, he claimed to have won with 98% a referendum that will allow him to rule until 2034.

Once again, Kagame isn’t rejecting Western electoral democracy. He’s mimicking it, letting the West know he’ll go through the motions while serving their interests.

And what has come of his 30 years of de facto authoritarianism? According to the 2024 report on the state of global food security and nutrition, the number of undernourished people in Rwanda has increased from 3.3 million in 2004–2006 to 4.3 million in 2021–2023. Although the prevalence of undernourishment in the total population has decreased from 36.9 per cent in 2004–2006 to 31.4 per cent in 2021–2023, it remains above that of eastern Africa (29 per cent), sub-Saharan Africa (22.7 per cent) and Africa overall (19.9 per cent). It is also above that of low-income countries (29.7 per cent) and least developed countries (22.1 per cent).

Kagame does not live on a captain’s salary

Ibrahim Traoré famously said, "Being the president of a country is an honor, not a business opportunity." Upon assuming office, he announced that he would continue to live on his military captain’s salary.

Kagame has famously enriched himself via Crystal Ventures , which owns businesses and properties in Rwanda and the West. He constantly travels the world in a private $65 million Gulfstream G6 jet, while his son Ivan lives in a $6.9 million Beverley Hills mansion .

While at the UN General Assembly gathering in New York City in 2011, he rented the $16,000-per-night presidential suite at the Mandarin Oriental hotel, raising eyebrows in the UK, which was then giving £80 million a year in aid to Rwanda.

Kagame Has Long Been a Darling of the West

It would be difficult to find an African president who has enjoyed more photo ops with Western presidents, prime ministers, and billionaires. He is a special favorite of Tony Blair and Bill Clinton , who presented him with a Global Citizen Award in 2009, and of Emmanuel Macron . Evangelical megachurch pastor Rick Warren presented him with his International Medal of Peace .

Kagame is especially beloved in Davos , playground for the global elite, where he appears with the likes of Bill Gates , Antony Blinken , Klaus Schwab , and Donald Trump , and he can’t do enough to serve the Davos Agenda . He has also been a favorite with Israel and all of its leaders since they formed a victim’s pact in 1995.

Ibrahim Traoré has never been invited to Davos or Israel, and neither have the other revolutionary AES presidents, Niger’s Abdourahamane Tchiani and Mali’s Assimi Goïta, for obvious reasons.

When it suits Kagame, most of all when he’s called out, sanctioned, or cut off from Western aid for his crimes in Congo, he lashes out, claiming to be a defiant African. The most recent example was at this year’s genocide memorial in Kigali, where he told his Western critics to “go to hell.”

Traoré resists the US/EU/NATO Axis while Kagame serves its needs in Africa

Traoré and the other AES presidents have been resisting coups and assassination attempts ever since coming to power. US Africa Command Commander Michael Langley recently threatened Traoré in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, but Kagame’s Rwanda is a longstanding AFRICOM collaborator .

Kagame has put his troops in service to Western economic interests, most recently in Mozambique where they defend French TotalEnergies’ $20 billion Liquified National Gas (LNG) project. In November 2024, even as the Rwandan army waged war in DRC, as documented by the UN Group of Experts, the European Union awarded it another €20 million in military aid.

Now, after 30 years of Rwanda’s US/EU/NATO-backed war and plunder in DRC, Trump is apportioning Kagame’s reward. According to Reuters , Trump said on X that the US had provided the first draft of a deal to both sides, Rwanda and DRC, though its contents have not yet been disclosed.

You won’t see Traoré or Assimi Goïta or Abdourahamane Tchiani cutting any such deals in their part of the world, just as you won’t see them in Davos or Israel.

https://blackagendareport.com/propagand ... not-traore

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Burkina Faso: The Silenced Revolution
Posted by Internationalist 360° on May 19, 2025
Jose Ernesto Novaez Guerrero


Ibrahim Traoré, revolutionary leader of Burkina Faso

In the African Sahel, a revolution is underway that is rarely mentioned in the mainstream media. In an area historically dominated by French colonialism and neocolonialism, the military in three states—Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso—have seized power.

Unlike other military dictatorships that have proliferated on the African continent, often propped up and financed by Western powers, the governments of these countries have embraced an agenda of national reconstruction, recovery of state assets, often in Western private hands, and defense of national sovereignty and the rights of their peoples.

The case of Burkina Faso is particularly interesting. Since September 30, 2022, following the coup against interim president Paul-Henri Sandaogo, the country has been ruled by young captain Ibrahim Traoré. Traoré is one of many officers trained in the fight against jihadism in the north of the country, deeply disillusioned with the prevailing corruption and the lack of effective equipment for the units facing the terrorists.

Traoré has shown himself to be a leader with a clear pan-African vocation, strongly influenced by the example of the great Burkinabe revolutionary leader, who promoted an ambitious program of economic and social transformation in his country in the 1980s, frustrated by his assassination in 1987, promoted and financed by France. During his four years in office, Sankara established close relations with Cuba, even setting up Committees for the Defense of the Revolution in the country, inspired by the Cuban experience. He promoted mass vaccination campaigns against polio, meningitis, yellow fever, and measles.

He also promoted literacy, took important steps toward gender equality, and maintained a strong pan-African and anti-imperialist program.


Thomas Sankara

It is no coincidence that both Sankara and Traoré came from the ranks of the army. This is a situation common to many African countries and elsewhere. In societies so devastated by poverty and government neglect, with few opportunities for access to education and culture, military life often becomes one of the few options for building a stable future. Within this institution, not only are educational opportunities available, but also, as a tool of class domination, the structure of society’s domination is exposed more starkly.

The military comes from the people, but it is not uncommon for it to be forced to confront them in defense of foreign or national capital interests. And the poorer and more corrupt the country, the more the military experiences firsthand the abandonment and disdain of its commanders and the elites to whom it is subordinate. It is a breeding ground for reaction, hence the proliferation of coup-plotting and opportunistic military personnel, but it is also a space where a revolutionary conception of society and the country can mature within a sector.

The reemergence of the example of Sankara in the current practice of President Traoré demonstrates the vitality of ideas, even when they are betrayed and attempts are made to bury them. And today, as forty years ago, the challenges of advancing a project of sovereignty and social justice in Africa, against the old colonial powers, are immense. Traoré has already had to face several coup attempts and threats of foreign intervention. Jihadism, most likely encouraged from outside, has increased hostilities against the government, complicating the country’s already complex security situation.

Despite this, in his three years at the helm of the executive branch, Traoré has taken concrete steps that are impacting the quality of life of the Burkinabe people and have important implications for their future. On the economic front, the country’s GDP is expected to grow between 2022 and 2024, rising from approximately $18.8 billion in 2022 to $22.1 billion in 2024.


Ibrahim Traoré

The government of Burkina Faso has rejected loans from the IMF and the World Bank, explicitly breaking ties of financial dependence on Europe and the United States. Progress has also been made in recovering national resources, such as gold, with the creation of a state mining corporation and the inauguration in November 2023 of the country’s first gold refinery. Previously, the mineral was exported unrefined at much lower prices.

The government has also committed to agricultural development, distributing more than 400 tractors, 239 cultivators, 710 motor pumps, and 714 motorcycles to rural producers. Access to improved seeds and other agricultural inputs has also been facilitated. Although the figures are still modest, production of key crops has increased, such as tomatoes, which rose from 315,000 metric tons in 2022 to 360,000 in 2024, and millet, which rose from 907,000 metric tons in 2022 to 1.1 million in 2024. Two tomato processing plants were also established in the country, launching their own brand of canned tomatoes on the market, and a second cotton processing plant.

The construction of roads has been promoted, expanding existing ones and building new ones, using Burkinabe engineers as much as possible in the execution of the projects. The new Ouagadougou-Donsin airport is also being built, with an estimated capacity of one million passengers per year. He also reduced the salaries of ministers and parliamentarians by 30 percent and increased those of civil servants by 50 percent.

In foreign policy, his government has taken several bold steps in the context of the current intensification of contradictions in global geopolitics. With the intention of breaking definitively with French neocolonial domination, he expelled French forces from the country in 2023, including those participating in Operation Sabre against terrorism.


Carrying flags of Togo, Burkina Faso, and Niger during a march in support of the Alliance of Sahel States in Niger.

After leaving the Economic Community of West African States, he created, together with Niger and Mali, the Alliance of Sahel States, which includes several clauses for mutual development and defense. In a clear move away from the West, he has strengthened ties with Russia on economic and security matters, including an agreement to build a nuclear power plant in the country, and with China, which is promoting numerous investments in Burkinabe territory.

Although some of these achievements may be somewhat exaggerated, the truth is that Burkina Faso is undergoing a profound economic, political, and social transformation, with concrete steps that are leading to a better quality of life for its people and a better redistribution of national wealth. Of course, the challenges of such an agenda are immense.

On April 3, 2025, during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, General Michael Langley, commander of AFRICOM, accused the Burkina Faso regime of being bribed by China and using “its gold reserves to protect the junta regime,” which could open the door to future actions by Washington against the Burkinabe government.

The most immediate danger, as already noted, comes from the exponential increase in the activity of jihadist groups in the country.

Like many other revolutionary transformations in the past, what is happening in Burkina Faso is covered by a cloak of silence and defamation by the major Western powers, which are undoubtedly preparing to apply to Ibrahim Traoré the same solution they applied to Sankara in his day. Breaking this veil of silence is a fundamental duty of solidarity for all revolutionaries. Let us not stop talking about Burkina Faso and the immense task of transformation undertaken by its people.

At a time when capitalism aspires to present revolutions as relics of the past, processes such as this continue to remind us of the relevance of the revolutionary task. More than a century later, the imperialist chain continues to break at its weakest links.

José Ernesto Nováez Guerrero is a Cuban writer and journalist. Member of the Hermanos Saíz Association (AHS). Coordinator of the Cuban chapter of the Network in Defense of Humanity (REDH) and Rector of the University of the Arts.

Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – Buenos Aires

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South Africa’s American Refugees
Posted by Internationalist 360° on May 20, 2025
Oliver Layman



Cape Town’s digital nomads chase cheap luxury and scenic backdrops—but behind the matcha lattes and “social impact days” lies a deeper story of economic power, displacement, and global inequality.

While US President Donald Trump has given Afrikaners refugee status in the United States on the false premise that they are victims of human rights abuses at the hands of the South African state, Americans live comfortably in Cape Town as “digital nomads.”

The term digital nomad refers to people who work remotely while traveling and living abroad. Like the swallow, the digital nomad migrates to the southern hemisphere, to places like Cape Town, in search of summer. Digital nomads are modern, cosmopolitan individuals familiar with global travel and easily move between London, New York, Mexico City, and Berlin—thanks to their Euro-American passports. This phenomenon is yet another expression of the logic of global capitalism. The signifier “digital nomad” is merely an ideological expression designating an economic migrant distinguished by their level of social capital and class position.

Let’s imagine the typical existence of an American digital nomad in Cape Town. During the average day, they would take their phone and Zoom calls over coffee at the local roastery or a Bistro on the Atlantic Seaboard. After Pilates class, they grab a matcha and stroll on the Sea Point promenade, where they record and upload a TikTok video about how incredibly cheap Cape Town is: “Only $3 for a matcha, Cape Town is so cheap!” In the evening, they would explore what the city’s nightlife has to offer. At $1 to R19, the buying power of digital nomads who possess dollars and pounds significantly outweighs that of the average South African.

Cape Town is widely regarded as a leading destination for both tourists and digital nomads. The Central Business District (CBD), encompassing the city’s downtown core and adjacent areas, along with the Atlantic Seaboard—an affluent coastal region—features a diverse array of cafés, restaurants, farmers markets, and natural landscapes, offering a quality of life and aesthetic appeal that is seldom paralleled globally. At the start of 2025, TimeOut declared Cape Town the “best city in the world.” The article describes the allure of Cape Town I am accustomed to hearing when I visit home:

Where else in the world can you hang out with a colony of African penguins, taste some of the world’s finest wines, stroll along Blue Flag beaches, enjoy stunning views from atop one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature, and sample some of the most eclectic nightlife and vibes in the world… all in one day?

It is difficult to disagree with the description; however, what TimeOut does not tell its readers is the appalling conditions that the majority of the city’s people live in. Apartheid’s social engineering and urban planning in Cape Town continue to be a daily reality for the majority of its inhabitants, along with social ills that stem from decades of neglect by city, provincial, and national authorities. Recent statistics by the South African Police Services (SAPS) show that the Western Cape recorded the highest number of gang-related murders, with 270 people being killed from October to December 2024.

The economically rightwing party that governs Cape Town, the Democratic Alliance (DA), is uninterested in undoing Cape Town’s racial and class inequalities. Despite the recent social housing project completed in Pinelands, bordering Thornton, the multi-racial neighbouring suburb, there has not been the development of social housing in the inner city or on the Atlantic Seaboard. In fact, in 2016, after nearly 4,000 submissions of public support for the development of social housing, the City of Cape Town sold the Tafelberg Property (formerly the Tafelberg Remedial School) located in the upmarket coastal suburb of Sea Point to a private developer. The sale of the site was what led to the emergence of the social movement, Reclaim the City. After a court challenge in 2020, the Western Cape High Court set aside the sale of the property, citing that the provincial government and City of Cape Town did not meet their constitutional and legislative obligations to address spatial Apartheid in Cape Town. In January 2025, the City of Cape Town announced “plans” to develop a portion of the site into affordable and mixed-use housing. However, this is a minor concession in the grand scheme of things and does very little to materially transform the city.

Latest figures show that Cape Town has 25,816 Airbnb listings. This is more than any other global city. The ease with which properties can be rented means that many digital nomads use Airbnb to secure accommodation in the city. However, this knock-on effect is that many ordinary Capetonians can no longer afford to live in the inner city, exacerbating the already fraught housing crisis. In response to this and other multiple crises, the University of Cape Town collective Dismantling the Ivory Tower has likened digital nomads to modern colonizers in recent outrage on Instagram.

If anything, the digital nomad phenomenon and Cape Town’s housing crisis tell us something about capitalism. It demonstrates that capital is infinitely creative in finding new ways of remaking itself and generating value in the process. The housing crisis in Cape Town represents a larger trend in the development of capitalism in South Africa and elsewhere. If historical conquest and settler-colonialism account for capitalism’s original sin, then the aggressive intrusion of capital into Cape Town’s housing market signifies a continuation by other means. To be clear, the development of capitalism has not ended; it continues, mutates, and displaces whatever is in its path. Capitalism does not respect heritage and history, not least if they fall outside its logic and interests.

In “selling” Cape Town, which turns on discourses of “tourism” and “foreign direct investment,” new avenues for commodification are identified and exploited. Since capital cannot produce value by itself, it appropriates value through processes that are nothing short of violent. Such is the case in Cape Town today. South Africa’s coalition government, also known as the Government of National Unity—including the ANC, nominally committed to undoing South Africa’s racial legacies and a phalanx of rightwing parties, including the DA, working hard to stall that—encourages digital nomads to make South Africa their temporary home.

The Department of Home Affairs, the government department responsible for managing migration in South Africa, has introduced a new work visa called the “Nomad Visa,” designed to attract skilled foreign workers with an annual income of higher than R650,796 (about $34,000; which lands you roughly in the top 10% of all earners in South Africa). Including a short-term tax exemption, the Nomad Visa allows remote workers to live in and work in South Africa for up to three years.

Digital nomads lose little sleep over who they displace in the process of consumption and extraction. “Nomad Week,” a conference that aims to sell the idea of Cape Town to potential digital nomads, took place on March 9, 2025. At a measly $170 (just under 4,000 Rands) for a ticket, you can “Join 300+ digital nomads from around the world for a week of inspiration, connection, and impact in beautiful Cape Town, South Africa.” Nomad Week boasted “visionary keynote speakers,” “unconference sessions,” “outdoor adventures,” “vibrant social events,” and a “Social Impact Day.” On their website, under the heading “Social Impact Day—Let’s Give Back!” we learn that the founder of Nomad Week is a white South African and that the people of South Africa are “near & dear to her.” A glance at their social media shows a mostly white world.

As a gesture of goodwill, I suppose, one of the “activities” includes donating food parcels to poor black children and donating some of their labor to painting an “underprivileged school,” which in South Africa, means black. Accompanying the description of the “Social Impact Day” is a stock photograph of a group of miscellaneous smiling African children. A classic NGO trope, the undifferentiated African child appeals to the perverse conscience of the digital nomad so that they can proudly claim that they did their part in “giving back.”

The digital nomad phenomenon is but the latest stage in the development of the logic of capitalism in South Africa, and it is linked to international migration. For many of these digital nomads, the desire to leave global cities is driven by an economic reality that they can no longer afford to live a good life in those cities. There is, therefore, not much difference between the Zimbabwean service worker who migrates to South Africa to work low-wage jobs and the New Yorker who lives on the Atlantic Seaboard—except the state views the latter as “more economically valuable” than the former. And that the New Yorker is usually white. The basis on which both migrate is economic.

It is time to rethink how we view and talk about migrants and tourists. When does a tourist stop being a tourist? When do they become a migrant? The term digital nomad is misleading; their extractive economic engagement is secured by class, race, and social capital. It is also perhaps too early to compare the digital nomad to a modern coloniser. The digital nomad is purely a consumer class, while adding nothing of value to the economy or the country they inhabit (their whole schtick is working for some international company from the comfort of another country). Their consumption is contingent on their ability to be in the country, and as such, it is not sustainable in the long term.

Although not all digital nomads are alike—that is to say, the freelancer from São Paulo might be in a different economic position relative to someone from Europe or the US—they both constitute examples of the logic of how multiple crises play a role in migration. The digital nomad is an economic migrant who has been spat out of the circuit of global capitalism in search of a better, more affordable life where capital is less concentrated. As an economic migrant, it is more profitable for the digital nomad to live in a Global South city with a comparatively low standard of living while earning a salary (in dollars, pounds, or euros) that allows for a life of leisure.

Herein lies the rub: while the traditional economic migrant adds value to the local economy (in the form of selling labor power), the digital nomad merely lives and consumes. And in South Africa, migrant workers from other African countries are often subjected to xenophobic violence. There is nothing “nomadic” about the digital nomad, except that their frequent movements from one city to another are occasioned by the necessity to flout visa and tax regulations. At the end of the day, the digital nomad wants to live a good life, but at what cost? When the government creates special visa categories for people who do not contribute productively to the economy, we should be concerned.

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[blindpig]

The Pan-African Path to Full Liberation
Posted by Internationalist 360° on May 26, 2025
Jonis Ghedi-Alasow


People in Ziniaré, Burkina Faso, greeting Ibrahim Traoré on March 20, 2025. Photo: Presidence Burkina

African Liberation Day was established to honor the anti-colonial struggles of the African peoples and nations for independence, a fight which continues today with different contours

Now, more than ever, is the time to commit to the emancipatory project of revolutionary Pan-Africanism. For the first time in decades, a new anti-imperialist path is being forged in Africa through the creation of the Alliance of Sahel States. Our task is to defend and advance a continental Pan African Project that concretely represents most of Africa’s peoples.

Africa is both the wealthiest and poorest continent on Earth; it is rich in resources yet poor in GDP. The continent boasts an abundance of mineral resources, including uranium from Niger, which until recently powered every third lightbulb in France, as well as cobalt from the Congo, crucial for the electronic devices of much of the developed world.

South Africa still holds over 75% of the world’s platinum supply, yet the people living above these platinum deposits do not have flushing toilets. The Congo, from King Leopold’s barbarism and the uranium extracted for use in the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima to today’s scramble for rare earth minerals, has remained both rich and poor. While the Congo Basin could feed the entire continent, Africa suffers from the highest rate of hunger in the world.

Half of Africa’s population is under 19, a considerable demographic advantage with the potential for a brighter future. This youthful energy, if harnessed and guided, can be the driving force behind the revolutionary transformation we seek. However, this potential is at risk of being squandered, with most of Africa’s youth at risk of becoming another unharnessed, lost generation.

All of this is a direct consequence of the lingering legacy of the transatlantic slave trade, European colonialism, and the neo-colonial subordination of post-independence Africa by the United States and its Western European allies.

Divide, rule, and weaken

Africa’s simultaneous fortune and misfortune is rooted in the fact that this continent has more countries than any other. “Divide and rule” was more than just the British imperial policy of the 19th and 20th centuries; it was the modus operandi for weakening Africa’s potential since the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885.

Fragmented into 54 nominally independent countries, Africa’s 1.5 billion people have been prevented from fully benefiting from the continent’s collective human capacity and material wealth.

The active balkanization of Africa is not merely a historical phenomenon. Balkanization continues today. In 2011, Sudan was divided into two countries. The central government in Kinshasa lacks full sovereignty over the entire Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since the Biafran War of 1967, efforts have been made to divide Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria, into multiple states beholden to Western imperialism. Even Burkina Faso – the land of Thomas Sankara and Ibrahim Traoré – has faced repeated attempts at fracture, especially following NATO’s destruction of Libya and the subsequent jihadist ventures into the Sahel.

History is not merely a rear-view window through which the African people can look as we drive into the future. Instead, it is the culmination of 580 years of struggle between the forces of oppression and exploitation and those of resistance and liberation.

Africa’s contemporary reality – particularly the ongoing issue of Balkanization, the stark contrast between immense material wealth and significant poverty, and the unfulfilled potential of our people – did not emerge in isolation. It stems from Africa’s long-standing role as the anchor of development in Western Europe and North America.

Colonial accumulation

This reality is succinctly outlined by Walter Rodney, who argued that “two factors have brought about underdevelopment [in Africa]. In the first place, the wealth created by African labor and from African resources was grabbed by the capitalist countries of Europe; and in the second place restrictions were placed upon African capacity to make the maximum use of its economic potential – which is what development is all about. Those two processes… [explain]… why Africa has realized so little of its potential and why so much of its present wealth goes outside of the continent.”

Undoubtedly, many will attribute the problems of Africa to ‘internal factors’ such as failed states, poor governance, corruption, ethnic conflicts, leadership failures, and more. Of course, these factors are significant, and those responsible must be held accountable.

However, and more importantly, none of these factors emerge out of nowhere, and none are without beneficiaries. These manifestations of Africa’s challenges are frequently cited as the root causes of the continent’s problems. Yet, such an analysis substitutes the appearance of a problem for its essence.

These so-called ‘internal factors’ can be traced back to cliques of slavers, colonists, and neo-colonists who are the primary beneficiaries of Africa’s socio-political and economic problems. For them, dysfunction in many parts of Africa is highly functional.

Capitalist slavery fueled the Global North’s development. This system, alongside the colonial exploitation of Africa and its people and the ongoing neo-colonial economic and political world order, is why Africa remains at the bottom of the global food chain. If revolution is understood as ‘fundamental change,’ then it is clear that overcoming this unjust reality necessitates a revolutionary transformation.

Pan African revolution

Such a revolution is possible only when rooted in the African peoples. A political movement that genuinely enjoys popular support from peasants, workers, the urban poor, women, and youth, along with a steadfast commitment to the unity of all people across Africa and the diaspora, can aspire to overturn what Walter Rodney described as Africa’s active underdevelopment.

This commitment to African unity and the African people as the protagonists of fundamental social transformation through a new socialist trajectory for our continent is what Pan-Africanism is.

The political project of Pan-Africanism is not solely rooted in identity, such as race, nor is it tied to geography, excluding the sixth region of our continent – namely, the African diaspora.

As a political project, Pan-Africanism recognizes that the modern capitalist world was founded upon the bones of our ancestors, beginning with the establishment of the first slave trading posts in modern-day Mauritania in 1445. It acknowledges that this system enables a small group to accumulate wealth and power at the expense of the vast majority.

Confidence in the possibilities of Pan-Africanism is not based on a naïve assumption that the peoples of Africa are homogeneous or inherently inclined towards this political project. Instead, it is rooted in the fact that, despite differences in culture, religion, language, geography, and other factors, Africa remains unified by a common history and, for better or worse, a shared future.

Individual people, organizations or countries cannot determine whether the future is characterized by prosperity or drudgery. This choice only exists at the level of the African continent. Drudgery is the world that has been built at our people’s expense since 1445. Such a world must be defeated once and for all, and through Pan African unity, replaced by socialism.

We must heed Chris Hani’s words when he said, “Socialism is not about big concepts and heavy theory. Socialism is about decent shelter for those who are homeless. It is about water for those who have no safe drinking water. It is about health care, it is about a life of dignity for the old. It is about overcoming the huge divide between urban and rural areas. It is about a decent education for all our people. Socialism is about rolling back the tyranny of the market.”

Pan-Africanism remains relevant as it constitutes the quickest path to socialism in Africa. For over a century, figures ranging from W.E.B. Du Bois and Anna Julia Cooper to Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, and Thomas Sankara have championed the cause of Pan Africanism.

Imperialism has repeatedly sought to snuff out any individual or country which has threatened to serve as a unifying anchor for African liberation, from the assassinations of Thomas Sankara and Patrice Lumumba to the overthrow of leaders like Nkrumah. Despite this, Pan-Africanism, both as a methodology of struggle and an articulation of social, political, and economic aspirations, continues to persist against all odds.

As a shield and a spear against the US-led imperialist bloc, the imperative to build upon the revolutionary legacy of our predecessors is stronger than ever. We require political unity and centralized coordination of Africa’s enormous capacity, as Nkrumah demanded, alongside the regional economic integration championed by Nyerere.

Our African countries must jointly reject the neoliberal world order imposed by the United States, which lacks even the façade of human rights and democracy that once formed the rhetoric of imperialist subordination of Africa. Simultaneously, we must dismiss the international capitalist political economy that seeks to keep Africa and its people in a state of underdevelopment and drudgery. We must forge our independent path of development.

AES showing the way

This is why the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) represents one of the most significant developments since Nkrumah’s era. Despite understandable challenges and contradictions, the defensive, economic and anti-imperialist integration of these countries, through patriotic revolutions, widespread popular support, and a resolute rejection of French imperialism, marks an essential step toward the fundamental aspirations of Pan-Africanism. The AES symbolizes the antidote to balkanization and the erosion of African sovereignty; this process must be defended and celebrated as a milestone in Africa’s struggle for self-determination.

Those committed to African liberation must transcend the tremendous inspiration we derive from the Alliance of Sahel States. We must wholeheartedly defend the gains made by the revolutionary processes unfolding while intensifying the urgent task of securing true sovereignty and development in all corners of our continent.

The gains in the AES cannot be attributed solely to soldiers with guns. Instead, these achievements stem from the widespread popular support for sovereignty in these countries. There are many areas of Africa where such alignment between the aspirations of the people and the actions of governments is less pronounced. In these regions and countries, people’s movements and organizations must be strengthened and unified through political education, solidarity campaigns, and the clear articulation of the experiences and aspirations of Africa’s people.

In this task, there are no shortcuts. Only through unwavering confidence in the African people, the organizations they build, and the political and organizational leaders that emerge in the struggles for a better world can we truly advance in our fight for sovereignty, development, and prosperity in Africa.

In July 2025, we commemorate 100 years since the birth of Frantz Fanon, who concluded his last book by reminding us that “each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it, or betray it.”

The step towards African liberation in the Sahel is that very mission. The aspirations voiced by the peoples of the AES – true sovereignty and prosperity for themselves and their children – must be defended, replicated, and multiplied. This is perhaps the mission our generation must decide to fulfill or betray.

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Algeria and Mali: Divided and Almost Conquered
Posted by Internationalist 360° on May 26, 2025
Rosa Moro



The two countries need to sit down and resolve the crisis with maturity; to consider carefully that they could be being manipulated to be easily dominated, that those who will benefit from the altercation will be the usual ones, and those who will lose will also be the usual ones: the peoples.

Diplomatic relations between Algeria and Mali, and thus the Alliance of Sahel States, AES, have deteriorated sharply in recent weeks. These relations have long been strained due to their porous 1,400-kilometer border in the middle of the desert.

Since 2012, Mali has accused Algeria of harboring the ‘Tuareg rebels’ who launched the secessionist Azawad rebellion in January 2012, following the fall of Gaddafi’s Libya in late October 2011, which maintained a delicate balance between the peoples of the region.

Algeria pushed for the Algiers Peace Accords, signed on 1 March 2015, to establish peace between the Malian state and the northern separatists, the Front for the Liberation of Azawad, FLA, (formerly the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad), but the Malian military junta of Assimi Goïta unilaterally suspended these agreements in January 2024. Mali accused Algeria of interference and of providing support to jihadist separatist leaders, criticizing Algeria for meeting with Tuareg leaders, considered by Bamako to be ‘terrorists’. For its part, Algeria has always rejected these accusations.

With recent events, the confusion is enormous, misinformation is rampant, and the need for calm is vital.

Two versions of the events

A communiqué published on May 1 by the Algerian Defense Ministry claimed that it had detected and shot down a “Malian armed reconnaissance drone”, which “had infiltrated two kilometers into Algerian airspace.” The events took place near the Algerian town of Tin Zaouatine, whose homonymous town is also on the Malian side.

Mali quickly launched an investigation, after which it claimed that the drone had been shot down in Malian airspace, stating that the wreckage of the drone was about 10 kilometers inside its territory, in the vicinity of the border town of Tin Zaouatine.

This incident led to the immediate closure of airspace between the two countries and the expulsion of their respective ambassadors, as well as those of Burkina Faso and Niger, Mali’s allies.

Both governments accuse each other of aggression. Both insist that their version is the true one.

A few days later, information began to circulate on Malian social networks, which no one has been able to confirm, claiming that Algeria had shot down the reconnaissance drone to ‘protect’ Iyad AG Ghaly, an emblematic figure of the terrorist group Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), affiliated with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

At the same time, other speculations about the incident are circulating, due to the fact that on the same day as the Algerian Defense Ministry’s communiqué, a few hours earlier, an FLA leader, Ataï Hag Mohammed, published images of a downed drone on X without giving any explanation. Some interpreted that it had been shot down by his rebel/terrorist group, others that the drone had crashed, and they had found it.

Apart from the speculation, which is getting wilder by the day, since then, the Malian press has focused on all of Algeria’s problems and the Algerian press has focused on all of Mali’s problems, adding fuel to the fire. And if one tries to understand what happened by reading the Western propaganda media, the task becomes impossible.

Western mainstream media analyses

Since the AES left the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, (fully controlled by the West) in January 2024, according to Western commercial news agencies, the Sahel alliance has moved closer to Morocco (the bastion of the defence of Western and Zionist interests in Africa, along with Rwanda). This assertion is based on the assumption that the Sahelian countries have accepted Morocco’s offer of access to the Atlantic through the port of Dakhla, located in occupied Western Sahara, which is to be operational by 2030.

The ministers of the ESA, in a meeting with the Alaouite king, listened and said they considered the offer interesting, but there has been no further official discussion on the subject. Although it is true that Morocco and Mali announced last February the “reinforcement of their military cooperation”, this did not include the entire AES, but only the Malian military junta, something that worried many in the AES itself and in the region, not only Algeria.

These approaches of asserting things that have not quite happened or generalising something individual must be put in the context of a disinformation project by the United Arab Emirates in coordination with Morocco. The UAE gave Rabat 15 million euros to finance a subversive campaign against Algeria in the Sahel. A fact brought to light by Algerian intelligence services at the end of 2023. As well as the European media’s insistence that Algeria is losing influence in the Sahel and Morocco is gaining it. The commercial and mainstream media base this supposed increase in Moroccan influence, I insist, on cordial meetings with no real de facto consequences, perhaps induced by communiqués from interested agencies that reach their inboxes.

France will always join this disinformation scheme with priceless enthusiasm if it goes against Algeria.

On the other hand, the malefic French media Jeune Afrique and RFI go further, claiming that Algeria is worried about Mali’s alliance with ‘Wagner’s Russian mercenaries’ and that Algeria is worried about the expulsion of France and MINUSMA from Mali, because it could bring instability to the region… Algeria, the most anti-France nation on the continent, the largest importer of Russian arms in Africa, Russia’s partner country that within OPEC has worked hand in hand to stabilize oil prices, a country that refuses to condemn ‘Russia’s invasion of Ukraine’ and has applied to join the BRICS… all of this is very odd.

By the way, since 2023, Wagner has officially ceased to exist as such, its personnel depending on the Russian Ministry of Defense, which has excellent relations and alliances with Algeria. It is with France that Algeria has had problems, tensions, and disagreements of all kinds for centuries.

Analysts in the region

The analysis of the Moroccan writer and journalist, exiled in the Netherlands, Ali Lahrouchi, points to Morocco and ‘the Zionist entity’ in search of those responsible. He claims that all this must be linked to Morocco’s military maneuvers, with the participation of the Zionist entity.

He is referring to the annual joint US-Moroccan military exercises “African Lion” which took place between April 14 and May 23 between Morocco, Ghana, Senegal, and Tunisia. Israeli troops, according to their own media, ‘only took part in the exercises in Morocco’, not in all the others.

In addition to bringing this novel and accurate factor into the analysis, Lahrouchi recalls the “fierce diplomatic and media campaign” waged by the French extreme right against Algeria. The Moroccan journalist considers that Mali’s reaction has been “ill-considered” and that it could be being manipulated by a ‘big plot’ of outside powers.

For his part, analyst Saïd Bouamama pointed out on the Investig’Action YouTube channel that “the interests at stake in this crisis far exceed those of the two countries in question” and that “the interests of the US, France, Morocco and Israel are also very present in the crisis”, which “fits the agenda of the great powers” with huge economic and geostrategic interests in the area.

Bouamama locates the beginning of all border tensions in the French colonial plan, which strove to make the region independent in a balkanized manner, and then instrumentalized the Tuareg issue as a strategy of dividing in order to better control. France turned the region into a ‘Sahelistan’ with everyone against everyone else in order to keep them under its control.

Conclusion

Finally, I would like to recall here the exceptional nature of the Algerian state within the entire continent and the Arab countries. Algeria positions itself without circumlocution on the side of Palestine; it could be the only state in the whole continent, I believe, along with Djibouti, that has never ever recognized or made the slightest move toward “Israel”. Moreover, it is attempting to join the multipolar dynamic of the BRICS. Algeria is also an openly anti-NATO country that has often been excluded by French or UN ‘peace’ missions, precisely because of its firm anti-imperialist stance.

Everyone can draw their own conclusions from all these factors on the table, in addition to one that is always fundamental: Cui prodest (who benefits).

The two countries need to sit down and resolve the crisis with maturity; to consider carefully that they could be being manipulated to be easily dominated, that those who will benefit from the altercation will be the usual ones, and those who will lose will also be the usual ones: the peoples.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2025/05/ ... conquered/

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Independent, Sovereign Eritrea Stays the Course
Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor 28 May 2025


Eritrean fighters during the 1961-1991 Eritrean War of Independence.

Eritrea remains true to the revolutionary ideals forged during its 30-year War of Independence.

On May 24th, Eritrea celebrated its 34th Independence Day. From September 1, 1961, to May 24, 1991, the Eritrean people waged a 30-year war to free themselves from the Ethiopian empire, first under the control of Emperor Haile Selassie and then under the Derg regime’s Mengistu Haile Mariam.

Eritrea was the first of five African nations now refusing to collaborate with AFRICOM , the US Africa Command. It has also refused to saddle itself with IMF or World Bank debt, but the African Development Bank has praised its progress and provided funding for one of its renewable energy projects and for its education initiatives.

I spoke to Eritrean-American journalist Elias Amare , who hosts his own YouTube channel , most of which is in the Tigrinya language, about Eritrea’s hard won independence.

ANN GARRISON: Elias, I know it’s difficult to summarize 30 years, but nevertheless, can you tell us the salient points we might understand about the Eritrean independence struggle, including the process that led to UN recognition?

ELIAS AMARE: That is a tall order, but let me start with some personal connection. I was born the year the armed struggle for national liberation was launched in Eritrea, in 1961, so my entire life has been within the struggle, first to liberate the land and, secondly, to defend the Eritrean sovereignty that was won with huge sacrifices, both human and material, during the 30-year struggle.

First we must bear in mind that the armed struggle was launched by Eritreans only when all peaceful political avenues had been closed to it. Eritrean demands and protests for national self-determination had just led to more deaths and more repression. In 1961, a band of armed men led by Hamid Idris Awate and inspired by the Algerian national liberation struggle finally launched the armed struggle.

Sectarianism and division along narrow, ethnic, and religious lines haunted the early movement until a progressive vision emerged. It was established that the leadership of the armed struggle had to be within Eritrea, on the battlefield, not sitting outside in comfortable zones like Cairo or Sudan, and that religious and ethnic divides had to be set aside for the sake of the national struggle.

The movement also prioritized popular democracy emerging from feudalistic culture, with political education, eradication of illiteracy, equality among fighters, and strict egalitarianism. Leaders and the rank and file had the same living standards; they shared the same accommodations, ate the same food, and received the same medical attention as needed. Their children got the same education.

There was popular democratic debate, criticism, and self-criticism. The emancipation of women was also prioritized, and that was extremely revolutionary within the patriarchal societies of that time.

This process gave birth to the Eritrean People's Liberation Front, and the egalitarian principles it established have carried through to this day.

On May 24, 1991, after the sacrifice of 65,000 heroic Eritrean fighters, the EPLF finally defeated the Ethiopian army, whose troops gave up and fled, with some even heading into Sudan.

The Eritreans never took any vendetta against them. They even gave them food and water along their way. All they wanted was a peaceful end to the war.

The Ethiopian Derg regime collapsed at the same time, and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) took over. Eritreans had fought with the TPLF in the interest of defeating a common enemy.

Once EPLF had established de facto control of Eritrean territory, it established a transitional government. Then, in 1993, there was a referendum on becoming an independent nation that was monitored by the United Nations and other international observers. There was no question that this was a free and fair election, and Eritreans voted for independence by 99.85%. The official declaration was delayed until May 24, 1993, because we wanted our independence to coincide with the day we defeated the Ethiopian army.

Within minutes of the declaration of independence, after the results of the referendum, five countries stepped forward– Egypt, Sudan, Italy, and the United States–to recognize Eritrea. The United States had opposed Eritrean independence since the 1940s, but it finally accepted the reality on the ground and became one of the first countries to officially recognize us. After that, the floodgates opened, and one country after another recognized.

On May 28, 1993, Eritrea was officially admitted as the 182nd UN member state. I was part of the Eritrean delegation that officially went to the United Nations when Eritrea was officially accepted as a free, independent nation, and it was the most moving experience of my life to see the Eritrean flag being raised in front of the UN after a 30-year struggle. Tears of pride, tears of joy, rushed down my face.

AG: I believe that meant that, in accordance with the UN Charter, the Security Council had passed a resolution to recommend recognition to the UN General Assembly, with at least nine votes and no vetoes from the five permanent members, and then the General Assembly had voted to recognize by at least a two-thirds majority.

EA: Yes, I believe that’s the procedure.

AG: OK, now another huge question. What has Eritrea achieved in 34 years of independence?

EA: Most of all it has sustained its status as an independent and sovereign nation. The vast majority of African states are neocolonial, proxy, or puppet states. Eritrea is the only African nation that has been truly independent for decades. Although it sounds simple, that is in itself a huge accomplishment. With the emergence of the Alliance of the Sahel States, I hope that more and more African states may join the movement for ending neocolonial relations, ending Africa's decades-long subservience and marginalization.

When I say that Eritrea is truly independent, I mean that it designs its own economic programs, not accepting the dictates of the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Bank and the IMF. It charts its own economic development path and undertakes its own development projects. It rejects foreign aid. It rejects the NGOs that proliferate all over Africa, the Trojan horses that cripple and paralyze African states.

It has been proven beyond a shadow of doubt that foreign aid is in fact devastating to Africa's development. Our president, Isaias Afwerki, has famously said that aid is like a drug; if you keep taking it, you become addicted.

The massive foreign aid that is dumped in Africa makes it more dependent, makes it poorer, instead of helping it develop. Africa is dependent on food aid year in, year out, even though its agriculture has huge potential.

Six decades ago, Africa fed itself. Today, for the most part, it cannot, but Eritrea can. It has prioritized the development of dams and irrigation, resolving that no drop of water will fail to irrigate and no drop will erode the soil.

I can point to other significant infrastructural achievements in road building, highway connections, education, and health. This progress was impeded because the US did not like the look of Eritrea’s independence. The US used Ethiopia’s TPLF regime as its regional “anchor state” for nearly 30 years, from 1991 to 2018, when it was overthrown in a popular uprising. In 1998 the US gave tacit support to the TPLF to launch a “border war” against Eritrea, which led to a devastating loss of life on both sides. The Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission created by the Algiers Peace Agreement ruled in Eritrea’s favor regarding the contested border regions, including the town of Badme, the casus belli of the conflict. However, Ethiopia, with US support, refused to accept its ruling.

Eritrea was also punished by UN sanctions initiated by the US from 2009 to 2018. They were based on wholly false claims that Eritrea had helped al-Shabaab terrorists. Eritrea also had a border conflict with Djibouti based on another manufactured lie.

The US imposed even more crippling sanctions, exclusion from the SWIFT system for conducting international financial transactions, during the 2020 to 2022 Ethiopian civil war in which the US backed their longtime proxy, the TPLF. The US has sustained these sanctions even though the Ethiopian war ended in November 2022.

Both rounds of sanctions severely hurt Eritrea’s economy, but nevertheless, it continued to make slow, steady progress. It eradicated illiteracy and provided free education from grade school through college. It drastically reduced the spread of communicable disease, such as malaria and tuberculosis. It ended the horrifying practice of female genital mutilation. It is corruption free.

We have begun to tap into our significant mineral wealth, but not without demanding fair ownership percentages, technology transfer, and training from foreign mining corporations.

AG: Regarding the freedom from corruption, I met a number of Eritrean cabinet ministers when I was there in 2022, and I didn’t see any driving fancy cars, wearing fancy clothes, or working in fancy offices. I also didn’t see any gross disparities of wealth or anyone begging on the streets.

EA: Yes, that is evidence that we have remained true to our original revolutionary ideals.

AG: What do you see in Eritrea’s future?

EA: Well, as you know, there is great instability and conflict in the Horn of Africa, where Eritrea remains an oasis of stability. It does and will continue to try to encourage regional movements to establish genuine sovereignty while at the same time standing up to Ethiopia’s new threats of military aggression.

Internally, within Eritrea, regardless of whether there is chaos and conflagration in the region, Eritrea will remain firmly focused on its own development. It will not be held hostage to external chaos agents, and will not veer from its path of national economic development and the improvement of life for all its people. It will stay the course.

https://blackagendareport.com/independe ... ays-course

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SAFTU condemns imperialist blackmail disguised as diplomacy in Ramaphosa’s secret deal with Trump

Originally published: South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) on May 23, 2025 by SAFTU Staff (more by South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU)) | (Posted May 28, 2025)

The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) condemns in the strongest terms the disgraceful deception of the South African public by President Cyril Ramaphosa and his delegation during their recent meeting with Donald Trump in Washington. What was presented as a diplomatic engagement has now been unmasked as a covert operation to surrender South Africa’s already-weak transformation policies to the global billionaire elite.

We were never fooled by the so-called “genocide” of white South Africans or the exaggerated hysteria over land expropriation without compensation. These narratives were deliberately fabricated as scare tactics—a smokescreen for a backroom deal whose true objective has now been exposed by Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Solly Malatjie, who announced that government will ease the 30% Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) requirement to facilitate the entry of Elon Musk’s Starlink into the South African market.

This confirms our long-held suspicion: the meeting with Trump was never about diplomacy or mutual respect—it was a calculated ploy to sell out South Africa’s economic sovereignty to foreign billionaire interests. The delegation, stacked with praise-singers, corporate elites, and golfers, served only to mask a staggering act of betrayal. In any credible democracy, such conduct would trigger the immediate resignation of the President and the ministers involved.

Donald Trump is the political embodiment of global plutocracy. During his presidency, he presided over a regime that shamelessly enriched his billionaire friends:

Stephen Schwarzman (Blackstone) saw his wealth nearly double due to financial deregulation.
Sheldon Adelson, a megadonor, reaped rewards through policy shifts and diplomatic moves aligned with his business empire.
Carl Icahn, a Trump advisor, profited handsomely from early regulatory rollbacks.
Elon Musk, despite some public friction with Trump, benefited from a deregulated business environment that boosted Tesla’s global position.

Today, Trump continues to play the role of imperialist-in-chief:

He has threatened to seize the Gaza Strip and forcibly relocate 2 million Palestinians to Yemen and Egypt—a genocidal fantasy.
He has issued veiled threats to reclaim the Panama Canal, violating Panamanian sovereignty.
He has outrageously suggested that Canada should become the 51st state of the United States—a flagrant provocation against a sovereign nation.
This is not diplomacy—this is 21st century recolonisation. And the South African government, instead of resisting, is rolling out the red carpet.

Minister Malatjie’s readiness to abolish the 30% requirement—even before the delegation had returned—proves this deal was pre-arranged and coordinated. Starlink is merely the first domino. Once the 30% equity rule falls for Musk, it will fall for all. This marks the effective dismantling of B-BBEE through foreign capitalist pressure.

Let us be clear: SAFTU does not support the current B-BBEE model. It has created a tiny black elite while the vast majority of black South Africans remain poor, unemployed, and excluded. But the answer is not to capitulate to billionaires—the answer is to demand a real socialist transformation of the economy, based on worker ownership and democratic planning.

SAFTU demands:

1.Full public disclosure of all agreements reached during the Washington visit.
2.Immediate reversal of the decision to drop the 30% B-BBEE requirement for Starlink or any other corporation.
3.A parliamentary inquiry into the conduct and mandate of the Ramaphosa delegation.
4.Mass mobilisation to resist this new wave of economic imperialism and defend South Africa’s sovereignty.

This was not foreign policy. This was an imperialist operation dressed up in diplomatic clothing. The working class must rise in defence of the country’s independence—and we will not be silent while our future is auctioned to the highest bidder.

A Statement was issued on behalf of SAFTU by General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.
https://mronline.org/2025/05/28/saftu-c ... ith-trump/

[blindpig]

Forging a New Pan-African Path: Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traoré, and the Land of the Upright People
Posted by Internationalist 360° on June 7, 2025


Pan Africanism Today SecretariatAs coup attempts against the anti-imperialist government of Burkina Faso increase, Pan Africanism Today calls on progressive forces to demonstrate solidarity with the revolutions across the Sahel.

”Together, in solidarity, we will defeat imperialism and neo-colonialism for a free, dignified and sovereign Africa.” – Captain Ibrahim Traoré on the International Day in Solidarity with Ibrahim Traoré and the people of Burkina Faso, 30 April 2025. Image: Capitaine Ibrahim Traoré

“It’s not really terrorism, it’s imperialism. Their goal is to keep us in a state of permanent war so that we cannot develop, and they can continue to plunder our resources.”

– Captain Ibrahim Traoré, May 10, 2025

Since his ascension to power on September 30, 2022, Captain Ibrahim Traoré has become a powerful symbol of Pan-Africanism and a stark contrast to the previous state of affairs in Burkina Faso. His leadership embodies unquestionable patriotism, committed sovereignty, and a clear vision for the future.

The emergence of Captain Ibrahim Traoré and a similar style of leadership in the Sahel has reignited confidence in Pan-Africanism and inspired the youth throughout Africa. This beacon of hope has triggered aspirations among citizens across the continent regarding how their countries should be governed. Indeed, due to his unwavering commitment and patriotism, Captain Ibrahim Traoré has become a star, an inspiration, and a champion of anti-imperialism, posing a genuine threat to imperialism in Africa. He is forging a new path not just for post-colonial African nations, but for the world.

Under Traoré’s leadership, the government of Burkina Faso is actively responding to the needs of the people in real time, clearly demonstrating its ability to effectively solve people’s problems. To mention a few examples: French military forces have been expelled, and civilian-led Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP’s) now collaborate with the government and fraternal forces from Niger and Mali to combat terrorist groups, securing the nation through their efforts. The government has also nationalized gold reserves valued at USD 80 million, established a domestic gold refinery, and increased public sector wages.

Under Traoré’s leadership, the government of Burkina Faso has initiated a bold effort toward self-reliance by launching an agricultural offensive. This has significantly increased agricultural production and led to a consistent GDP growth of 4-6%. These radical measures have not only boosted the economy but also instilled confidence that the material needs of the Burkinabé people are being met. In March of this year, Burkina Faso inaugurated the first state-owned Faso Kosam-branded dairy factory, followed by more openings and further plans for increased domestic dairy production.

These actions echo the political project of Burkina Faso’s assassinated President Thomas Sankara (1984-87), under whose anti-imperialist leadership significant strides were made. Much like Traoré today, Sankara insisted on self-reliance, agrarian reform, environmental protection, women’s rights, education, healthcare, and the establishment of committees to defend the revolution. Most famously, on August 4, 1984, Sankara renamed the country from the colonial and unimaginative Upper Volta to Burkina Faso – “Land of the Upright People.”

Like Sankara, Traoré’s government is removing colonial symbols throughout the country. Judges’ and lawyers’ attire and school children’s uniforms are switching to locally produced fabrics and styles. While this is symbolic, it also conveys a direct and clear message of patriotic pride in one’s country, culture, history, and heritage. Simultaneously, this initiative champions local textile production. As part of commemorating the 36th anniversary of Sankara’s assassination on October 15, 2023, Boulevard Général Charles De Gaulle in Ouagadougou was renamed Boulevard Thomas Sankara. More than a symbol, this action represents an effort to recover the collective memory of the valiant Burkinabé people’s history of resistance and revive Sankara’s legacy within the country’s popular imagination.

In many ways, the steps taken by Sankara and Traoré lie at the heart of the goals and aspirations that drove the Burkinabè people to fight for independence from French colonial rule. Independence, secured on August 5, 1960, was never meant to be reduced to “flag independence”. Although adopting a national anthem and flag were important steps, people were, to paraphrase Amílcar Cabral, fighting for concrete things; these concrete things are finally finding expression in the efforts of Traoré’s government, following in the footsteps of Sankara.

No one, least of all the “upright people of Burkina Faso,” is willing to tolerate their status as the thirteenth poorest country in the world indefinitely. The popularity of Traoré’s government must, in part, be understood as a product of the Burkinabé people’s intolerance for the poverty and drudgery imposed on them through decades of slavery, colonialism, and neocolonialism.

A brief look at life expectancy and infant mortality statistics illustrates this starkly: a child born in Burkina Faso is sixteen times more likely to die in its first year than a child born in France, and if they survive, they can expect a lifespan some twenty years shorter than their French counterpart.

The legacy of colonial plunder by France and other imperial powers has left deep scars. Even after independence, mechanisms such as the “Françafrique” cooperation agreements perpetuated monetary, military, economic, and political dependence on France.

The destabilization of Libya by NATO in 2011 unleashed a wave of terrorist activity across the Sahel. Gaddafi’s Libya had served as a buffer; once it fell, insecurity spread. Despite former French President François Hollande’s deployment of thousands of troops under Operation Barkhane, local soldiers in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger grew frustrated – often serving as cannon fodder – while civilians suffered harassment from both terrorist and foreign troops.

Many current Alliance of Sahel States (AES) leaders witnessed these abuses firsthand. Their commitment to sovereignty and development and a firm rejection of Western – especially French – interference stems from these experiences.

Burkina Faso has enacted some of the boldest reforms within the Alliance of Sahel States. The junta’s policies are radical, and Traoré, a young and charismatic leader, enjoys widespread support at home and across Africa. Indeed, he may be the most popular African leader since Thomas Sankara. Similarly, the AES represents a significant Pan-African breakthrough – a beacon of anti-imperialism and a renewed push for socialism in the tradition of Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah. This underscores the crucial need for solidarity with the AES, as it embodies the shared aspirations of the African people for genuine freedom.

For generations of African revolutionaries, the AES is not just a source of optimism but a beacon of hope. No AES leader has declared socialism as a final goal; instead, they have focused on building the necessary social foundations. The AES, and Burkina Faso specifically under Traoré, represents the weakest link in the chain of imperialism on the African continent, while also embodying the strongest representation of our people’s aspirations for genuine freedom.

Against this backdrop, we are alarmed by the increasing number and sophistication of coup and assassination attempts targeting Burkina Faso’s government. Most recently, a plot originating in Côte d’Ivoire was uncovered. This plot involved current and former soldiers working in coordination with “terrorist leaders.” The plot’s objective was to “sow total chaos, and place the country under the supervision of an international organization.” The planned assault on the presidential palace was scheduled for April 16, 2025. The government of Ouagadougou intercepted communications that revealed the plot details and was therefore able to foil it.

These vast achievements inside Burkina and the growing inspiration not only in the Sahel Alliance but in the entire continent challenge the status quo of imperialism and puppet governments in Africa and elsewhere. Consequently, there have been numerous attempts to bring down Captain Ibrahim Traore to curtail the spread of Traore’s fire on the continent.

We must understand that despite all exemplary deeds and courageous patriotic actions, Traoré’s revolution, like those throughout the AES, remains fragile; it is young and confronts immense challenges, including economic pressure, ongoing security concerns, and sabotage from imperialist powers and their sympathizers. Burkina Faso’s government and people operate in a highly hostile environment.

What then should the posture of progressive forces be?

We must recognize and confront the threats to Traoré, the AES, and its leaders. Despite the many contradictions (including the fact that no one can predict whether these revolutions will continue on a progressive path or revert to reactionary politics), it remains clear that a setback here could delay Africa’s revolutionary prospects by decades.
We should encourage the people of the AES – especially Burkina Faso – to defend their revolutions, as these are people’s revolutions led by progressive military factions. They cannot be restricted by Western liberal armchair critiques of “democracy.” Their true measure must be the will of the people. As long as they have popular support, they must press on.
Those of us outside the Sahel (in mother Africa and throughout the world) must declare our unwavering solidarity with the governments that continue to adopt patriotic measures to reclaim political and economic sovereignty over their territories and natural resources. We are encouraged by the hundreds of thousands of people who took to the streets to defend Traoré and the AES in the wake of the recent coup attempt, not only in Burkina Faso, but also in Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, and beyond.
We should use the pens and simple actions to show unwavering support for the revolutions in Burkina Faso and throughout the AES.
Despite extensive propaganda and hesitation among unfamiliar progressive forces, public sentiment in the Sahel remains steadfastly committed to sovereignty, security, and prosperity. Now is the time to heed the call of these governments and their peoples: a simple demand for non-interference.

Let us build on the sentiment of Africa Liberation Day to unite with the popular and revolutionary forces in the Sahel in their struggle for complete sovereignty, total national liberation, and the broader goal of a unified and free Africa.

May the decisive leadership, bravery, and courageous actions demonstrated by Traoré and his comrades in the AES continue to teach us valuable lessons.

Long live patriotism, anti-imperialism, and Pan-Africanism.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2025/06/ ... ht-people/

From Gaddafi to Traoré – The Struggle Continues

Posted by Internationalist 360° on June 5, 2025



I once spoke for Muammar Gaddafi—the revolutionary lion of Libya. Today, I speak for Captain Ibrahim Traoré and the rising tide of African liberation sweeping the Sahel and beyond.

In this powerful recorded Twitter (X) Space hosted by Comrades ali naka and David Hundeyin, we spoke truth to power—exposing Western imperialism, reclaiming African dignity, and calling for unity across the continent.

France Came to Fight Terror But Terror Only Grew pic.twitter.com/8bbgwOU6CC

— Moussa Ibrahim (@_moussa_ibrahim) June 5, 2025

Moussa Ibrahim

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2025/06/ ... continues/

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Israel’s expanding shadow in Africa’s Great Game

As Africa re-emerges as a battleground for global influence, Israel's deepening infiltration into the continent reveals an agenda aligned with western hegemony, exploitation, and the erosion of traditional pro-Palestinian solidarity.


Mawadda Iskandar

JUN 6, 2025


Photo Credit: The Cradle

Africa is once again being carved up – not by maps and treaties, but through surveillance networks, military pacts, and covert alliances. At the heart of this renewed scramble lies the Israeli occupation state, which has methodically inserted itself into the continent’s political, security, and economic veins.

Behind the rhetoric of development and partnership, Tel Aviv’s African campaign is an extension of its settler-colonial project: to dismantle historic solidarities with Palestine, secure strategic footholds in a resource-rich continent, and weaponize African states in service of western and Zionist agendas.

Although Israeli–African relations have never commanded urgent attention, Operation Al-Aqsa Flood brought them back into sharp focus. The resistance operation, which redrew regional alliances and exposed long-standing complicity, also spotlighted the occupation entity’s entrenchment in Africa.

That same year, South Africa filed a historic case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing it of committing genocide in Gaza. The move not only underscored Pretoria’s commitment to the Palestinian cause, but also reaffirmed a continental legacy of resistance to settler-colonialism – now reawakened in the face of Tel Aviv’s expanding footprint.

For decades, Africa has been more than a peripheral interest for Tel Aviv. Behind the veneer of aid and agriculture in a continent home to 1.4 billion people and spanning more than 30 million square kilometers lies a concerted campaign of external political penetration and covert operations.

Yet Africa is not a monolith. The continent's patchwork of regimes, priorities, and foreign alignments has meant Israeli incursions have taken various forms, adjusted to the internal-external equations of each state, and often accelerated by external power struggles.

A calculated return

Following the 1948 Nakba, when Israel unilaterally declared itself a state, Africa was still gripped by colonialism. Early ties with the occupation state were limited to Ethiopia and Liberia. But the seismic shifts in the post-colonial order saw Tel Aviv recalibrate, seizing the opportunity to project power through aid, training, and security partnerships. This peaked in the mid-1960s – only to collapse after the 1973 October War and subsequent pan-African support for the Arab cause, reducing Israeli recognition to just three African states: Malawi, Lesotho, and Swaziland.

Despite that diplomatic collapse, Tel Aviv never fully withdrew. Instead, it adapted – funneling arms to separatist movements in places like South Sudan, offering intelligence services, and embedding itself in the military structures of states like Zaire, Angola, and Ethiopia.

By the 1980s, aided by the Camp David and Oslo Accords and the political fragmentation of the Arab world, Israel rebuilt its African presence. It moved discreetly, capitalizing on crises, debt, and diplomatic voids to rebrand itself not as a pariah, but as a partner in a by-then crowded landscape of international powers.

Diplomatic architecture of influence

Today, Tel Aviv maintains full diplomatic relations with some 44 out of 54 African countries and operates embassies in at least 11 of them, including Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, Angola, and South Africa – with non-resident ambassadors in the remaining 33 states. While it continues to seek normalization with additional countries, the occupation state’s diplomatic footprint across Africa illustrates the strategic value it assigns to the continent.

Rwanda, Togo, and South Sudan have emerged as prime laboratories for Israeli experiments in influence and penetration. In West and Central Africa, Tel Aviv leverages military and intelligence alliances in Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi, Zambia, Angola, and the Ivory Coast.

Equally notable is the steady normalization with Muslim-majority African states. The resumption of relations with Chad, normalization with Sudan and Morocco, and overtures to others aim to rupture the pro-Palestinian front within African institutions. The bid to regain “observer state” status at the African Union – lost in 2002 – encapsulates this push, but to date has been fiercely resisted by Algeria and South Africa.

Security and surveillance as Trojan horses

Over the past two decades, Israel has actively embedded itself in Africa's security matrix. Under the guise of “counterterrorism,” it has installed espionage and surveillance regimes from Kenya to Nigeria. Institutions like MASHAV, ostensibly promoting development, serve dual purposes: extending soft power while embedding Israeli frameworks of control.

The Galilee Institute, for instance, recruits African officials into programs that blend management training with intelligence paradigms, creating elite networks groomed to favor the Israeli worldview.

Israel's cyber firms, especially NSO Group, have exported invasive spyware like Pegasus to repressive governments to track dissidents and activists. Post-Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, these operations have intensified, with reports of intelligence centers tracking Palestinian diaspora and Axis of Resistance movements across Africa.

Economic gateways to strategic dominance

Israeli economic activity in Africa is not mere trade. It is a strategic tool of control. In East Africa, Tel Aviv dominates the infrastructure, agriculture, and health sectors. In West Africa, its companies penetrate irrigation, mining, and logistics.

This economic expansion serves multiple objectives. It allows Israel to erode its international isolation by fabricating legitimacy through African alliances. It strengthens the occupation state's security by facilitating Jewish immigration from Africa and helping monitor resistance factions operating in the region.

Geostrategically, it ensures Israeli access to strategic maritime corridors, especially the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Horn of Africa, and eastern Africa, which borders the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. Finally, it facilitates the exploitation of Africa's abundant natural resources – including diamonds, uranium, and agricultural land – while simultaneously disrupting historic Arab–African solidarity, particularly in the Nile Basin region.

Africa's new scramble: Old powers, new agendas

While Tel Aviv fortifies its grip, it faces fierce competition. Africa’s Horn remains the continent’s geopolitical pressure point. It is the entry to the Red Sea, the lifeline of Persian Gulf states, and a conduit for 40 percent of global oil trade.

Russia is expanding its influence from Ethiopia to Sudan. In Eritrea, it invests in joint military capacities and naval access. In Somalia and South Sudan, it leverages resource extraction and political vacuums. Moscow's – and even Tehran's – growing support in Sudan and Eritrea is anchored in Khartoum and Asmara's ruptures with Washington.

China has entrenched itself through trade, which reached $167.8 billion in the first half of 2024, as well as infrastructure projects and a naval base in Djibouti. In Ethiopia, it funds energy mega-projects like the Grand Renaissance Dam. Beijing's quiet diplomacy combines mineral exploitation in Eritrea with oil ventures in South Sudan.

Persian Gulf states, led by the UAE, weaponize port investments and farmland acquisitions in Nigeria and Liberia under the banner of food security. Post-Abraham Accords, Emirati–Israeli coordination has intensified, particularly in the Horn, where both seek to contain Iranian and Turkish influence.

Turkiye, for its part, has established a firm foothold in Somalia through military training bases and port development, and continues to leverage soft power tools such as humanitarian aid, Muslim solidarity, and construction contracts to expand its presence across East and West Africa.

Iran, though less visibly, has steadily built security and economic links from Eritrea to the Sahel. Its outreach to Algeria and Tunisia signals a strategic pivot in North Africa, aligned with its broader Axis of Resistance agenda.

Africa’s balancing act in a multipolar world

Africa today resembles a chessboard on which foreign powers seek checkmate. Tel Aviv's multifaceted penetration – diplomatic, military, economic – is not isolated. It intersects with, and is often buoyed by, Persian Gulf, western, and even Chinese interests.

But this presence remains fragile, dependent on pliant regimes and normalization trajectories. African states, for their part, are not passive. They are recalibrating, balancing between old allegiances and new opportunities, aware that in a rapidly reconfiguring world order, their sovereignty is the ultimate prize.

https://thecradle.co/articles/israels-e ... great-game

[blindpig]

For King and BP: How MI6 Infiltrated Libya
Posted by Internationalist 360° on June 7, 2025
Kit Klarenberg


A beaming Tony Blair and Muammar Gaddafi

In early March, Libya launched an “oil and gas licensing roadshow”, seeking to “drum up interest” among international investors, and boost its oil production by 50%. Subsequently, representatives of Tripoli’s UN-recognised National Unity Government (GNU), and state-owned National Oil Corporation, have toured cities across the US and Europe, making “in-depth” presentations on the voluminous riches local oligarchs and corporations could potentially reap locally. It’s the first time the country has opened up exploration of its vast energy reserves to overseas bidders since 2007.

This development represented the culmination of a lengthy, extremely fraught effort by British intelligence to create a stable milieu for US and European corporations to operate in the country, following NATO’s destructive 2011 bombing campaign, and the repulsive televised murder of Tripoli’s longstanding leader Muammar Gaddafi. London’s preponderant financial interest in crushing Gaddafi’s nationalist, Pan-Arabist rule was openly admitted before he was even sodomised to death with a bayonet by fighters of the Western-backed National Transitional Council that October.

The previous month, then-British Foreign Secretary William Hague began lobbying the UN to lift arms restrictions on Tripoli, to facilitate London’s sale of weapons to the NTC, including its military wing and self-appointed national police force. Not long after, junior defence minister Gerald Howard explicitly proclaimed, “we liberated Libya from a tyrant, frankly I want to see UK business benefit from the liberation we’ve given to their people.” Chief among the intended beneficiaries was BP.

Following thawing of relations between Britain and Libya during the War on Terror, a time when Tripoli’s security services were regularly used by the CIA and MI6 to torture terror suspects under the auspices of “extraordinary rendition”, Tony Blair met with Gaddafi in a desert tent in 2007. The British Prime Minister paid fawning tribute to the longtime leader, hailing how his country had been radically “transformed” from “an outcast” into a committed, dependable Western ally.

By Blair’s side was BP chair Peter Sutherland. He subsequently announced his company would return to Tripoli over three decades after Gaddafi went to war with European and US energy giants active in the country, expropriating and/or nationalising their assets on the basis they unfairly profited at the expense of his state and people. These moves greatly improved the local population’s standard of living, to the extent that by 1979, average per-capita income in Libya exceeded Britain and Italy.

While Sutherland looked ahead to raking in tens of billions from BP’s newfound deal with Libya, and Blair considered warming relations with the country “one of the key foreign policy successes of his premiership,” the pair’s grand plans were put on ice following the outbreak of insurrectionary violence in Tripoli in February 2011, immediately “prior to the commencement of drilling operations” by BP. It was not until May 2012 Britain’s leading energy giant sought to restart its “exploration” of the country’s vast energy reserves.

This was three months before the NTC formally handed over power to Tripoli’s newly-elected parliament and government. It was widely anticipated this rapid transition to Western-style democracy would immediately produce an environment conducive to foreign investment. Almost instantly though, Libya descended into total chaos, with rival militias, warlords and political factions bitterly battling for control. Assassinations, attacks on foreign embassies, sectarian clashes and civilian massacres became a daily staple, while ISIS established strongholds throughout the country.


ISIS triumphant in Libya

BP was thus forced to put its Libyan ambitions on indefinite hold yet again, as disarray reigned supreme. One might think the subsequent emergence of two parallel governments that both to this day claim control over Tripoli – the GNU, and Libyan National Army-backed Government of National Stability – would complicate matters further. However, in the intervening time, British intelligence covertly intervened in the country’s bloody bedlam so decisively, its operatives crafted a sufficiently stable space for BP to resume operations at long last, in October 2024.

‘Central Governance’

Leaked documents reveal British intelligence ran a variety of programs in post-war Libya using private sector cutouts, first and foremost Torchlight Group. This journalist has previously exposed how the company trains repressive security forces in countries such as Jordan in digital dark arts practiced by GCHQ’s JTRIG, and comprehensively infiltrated West Asian intelligence agencies on London’s behalf. Torchlight’s Tripoli operations were officially conducted in the name of “stability”, but it’s clear their ultimate concern was protecting Libyan economic assets from attack.

One leaked file, dated March 2018, states Britain’s “commitment to playing a leading role in ensuring Libya transitions to a stable country remains high.” As such, the Foreign Office constructed “a coherent package” of “support” aimed at “stabilising and reconstructing Libya,” to be delivered by contractors like Torchlight. Of chief concern was “establishing new interventions on the economy and local governance.” A “counter-terrorism development programme”, costing half a million pounds January – March 2019, loomed large among London’s considerations.

A leaked accompanying tender notes ISIS “conducted three complex attacks in Tripoli against critical government infrastructure in 2018.” Among their targets was Libya’s National Oil Corporation headquarters. This was of grave concern to the British, as it demonstrated “major weaknesses in the ability of security forces to respond” to strikes on the country’s economic infrastructure. So, Torchlight penetrated Libya’s Internal Security Service, Criminal Investigations Department, and Attorney General’s Office, to ensure a “compliant detention pathway” for “terror” suspects, covering “arrest, investigation…prosecution and detention.”



Excerpt from leaked Foreign Office fileThe project sought to “build the capacity” of all three agencies, “while reinforcing the close working relationship between them,” to support a shift “from confession-based to evidence-based prosecutions.” Torchlight would clandestinely teach Libyan security services “UK best practice” on “counter-terror investigation policy and practice.” This included “overt/covert, forensic, analysis, comms, digital, media” evidence gathering, and “the use of special investigative techniques,” including “HUMINT [human intelligence], surveillance, intercept, covert search, tracking, digital, control delivery, participation prison intelligence, etc.”Tripoli was expected to learn how to “[develop] evidence from intelligence leads,” along with “suspect handling and interview techniques,” the ultimate goal being “developing a specialist cadre of [counter-terror] prosecutors to build capability/capacity to receive the improved evidence,” and “the Libyans to establish a core [counter-terror] Senior Investigative Group.” This would comprise “intelligence agencies, police and prosecutors,” while the country adopted “a joint investigative leadership model” mirroring Britain’s own Executive Liaison Group, which draws together counter-terror police and MI5, London’s domestic spying service.It was hoped London’s investment would reverse “instability in Libya” that had erupted since Gaddafi’s 2011 fall, which allowed “extremist groups to thrive,” by exploiting “permissive environments”. Meanwhile, “the authority of the Government of National Accord,” the GNU’s forerunner, was reportedly “frequently contested”. Such conflict, “combined with long-term economic stagnation and weak state security forces,” amply demonstrated Tripoli’s “lack of central governance”, and its susceptibility “to capture” by armed militias, “in some cases with the acquiescence of the locals.”
‘National Security’

In leaked submissions to the Foreign Office, Torchlight outlined in some detail how it was ideally placed to train Libyan police and security and intelligence services to identify and neutralise individuals and groups who posed a threat to the operations of BP and other major Western corporations in the country. For one, the firm boasted extensive experience of conducting comparable “institutional change and organisational development” operations on behalf of British intelligence, in 70 separate countries.


Leaked slide on how Torchlight ‘professionalises’ foreign security services

Moreover, Torchlight had already carried out several clandestine British-bankrolled projects in preceding years, training Tripoli’s criminal investigators and prosecutors. This granted the firm “significant contextual knowledge of the operating environment within Libya.” Such “long-term mentoring” efforts also engendered personal “rapport” between Torchlight operatives and individuals in positions of significant power and influence within the Internal Security Service, Criminal Investigations Department, and Attorney General’s Office. These bonds could thus be exploited to secure “buy in” for London’s secret “counter-terrorism development programme” in the target agencies.

Torchlight further bragged of having “assembled a highly competent and experienced delivery team that exceeds the requirements set out for delivery” of the project. This included numerous individuals with lengthy backgrounds in sensitive fields back in Britain. For example, a 30-year senior police veteran assigned to the initiative had already trained Libya’s CID in “IT systems and competency, cybersecurity, fundamentals of intelligence and analysis, utilisation of covert human intelligence sources, open source intelligence, data management, databasing, indexing, social media intelligence…phone data analysis” and more.

He was one of several Torchlight operatives in possession of an “enhanced security clearance” in Britain. Another was the program’s senior political economy advisor for the program, British ambassador to Libya 2015 – 2018 Peter Millett. His time in the post meant he had “particularly strong” personal relationships with multiple senior government officials in Tripoli, which he leveraged to secure the extradition to London of Hashem Abedi, brother of purported Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi.

Hashem was subsequently convicted of 22 charges of murder, for allegedly helping his brother source materials used in the May 2017 attack. An official inquiry into the mass casualty bombing blamed the Abedis’ father Ramadan, a member of the Al Qaeda-affiliated, MI6-sponsored Libyan Islamic Fighting Group for radicalising the pair. The probe made no reference to the role played by MI5 in actively facilitating the travel of British-based LIFG fighters – including several members of the Abedi family – to Libya in 2011, specifically to topple Gaddafi.

The inquiry was also bereft of references to a trove of documents discovered in abandoned Libyan government offices following the “revolution”. This included highly incriminating communications sent to and from MI6’s then-counter terror chief Mark Allen and his counterpart in Tripoli in March 2004, regarding the kidnap and subsequent torture of terror suspect Abdel Hakim Belhaj and his pregnant wife. Not long after those exchanges, Allen retired and joined BP’s board as special adviser on Libyan oil contracts.


A fax discussing ‘extraordinary rendition’ dispatched to Libyan security services by MI6 counter-terror chief Mark Allen

In May 2015, six months after resigning as MI6 chief, John Sawers likewise joined BP’s board. The sinister revolving door between Britain’s foreign spying agency and its largest international energy company is never subject to serious scrutiny by the mainstream media. Moreover, there are unambiguous indications this dark alliance is subject to concerted coverup at the highest levels.

In May 2007, the Daily Mail published an incendiary exposé based on the testimony of a former senior BP staffer in charge of securing lucrative contracts in Azerbaijan, following the collapse of the Soviet Union. They alleged millions were spent using company credit cards on champagne, drugs, prostitutes and debauched parties for local government officials. They further claimed MI6 was well-aware of and encouraged these activities, working closely with BP to win business and “influence the political complexion of governments” in the region.

The bombshell story was retracted without explanation within hours of publication, allegedly by direct British government decree, and has since sunk without trace. Were it not for the leaked files detailed here, the public would likewise remain in the dark today about the extent to which London’s foreign spying apparatus, which supposedly defends Britain’s “national security” in the name of King and country, is in fact primarily concerned with making the Global South safe for Western economic rape and pillage.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2025/06/ ... ted-libya/

The Marxism That is Ready to Take Power: Africa’s Contribution to Revolutionary Theory
Posted by Internationalist 360° on June 7, 2025
Adam Mayer



In this short excerpt from the conclusion to his recently published book, Military Marxism: Africa’s Contribution to Revolutionary Theory, 1957-2023, Adam Mayer urges the importance of returning to and learning from Africa’s Military Marxists. According to Mayer, Marxist analysis that disregards the central role of armed violence to national liberation and social emancipation is ill advised, self-absorbed and detached from the lived realities of struggle and resistance on the continent, both historically and today.

In quick succession since 2014 when Compaoré fell in Burkina Faso, West African and Central African governments started falling too like dominos (Mali, Niger, Guinée, Gabon) to popular military governments. Those ousted France, declared military cooperation with Wagner and now even ended military cooperation with the United States. Burkina Faso then started buying weapons from North Korea, Angola signed a comprehensive treaty with China, Niger ousted US forces, and the West African countries Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso also established a Confederation, reminiscent of Nkrumah’s Union of African States.

Then in 2024, Wagner was replaced by the Russian state in West Africa, Central Africa (Bangui) and elsewhere. Sudan entered a civil war in 2023, with the Darfur conflict re-kindled. In Kenya, Communists won seats in elections in 2022, and in May 2024, Economic Freedom Fighters of South Africa (a Marxist force), are rumoured to be turning into political kingmakers (they obtained 10% in the elections in the end).

Even in neo-colonial Senegal, a young president with two first ladies, a radical on the topic of France, won elections in 2024. Rwanda restarted the armed conflict in Congo’s Kivu province. Museweni of Uganda defied the West in symbolic ways, prompting questions about his neoliberal credentials, as well as his succession.[i Nigeria in 2023 very nearly enacted an imperialist invasion of revolutionary Niger: only its Northern senators (with ethnic and religious ties to the Sahel) prevented this eventuality.

In mid-2024, both armed Marxism and “democratic socialism” of the parliamentary variety, are on the ascendant. Africa’s democratic socialists have representatives in the West. Its Military Marxism on the other hand is ridiculed still, as a movement without theory, as the work of near-illiterates, or worse still, as the work of external forces acting on their own. No “Russian meddling” would have produced these results without genuine popular sentiment in Africa.

In actual fact, as much as the democratic socialists build on traditions of social democracy in Africa (strong and varied), so do Military Marxists. Democratic socialism has conferences, learned journals, America, Britain, the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung to strengthen it. My tome is proof that armed class conflict, as practiced in Africa, also has its strong tradition, its genuine Marxist theory, its intellectual provenance. Its leaders are not desert fighters and jungle fighters only: they are carriers of a grand tradition. They are also radical African counter-mercenaries in the tradition of African national liberation, as well as the fights of the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s.

First I wanted to give this chapter the title ‘The Joys of Vulgar Marxism’, before I realized that it was my 1990s instincts for self-distancing, post-modernism and irony that had been at work, and that all that was rather useless. ‘The Marxism that is Ready to Take Power’ expresses what I want to say much better. This is especially important because socialism, and even a sprinkling of Leninism, are tolerated by multilateral imperialism as long as they do not address issues of power in Africa.

Even the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation will not be chased out until it demands real change in the distribution of power. In the English language (the imperialist language par excellence) there are probably 10,000 pages on the Russian Revolution that took just a number of days, for every single page that discusses the young Soviet state’s four year long Civil War (!) – effectively taking out “conflict” of “class conflict”, obfuscating the very core of Communist agitation and Marxist praxis worldwide.

The Anglophone West has a reified, self-obsessed, entirely parochial understanding of what Marxism is: unions, continental philosophy, and Adorno occupy an imaginary mental landscape where power is perpetually in the hands of the class enemy, cops belong to the bosses, and the class conflict manifests in marches and demonstrations, while the state happily conducts neo-imperialist wars on five different fronts.

I would like to remind my Western European, British and American comrades that revolutions have actually been won in world history, that socialism had triumphed from the Paris Commune to early 21st century Nepal, that state socialism has stored up a world of experience for Marxists.

How did the land of the Soviets fight off direct imperialist aggression and the Russian landlords? By Trotsky organizing the Red Army. How did Mao Zedong assume leadership of the CCP as well as ensure Marxist victory in the protracted civil war that took decades? By winning a tug-of-war around military strategy during the Long March against unimaginative other Marxists who opposed his guerilla strategy. How did Stalin do his part in winning World War Two? How did Vietnam become independent? How do we imagine that Kant’s perpetual peace with its perpetual parliaments would ever bring socialism anywhere?

Marxist analysis that disregards armed violence because of ideological pacifism is at best ill advised, at worst an exercise in self-absorption and “academic Marxism”. Real organic intellectuals had once behaved very much unlike this. One of the earliest and greatest theorists of Leninism, Georg Lukács, would serve on the front in 1919 (Hungarian Soviet Republic, of which he was a commissar), he would make rude jokes about the Egyptian Army in 1967,[ii] and he possessed extreme personal courage despite his frail frame. Partisans in the Second World War, insurgents in Southern Africa, Congolese radicals, simple Chinese peasants, and many others have given the Left myriads of examples of heroism.

Beyond toxic masculinity there lies sometimes heroic socialist masculinity as well – as a feminist woman journalist has recently reminded us. It is perhaps not by chance that Ruth First, Stephanie Urdang, Ifeoma Okoye, and many other African Marxist-feminists, had had more sympathy with armed militants (women and men) than had Marxist men. It is time to correct this classist, urbanist, armchairist bias.

Africa, according to a classic mainstream piece of literature on African armies, is the continent where armies are, if at all possible, even more important than anywhere else.

“African military forces have always served political ends. They were used by colonial authorities to subdue indigenous resistance to foreign domination and to serve European needs abroad during World War I and World War II. In the early stages of independence, there were numerous instances of the armed forces being used for domestic purposes in tax riots, electoral contests, ethnic upheavals, and the enforcement of controversial policies. As the unpopularity of several post-independence regimes rose, the principle of civilian control of the military—a colonial norm never deeply ingrained— eroded further. More than half of the states in sub-Saharan Africa have experienced successful coups d’état since the first intervention in Sudan in 1958, and some with depressing regularity.”[iii]

In addition, the army has been used in a number of civilian capacities—to conduct a census, clear congested ports, enforce wage and price controls, fight armed robbery, control religious upheavals, and operate domestic intelligence operations. Universities have been run under military decree in Nigeria; small businesses, such as bakeries, are operated by the military in Sudan. The idea of using the military for civic action programs, such as digging wells and building schools in the countryside, has surfaced in several countries (albeit with less than widespread success). So pervasive is the military that “it is impossible to separate political considerations from any evaluation of the African army.”[iv] Why would social emancipation be the only exception?

Military Marxism: Africa’s Contribution to Revolutionary Theory, 1957–2023 is available to order here.

Adam Mayer teaches African Studies at Széchenyi István University, Hungary and also International Studies at the American University of Iraq Baghdad. He also supervises PhD dissertations at UNED in Madrid, Spain, as well as at the University of Obuda in Hungary. A fellow Marxist, he studies the history of African Marxist thought as well as the continent’s socialist movements. His monographs are Naija Marxisms: Revolutionary Thought in Nigeria (Pluto Press, 2016) and Military Marxism: Africa’s Contribution to Revolutionary Theory, 1957–2023 (Lexington Books, 2025).

Notes

My analysis here is my own, but the phenomenon was noticed early by especially three analysts: Amy Niang: “Coups, insurgency, and imperialism in Africa,” roape.net, at: https://roape.net/2022/03/08/coups-insu ... in-africa/ , 8th March 2022, Toyin Falola: “Are These the Dying Days of La Françafrique?,” 27th September, 2023, The Elephant, at: https://www.theelephant.info/opinion/20 ... ncafrique/ , and Ndongo Samba Sylla’s lectures in Bayreuth, Germany. I have also benefitted from interviews with Rudolf Sárdi (Burkina Faso) who had to leave the region due to UN links but kept his optimism.

[ii] Heller Ágnes, Kőbányai János: Bicikliző majom, Múlt és Jövő, Budapest, 2004

[iii] Bruce E. Arlinghaus, Pauline H Baker (eds): African Armies, Evolution and Capabilities, Routledge, London, New York, 1986 and 2018, p. 198

[iv] Ibid, p. 199

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2025/06/ ... ry-theory/

[blindpig]

Niger Nationalizes Uranium
Posted by Internationalist 360° on June 25, 2025
Pavan Kulkarni


Niger to nationalize uranium to wrest control over its resource from FranceGeneral Abdourahamane Tchiani. Photo: X

Accusing French state-owned Orano of illegally extracting a disproportionate share of Uranium, Niger’s government said that nationalization will make way for “optimal enjoyment of the wealth from mining resources by Nigeriens.”

In yet another assertion of sovereignty, the government of Niger announced on Thursday, June 19, that it would nationalize the Somaïr uranium venture, wresting control from the multinational nuclear fuel cycle corporation Orano.

Orano is owned by the French state, which, the government noted, has been “openly hostile toward Niger since July 26, 2023”, when the then president Mohamed Bazoum, domestically perceived as a French puppet, was ousted in a popularly supported coup.

Without yielding to French threats of war, the military government replacing Bazoum’s regime consolidated widespread support by expelling French troops, fulfilling the demand for which mass protests had been underway in the lead-up to his removal.

The nationalization of Somaïr is yet another measure in defiance of its former colonizer. France has long exerted a monopoly over Niger’s uranium, which is among the highest grade in Africa. It has been fueling French nuclear power plants, lighting up a third of its light bulbs, while over 85% of Nigeriens lacked connection to the electricity grid.

Accusing Orano of “irresponsible, illegal, and unfair behavior”, the government said that between 1971 and 2024, it had taken over 86% of Somaïr’s uranium. This is disproportionately higher than the 63% stake it owned, leaving Niger’s state-owned Sopamin as a minority stakeholder in Somaïr.

The nationalization changing this neo-colonial arrangement “will allow for healthier and more sustainable management of the company and, consequently, optimal enjoyment of the wealth from mining resources by Nigeriens,” its statement added.

Threatening Niger with “legal actions, including criminal proceedings if necessary”, Orano said it “intends to seek full compensation for the damages suffered and will assert its rights to the stock corresponding to Somaïr’s production to date.”



https://libya360.wordpress.com/2025/06/ ... s-uranium/

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Mali takes control of one of Africa’s largest gold mines and launches its own refinery

Mali’s mining code change in 2024 puts pressure on foreign companies in the country.

June 25, 2025 by Pedro Stropasolas


First brick of Mali's new refinery laid by President Goïta. Photo: Presidency of Mali

The Loulo-Gounkoto complex, one of the largest gold mines in the world currently owned by the Canadian company Barrick Mining, has been placed under the provisional administration of the State of Mali. The measure was formalized on Monday, June 16, by the Commercial Court of Bamako and takes place amid a dispute between the Malian government, led by Colonel Assimi Goïta, and the multi-national company.

Mali, Africa’s second-largest gold producer and the world’s fourth-largest, says Barrick owes taxes and operates under unfavorable contracts signed with previous governments. In response, the company said it would appeal the court ruling.

The court appointed former Malian Health Minister Zoumana Makadji as the mine’s interim administrator. Officials from Mali’s government, which reformed its mining code in 2023, said the decision “protects national economic interests” and prevents “a sudden closure of the mine in the absence of a revised agreement.” The mine accounts for about 14% of Barrick’s revenues, and Mali holds a 20% stake.

Back in May, the government had officially requested that the court change the management of the mine, citing an interest in reopening it at a time of historic highs in gold prices. The dispute with Barrick led to the closure of the company’s offices in Bamako, the capital of Mali. The government also issued an arrest warrant for the company’s CEO, Mark Bristow, in December 2024. The company has offered USD 370 million to the Malian state amid the dispute.

In a statement, Barrick said that “while its subsidiaries remain the legal owners of the mine, operational control has been transferred to an external administrator.”

The tension between Mali and Barrick is not an isolated case. As part of a new policy to strengthen the national economy, the Malian government – ​​a member of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) alongside Burkina Faso and Niger – has been putting pressure on several foreign companies in the mining sector.

West Africa’s first state-owned refinery
On the same day it took over management of the mine, the government began construction on West Africa’s first state-owned gold refinery, in partnership with the Russian conglomerate Yadran.

Located in Senou, 19 km from Bamako, the refinery will have the capacity to process up to 200 tons of gold per year. Mali will be a majority shareholder in the project, which aims to ensure that the nation can benefit directly from its mineral resources, without relying on foreign refineries.

“This is a long-awaited dream of the Malian people and today it has become a reality,” said President Assimi Goïta, laying the first brick at the groundbreaking ceremony.

Yadran Group Chairman Irek Salikhov welcomed the initiative and said the refinery is set to become a regional processing hub, also serving neighboring countries such as Burkina Faso. According to him, the goal is to enable Mali to “refine all the gold mined on its territory, putting an end to decades of exporting raw ore.”

There is still no official deadline for the completion of the refinery, which represents another step by the Malian government towards sovereign control over the gold production chain.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/06/25/ ... -refinery/

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Kenya Protests Turn Deadly as Death Toll Rises to 16 Amid Police Crackdown
June 27, 2025


People being tear-gassed while protesting. Photo: Africanews.


The death toll from Wednesday’s nationwide anti-government protests in Kenya has climbed to 16, with most fatalities reportedly caused by police gunfire, according to Amnesty International and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR).

The protests, held in 23 of Kenya’s 47 counties, marked the first anniversary of the 2024 anti-tax demonstrations that left over 60 people dead. This year’s rallies were sparked by ongoing anger over police brutality, economic hardship, and the recent death of a blogger in police custody.

In Nairobi, security forces used tear gas, water cannons, and live ammunition to disperse crowds. Protesters attempted to march toward Parliament and the President’s Office, both of which were barricaded with razor wire.

A joint statement by the Kenya Medical Association, Law Society of Kenya, and the Police Reforms Working Group confirmed that hundreds were injured, including at least 83 with serious wounds, many from gunshots.

Amnesty Kenya’s director, Irungu Houghton, said the organization had verified 16 deaths and over 400 injuries, calling the police response “excessive and unlawful.” The KNCHR echoed these concerns, citing “allegations of excessive use of force”.

In downtown Nairobi, businesses were looted and set ablaze. At least two police stations were torched by protesters, and Kenya Power reported that one of its security guards was shot dead while on duty.

The government’s Communications Authority ordered a halt to live TV and radio coverage of the protests, prompting backlash from civil society and media groups. A Nairobi court later suspended the directive, allowing broadcasts to resume.

President William Ruto, who withdrew the controversial tax bill last year, has faced mounting criticism over his administration’s handling of dissent. Protesters chanted “Ruto must go,” accusing the government of economic mismanagement and repression.



The Interior Minister, Kipchumba Murkomen, defended police actions, claiming they had “foiled a coup” and insisting that no officer had committed excesses. His remarks drew sharp rebukes from rights groups and opposition leaders.

The protests were largely youth-led, with demonstrators waving Kenyan flags and holding placards bearing the names of victims from last year’s unrest. Many cited unemployment, corruption, and police impunity as reasons for taking to the streets again.

Western embassies, including those of the U.S., U.K., and Germany, issued a joint statement condemning the use of force and urging the government to uphold the right to peaceful assembly. They also criticized the deployment of plainclothes officers and hired “goons” to disrupt protests.

As Kenya reels from another deadly protest anniversary, calls for police reform, accountability, and political dialogue are growing louder. Civil society groups warn that without meaningful change, the cycle of violence and repression may only deepen.

https://orinocotribune.com/kenya-protes ... crackdown/

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African Court Clears Path for DRC’s Human Rights Case Against Rwanda


Photo: The East Africa

June 27, 2025 Hour: 2:34 pm

The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, based in Tanzania, has ruled that it is competent to hear a case brought by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) against Rwanda, opening the door to a landmark hearing on alleged human rights violations linked to the long-running conflict in eastern Congo.

The DRC accuses Rwanda of violating the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, citing its alleged support for the M23 rebel group, which Kinshasa says is responsible for mass killings, displacement, and destruction of infrastructure in North and South Kivu provinces.


Rwanda had argued that the case was premature, claiming that national and regional mechanisms had not been fully exhausted. However, the court’s eleven judges unanimously rejected this objection and invited Kigali to submit its written response on the merits within 90 days.

The ruling marks the first inter-state case ever accepted by the African Court, a move hailed by Congolese institutions as a “decisive step toward justice” and a potential turning point in the fight against impunity on the continent.

The decision comes just as the DRC and Rwanda prepare to sign a U.S.-brokered peace agreement in Washington. The deal includes provisions on territorial integrity, disarmament of non-state armed groups, and resource-sharing frameworks, particularly concerning critical minerals vital to global supply chains.

U.S. President Donald Trump praised the upcoming treaty as “a Great Day for Africa and…for the World,” underscoring Washington’s strategic interest in stabilizing the region and securing access to cobalt, coltan, and lithium reserves.

The humanitarian toll of the conflict remains staggering. The United Nations estimates that over 7 million people are displaced in the DRC, making it one of the worst humanitarian crises globally. The situation deteriorated further in early 2025 when M23 rebels, allegedly backed by Rwanda, seized Goma and Bukavu, two strategic cities in eastern Congo.

The Congolese National Human Rights Commission (CNDH-DRC) and civil society groups have welcomed the court’s ruling, praising President Félix Tshisekedi’s diplomatic efforts and calling for continued international pressure to ensure accountability.

The Congolese Association for Access to Justice (ACAJ) described the ruling as a “victory in the fight against impunity”, pledging to support victims and monitor the proceedings closely.

Rwanda has yet to issue a formal response to the court’s decision. However, analysts suggest Kigali may seek to use the upcoming peace treaty to defuse tensions and avoid further legal scrutiny.

The African Court is expected to deliver its final judgment within 90 days of deliberation, following submissions from both parties. The outcome could set a precedent for inter-state accountability under African human rights law.

As the region braces for the next phase of diplomacy and legal reckoning, the DRC-Rwanda case underscores the complex interplay between justice, geopolitics, and resource competition in one of Africa’s most volatile regions.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/african- ... st-rwanda/

Togo Protests Escalate as Security Forces Crack Down on Anti-Gnassingbé Demonstrations


Photo: Reuters

June 27, 2025 Hour: 1:20 pm

Tensions flared in Togo’s capital this week as soldiers and police used tear gas and batons to disperse hundreds of protesters demanding the resignation of longtime leader Faure Gnassingbé. The unrest, which began Wednesday, continued into Thursday with makeshift barricades, burning tires, and a heavy security presence across Lomé.

The demonstrations were sparked by Gnassingbé’s recent appointment as President of the Council of Ministers, a powerful role with no term limits, which opposition parties have denounced as a “constitutional coup” designed to extend his rule indefinitely.


Protesters blocked major roads in neighborhoods such as Bè, Bè Kpota, and Adakpamé, prompting security forces to respond with force. Witnesses reported the presence of militiamen in unmarked vehicles, some armed with rifles and batons.

“The city is unusually quiet,” one resident told RFI, noting that shops remained shuttered, markets were closed, and traffic was minimal as clashes continued into the afternoon.

In the suburbs, demonstrators set fire to wooden furniture and tires, sending plumes of black smoke into the sky. “We’re hungry. Nothing works for Togolese youth anymore,” said Kossi Albert, a 30-year-old unemployed man who vowed to return to the streets Friday.

The protests were organized by bloggers, civil society groups, and online activists, who called for three days of peaceful demonstrations from June 26–28. The movement has gained momentum despite a nationwide protest ban in place since 2022.

Earlier this month, authorities arrested dozens during similar protests, many of whom were later released. Rights group Amnesty International has condemned the crackdown as part of a broader campaign against dissent and amid a worsening cost-of-living crisis.

A coalition of political groups known as “Hands Off My Constitution” issued a statement urging Gnassingbé to release political prisoners and take urgent steps to restore purchasing power for ordinary citizens.

The government has yet to comment on the latest wave of protests. Hodabalo Awate, Minister of Territorial Administration, did not respond to media inquiries regarding the security forces’ conduct.

In a move widely criticized by press freedom advocates, Togo’s authorities last week suspended broadcasts of RFI and France 24 for three months, accusing them of bias. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called the decision a “serious attack on press freedom”.

Gnassingbé has ruled Togo since 2005, following the death of his father, Gnassingbé Eyadéma, who had held power since 1967. The family’s nearly six-decade rule has drawn increasing scrutiny in a region plagued by coups and democratic backsliding.

As protests continue, observers warn that the government’s response could further inflame tensions. With elections looming and public frustration mounting, Togo faces a critical test of its democratic institutions and civil liberties.

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