Month: January 2024

The spokesperson for the government of Burkina Faso, denounced Thursday (Jan. 18), what he called an “umpteenth attempt at destabilizing” the Sahelian nation.

He said a coup attempt had been foiled and alleged coup plotters arrested.

Citing findings of preliminary investigations Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo said the coup was scheduled to take place on January 14.

He added that a network of military officers, some retired some active, as well civilians and activists conspired to destabilize the institutions of Burkina Faso.

The network allegedly sought to target citizens’ watch bodies to sway the people support for the ruling MPSR (Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration).

Foreign funding was being unblocked for the accused to proceed with their plan, the statement further reads.

An undisclosed number of people were detained for questioning, and technical analyses were carried out.

The government spokesperson said intelligence services and defence forces were vigilant

It is the fourth coup attempt authorities in Burkina Faso have claimed to have thwarted since captain Ibrahim Traoré took power by force in September 2022.

The United Nations World Food Program said Wednesday it was working with Zimbabwe’s government and humanitarian agencies to provide food to 2.7 million villagers in the country, as the El Niño weather phenomenon contributes to a drought crisis in southern Africa.

Food shortages, which put almost 20% of Zimbabwe’s population at risk of famine, are caused by poor harvests in drought- ravaged areas, where people rely on small-scale agriculture for food. El Nino is expected to further worsen this situation by causing below-average rainfall again this year, said Francesca Erdelmann, WFP country director for Zimbabwe.

El Nino is a natural, recurring weather phenomenon that warms parts of the Pacific, affecting weather patterns around the world. This has different impacts depending on the region. When rains fail or arrive late, it has a significant impact, Erdelmann said at a news conference.

In Zimbabwe, January to March is considered the lean season, when rural households lack food while waiting for the next harvest. More than 60% of Zimbabwe’s 15 million people live in rural areas. Their lives are increasingly affected by a cycle of drought and floods made worse by climate change.

Periods of drought are becoming longer and more severe. For decades, Zimbabwe’s rainy season ran reliably from October to March. It has become irregular in recent years, sometimes starting only in December and ending earlier.

Once a food exporter, Zimbabwe has relied heavily on donor aid to feed its population in recent years. Agricultural production also fell sharply after the seizure of white-owned farms under former President Robert Mugabe starting in 2000, but it has begun to recover.

The United States Agency for International Development, the U.S. government’s foreign aid agency, has estimated, through its network of famine early warning systems, that 20 million people in Africa Australia will need food aid between January and March. Many people living in areas of greatest concern, such as Zimbabwe, southern Malawi, parts of Mozambique, and southern Madagascar, will not be able to feed themselves until early 2025 because of El Niño, USAID said.

Erdelmann said WFP received an $11 million grant from USAID.

Zimbabwe’s government says the country has grain reserves to last until October, but it has acknowledged that many people who have failed to harvest enough grain and are too poor to buy food on the markets are in dire need of help.

Prices of basic food items are skyrocketing across the region, USAID said, further impacting people’s ability to feed themselves.

Zimbabwe has already acknowledged feeling the effects of El Nino in other areas after 100 elephants died in a drought-hit wildlife park late last year.

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak overcame a Conservative Party rebellion and got his plan to send some asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda through the House of Commons on Wednesday (Jan. 17).

Lawmakers voted 320 to 276 to back a bill intended to overcome a U.K. Supreme Court block on the Rwanda plan.

The vote came a day after some 60 members of Sunak’s governing Conservatives rebelled in an effort to make the legislation tougher.

The bill now goes to the unelected House of Lords, Parliament’s upper chamber, where Sunak’s Conservatives do not have a majority.

The Lords can delay and amend legislation but ultimately can’t overrule the elected House of Commons.

More than 29,000 people made the perilous journey in 2023, down from 42,000 the year before.

Five people died in the night of January 13 to January 14 while trying to launch a boat from northern France in the dark and winter cold.

Two people died and 77 others were injured after a massive blast rocked more than a dozen buildings in one of Nigeria’s largest cities Tuesday night, the governor said Wednesday, as rescue workers dug through the rubble in search of those feared trapped.

Residents in the southwestern state of Oyo’s densely populated Ibadan city heard a loud blast at about 7:45 p.m., causing panic as many fled their homes. By Wednesday morning, security forces cordoned off the area while medical personnel and ambulances were on standby as rescue efforts intensified.

Preliminary investigations showed the blast was caused by explosives stored for use in illegal mining operations, Oyo Gov. Seyi Makinde told reporters after visiting the site in the Bodija area of Ibadan.

“We have already deployed first responders and all relevant agencies within Oyo state to carry out comprehensive search and rescue operations,” Makinde said, describing the damage as “devastating.”

Illegal mining in mineral-rich Nigeria is common and has been a major concern for authorities. However, it is mostly done in remote areas where arrests are difficult and where safety procedures are rarely followed.

It was not immediately clear who stored the explosives, and no arrest has been announced. “The investigations are ongoing (and) all those found culpable for this will be brought to book,” Gov. Makinde said.

Most of the 77 injured were already discharged, the governor said, promising to cover the medical bills of others still being admitted and to provide temporary accommodation for those whose houses were affected.

Africa’s biggest oil refinery has begun production in Nigeria, the company has said, ending a years long wait for a plant that analysts said Monday could boost refining capacity in a region heavily reliant on imported petroleum products.

The $19 billion facility, which can produce 650,000 barrels per day, has started to produce diesel and aviation fuel, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery company reported Saturday. As Nigeria’s first privately owned oil refinery, the project “is a game-changer for our country,” it added.

Nigeria is one of Africa’s top oil producers but imports refined petroleum products for its use. The nation’s oil and natural gas sector has struggled for many years, and most of its state-run refineries operate far below capacity because of poor maintenance.

The Dangote refinery is “not a silver bullet” for Nigeria’s energy crisis, according to Olufola Wusu, an oil and gas expert who was part of a team that helped review Nigeria’s national gas policy. “But it is a great way to revive the sector … and will help move Nigeria from being a major importer of refined petroleum products to self-reliant in domestic refining capacity.”

She is described by the company as the world’s largest single-train refinery, the private refinery is owned by Africa’s richest man, Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote. It is located on the outskirts of Lagos, Nigeria’s economic hub, and operates alongside a fertilizer plant.

The plant is expected to meet 100% of Nigeria’s needs for gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and aviation jet fuel at full production capacity, Dangote said last year when the facility was opened. At least 40% of the oil products made there also would be available for export, the company said.

The plant received about 6 million barrels of crude so far from Nigeria’s state oil firm, NNPC Limited, to kick start its operation, although it could take months before the refinery reaches full capacity, according to analysts.

Some citizens have expressed hope that the new plant would soon help reduce consumer gas prices, which have tripled from a year ago after the government stopped decades long subsidies.

Analysts have said any impact on prices would still depend on industry trends such as the cost of crude, government interventions such as subsidies, and the local currency’s exchange rate to the dollar.