Welcome to Foreign PolicyOverview of Africa.
Highlights this week: Madagascar announces plans for a constitutional referendum and elections Africa Forward Conference the result of billions of dollars in French funding for the continent, and the President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa faces revived the prosecution case.
Madagascar electoral council he announced Thursday that a constitutional referendum will be held in June 2027, followed by elections in October. The announcement came after being led by the youth protest under the “Gen Z Madagascar” movement in early April, which demanded an election date amid growing discontent with the country’s military rule.
The Indian Ocean island hit international headlines last October when an elite force seized power from President Andry Rajoelina following weeks of youth-led protests. (Rajoelina himself took power in a 2009 coup.) The protests had begun in response to frequent power outages and water shortages, but escalated after security forces cracked down on protesters, killing at least 22 people.
When activists were happiness expel Rajoelina, many too to be afraid what is the meaning of taking military power for the future of the country.
“Immediately after the army came to power, there were some short-term improvements. Power outages became less frequent, and some communities had longer access to running water,” said Velomahanina Razakamaharavo, research fellow at the University of Reading and author of the book. Peacebuilding in Madagascar: A Multi-Level Peace.
“However, these improvements have not translated into sustainable solutions,” Razakamaharavo added.
The junta’s election announcement may be a reason for hope, but “it cannot yet be considered a clear sign of positive change in Madagascar’s civic space,” Razakamaharavo said. The military government, led by Colonel Michael Randrianirina, is fulfilling a two-year transition schedule. he agreed and the Southern African Development Community to restore democratic governance, he explained, “instead of (showing) evidence of true democratic openness.”
Like me suspected in October, the military may be following a new African revolution playbook used by military leaders Property, Chad, Guineaand Gabon: promising institutional reforms and a national referendum to create a new constitution, which more trenches their power over parliament, followed by “tick” elections to legitimize the power grab.
At the same time, the oppression on the opposition has continued under military rule. As the army prepares for the elections, “we have had arbitrary searches, arrests, detentions targeting the opposition (people from the old political regime which was removed),” said Nciko wa Nciko, Amnesty International’s senior adviser on human rights in Madagascar.
According to Amnesty Internationalseveral protesters, including a prominent Gen Z activist God bless youwere detained on “vague charges” of criminal conspiracy and threats to national security on April 12, shortly after participating in protest in the capital of Antananarivo.
Other guys were to be arrested at the end of April together with an officer of the Madagascar army and a former French servant on suspicion of conspiracy to destabilize the country and spread fake news. The French foreign ministry denied the allegations.
Despite selection of the anti-corruption chief as the prime minister and the army in March, young activists say the space for political freedom is diminishing in the country. “It’s just a new face but the same mafia, the same oligarchs,” Malagasy activist Arimamy Todisoa. he told it CBC Radio last month.
At the same time, the military government does not seem to give priority to the daily needs of citizens in a country where three quarters of the population live in poverty. “Today, access to water remains one of the biggest daily problems of residents. Many residents report going up to four days without running water. In some areas, people wake up as early as 2 am to line up to find water,” Razakamaharavo said.
As Nciko explained, the government’s policies are more focused on getting weapons instead of addressing water and electricity shortages. Last month, Randrianirina’s administration received weapons and military equipment from Moscow, following talks between Randrianirina and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Bloomberg information.
Nciko, for one, argues that the international community should not lose sight of the essence of the Madagascar protest, which was corruption and waste of public funds. Gen Z activists “say there is still damage to public services. There are still water problems, electricity problems,” he said. “That’s where the needs of Gen Z are.”
Thursday, May 14, to Friday, May 15: BRICS foreign ministers meet in New Delhi.
Sunday, May 17: Cape Verde holds parliamentary elections.
The meeting of France and Africa. The Africa Forward Summit, organized earlier this week by French President Emmanuel Macron and Kenyan President William Ruto in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, results about 27 billion dollars of investment in Africa, 16.4 billion dollars of which will come from French companies.
This was the first time that the Franco-Africa summit was held in an English-speaking African country, marking a strategic shift for France as it hopes to find closer ties with Anglophone Africa after facing growing criticism in French colonies.
More than 30 heads of state and government attended the event. In the event of the virus, Macron short interruption speakers during the youth conference reprimanded the audience for not being silent, which drew attention mixed responses online.
Charged with South Africa? South African President Cyril Ramaphosa rejected calls for his resignation on Monday, after the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg ruled last week that parliament should revive proceedings to impeach him over the 2020 scandal over the theft of $580,000 stored in a sofa at his Phala Phala animal farm.
Ramaphosa has been accused of hiding the raid and the money from the police and tax authorities. He denies any wrongdoing: “The complaints against me are based on hearsay allegations,” Ramaphosa he said in a televised speech on Monday.
In 2022, South Africa’s parliament voted against a proposal for an independent panel for Ramaphosa to face prosecution cases. The most recent legal challenge was brought by the left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters, which claimed that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) used its parliamentary majority to shield Ramaphosa from accountability.
The ANC lost its majority in the 2024 election and now governs as part of a 10-party coalition. In a statement on Friday, the party said it would support “to follow judgment.”
The court ordered the parliament to form an impeachment committee to investigate the case. If the committee decides to proceed, Ramaphosa can be removed from power if two-thirds of the South African Parliament votes to remove him. Still, South Africa analysts have suggested that Ramaphosa cannot lose such a vote if ANC politicians support him.
oppression of Chad. Eight Chadian opposition leaders were to be judged was sentenced to eight years in prison on Friday on various charges including rebellion, a move that critics argue is the latest attempt by President Mahamat Idriss Déby’s administration to silence opponents.
The country’s Supreme Court also recently dissolved the Consultative Group of Political Executives, or GCAP, a coalition of opposition parties and civil society organizations. Succès Masra, a prominent opposition leader and former prime minister of Chad, was to be judged up to 20 years in prison last August.
Nigeria’s relationship with the United States. Last week, Nigeria’s National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu met with US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington in the latest attempt by Abuja to mend relations with the US White House.
Abuja has been trying to counter the Trump administration’s false claims of persecution of Christians in Nigeria, while also fighting armed groups and Islamists who are attacking Nigerians of all faiths in the north of the country. The United States made Christmas Day air raids against Islamic State militants in northwestern Nigeria last year.
Recent conversations focused on the Nigeria-US Joint Task Force, which was established in January to help counter terrorism monitoring throughout West Africa. The detailed results of the talks were not released. The conversation was immediately overshadowed by the report of the killing of more than 100 people Sunday in the air strikes of the Nigerian army and more 40 people in a separate incident with the Chadian army, both targeting Islamic groups.
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, who attended the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, has strengthened economic and security ties with France separately since coming to power in 2023, including essential minerals contract in 2024.
Kenyan employers of Russia. In Foreign PolicyMaurice Oniang’o report over 1,000 Kenyans enlisted to fight for Russia in its war against Ukraine—soldiers who have often been duped by false promises of lucrative civilian jobs in Moscow.
“Local media investigations have documented bribery networks at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport involving airport staff, police, and immigration officials who are alleged to have knowingly facilitated departures, often in exchange for bribes,” Oniang’o writes.
Missed African tours. Nigerian and South African artists such as Burna Boy, Wizkid, and Tyla have revolutionized African music, but their world tours often do not include African nations due to the lack of concert hall infrastructure. Mary Chiney report in Guardian.
“Music has played a major role in changing the way African youth are seen around the world, replacing outdated narratives with more concrete representations of African life. But when an artist writes a song about the reality of Lagos and only performs it in Berlin, an important aspect of that relationship is diminished,” Chiney writes.
