The measure follows talks between the president and industrial and artisanal mining operators, as well as gold buying offices, on June 19, and takes effect immediately.

“Any operator who, after the expiry of this deadline, continues to export raw gold will have its license suspended, its mining agreement terminated, and will answer for its actions before Guinean justice,” Doumbouya warned, according to his office.

Guinea holds significant gold reserves and ranks as the sixth-largest producer in Africa, with production of 69.3 tons in 2025, according to the World Gold Council. The former French colony is also the world’s leading producer of bauxite, accounting for around 33.2% of global output in 2024, U.S. Geological Survey data shows.

President Mamadi Doumbouya said Guinea has “unfortunately been among the poorest nations in the world,” despite being “one of the richest lands in Africa.”

He said the country’s “gold leaves its soil every day in raw form, loaded onto planes, taken to foreign refineries to be processed” and sold elsewhere, while Guinea “receives crumbs.” 

“I put an end to this today. Guinean gold will be melted in Guinea, certified in Guinea, valued in Guinea before being exported to international markets,” he declared.

The government said the measure is designed to boost local value addition and accelerate industrialization in a country where mining remains the backbone of the economy.

Under the new framework, refining is expected to take place at the Nimba Gold Refinery in Gbessia, a state-backed facility in the capital, Conakry. The plant is expected to process up to 2,000 kg of gold per day and an estimated monthly capacity of 520 tons. It is designed to produce internationally certified bullion and handle industrial waste streams containing precious metals, according to the presidency.

Doumbouya, who first came to power in 2021 after a military takeover and later won the presidency in an election last December, has also tightened oversight of Guinea’s bauxite sector, revoking and reassigning mining concessions while pushing for greater local processing.

Similar policies have been rolled out elsewhere in Africa in recent years. Zimbabwe, the continent’s leading lithium producer, has restricted exports of unprocessed lithium concentrates, while Tanzania and Uganda have already banned exports of unrefined minerals and metals, including gold and copper.

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Dr. Sachs, who frequently appears on international media outlets, heavily criticizing mainstream Western news organizations and their biased, one-sided reporting, is an economist and public policy analyst, a professor at Columbia University, and the current director of the Center for Sustainable Development.

At the February summit, he warned that Africa must integrate its markets and become a singular geopolitical bloc. He stressed that Europeans and American colonial-era divisions leave the continent’s 55 countries fragmented and vulnerable, while a true union or integration of African nation-states unlocks the scale needed to compete and excel.

Integrating the trajectory of Africa’s population growth with “the most amazing acceleration of technological know-how in history,” Dr. Sachs projects that Africa’s population is so young that there is a tremendous population growth built into Africa till the end of the century. He calculates that “Africa’s population will be two and a half billion people at mid-century.”

Comparing Africa’s population growth to that of China and India, he said that by the end of the 21st century, China’s population will be under one billion, and India’s, he estimates, will stabilize at 1.7 billion. Dr. Sachs explained that according to him, “on the current extrapolation with a gradually declining fertility rate, Africa reaches about 3.7 billion people by the end of the 21st century, and that is about 35% (or one-third) of the world population.”

Everything has accelerated, he explained. “If you launch ChatGPT one month, within the next month there are 100 million users. Within six months, there are 500 million users. We’ve never had an uptake of technology at this speed in history. So, if this technological know-how is properly utilized, the ability of Africa to achieve what China achieved, double-digit growth for four decades, is absolutely realistic. This is the main point. Africa can achieve a dramatic advance,” he argued.

The entire African continent must be in learning mode, he pointed out. “This is a continent with a 19-year median age. Half the children are at school age. I mean half the population is at school age in this continent. Make sure they’re learning and then you transform your dreams into reality,” Dr. Sachs said.

Africa needs investment. “The most important (investment), every child on this continent should complete at least upper and secondary school with real learning,” he continued. Dr. Sachs explained that the continent as a unified body needs to “figure out how to do that.”

He also spoke on how electronic devices and technology can help in that effort, including having some classes online.

“It’s virtually free to do this. If you actually work out the capital costs, there should be no limits of teachers in rural areas or teachers that are under-qualified, or can’t do a math problem because we don’t need the traditional delivery as the only delivery of education right now. We’re in a digital world. You can leapfrog. Be creative. Be inventive. But take the basic idea. Don’t let the budget constraint stand in the way of universal quality education. It’s by far the number one resource of this continent and it’s growing very rapidly, and there is no demographic dividend of a young population if it is not educated. None at all. Only a burden,” he argued.

Another major investment is physical infrastructure. “That includes developing the power sector, the transport sector, the digital sector, social housing, water and sanitation, the key infrastructure. There needs to be an Africa-wide strategy that reaches down to every part of the continent,” he argued.

Dr. Sachs encouraged the energy or power sector to tap Africa’s wind, solar, hydro, and geothermal potential. “This continent has enough high-quality solar to power the entire world. As you know, we’ve all seen the ‘little box’ in the Sahara that has enough solar energy to power the entire world,” he said, referring to the Sahara Desert.

According to several published reports, the potential is limitless.

In a 2021 article in Forbes.com titled, “We Could Power The Entire World By Harnessing Solar Energy From 1% Of The Sahara,” it stated in part, “The Great Saharan Desert in Africa is 3.6 million square miles and is prime for solar power (more than 12 hours per day). That means 1.2% of the Sahara Desert is sufficient to cover all of the energy needs of the world in solar energy. There is no way coal, oil, wind, geothermal or nuclear can compete with this.”

The Sahara receives roughly enough sunlight in six hours to power on all of human civilization, for at least an entire year. Theoretically, this “box,” covering just 11.5 miles by 11.5 miles with high-efficiency solar panels, could meet the entire world’s electricity demand.

What will it take for Africa to achieve this kind of dynamism? According to Dr. Sachs, “Basically, be like China or be like India, unified, integrated structure, working on a continental scale economy with a continental scale policy and plan.”

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Historically, the occupier state of Israel has been on a so-called charm offensive focusing on the continent of Africa, whose 54 nation-states represent the UN’s largest voting bloc. Last year, 45% of UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions addressed crises in Africa.

Africa’s views of Israel are highly fragmented and are characterized by a complex mix of historical solidarity, economic pragmatism, and religious ties. While some countries on the continent actively deepen security and agricultural partnerships, others—most notably South Africa—view Israel’s policies in Gaza as severe human rights violations and have championed the Palestinian cause.

According to reporting from Al Jazeera, “African perspectives on Israel are deeply divided, reflecting a mix of strong diplomatic partnerships, religious ties, and vocal condemnations of the war in Gaza. While no African nation has officially cut all diplomatic ties (with Israel), continental opinions span from vehement opposition to pragmatic bilateral alliances.”

A June 4 Pew Research Center survey of global negative views of Israel has limited survey findings regarding the African continent. Africa, a continent with 54 nation states, is only represented in the survey by Nigeria as the one African country that was lumped in with others, including Australia, Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom, in the category of very “unfavorable views” of Israel.

In another category in the Pew survey, “confidence in Netanyahu” included responses from Kenya and the Philippines. These, according to the Pew Center, are the only surveyed countries where more than half of the country’s public has “confidence in Netanyahu,” who is a global war criminal with an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC), accusing him of war crimes and crimes against humanity for the atrocities committed against the Palestinians in Gaza.

The Pew survey notes, “views of Israel are among the most positive in some of the sub-Saharan African countries surveyed.”

The occupier state is still working to embed itself more deeply into the African continent under the guise of security.

To give more context, South African governance analyst Dr. Reneva Fourie explained to Al Jazeera that by embedding itself into regional security structures, Israel gains allies who are less likely to challenge its military occupation. She explained that these so-called counterterrorism partnerships are used as a public relations tool to normalize Israel’s international standing while obfuscating the violence it inflicts upon Palestinians.

“These partnerships normalize Israel as a counterterrorism ally while deflecting attention from the fact that it is the perpetrator of state terror against Palestinians,” she noted.

“By embedding itself in African security structures, Israel not only profits from instability but also gains partners less likely to challenge its brutal military occupation and its genocidal atrocities,” she told Al Jazeera.

But even as the world watches in real time, Israel’s continued massacre of Palestinians and now the Lebanese people, the regime’s right-wing government continues to attempt to make more inroads in Africa.

Israel also has its sights on Sudan and is involved in the current war in the African country, and according to published reports, it represents an external, outside influence fueling the current conflict in Sudan. A headline from an op-ed published on the Middle East Monitor website notes, “Sudan crisis not accidental: Rogue regimes UAE (United Arab Emirates) and Israel complicit in the genocide.”

What is currently unfolding “extends to reshaping the balance of power in the Horn of Africa and not surprisingly involves Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE),” the Nov. 4, 2025, article noted. “Haaretz noted in August 2025 that Israel was exploiting Sudan’s war to justify military expansion in the Red Sea under the banner of ‘protecting global shipping lanes from Houthi threats,’’’ continued the article, referencing the Israel-based publication.

It is also being reported that Israel has leveraged the Sudan crisis to deepen its political footprint in Ethiopia and Eritrea, “as part of its broader plan to contain Iranian influence extending from Tehran to Sana’a and Khartoum,” the Middle East Monitor article continued.

Countries in Africa should proceed with caution when dealing with Israel and be careful about engaging in relationships under the guise of counterterrorism and security, as the Israeli regime continues to try to expand its footprint and influence in the region.

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Speaking at the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, Hassan highlighted Africa’s growing demographic and economic weight.

“By 2050, one in four human beings on this planet will be African,” she said in her opening remarks. “Africa will be the only continent still adding workers to the global labor force on a large scale. Africa will host nine of the world’s 20 fastest-growing economies.”

Hassan also pointed to the potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area, saying that once fully implemented it would become the world’s largest market by population. The agreement, signed in 2018, seeks to create a continent-wide free trade zone by easing the movement of goods, services, and investment across all 55 African Union member states.

UN projections show the global population reaching 9.66 billion by 2050, with Africa accounting for roughly 2.5 billion people.

By contrast, populations in many other regions are expected to decline due to persistently low birth rates and aging societies. Europe’s population is projected to fall from around 744 million to 703 million in the same period.

According to UN data, fertility rates across Europe averaged about 1.4 births per woman in 2023, well below the replacement level of 2.1.

The trend has also become a major concern for Russia, where the fertility rate stood at 1.4 in 2024. In response, Moscow has introduced a range of measures aimed at boosting births, including direct payments to mothers, expanded maternity benefits, and additional financial support for families.

Starting June 8, Russia will also launch new tax relief programs for families with two or more children. (RT.com)

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In the 2026 media study, “Enabling Atrocity in the MENA (Middle East, North Africa) and Sudan: Sockpuppets, Bots and Digital Information Harm in Wartime,” Marc Owens Jones, an associate professor of media analytics at Northwestern University, who specializes in disinformation and digital authoritarianism, especially as it pertains to the Middle East, examined three distinct yet interconnected influence networks comprising thousands of fake social media accounts operating throughout Sudan and the wider MENA region.

Bots are computerized and sock puppets are people, but they serve basically the same purpose. They falsely inflate numbers and manipulate algorithms to make something, in this case war in Sudan, appear more or less popular than the conflict between rival factions actually is.

According to experts and observers who study content creators, reasons for developing content focuses in many cases, “by any means necessary,” to garner large numbers in order to get advertising deals and increase search algorithms. Add to that, political organizations want to drive voters and encourage or suppress certain viewpoints. Corporations want to drive their own advertising and media up the search results. Additionally, the external and internal political opponents want to sow division and propaganda. Ultimately, it’s all doing the same thing: manipulating the “algorithm” with fake accounts posing as real people to push some agenda.

Produced under the auspices of the UNESCO Chair on Data, Media and Society at the University of South Carolina, Professor Jones’ study notes that, “Rather than examining misinformation as isolated content, the report analyses how networked architectures of distribution, sock puppet networks, automated amplification, and platform affordances reshape what becomes visible in times of war.”

A perfect example of this was reported by the London-based Middle East Eye (MEE), which often frames stories from the perspective that is critical of official Western and Western-allied or slanted narratives.

For example, the host of MEE’s YouTube channel recently posed the question: “Why are United Arab Emirates (UAE) targeting Sudan online?”

Footage MEE shared included showing the taunting of Sudanese civilians by a RSF militia commander, who in a video clip is seen bragging about killing over 2,000 Sudanese civilians. What is horrifying, is that after his announcement, he’s seen in a subsequent video clip executing “civilians.”

In still another video clip a UAE citizen, speaking into the camera speaking of the consequences facing those who “do not respect” Mohammed bin Zayed, (President of the UAE).

And it’s not just the United Arab Emirates. Many Israeli accounts were also quick to chime in regarding Sudan having spent a long time pointing the finger at the African nation in order to deflect attention away from Israel’s own horrific actions in Gaza.

Accusations and evidence of the beginning of the RSF massacres in the capital city of El Fasher, in North Darfur state, emerged in October of 2025. And as UAE support for the paramilitary group received considerable media coverage, these media influencers and seemingly bots have tried shifting the blame to the SAF, and away from the RSF, and its mounting slaughter of Sudanese civilians.

And although the report doesn’t absolve the SAF of atrocities, in February of 2026, according to UN News: “the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan concluded that RSF operations during the late-October 2025 takeover of El Fasher bore the ‘hallmarks of genocide.’ The mission documented ethnically targeted killings, widespread sexual violence, enforced disappearances, and the deliberate imposition of life-threatening conditions against the Zaghawa and Fur communities, finding that genocidal intent was the only reasonable inference from the pattern, scale, and rhetoric of the violence.”

According to Jones’s report, more than 27,000 coordinated fake accounts have produced hundreds of thousands of posts in Arabic, English, Persian, Turkish and French. According to Jones, they have largely been promoting “anti-Islamist,” pro-RSF, and UAE- aligned political propaganda during Sudan’s civil and proxy war, helping misinform the public about atrocities and the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan.

“These influence networks function as tools of digital authoritarianism, deployed to manipulate perception, manufacture legitimacy, and overwhelm and confuse public discourse. Their harm lies both in the content they promote as well the deceptive means of distribution itself: coordinated sock puppet architectures that simulate authentic civic debate while operating in service of political agendas that run counter to human rights and the social good. They fundamentally undermine the free flow of credible information by crowding out legitimate news and also masking their source/agenda,” explained the report.

The report’s findings underscore the urgency for increased transparency, stronger platform accountability, multilingual enforcement capacity and sustained independent research when it comes to the continuing tragedy and atrocities facing the people of Sudan.

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Africa held continent-wide celebrations on May 25 to mark Africa Day 2026—the 63rd anniversary of an occasion dedicated to “unity, integration, and development.” 

It is a time of celebration, but as African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf stated on May 21 during a high-level security dialogue in Gabon, the continent must also adapt with unity and strategic clarity amid the shortcomings of multilateralism and an increasingly polarized global order.

Here, RT looks at the importance of Africa Day as well as the current context for this year’s festivities.

What happened on May 25?

For more than six decades, May 25 has been a day of reflection and commemoration. Each year, Africa Day celebrates independence and unity—but beneath the festivities lie unresolved questions about colonialism, slavery, and justice.

The continent reflects on both victories and ongoing struggles, including debates over reparations, and a spotlight on Africa’s role in a changing world order.

On May 25, 1963, 32 African leaders gathered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to establish the Organization of African Unity (OAU)—a landmark institution born from the struggle against colonialism and racial oppression.

Among those who helped lead the creation were Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Ethiopia’s Haile Selassie, who was elected the OAU’s first chairman at the founding summit, Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Leopold Sedar Senghor of Senegal, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, and Ahmed Sekou Toure of Guinea.

Their stated mission was to defend sovereignty, promote unity, and support nations still under colonial or minority rule.  While the OAU was succeeded by the African Union (AU) in 2002, Africa Day remains an annual marker of both independence and intercontinental solidarity.

Why does it matter today?

Today, the AU frames Africa Day with forward-looking themes—each year’s focus is a statement of political intent.

In 2026, the continent is marking the “Year of Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of  Agenda 2063.” According to the 55-member organization, millions across the continent still lack access to safe water and basic sanitation—a crisis that it said drains productivity and threatens food security and regional stability.

The continent faces escalating conflicts, including in Sudan, where a civil war that erupted in 2023 has killed thousands of civilians, ongoing violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and a sprawling jihadist insurgency across the Sahel—all of which worsen humanitarian strains.

Last year, the AU highlighted “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations,” a theme that forced global institutions to confront centuries of slavery and colonial exploitation. In March 2026, the UN formally declared the Transatlantic Slave Trade as “the gravest crime against humanity,” in a Ghana-led resolution backed by the AU.

How is Africa Day celebrated?

Across the continent, governments stage official ceremonies, policy announcements, and diplomatic meetings. Communities mark the day with music, dance, fashion, and food. Schools and universities host debates and exhibitions that connect Pan-African ideals to the AU’s long-term plans, including Agenda 2063.

In countries such as Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Lesotho, Mali, Mauritania, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, the day is legally marked as a national public holiday. 

According to an AU program, this year’s commemoration—the 63rd anniversary of the OAU-AU—is being marked at the organization’s headquarters in Addis Ababa over three days, with sports events, cultural showcases, exhibitions, an official ceremony, and statements from dignitaries including the AU chairperson, Ethiopian representatives, and the dean of the diplomatic corps in Ethiopia.

Beyond the continent, Moscow has been holding official Africa Day receptions for at least the past two decades, amid Russia’s growing relations with African nations.

At last year’s event, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the date held “profound significance” not only for Africans, but “for all humanity,” describing it as a symbol of the continent’s struggle to overcome its colonial past and pursue freedom and justice.

What are the challenges that lie ahead?

Despite the festive trappings, Africa Day exposes fault lines, with the continent’s demands for global representation and historical redress still deeply contested. Its longstanding push for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council has yet to produce the reform African leaders have demanded.

AUC Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said last week that Africa was “not asking for a favor,” but demanding the correction of a “historical injustice,” arguing that the council’s credibility depends on whether it reflects today’s world rather than the geopolitical order of 1945.

Disagreements also persist over the practicality of reparations, the responsibility of modern states, and the lingering global inequities rooted in centuries of exploitation.

The U.S. has said it does not recognize a legal right to reparations for historical wrongs, while Britain and several other European states have resisted compensation demands over slavery and colonial-era abuses, arguing that present-day governments cannot be held legally liable for actions committed centuries ago.

Across the continent, leaders have continued to denounce neocolonial pressure, pointing to foreign military footprints, unequal financial structures, debt burdens, and external control over strategic resources as obstacles to full sovereignty.

In Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, France has lost its military presence amid allegations that it has been sponsoring militants behind the long-running jihadist insurgency in the Sahel. (RT.com)

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On November 18, 2012, Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) President Sidumo Dlamini said, “greed,” or the wealth of the world being controlled by a few, is the root cause of the world’s economic instability. He said this while addressing the 47th National African Federated Chamber of Commerce Conference in Johannesburg. His 14-year-old remarks still ring true today.

“The current dominant world political and economic system is predicated on greed and is constructed by and on behalf of a tiny minority,” said the president of South Africa’s largest union. “Its primary purpose is to deliver profit for them.”

Dlamini explained that the vicious nature of the capitalist system scraps all “proposed alternatives” that take humanity into consideration, “in favor of those who present an opportunity to have capital continue to maximize profit even during the [world’s] worsening crisis.”

“Greed, for a lack of a better term, is good,” said the unscrupulous corporate raider played by Michael Douglas in the 1987 Oliver Stone movie “Wall Street.” What that fictional character did not say is that countless lives are sacrificed to make greed good for the few.

To provide insight into the above, we need only revisit the 2008 economic crisis, which led to the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage market and the reversal of the housing boom in other industrialized economies. According to Dlamini, “when we could see levels of poverty increasing, people being retrenched, and when all of us were made to carry our hands on our heads about the big economic crisis, evidence shows that during that period the world’s billionaires saw their wealth grow by 50 percent, and their ranks swell to 1,011 from 793.”

During the same period, the number of U.S. billionaires grew from 359 to 403.

The 1,011 billionaires’ combined net worth increased to $3.6 trillion, “up,” Dlamini explained, adding “$1.2 trillion from the year before.” Each billionaire, on average, had his or her wealth increased by $500 million. According to Dlamini, “The wealth of the 403 U.S. billionaires [could have] more than cover[ed] the 2008 U.S. federal deficit, with money left over for the states.”

As of March 2026, the world community includes a record 3,428 billionaires, according to the 2026 Forbes World’s Billionaires List. This marks a significant increase from previous years, with these individuals residing in over 80 countries. More than enough to pay off the economic costs being incurred by the consequences of U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war against Iran.

This global greed, particularly by Global North countries, has also impacted the African continent.

“When African countries got independence, they inherited the colonial power structures of the colonizers without fundamentally altering them, thus perpetuating the dominance of capitalism to the detriment of the masses: the urban poor and peasantry,” explained Takudzwa Hillary Chiwanza, a barrister, journalist and social media content professional in his 2023 commentary “Africa Shouldn’t Listen to the International Community.”

Economist, Dr. Ndongo Samba Sylla, the Senegalese head of research and policy for Africa at International Development Economics Associates, has often analyzed “greed” not merely as a personal vice, but as a structural, institutionalized component of the global financial system that perpetuates inequality and colonial-style exploitation.

In his book, “Africa’s Last Colonial Currency: The CFA Franc Story,” co-authored with journalist Fanny Pigeaud, they argue that the CFA Franc acts as a neocolonial tool that extracts wealth from so-called Francophone Africa. They outline how this monetary arrangement hinders economic sovereignty, perpetuates underdevelopment, and subordinates African nation-states to European financial policies and French geopolitical interests.

“Over forty years after the formal end of colonialism, suffocating ties to Western financial systems continue to prevent African countries from achieving any meaningful monetary sovereignty,” Sylla writes.

According to Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, in an article headlined, “How Neoliberalism Has Wielded ‘Corruption’ to Privatize Life in Africa,” the most “referenced” socio-psychological reasons for corruption are “greed.”

“But greed is not a transhistorical concept or emotion; rather, it is shaped by the social formation in which it is allowed to grow. Capitalism has a special relationship to greed, since it fosters the ‘animal spirits’ (as the economist John Maynard Keynes put it) to reduce all human life to commodities and to centralize the profit motive as the economic motor,” the article noted.

The film “Wall Street” and Douglas’ character’s explanation of the term “greed” to justify his drive to accumulate wealth have come to be seen as the archetypal portrayal of the excesses of financial institutions. The movie, which won Douglas an Academy Award, reportedly inspired many to work on Wall Street. The lead characters, portrayed by Douglas and Charlie Sheen, and the film’s director, Oliver Stone, have previously remarked that people still approach them to say they owe their careers in the financial industry to having seen the film.

That the movie has influenced so many possible careers is a testament to how ingrained in this culture of receiving financial dividends at the expense of others it is.

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan said it best in his 1993 book, “A Torchlight for America.” In chapter three, “Greed and Leadership’s State of Mind,” Minister Farrakhan writes: “The fundamental motivation in this society is greed and the preying upon the weak of the country and the weak of the world, versus sharing the wealth in cooperation with the weak and the poor. Greed is defined as a selfish desire for possessions and wealth beyond reason. When greed is exercised in the society, it is reflected by division among the people.”

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Speaking at a ministerial meeting on UNSC reform on the sidelines of the Africa-France Summit in Kenyan capital Nairobi on May 11, Youssouf said the continent’s demand is not a request for special treatment but a response to a long-standing imbalance in global governance.

“Africa is not asking for a favor; Africa is demanding the correction of a historical injustice,” he said, according to an AU statement. He added that the Security Council’s “credibility and legitimacy” depend on whether it reflects the realities of the present world rather than “the geopolitical order of 1945.” 

The AU’s position is based on the 2005 Ezulwini Consensus and Sirte Declaration. It calls for at least two permanent African seats with all the powers held by existing permanent members, including veto rights while the veto remains, as well as five additional non-permanent seats.

The Security Council currently has five permanent members—China, France, Russia, the UK, and the U.S.—and ten elected members serving two-year terms. Africa, despite having 54 UN member states, has no permanent seat on the body.

Several African leaders have renewed calls for reform in recent months. Republic of the Congo President Denis Sassou Nguesso said last year that the council no longer reflects the world’s geopolitical balance, while Kenyan President William Ruto urged at least two permanent African seats with veto power.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has repeatedly called for Africa to be given a permanent voice on the council, saying the institution has failed to keep pace with global changes since 1945. Russia has also backed expanding the Security Council to include more African, Asian, and Latin American states.

Moscow’s deputy envoy to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, told an African Union Committee of Ten summit in New York in September that the council should reflect the “multipolar nature of the world” rather than “the global colonial past.” 

Polyansky said Russia supports Africa’s push for greater representation, while warning against increasing Western representation on the council.(RT.com)

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The ministry said the North African nation will continue to support collective coordination between oil-producing countries, arguing that the OPEC framework and the wider OPEC+ mechanism remain essential to balancing supply and demand and limiting market volatility.

The statement comes after the UAE announced on April 28, that it would leave OPEC and OPEC+ effective May 1, citing its national energy strategy and the need for greater policy flexibility.

Algeria is one of eight OPEC+ countries, alongside Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the UAE, Kuwait, Kazakhstan and Oman, taking part in voluntary production changes.

The countries agreed this month to raise output by a combined 206,000 barrels per day in May, while retaining the option to pause or reverse the move depending on market conditions. Algeria’s share is 6,000 barrels per day, taking its output to 983,000 barrels per day, according to official figures.

OPEC said the countries had reaffirmed the need for a cautious approach and full conformity with the Declaration of Cooperation, including compensation for any overproduction since January 2024. It also warned that attacks on energy infrastructure and disruptions to international maritime routes could increase market volatility and undermine supply security, a concern that has centered on chokepoints such as the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea.

Algeria has repeatedly backed coordinated production management within OPEC+. In March, the group agreed to begin unwinding 1.65 million barrels per day in additional voluntary cuts, while stressing that the process could be adjusted in response to market conditions.

OPEC was founded in 1960 by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. Algeria joined the group in 1969 and has since backed coordinated output decisions while seeking stable energy revenues for its hydrocarbon-dependent economy. (RT.com)

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According to Bloomberg, Beijing has laid down the law for Chinese companies, ordering them to defy American sanctions for the first time, a step that threatens to put its banking sector in the crosshairs of competition between the world’s two largest economies. With this economic move, China has drawn a red line in the sand by wheeling out its “Blocking Rules,” ordering non-compliance with U.S. sanctions.

In response to this bold escalation of trade hostilities, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC) issued a formal blocking measure prohibiting domestic entities from complying with U.S. sanctions, several news agencies, including China’s news service Xinhua, reported.

“The move specifically protects five major Chinese petrochemical firms recently targeted by Washington for their alleged involvement in the Iranian oil trade,” reported ndtv.com, the digital platform for New Delhi Television.

The companies named include Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refining Co., Ltd., Shandong Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical Co., Ltd., Shandong Jincheng Petrochemical Group Co., Ltd., Hebei Xinhai Chemical Group Co., Ltd., and Shandong Shengxing Chemical Co., Ltd.

In this unprecedented act that threatens to trap a vast banking sector in the crossfire as tension rises between the world’s largest economies, China has ordered its companies to ignore U.S. sanctions.

“Beijing has often railed against unilateral sanctions and pronounced them illegitimate, but it has also quietly allowed its largest companies to comply with them, in order to avoid blowback on its own economy and to preserve access to the U.S. financial system,” noted Bloomberg.com.

De-dollarization is a trend gaining momentum to reduce the world’s dependence—especially in the Global South—on the U.S. dollar, which has become the backbone of global trade and the dominant currency in global central bank reserves.

Proponents argue that de-dollarizing would free economies outside the U.S. from the risk of U.S. sanctions and give alternative tenders more sway and independence, Business Insider.com explained.

Africa and countries in the Global South need to decouple from the Western Bretton Woods imperialist model, economist Redge Nkosi, the Pretoria-based founder and executive director of First Source Money and Public Banking of South Africa, told Africa Watch. He is also a former member of South African President Nelson Mandela’s administration.

“They ought to be reformed, but reformation is unlikely because the powerful Global North nations benefit from the poverty of the Global South. Abusing its dominant position, the U.S. has done us a great favor,” he said.

The “favor,” explained Nkosi, is that the U.S. has “abused its dominant position by geopolitically weaponizing this position,” thus assuring the Global South, including Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa, that their survival depends on decoupling from Europe and the U.S.

Today’s dominant reserve currency is the U.S. dollar and, to a lesser extent, the Euro. This means all invoicing of international trade is done mostly in U.S. dollars. According to Nkosi, foreign exchange is also done in U.S. dollars. The consequence is that the U.S. gains inordinate financial and geopolitical power. Since all reserves are in U.S. dollars, it gives America the ability to punish at will.

Any country that does not do U.S. bidding—like Russia, Iran, Afghanistan or Cuba—is sanctioned by confiscating the reserves in U.S. dollars or by blocking those countries from accessing the ability to transmit money globally.

These monetary transactions are conducted via the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or SWIFT. SWIFT is a vast messaging network used by financial institutions to send and receive information, such as money transfers, quickly, accurately, and securely.

In 2023, Nkosi presented at the BRICS Summit in South Africa. “De-dollarization and the construction of a new global financial monetary architecture” was the substance of his talk.

“The Global South countries are sick and tired of the hegemony and the abuse of the hegemony led by the U.S. and Europe,” he said. “And we’re determined to ensure that institutions like the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and World Bank become as obsolete as they are destined to become.”

China’s response to U.S. sanctions—including zero-tariff policies for African goods (covering 53 nations through 2028), retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, and increased investments in tech—offers Africa a mix of new trade opportunities and potential economic risks. While enhanced access to China’s market helps boost African exports and income, heightened U.S.-China tensions can cause overall commodity price drops and currency volatility, explained Dr. Lauren Johnston, a Consultant Senior Researcher in SAIIA’s Foreign Policy Program, at SAIIA 90 (the 90th anniversary of the South African Institute of International Affairs). Dr. Johnston, who holds a PhD in economics from Peking University, wrote about her observation in an article published in The Conversation.

According to Dr. Johnston, “Substitute African products and potential exports will enjoy a price boost, and elevated Chinese support. China’s newly elevated interest in African development and market potential will bring major prospects. The question will be whether African countries are ready to grasp them, and to use that potential to foster an independent development path of their own.”

China’s challenge to U.S. sanctions comes right before the long-awaited meeting later in May between President Donald Trump and his counterpart Xi Jinping and signals a far more aggressive stance between the world’s largest economies.

Follow Jehron Muhammad @Africawatchfcn on X

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