Ethiopian lawmakers remove Tigray group from terror list
NAIROBI, Kenya—Ethiopian lawmakers have removed the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front from the country’s list of designated terror groups more than four months after a peace agreement ended a conflict that killed hundreds of thousands of people. The March 22 decision highlights the improving relations between federal officials and Tigray regional ones and moves the region closer to the establishment of an interim...
Africa’s place in global diplomacy defined by colonial and post-colonial history
Africa’s placement in global diplomacy has almost always been informed by its “colonial and post-colonial history,” wrote Takudzwa Hillary Chiwanza, a barrister, journalist and social media content professional. “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...
U.S. Anti-Semitism campaign funded by a South African who made fortune under Apartheid
The fight to suppress Palestinian rights and the fight against what is labeled “anti- Semitism” has strange bedfellows. One source of this apparent link is 92-year-old billionaire Nathan Kirsch, an entrepreneur, “philanthropist” and ardent supporter of the Zionist State of Israel. His fortune was first developed under South African apartheid. In a piece that appeared in a 2014 edition of...
Farrakhan, Mandela and Jewish leaders
The similarities between the interactions with Jewish leaders and organizations of influence—whether in person or upon reflection, by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and Nelson Mandela—are worth looking back on. Mandela was sentenced in 1964 by prosecutor Percy Yutar, who used his increased fame in the Apartheid State of South Africa to become attorney general and later the president...
Overcoming barriers through technology and providing services to hard-to-reach rural areas
Helping to improve direct and immediate access to even hard-to-reach communities with real-time measurable data through mobile phone technology is how Viamo explains its service. According to its Sudan Country Manager, Rudiana M.E. Mustafa, Viamo’s digital campaigns include starting a dialogue between organizations, governments, programs and the people they work with to utilize important public service messaging. Viamo works cross...
What is the aim, vision of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s U.S.-Africa Policy Working Group?
Before her removal from the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) announced that she would launch an African Policy working group to hear from officials and experts who she works with and in Africa. Omar, as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, served as the vice chair of the Subcommittee on Africa. She was removed...
Africa occupies a ‘marginal place’ in U.S. foreign policy
In recent months, Africa has received much in the way of “optics” and symbolic gestures, but little in the way of substance. Africa is historically like a wealthy woman that gives her all to an abusive, unappreciative no-good man. While being interviewed by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), Kenyan native and Loyola University law professor, James Gathii, said Africa...
Burkina Faso: Out of the frying pan with France but into the fire with the U.S.?
The West African nation of Burkina Faso placed its former colonial master France on notice to remove their military from its soil. The move coincides with an uptick of anti-France and anti-West sentiment on the continent and among people in the landlocked country. French troops were in Burkina Faso under a 2018 security agreement that allowed French Special Forces...
African peace conference draws from Holy Qur’an
Highlights from the keynote address of Ambassador-at-Large Rashad Hussain at the Africa Peace Conference on January 17. Photo: mr.usembassy.gov “O you who believe, enter into complete peace. …” —Holy Qu’ran, Surah 2, Verse 108 The 3rd annual African Peace Conference 2023 at the Al-Mourabitoune Congress Palace in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and hosted by President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El-Ghazouani...
U.S. responds to China foreign minister’s five-country Africa tour
China’s foreign minister’s first trip abroad, like all visits, began with a trip to Africa. It marked the 33rd consecutive year the continent was the destination of Chinese foreign minister’s annual first overseas visit. That trip was followed by a subsequent trip to Africa by the U.S. Treasury Secretary. The new Chinese foreign minister and former Chinese ambassador to the...