Forced displacement of Palestinians concerns Arab and African countries
South Africa and Chad have recalled their ambassadors to Israel for consultations, joining a growing list of nations that have withdrawn diplomatic personnel in protest of Israel’s brutal military assault on the Gaza Strip and its 2.3 million civilian population. According to South Africa Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor, South Africa is extremely concerned about the continued killing of children...
New military alliance emerging among West African countries
Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger recently declared a new defense pact, the coalition called the “Alliance of Sahel States.” The pact guarantees each country comes to the aid of each other in defense of their territorial integrity from internal and external aggression. The author of the article, “A New West African Security Pact Is Bound to Fail,” posted on...
Palestinian solidarity and U.S. foreign policy hypocrisy
According to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, the United States is “deeply concerned by reports that the Sudanese militia Rapid Support Force (RSF) intensified shelling in South Darfur and Omdurman.” But on the same day of Mr. Miller’s claim, President Joe Biden appeared to give the Zionist State of Israel the green light to continue with its incessant bombing...
African countries offer varying responses to the Israel-Hamas war
For 16 years, Palestinians in Gaza have been trapped in what is effectively an open-air prison in the most densely populated enclave in the world. During these years the Zionist State of Israel has limited Gaza’s 2.3 million population of Palestinians to less than the bare necessities. As a result of the Oct. 7 invasion of surrounding illegal settler-occupied land...
A Ugandan business turns banana fiber into sustainable handicrafts
MUKONO, Uganda—A decapitated banana plant is almost useless, an inconvenience to the farmer who must then uproot it and lay its dismembered parts as mulch. But can such stems somehow be returned to life? Yes, according to a Ugandan company that’s buying banana stems in a business that turns fiber into attractive handicrafts. The idea is innovative as well as sustainable...
Women represent strength and resilience of the African continent
Each year, Africa celebrates the strength and resilience of women and their contribution to society and country. This year the month-long tribute provided an opportunity to pay tribute to the generations of African women whose struggles laid the foundation for empowering women and achieving gender equality. South Africa’s recent National Women’s Day, which annually pays tribute to all African women,...
Is ‘real talk’ by African leaders a sign of the times?
Many world leaders mounted the speakers’ platform during the recent high-level general debate week of the 78th United Nations General Assembly. However, the tone of some African leaders was eye-opening and worth noting. The annual UNGA 78 gathering at UN headquarters in New York City is where the majority of member states give their input on pressing global issues....
Ugandan presidential candidate speaks in D.C.
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Ugandan politician and musician Bobi Wine came to the nation’s capital during the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference to ask politicians to stop funding the oppression of the Ugandan people. His National Geographic Documentary, “Bobi Wine: The Man, The Music and The Movement,” was screened at an event sponsored by the Institute for the Black World 21st...
Nations of Africa demand a bigger voice, role on the global stage
If you listened to African leaders addressing the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA-78) as I did, you would have discovered a singular unanimous message of being fed up with Western powers’ dominance over global affairs. In unison, African leaders expressed dissatisfaction with living in a world that pretends present-day economic and social conditions are not connected with historical injustices. Much...
Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger sign agreement to defend each other if attacked
Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have signed a trilateral defense agreement binding the three Sahel countries to assist one another in the event of a military attack on any one of them. The agreement, known as the Liptako-Gourma Charter, was inked by the three states’ military leaders on Sept. 16 and according to Mali’s junta leader, Assimi Goita, it establishes...