Dakar to Riyadh: Links for 11/8/2024
News and analysis from the Sahel, North Africa, the Horn, and the Middle East
Last week’s links can be found here.
General
Russia is holding a ministerial meeting - a Russia-Africa conference - on November 9-10 in Sochi.
Mike Sweeney at Defense Priorities: “Rethinking Africa Command.” An excerpt:
The central argument presented herein is that a substantive shift in U.S. policy would benefit from downgrading responsibility for Africa under the Unified Command Plan (UCP) to a three-star billet, nested under European Command (EUCOM). The current arrangement—in which responsibility for Africa is assigned to a four-star combatant commander—creates a powerful bureaucratic actor, one with a vested interest in maintaining robust U.S. military engagement in Africa. It will likely be more difficult to recalibrate U.S. policy away from a hard-security focus so long as the command exists in its current form.
Sahel and West Africa
In the lead-up to Senegal’s November 17 legislative elections, ex-President Macky Sall publishes an open letter criticizing his successors and rivals, current President Diomaye Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko.
Will Mali announce concrete plans for elections before the end of 2024? (I’m not holding my breath.)
Mali’s transitional legislature has criminalized homosexuality.
The Malian authorities must carry out an effective and transparent investigation into the deaths of at least eight civilians following drone strikes that targeted a market on a busy day in Inadiafatane last month, Amnesty International said today. This strike should also be investigated as a war crime, as the attack resulted in deaths and injuries among civilians and civilian objects were targeted.
Mauritania holds a conference to assess progress on the 2013 “Nouakchott Declaration on Pastoralism.”
Alissa Descotes-Toyosaki reports for Afrique XXI on Malian refugees in the Mberra camp in Mauritania.
Reuters: “Chad Threatens to Withdraw from Multinational Security Force.”
Nmesoma Ekeugo at The Republic: “In the world of power and influence, Bola Ahmed Tinubu rules the political arena while Aliko Dangote reigns supreme in the realm of business. What happens when these two giants clash?”
Nkechi Ogbonna at the BBC: “Living with Nigeria's Blackouts - Six Weeks, No Power.”
North Africa
Algeria marks seventy years since the beginning of its war of independence.
Morocco has completed a new census.
At TelQuel, Ghita Ismaili looks at the “real risks” of catastrophic flooding in Morocco.
Bloomberg: “Libya Plans First Oil Exploration Tender Since 2011 Civil War.”
In Tunisia, a controversial prison sentence for an influencer.
Ahmed Mahjoub at New Lines Magazine: “The Lasting Power of Jinns in Tunisian Society.”
Maher Mezahi at Africa Is a Country: “This week, Kamel Daoud became the first Algerian to receive France’s most prestigious literary honor. Yet, in Algeria, no one seems to care.”
Greater Horn of Africa
Faisal Ali at The Guardian: “Somalia has announced that more than $1.1bn (£860m) of outstanding loans will be cancelled by the US, a sum representing about a quarter of the country’s remaining debt.”
Yale Humanitarian Research Lab:
The Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) identifies significant expansion of grave sites in Al-Sariha, Rufaa, and Abu Jalfa, El-Gezira state, between 29 September and 31 October 2024, as well as evidence consistent with body disposal in Tamboul during the same period. This corroborates reports that Rapid Support Forces (RSF) allegedly committed widespread mass atrocities against civilians and their communities across El-Gezira state. Yale HRL corroborates looting and damage to markets and medical facilities in Tamboul and Al-Shorfa, as well as thermal scarring in agricultural fields near Azraq consistent with arson. Yale HRL also corroborates activity consistent with significant increase in internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Gezira between 8 September and 28 October 2024 in Al Fao, Gedaref state.
International Crisis Group: “Inside Sudan’s Catastrophic Civil War.”
Here is a short profile of Kithure Kindiki, Kenya’s new vice president.
Fred Harter at The Guardian: “Rounded Up, Massacred and Posted on Social Media: Can Ethiopia Bring Justice for Atrocities in Tigray?”
Mashriq
Moayad Zaghdani for the International Organization for Migration:
In the arid landscape of Yemen’s West Coast, water is often a distant dream. For many years, families have endured long walks under the scorching sun in search of clean water. “We walk for hours, just for a few jerrycans of water,” shares Hassan, a father of four who arrived in Yakhtol five years ago. “Some days, we come back empty-handed. It feels like the water is slipping further out of reach.”
Bloomberg: “Turkish Firm Eyes Ruble Swap to Ease Trade Squeezed by Sanctions.”
Josef Federman at the Associated Press:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday dismissed his popular defense minister, Yoav Gallant, in a surprise announcement that came as the country is embroiled in wars on multiple fronts across the region. The move sparked protests across the country, including a mass gathering that paralyzed central Tel Aviv.
Idan Landau at 972: “Exterminate, Expel, Resettle: Israel’s Endgame in Northern Gaza.”
At Carnegie’s Diwan, Ghida Tayara interviews Mohanad Hage Ali on Lebanon: “Toward a Shiite Urbicide?”
Sina Toossi with a thread about the appointment of a Sunni as a provincial governor in Iran, and what that tells us about the position of minorities in the country.
Sumaiya al-Wahaibi at Amwaj Media: “Saudi Women at Work: Progress and Obstacles.”