Photo : AFP
NIAS Area Studies
AFRICA MONITOR
Photo : AFP
IN BRIEF
By Ashwin Dhanabalan, Angkuran Dey and Meghna Manoj
African Union: The EU fulfils its commitment to the AU's peace and security initiative
On 28 April, the EU started funding the African Union (AU) peace and security initiatives and has allocated RAND 10 billion for the next three years. This comes as the EU seeks to fulfil its promise to Africa's heads of state and the AU following the sixth AU-EU summit, held in February. The EU mentioned: "The EU does not lose sight of its partnerships with other parts of the world, especially Africa, fully recognising the importance of addressing crises and violent conflict on the African continent jointly and in a comprehensive way."
IMF: Report on possible social unrest in Africa due to rising food and energy prices
On 28 April, the International Monetary Fund(IMF) cited possible social unrest and havoc in Africa, especially in the Sahara region, due to surging prices of food and oil caused by the war in Ukraine. The head of the IMF's African department Abebe Aemro Selassie said: "Fuel price increases feed into transportation costs, and people providing goods and services will raise their prices because they are now facing higher input costs." Many African states, hit hard by the pandemic, face the brunt of rising inequality, poverty rates and increased prices of essential goods.
Nigeria: Senate outlaws ransom payments
On 27 April, Nigeria's Senate passed a bill imposing a jail term of up to 15 years for paying a ransom to free any individual who has been kidnapped. In addition, the bill has made the crime of abduction punishable by death in the cases where victims die. The bill serves as a mandate for Nigeria's terrorism law at a time when increasing gang kidnappings have killed thousands of people across the country. The chairman of the Senate's judiciary human rights and legal committee, Opeyemi Bamidele, said: "this would discourage the rising spate of kidnapping and abduction for ransom in Nigeria, which is fast spreading across the country."
Democratic Republic of Congo: Resurgence of the Ebola virus
On 27 April, a new Ebola virus outbreak in the DRC raised concerns about regional and international transmission risks. The resurgence of the virus in Northwestern DRC has left two dead, with 267 close contacts being identified in the town of Mbandaka. WHO stated: "The risk of regional and international spread of this epidemic cannot be ruled out as the town of Mbandaka borders the Congo River and has river and land connections with the capital Kinshasa, the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and Angola." However, the WHO has described the current risk as 'low' at an international level and 'moderate' at a regional level.