Photo : Reuters
NIAS Area Studies
AFRICA MONITOR
Photo : Reuters
IN BRIEF
By Apoorva Sudhakar
France to comply with Burkina Faso’s request to withdraw French troops
On 25 January, France’s Foreign Ministry said Paris will respect Ouagdougou’s request for the withdrawal of French troops from Burkina Faso within a month. This comes after Burkina Faso, on 23 January, confirmed that it was terminating a 2018 agreement signed with France allowing the presence of French troops in the country. The French Foreign Ministry said: “In accordance with the terms of the agreement, the denunciation takes effect one month after receipt of the written notification. We will comply with the terms of this agreement by complying with this request.” (“France to respect Burkina Faso's request to withdraw troops within a month,” France24, 25 January 2023)
South Africa: Protests against load shedding and energy crisis held outside ANC headquarters
On 25 January, protesters in Johannesburg marched towards the African National Congress headquarters to demonstrate against an ongoing energy crisis and persistent power cuts. The protesters held placards reading: “Load shedding is killing jobs” and “Power to the people.” Currently, South Africa has been witnessing power cuts for at least 12 months, wherein the outages last almost 12 hours everyday. The protesters also criticised a recent approval to increase energy tariff to help Eskom, South Africa’s electricity supplier. (“Hundreds protest incessant power cuts in South Africa,” Al Jazeera, 25 January 2023)