Africa

The amount sub-Saharan Africa lost in 2023 due to deliberate internet shutdowns, social media outages and service providers slowing down internet speeds, according to a new report by digital privacy group Top10vpn. Ethiopia, where there were widespread internet shutdowns last year amid ongoing conflict, accounted for 91% of the region’s losses. Other African countries that experienced deliberate internet disruptions included Senegal, where the internet was shut down amid opposition protests, Kenya, where access to Telegram was limited during national examinations, and Guinea, where the internet was shut down in connection to planned protests.

Ghana’s mystery presidential candidate pulls off his mask

THE NEWS

ACCRA, Ghana — A wealthy Ghanaian businessman revealed himself as the masked presidential candidate featured on billboards in major cities in recent weeks. But his launch was most notable for highlighting the government’s apparent fear of a new youth-led populist movement similar to others sweeping the continent.

Nana Kwame Bediako, a property developer popularly referred to as Cheddar, had planned to unveil his identity at a convention featuring high profile populist figures who have garnered support from young voters, including Peter Obi — who came third in last year’s Nigerian presidential election — and the leader of South Africa’s far-left Economic Freedom Fighters party Julius Malema who was due to speak via video call.

But military personnel swooped in to prevent people attending the event at Black Star Square, in the capital Accra, shortly before it was due to begin on Sunday. A letter from the Ghanaian president’s office, seen by Semafor Africa, stated that a permit issued on Nov. 11 to use the site had been revoked due to “an unforeseen state event scheduled to take place at the venue.” The letter was dated Jan. 7 — the same day as the event.

The political figures who were due to deliver speeches at the Accra event later addressed a press conference at a hotel in the city, during which Bediako revealed that he was behind the New Force campaign that aims to challenge Ghana’s two main parties.

“I’m not going to be scared off. I came to you as your salvation,” said Bediako during a speech in which he said his aspirations lay beyond running to be president in Ghana’s election in December. Billboards bearing the message “Nana Kwame Bediako for President #thenewforce” had been posted around Ghana within 24 hours of the businessman’s event being canceled.

NANA OYE’S VIEW

The cancellation of the New Africa Convention came as a surprise to many, but Ghana’s government is clearly unwilling to accommodate events that could make it look bad in an election year. The move to use security forces to enforce the cancellation suggests a deeper fear that the populism gripping some young people elsewhere in the continent could spread to Ghana.

Ostensibly, the move smacks of paranoia — particularly coming only weeks after the New Force’s spokeswoman was arrested. It all points to a concerted effort to shut down a nascent party. The chances of a new party bringing a new president to power are very slim. It would take time, money and a nationwide party infrastructure to break the political duopoly enjoyed by the main parties. But Ghanaian authorities have reasons to be worried.

Ghana is still grappling with the worst economic crisis in a generation; the cost of living has skyrocketed, leading to widespread frustration. And the fact that just two leading parties have governed since the move to multi-party democracy in 1992 means young adults, who have never experienced another form of leadership, could be hungry for change.

Bediako, who will turn 44 next month, offers something radically different to Ghana’s political mainstream, much like Obi and Malema, or Donald Trump and Boris Johnson in the West. Bright Simons, research lead at Imani Centre for Policy in Accra, told me that “Cheddar” is looking to develop a cult-like following. “Think of him as a cross between a modern megachurch televangelist and a miracle drug salesman.”

A group of financial institutions proposing a stablecoin pegged to the Nigerian naira said its digital currency will not be ready in February, despite reports that indicated otherwise. The group calls itself the Africa Stablecoin Consortium and is made up of startups working on blockchain projects, according to its website. The group said it is still at the phase of engaging regulatory bodies in Nigeria, including the central bank, which has seemed more welcoming of cryptocurrency and blockchain-related projects under the Bola Tinubu administration.

Telkom, the South African telecoms company, said it is making “continued progress” in talks with its preferred bidder over the sale of its masts and towers. The preferred bidder, which Telkom only describes as a consortium of equity investors, has completed its confirmatory due diligence among other agreed milestones, the company said. Telkom first disclosed the talks with the bidder last November for a portfolio of over 6,000 masts and towers domiciled under Swiftnet SOC, a subsidiary.

Nigerian telecom operators are mulling up to a 15% increase in prices for call and data services, citing increased costs. A spokesperson for a trade group for the operators that includes MTN and Airtel said they are requesting the government regulator’s approval to revise tariff prices because current rates were “not sustainable.” The demand is not new; telcos took their request for a price review to the Nigerian legislature’s lower chamber last October, but the effort did not lead to any change.

Chaotic roll-out blights Kenya’s visa-free plan

→ What’s happening? Late last year, Kenya’s President William Ruto announced that Kenya would drop visa requirements for all citizens from around the world. The move was forecast to accelerate tourist arrivals to 2.5 million from 1.5 million in 2022 and boost Kenya’s tourism revenues by 200%.

→ How has this played out? The rollout of the new visa-free regime has been marred by confusion, lack of information, and complaints from travelers around the world.

→ How is it supposed to work? Kenya replaced visa applications with Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) for all travelers to the country, except those from within the East African Community (EAC). As of Jan. 7, close to 10,000 ETA applications had been received with 4,046 approved.

→ So what’s wrong with the new system? Prior to the switch, Kenya had visa free agreements with 51 countries, many of them in Africa. Visitors from these countries, who previously only needed their passports to enter Kenya, now have to apply for the ETA, including paying a $34 fee and submitting information including bank statements, hotel bookings, and flight details.

→ Who’s most concerned about this in Kenya? Players in the travel and hospitality sector are worried that the switch and the associated tedious process and costs may turn away tourists from Kenya as a destination.

→ What’s the government’s response? Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Julius Bitok said the new process had cut visa processing times from 14 days to 72 hours for the ETA, provided equal treatment for all visitors, and lowered visa application costs from $50 to $34.

– Martin Siele in Nairobi

🇸🇴 Somalia’s president signed a law to invalidate an agreement by the breakaway region of Somaliland to give landlocked Ethiopia access to its Red Sea port of Berbera. The move raised tensions in the Horn of Africa and prompted the U.S. and African Union to back the territorial integrity of Somalia. Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud wrote on X that the passage of the law on Saturday voided the “illegal” pact and illustrated his country’s commitment to safeguard its “unity, sovereignty & territorial integrity.” There have been protests against the pact in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.

🇳🇬 Dangote Group, owned by Africa’s richest man, said its Lagos offices were visited by officials of Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency last week. The visit was in connection to an investigation by the agency into the allocation of foreign currency by the Central bank of Nigeria under the leadership of its former governor Godwin Emefiele. Dangote Group said it had been cooperating with the agency but said it considered the agency’s visit a move “designed to cause us unwarranted embarrassment.” The agency has not publicly commented on whether it visited Dangote’s offices.

🇧🇮 The United States said it is “deeply troubled” over Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye’s call for citizens to stone gay people. The State Department on Friday urged the country’s leaders to “respect the inherent dignity” of all Burundians. Last year, its East African neighbor Uganda passed a law that imposes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality.” Uganda has since been removed by the U.S. from AGOA, its favorable trade program for African countries.

🇳🇬 Nigeria’s central bank said in the last three months it has cleared $2 billion belonging to companies that had been unable to repatriate their dollar earnings from the country. The bank’s spokesperson said it paid $61.6 million to airline. IATA, an air transport trade group, in November said 90% of the $783 million that carriers had in Nigeria remained unpaid. The group did not respond to Semafor Africa’s request for further comment.

🇲🇿 Mozambique is set to receive $60.7 million from the International Monetary Fund under a three-year credit facility program approved in 2022. The approval will bring Mozambique’s total disbursements under the program to about $273 million.

🇿🇼 Zimbabwe’s dollar plunged 40% on the parallel market on Monday as demand for foreign exchange outpaced supply. The local unit was trading at 10,900 Zimbabwean dollars per U.S. dollar, with the official exchange rate still at 6,467 Zimbabwean dollars, according to exchange rate monitoring platform ZimPriceCheck.com. The spiraling exchange rate in the mineral-rich nation — which gets 85% of its foreign exchange from mining — has been attributed to the end of tobacco sales and a softening of global commodity prices.

The first international festival to celebrate “vodun” culture is taking place in Ouidah, Benin, this week. Also called voodoo, vodun is a religion in West Africa practiced by various ethnic groups but Benin is aiming to project it as an integral pillar of its heritage and identity. Events this week will go beyond rituals in enclosed spaces to include public performances in Ouidah’s redesigned squares and tourist sites, involving acclaimed African artists from Nigeria’s Yemi Alade to Congolese star Koffi Olomide. The week is expected to reach its peak with a ‘Grand Vodun Ceremony’ and a late night concert featuring artists who draw inspiration from vodun culture.

• The fall of Will and Jada’s media empire.
• Who is Biden’s voice in Black America?
• Semafor’s picks for the most interesting elections globally.

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— Yinka, Alexis, Alexander Onukwue, Martin Siele, and Muchira Gachenge