Africa

1. EU ‘cannot fill’ USAID gap
2. Why narratives matter
3. Dangote bets on Ethiopia
4. AU elects new chair
5. The Week Ahead

A biography of an unsung Black South African composer.

EU ‘cannot fill’ USAID funding gap

The European Union said it cannot plug the funding gap left by the United States suspending international aid programs, as governments across Africa try to keep critical services running.

The US, the largest single aid donor in the world, disbursed some $72 billion in assistance in 2023, much of it through the US Agency for International Development (USAID). In that year the EU, the largest collective donor, contributed almost $100 billion. Most of USAID’s budget in Africa goes on humanitarian and health aid — the agency spent more than $11 billion there in 2024 — and the freeze has already shuttered services across the continent.

“We will not step back from our humanitarian commitments,” a European Commission spokesperson told Semafor, saying the bloc’s 2025 humanitarian budget alone stands at $1.9 billion — with $510 million earmarked for Africa. But the spokesperson added: “The funding gap is getting bigger, leaving millions in need. The EU cannot fill this gap left by others.”

The Africa you don’t see

What if, 100 years from now, researchers trying to understand what life in Africa was like in 2025 used today’s media as their sole research tool?

The challenge for mainstream African and global media is that with increasingly limited resources, too often the stories of Africa are limited to a laundry list of humanitarian disasters and despair, writes Moky Makura, executive director of Africa No Filter, an advocacy organization tackling stereotypical narratives about the continent.

Makura shares research that shows just how limited coverage of Africa can be at home and abroad and explores the wider impact beyond the media: “Our Global Media Index revealed international outlets continue to rely on familiar tropes while largely ignoring the stories that humanize Africa,” she writes.

Dangote boosts investment in Ethiopia

Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, said he would double the production capacity of his cement operations in Ethiopia with a new $400 million investment. Speaking on the sidelines of the African Union summit in Addis Ababa on Saturday, he also hailed the country as one of his conglomerate’s “most promising investments” in Africa after Nigeria. The Nigerian entrepreneur said Dangote Cement will be able to produce five million tons annually within two-and-a-half years using this new injection of funding, which will create more than 25,000 additional jobs.

Dangote Group has faced several obstacles since setting up operations in Ethiopia’s largest region of Oromia in 2015. Its cement factory has repeatedly been forced to suspend work due to protests from local residents over land use, and gunmen killed three workers in 2018.

— Samuel Getachew

AU elects new commission chair

African leaders chose Djibouti’s Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf to chair the African Union commission at the bloc’s summit in Addis Ababa on Saturday. Youssouf overcame the favorite, Kenya’s former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, and Madagascar’s former Foreign Minister Richard Randriamandrato after several rounds of voting. He has been Djibouti’s foreign minister since 2005, and his first major challenge in his new role will be finding diplomatic paths to ending conflicts in eastern DR Congo and Sudan.

Analysts previously told Semafor that the incoming chair, who is responsible for running the daily operations of the bloc that represents 55 member states, must oversee “urgent reforms” within the organization to more effectively address the continent’s needs. These include giving the AU’s parliament binding legislative authority and preventing member states from flouting the rulings of its human rights court.

The Week Ahead

• Feb. 17-18: Nigeria’s central bank holds its monetary policy meetings.
• Feb. 19: South Africa’s statistics agency publishes its Consumer Price Index for January.
• Feb. 19: South Africa presents its annual budget.
• Feb. 19-21: The Africa Green Economy Summit takes place.
• Feb. 20: E-commerce platform Jumia announces its 2024 full-year results.

Business & Macro

🇨🇩 Swiss miner Glencore held preliminary discussions about selling its multibillion-dollar copper and cobalt mines in DR Congo, the Financial Times reported, after rejecting an unsolicited bid last month.

🇳🇬 PZ Cussons Nigeria, a subsidiary of the British multinational consumer goods firm, said it will convert $34 million of debt from its parent holding company to equity to “strengthen its balance sheet.”

Climate & Energy

🇰🇪 Kenya will build 1,650 miles (2,700 km) of new power lines to connect 1.4 million homes to the national electricity grid over the next three years, the National Treasury cabinet secretary said.

🇷🇼 Kabisa, an electric vehicles provider in Rwanda, rolled out new charging stations in the capital Kigali, with assets that will supposedly cut charging times from one hour to 25 minutes.

Geopolitics & Policy

🇨🇩 Rwanda-backed M23 rebels occupied Bukavu, the second-biggest city in eastern DR Congo, advancing their offensive in the mineral-rich region.

🇳🇬 Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu endorsed the creation of an independent African credit rating agency, a rival that would “provide fairer assessments of African economies and reduce the bias often observed” in the assessments of major Western agencies.

Tech & Deals

🇬🇭 Ghanaian digital banking startup Affinity raised $8 million, led by Germany-based Grazia Equity and British investor Backed VC.

🇳🇬 Africa Finance Corporation signed an agreement with the Export-Import Bank of China to finance trade and investment projects in clean energy, transportation, telecommunications, and climate change mitigation.

A biography of a pioneering South African composer shines a light on Black classical music under apartheid. The Times Do Not Permit, by music scholar Christine Lucia, explores the life of Michael Mosoeu Moerane, known for choral works that are still performed across South Africa today. He is also remembered for his orchestral piece FatŠe laHeso (My Country). The Conversation notes that that work was recorded by public broadcasters “in an era when white minority rule denied even the existence of Black classical musicians.” The book, which includes interviews with those who knew Moerane, restores his place in history, the outlet says.

Mark Read has pledged that 2025 will be WPP’s “year of execution,” pitching the UK advertising giant he leads as having finally cracked the challenge of balancing the two skills that clients value most in the AI era: creativity and technology, Semafor’s Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson wrote.

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— Alexis Akwagyiram, Preeti Jha, Alexander Onukwue, and Yinka Adegoke.