Africa

1. S. Africa’s US envoy shut out
2. Trump’s next Africa pick
3. USAID cull confirmed
4. Betting on climate startups
5. China’s port presence
6. Costs of untreated sewage

Filming is underway for the adaptation of a bestselling novel inspired by West Africa.

S. Africa’s troubled US ties

South Africa’s ambassador to the US is struggling to secure crucial meetings in Washington at a time when Pretoria needs to mend relations with Donald Trump’s White House.

Ebrahim Rasool, a veteran diplomat who also served as South Africa’s ambassador to Washington during the Obama administration, was appointed back to the post in November. But he has failed to secure routine meetings with State Department officials and key Republican figures since Trump took office in January, Washington and South African government insiders told Semafor, drawing frustration in Pretoria.

Rasool is likely to have been frozen out for his prior vocal criticism of Israel, a South African diplomat, based in Washington, told Semafor. “A man named Ebrahim, who is Muslim, with a history of pro-Palestine politics is not likely to do well in that job right now,” said one of them. While South Africa brought a case against Israel to the International Court of Justice in December 2023, accusing it of genocide in Gaza, Rasool is nevertheless widely considered to be among the government’s most ardent pro-Palestine voices.

Neither Rasool nor a spokesperson for South Africa’s government could immediately be reached for comment.

US colonel eyed for top Africa job

A US Air Force colonel with roots on the continent is expected to be appointed President Donald Trump’s senior Africa director, two people familiar with the matter told Semafor.

Col. Jean-Philippe Peltier, a career intelligence officer, was born in Chad and raised across Francophone Africa, wrote a PhD on sub-Saharan African politics, and served as director of the sub-Saharan African Orientation Course at the US Air Force Special Operations School. He would lead the White House’s Africa team at the National Security Council, which already includes two Africa directors who have military experience.

The news comes as reports suggest that Trump is considering folding US Africa Command into its European counterpart.

— Mathias Hammer and Yinka Adegoke

83% of USAID programs ended

More than four in five USAID programs — some 5,200 projects — have been terminated as a result of a six-week purge by Washington. Around 1,000 surviving programs will be moved under the State Department. In a post on X, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio thanked his staff and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency for working “very long hours to achieve this overdue and historic reform.” The unprecedented shakeup of US foreign assistance ends many decades-old programs, with Africa expected to be the worst-hit continent. The vast majority of USAID’s budget in the region goes on humanitarian and health aid: In 2024 it spent more than $11 billion across the continent. Cutbacks have already upended supply chains for vital HIV drugs and disrupted treatment for tuberculosis. Multiple lawsuits challenging the US State Department’s decision to dismantle operations are now underway.

Cash for African climate tech

Venture capital firm Equator closed a $55 million fund focused on climate tech startups in sub-Saharan Africa. The firm, based in Kenya and the UK, is part of a growing pool of financiers investing in green solutions across the continent. The fund — which counts the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, British International Investment, and France’s Proparco among its backers — plans to invest in around 15 early-stage ventures in total. It has already bet on six companies, including electric motorcycles-maker Roam and SunCulture, which makes solar-powered irrigation systems, both based in Kenya.

China’s port presence in Africa

Chinese firms are active stakeholders in an estimated 78 of 231 African commercial ports, according to a new tally by the Washington-based African Center for Strategic Studies. “This is a significantly greater presence than anywhere else in the world,” noted the academic institution, which sits within the US Department of Defense. By comparison, it said, Latin America and the Caribbean host 10 Chinese-built or operated ports, while Asian countries host 24. Nearly half of the Chinese firms in Africa — which operate as builders, financiers, or operators of the ports — are in the west, with the rest spread across the continent. In some cases, like the Lekki Deep Sea Port in Nigeria, Chinese companies dominate the whole port development enterprise. Beyond the financial benefit to the firms, access to African ports gives China the opportunity to establish strategic maritime and military operations on the continent, ACSS’s analysis said.

Kenya’s untreated sewage costs

The amount of money Kenya is losing each year due to sewage mismanagement, according to a new report. Only 11% of wastewater in the country undergoes adequate treatment, the research group Back to Blue and the campaign organization Ocean Sewage Alliance found. Kenya came last in a list of countries in the study, which examined sewage management in Brazil, India, the Philippines, and the UK. The report focused on the impact of untreated wastewater on agriculture, fisheries, and health care. It calculated the costs of this mismanagement — such as reduced crop yields and increased hospitalizations — and called on governments and the private sector to invest in sewage infrastructure.

Business & Macro

🇳🇬 Nigerian petrol retailers called on oil regulators and the consumer protection agency to intervene in the market, describing a recent price slash by the Dangote Refinery as a threat to their ability to “stay afloat and liquid.”

🇬🇭 Ghana will implement spending cuts this year as the economy remains in “severe distress,” Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson said.

Climate & Energy

🇿🇦 South African electricity trader Powerx agreed a deal with Emirati renewable energy producer Yellow Door Energy to buy the entire 57.5 gigawatt hours annual output from a solar plant to be built by the UAE firm in South Africa.

Geopolitics & Policy

🇦🇴 Angola plans to act as a mediator between DR Congo and the M23 rebel group, its president’s office said, following a recent trip by Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi to Luanda.

🇨🇮 🇬🇭 Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana agreed to carry out joint patrols along their shared maritime boundary, accepting a resolution by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea over a contested oil-rich region.

Tech & Deals

🇿🇦 British digital bank Revolut is exploring opening operations in South Africa though the company remains “quite early in the process.”

🇰🇪 Kenyan automaker Mobius Motors has been acquired by Silver Box, an investment firm in the Middle East. Mobius had announced a shutdown of operations last August.

Filming is underway for the movie adaptation of Children of Blood and Bone, a fantasy novel inspired by West Africa. New cast members were announced last week including the Afrobeats superstar Ayra Starr and Nigerian actor Richard Mofe-Damijo. They join a star-studded lineup including Viola Davis and Idris Elba. The 2018 bestselling debut by Nigerian-American author Tomi Adeyemi is part of a trilogy about a young girl trying to recapture magical powers taken from her people by an oppressive monarchy. The much-anticipated film adaptation is tentatively scheduled for an early 2027 release. “Our incredible ensemble reflects the whole of the diaspora. This is where our magic lies,” said director Gina Prince-Bythewood.

The US Democratic Party’s reckoning over age and “gerontocracy” appears to be on hold — key figures in the anti-Trump resistance, right now, were born in the 1940s, Semafor’s David Weigel reported.

“We have to meet incivility with incivility,” said Rep. Al Green in a radio interview, explaining why he shook his cane at the president. Green, along with Vermont’s Sen. Bernie Sanders, have, despite their age, stoked enthusiasm among the Democratic grassroots as few other legislators have done so far.

If you’re enjoying the Semafor Africa newsletter and finding it useful, please share with your family and friends. We’d love to have them aboard too.

Let’s make sure this email doesn’t end up in your junk folder by adding africa@semafor.com to your contacts. In Gmail you should drag this newsletter over to your ‘Primary’ tab.

You can reply to this email and send us your news tips, gossip, and good vibes.

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