Africa

1. Cooking cleaner
2. Internal displacement
3. Ruto disillusionment
4. Oil blockade lifted
5. A better health option?

Also, Leopold Senghor’s works to return home to Senegal

Hello! Welcome to Semafor Africa, where one piece of furniture keeps coming up in conversation. That’s because I’m at the Africa CEO Forum, an annual gathering of the continent’s top executives, where this year’s theme is: “At the table or on the menu?” It’s a riff on the US secretary of state’s blunt assessment of global power dynamics. In this context, the question asks whether African countries are now genuinely influential on the international stage, or the prey. Cue a flurry of analogies by the opening speakers here in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, about the table, whether there’s more than one, and the relative height of seats.

The most popular answer, at least judging by applause, is that African countries need to have their own table. Nigerian banker and investor Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede said African nations should develop their economies by mobilizing local savings, such as pension funds, just as Asian countries did in previous decades. Ralph Mupita, CEO of telecoms giant MTN, argued that common technology regulation across Africa would be a way to overcome the bottlenecks that prevent innovation traveling across borders. That, he said, would help to keep up with India, whose population is roughly the same as Africa’s.

Of course, away from the main stage, nobody is talking about tables. “I’m looking to branch out by setting up in other African countries,” a Malawian tourism entrepreneur who owns a hotel chain, told me. And a Liberian energy executive said he was working on building stronger ties with partners in Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The business people I’ve spoken to here are, like them, focused on expansion across the continent to enter new markets with young populations.

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Making a commitment to clean cooking

The total amount pledged by governments and private sector leaders from close to 60 countries during the Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa held in Paris this week. The summit focused on providing clean cooking access to the more than 1 billion people in Africa who typically cook over open fires and basic stoves. The use of charcoal, wood, agricultural waste, and animal dung as fuel leads to the inhalation of harmful toxic fumes and smoke with “dire consequences” for health, according to the International Energy Agency. It says dirty cooking is the second leading cause of premature death in Africa, with women and children most often affected.

Africa is seeing a rise in displaced populations

Sub-Saharan Africa had nearly half of all internally displaced people in the world last year — 34.8 million people in 2023, from 31.7 million in 2022, according to the International Displacement Monitoring Centre, a Swiss non-profit. The outbreak of the war in Sudan in April 2023 drove those numbers up: The country now has 9.1 million displaced people, the highest number of internally displaced people in the world. That’s up from 3.6 million at the end of 2022. DR Congo, where there is an ongoing armed conflict predominantly in the eastern region, has the third highest number of IDPs in the world, with 6.7 million people. Somalia, Ethiopia, and Nigeria round up the top five, with at least 3 million IDPs each. The number of displaced people “will likely continue to rise” without durable solutions that ensure peace, poverty reduction and climate change mitigation, the Centre said.

Disillusion in Kenya as Biden hosts Ruto

NAIROBI — Kenyan President William Ruto will begin a historic state visit to the US on May 23, the first by an African leader since Ghana’s John Kufuor in 2008. It will be the most significant display yet of Ruto’s emergence as a darling of the West and a leading voice for Africa.

Since his election as president in 2022, Ruto has built up his international profile through his advocacy on climate issues and calls for the reform of global financial institutions. He hosted the inaugural Africa Climate Summit last year, and has made numerous high-profile trips, including a state visit to China in October last year.

Back home, however, Ruto’s US state visit has been overshadowed by widespread discontent over proposed tax hikes and the cost of living, as well as alleged government corruption and the government’s response to recent floods which killed over 160 people.

“Ruto has largely struggled to deliver on his promises of a radical economic transformation benefiting poor Kenyans,” Nairobi-based economist Anderson Njuki told Semafor Africa, referencing Ruto’s 2022 “Hustler” campaign, which was premised on empowering the poor and small business owners.

Cameron Hudson, a senior analyst at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said it was crucial for Ruto to deliver tangible benefits for the average Kenyan for his visit to be considered a success. “Ruto has spent a lot of time on the world stage, but unless benefits of all that travel begin to accrue to people other than Ruto himself he is likely to face mounting discontent,” he told Semafor Africa.

The president’s latest tax hike proposals dominate conversations in Kenya ahead of his US visit, including on local media outlets and online. The proposals include the removal of VAT exemptions on bread, tax hikes on mobile money transfers, and a new annual tax on the value of motor vehicles.

Benin vs Niger

What’s happening? Benin lifted its ban on the use of its port for Niger’s oil exports, potentially ending a year-long disagreement between the West African neighbors. Benin’s mines minister said the authorization for Niger to load its first vessel was “provisional,” adding that Benin would review the “proper conduct of the pipeline’s export operations.”

What was the dispute? Niger’s Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine alleged that the port blockade that Benin imposed last week violated dozens of accords between both countries and Chinese stakeholders. Benin had ostensibly closed its port in retaliation for Niger’s own border closure, which it linked to a security threat. Benin’s President Patrice Talon said Niger treated his country like “an enemy.” Zeine alleged that “terrorists are trained to come and destabilize our country” from some parts of Benin.

When did Niger become an oil exporter? Niger is expected to export its first shipment of oil this month. The shipment will be sent to China as payment for a $400 million commodity-backed loan agreement with the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). Niger will send oil to China over 12 months as payment, with a 7% interest rate.

What’s the connection with Benin? CNPC built a 1,200-mile pipeline to move oil from Niger through neighboring Benin. The pipeline is part of a $4.6 billion investment in Niger’s petroleum industry.

How will oil exports help Niger? Oil production is expected to increase to 100,000 barrels per day up from 20,000 as a result of the pipeline. That is expected to help expand Niger’s economy by more than 12% this year, which would make it the fastest growing in sub-Saharan Africa, according to World Bank forecasts.

South Africa’s health bill is ANC’s latest populist card

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s acceleration of a universal healthcare bill into law this week will worsen the country’s already precarious public spending position, analysts have warned.

With the South African economy struggling, hampered by rising unemployment, stagnating economic productivity, and a long-term energy crisis, Ramaphosa has implemented a series of populist policies to drum up votes in what is widely expected to be South Africa’s most competitive election since 1994. Poll surveys ahead of the May 29 vote reflect waning support for the governing African National Congress, which is projected to see a dip below the majority threshold of 50% of the popular vote — which could necessitate a coalition with rival parties for the first time.

Earlier this year, the ANC-led Ramaphosa administration raised the minimum wage in the country by 8%, and social grants have also been hiked, effective last month. Ramaphosa’s latest decision was to fast-track a National Health Insurance bill, intended to boost health care equity. The president insists that the NHI will ensure access to healthcare “regardless of social status” of citizens.

But it comes at an inopportune moment for the economy, analysts say, as it would require substantial funding to implement. The bill has already been criticized by the Democratic Alliance, South Africa’s largest opposition party, and local business leaders.

“The government is rushing populist policy through parliament, which can only be seen to be an electioneering ploy,” said Busisiwe Mavuso, the CEO of Business Leadership South Africa. She said the NHI bill “will never work because there is no capacity to implement” it.

— Tawanda Karombo

This month, Mobola da-Silva took on the role of partner at Capria Ventures, an investor in startups across the Global South. Her role will focus on driving the firm’s investment strategy in Africa.

Governance

🇳🇬 Nigeria’s labor unions on Monday staged nationwide protests over recent increases in electricity prices, following the removal of subsidies by President Bola Tinubu’s government. Authorities said the government would save at least $788 million in subsidies this year.

🇨🇩 The DR Congo government lifted a suspension order on a copper and cobalt operation owned by China’s Zijin Mining Group after concerns over high radiation levels last month.

🇰🇪 The chief executive of betting firm Betsafe said the company would cease operations in Kenya this week, citing excessive taxation. Betting companies pay 15% of gross gaming revenue, and 30% corporate tax on profits.

🇳🇬 Emirates airline will resume flight operations to and from Nigeria on Oct. 1, ending an 18-month hiatus. The service had been suspended since November 2022 over the airline’s inability to repatriate its dollar earnings from Nigeria.

Geopolitics

🇳🇪 Niger’s Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine blamed United States officials for the rift between the two nations. He told the Washington Post that US officials tried to dictate which countries Niger could partner with and failed to justify US troop presence.

Tech

🇸🇩 Starlink’s move to shutdown its services in parts of Sudan will be a “collective punishment” to millions of people facing already dire conditions, a coalition of 94 rights groups in the country warned.

🇳🇬 Nigeria plans to add 90,000 kilometers of terrestrial fiber optic cables to enable more internet capacity from the international submarine cables that have landed in the country, Digital Economy Minister Bosun Tijani said.

🌍 Mobile payments app Chipper Cash entered a partnership with Block, the US payments startup owned by Jack Dorsey, to expand the latter’s decentralized payments technology to Africa.

Deals

🇿🇦 A consortium led by Alterra Capital, an Africa-focused investor, acquired a majority stake in Chill Beverages, a South African energy drink producer.

🌍 Accion, a US non-profit, unveiled a $152.5 million fund to offer equity investments in micro, small, and medium enterprises in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.

🇳🇬 The Lagos-based Africa Finance Corporation plans to raise $750 million for an “infrastructure climate resilience fund” before the end of June. It has raised $140 million so far.

Senegal finalized a deal to buy the private library of the country’s first president, Léopold Sédar Senghor. Nearly 350 books will be transferred to Dakar from the house in northern France where Senghor spent the final 20 years of his life. The books were set for auction in the city of Caen, but Senegal’s newly elected president, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, asked for the sale to be suspended while his government negotiated the purchase of the complete collection. Senghor, a poet and pan-Africanist, was one of the founders of the Négritude Black consciousness movement. Dakar hopes to incorporate the library into a museum of Senghor’s life.

• Western efforts to court China on Ukraine flop.
• Tech critic Frank McCourt mounts a bid to buy TikTok.
• France declares a state of emergency in New Caledonia.

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