Africa

1. Ghana’s Q1 growth
2. FDI falls
3. Space debut
4. UAE stands accused
5. Vaccine production push
6. Youth protest movement

Also, showing the experiences of Cape Town’s haves and have nots.

Hello! Welcome to Semafor Africa, where buying African is more than a lifestyle choice. Of the many scandals and outrages that seemed to occur daily during the darkest periods of the global COVID-19 pandemic, one of those that seemed to have made a long term impact was the inequities around vaccine distribution. It became very apparent, at a time when there was still a lot of uncertainty about the disease, that the Western countries, whose scientists had led the vaccine development, were taking time to get round to distributing vaccines to developing countries. They, unsurprisingly, prioritized taking care of their citizens.

After a while it became clear that that narrative was a bit too simple because there seemed to be genuine issues with supply chains and getting vaccines out to countries. This is one reason the news Alexis reports below, about an agreement to support more vaccine production on the continent, is so important. The expertise and wherewithal for local drugs and vaccine production will always be vital in future health crises, even if not used as originally intended. To mildly mangle an old aphorism, this looks like a positive case of not letting a good crisis go to waste.

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Ghana’s economy had a flying start this year

The rate at which Ghana’s economy grew in the first quarter of 2024 year-on-year, according to provisional data from the Ghana Statistical Services (GSS). That was up from 3.8% in the previous quarter. The improved performance also represented an increase from the 3.1% growth posted in the first quarter of 2023. It was attributed to activity in industry, agriculture and services. Growth in construction, mining, and oil and gas drove a 6.8% expansion of the industrial sector, which led overall growth.

Africa’s FDI drops in line with global trends

Foreign direct investment flows to Africa fell by 3% to $53 billion in 2023, in line with a global trend influenced by “trade and geopolitical tensions,” the UN’s trade and development agency (UNCTAD) said in a new report. Excluding key European economies that act as conduits for global finance, global FDI flows dropped by 10% while the average decline for developing economies was 7%. Constraints on international project finance include the rise of protectionist policies and regional realignments that are “fragmenting” trade networks and global supply chains, UNCTAD said. In Africa, Central Africa was the region that saw the largest drop in FDI inflows, at 17%. Southern Africa bucked the trend, recording 22% growth. Financing conditions are expected to ease this year but countries seeking more investment should improve their transparency mechanisms — for example, by using digital government tools — in order to boost confidence in the business environment, UNCTAD recommends.

Plans to fly the first Nigerian to space

An American space venture has begun a process that aims to fly the first Nigerian to space with Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ space exploration company.

Space Exploration and Research Agency (SERA), a US for-profit company, has an initiative to increase flights for citizens of countries with little or no space footprint. Its first milestone was flying Brazil’s second-ever astronaut to space in June 2022. SERA’s next mission will fly six people to space on an upcoming Blue Origin New Shepard flight — and one seat is guaranteed to go to a Nigerian.

A public online voting process will select the Nigerian for the mission, SERA’s co-founders Sam Hutchison and Joshua Skurla told Semafor Africa. Any healthy adult resident with basic English language speaking abilities can nominate themselves for the mission. They will need to canvass votes from the public to boost their chances. Votes will be verified using a blockchain system to ensure a fair selection process, the founders said.

The company signed a partnership agreement with Nigeria’s National Space Research and Development Agency on Wednesday to amplify the opportunity and collaborate on science experiments that will be performed by the mission crew in space.

Commenting on the SERA partnership, Nigeria’s innovation and science minister Uche Godfrey Nnaji said sending people to space was not a “random aspiration” but a “major objective.”

Sudan calls out UAE over alleged RSF arms supply

Sudan is taking on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the UN Security Council over the Gulf state’s alleged arming of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The RSF has been locked in a bloody war with the Sudanese Armed Forces since April 2023. The conflict has forced more than 2 million people to flee their homes.

Sudan’s envoy to the UN, Al Harith Idriss al-Harith Mohamed, said on Tuesday that Khartoum would submit a file to the International Criminal Court on UAE’s alleged support of RSF, which has been accused of ethnic war crimes. He claimed that Sudan had evidence of the supply of weapons to the RSF by the UAE. Mohamed told reporters he had urged the Security Council to “walk the extra mile by naming and shaming the United Arab Emirates.”

But the Gulf state’s UN ambassador dismissed Sudan’s allegations as “ludicrous,” and claimed they were meant to distract from “grave violations that are happening on the ground.”

The claims were followed by a disclosure from the US Special Envoy to Sudan, Tom Perriello, who said on Wednesday that external intervention was on the table if the warring sides failed to strike a peace deal in Sudan. “We have about three or four weeks to create the right conditions for a peace agreement,” he said.

— Martin K.N Siele

A $1.2 billion pledge for Africa-produced vaccines

Global health officials, world leaders, and pharmaceutical companies have pledged $1.2 billion to produce vaccines in Africa.

The funds will be used to back the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator, a scheme aimed at spurring local vaccine manufacturing across the continent. The funding was announced on Thursday at a global vaccine summit in Paris that was attended by several African heads of state.

The unequal global distribution of vaccines was highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic when wealthy nations quickly bought up shots.

The initiative was conceived by Gavi, a vaccine alliance, and the Africa Centres for Disease Control (Africa CDC) to help meet the African Union’s target for the continent to produce 60% of the vaccines it needs by 2040.

The ONE campaign, an anti-poverty group, said its analysis showed at least 1.5 billion doses must be produced annually in Africa by 2040 to meet the AU’s target — 73 times more than what is currently produced on the continent. Its research shows 98.9% of Africa’s vaccine supply is produced outside the continent, leaving its countries “vulnerable to supply chain disruptions.”

The manufacturing push is part of a trend to find innovative ways to fight diseases on the continent, such as using genetically modified mosquitoes to fight malaria and developing gene therapy treatments.

— Alexis Akwagyiram

Kenya’s anti-tax protests go nationwide

Members of parliament in Kenya on Thursday voted to pass the country’s unpopular Finance Bill 2024, which contains a raft of tax hike proposals. MPs passed the bill on the same day that mostly Gen Z and millennial protesters in Kenya took to the streets for the second time this week to demand that lawmakers reject the bill. Parliament’s Finance Committee had earlier this week dropped a number of controversial tax proposals from the bill to appease the public, but it wasn’t enough to win over protesters.

Building on Tuesday’s demonstrations in the capital Nairobi, the protests on Thursday took place in cities and towns across the country, including in President William Ruto’s political strongholds in the Rift Valley such as Eldoret and Kericho. The young protesters rallied together online and have so far organized the protests without the involvement of a major political party, in what some are already declaring a historic shift in Kenyan politics. In Eldoret, they chanted “Tuko wengi”, Kiswahili for “We are many” — a reference to their sheer numbers.

Around 75% of Kenya’s population is under 35 years old and the country’s median age is 19. “It could influence voting dynamics even in the coming 2027 general elections,” Nairobi-based political analyst Collins Omondi told Semafor Africa.

— Martin in Nairobi

Tech

🇷🇼 Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD inked an agreement with Rwandan EV provider Ampersand which will use BYD’s battery cells to build 40,000 electric motorcycles by 2026.

🇳🇬 Nigerian fintech company Paystack this month extended the reach of its ‘virtual terminal’ — which enables online payments for vendors — in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa.

Deals

🇳🇬 Nigeria’s state oil firm NNPC and TotalEnergies will invest $550 million in a gas processing facility to boost exports and domestic supplies.

Geopolitics

🇸🇳 Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye is in France on his first official international visit outside Africa this week where he met with President Emmanuel Macron. Faye took office in April after a campaign in which he promised to reset his country’s relationship with its former colonial ruler.

🇷🇼 Rwanda and Luxembourg on Tuesday signed a 12 million euros ($12.9 million) grant agreement to combat deforestation in the East African nation.

🇸🇩 Rights group Amnesty International on Wednesday said Egypt carried out mass arrests and unlawful deportations of thousands of refugees fleeing Sudan’s war without giving them the chance to claim asylum or challenge deportation decisions.

Governance

🇹🇩 Chadian authorities ordered an investigation on Wednesday after a fire tore through a military ammunition depot in the capital N’Djamena, killing at least nine people and wounding dozens more.

🇨🇮 Côte d’Ivoire’s President Alassane Ouattara on Tuesday told parliament that his government would invest more than $15 billion in the country’s oil sector.

🇿🇦 South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa was on Wednesday sworn in for a second term to lead a landmark coalition government. Ramaphosa is set to form a cabinet from his ANC party and its coalition partners.

🇧🇫 Burkina Faso’s communications regulator on Tuesday suspended French broadcaster TV5 for six months for spreading “disinformation.” The regulator criticized the broadcaster for hosting a critic of the military regime.

A new documentary spotlights the gaping economic inequalities between the elite and the working class in Cape Town. Titled “Mother City,” the documentary was produced over a period of six years from 2017. It follows the ‘Reclaim the City’ campaign, in which the struggle to belong and access resources in the city are brought to light. The documentary highlights efforts against spatial segregation experienced in the city, which they believe is perpetuated by the city’s administration. The city has been under the leadership of the Democratic Alliance, the white-led party which is now part of a coalition government with the ANC. But township residents say it is elitist and runs a city that functions only for the rich. Ian-Malcolm Rijsdijk, whose research focuses on Cape Town’s identity on screen, writes that the city’s spatial development “is the product of centuries of colonial, apartheid and, more recently, neoliberal disfigurement.”

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