Africa

1. Embracing change
2. Lack of respect
3. Media v police
4. Starlink in Africa
5. Fighting food inflation

Also, how eastern DRC’s conflict is linked to deforestation.

Welcome to Semafor Africa, where we know the medium is the message. That’s why governments across Africa try to exert control over access to the media. In the old days, it was as easy as controlling the state broadcaster’s radio and TV services. Now, with the advent of social media, it’s tougher.

Some governments restrict internet access during social upheaval. But as Sultan Quadri reports in this edition, African regulators are going one step further. They’re blocking attempts by Starlink to open in their countries over fears they won’t be able to control Elon Musk’s internet service since it relies on satellites that operate outside of geographic jurisdictions.

The theme of media control runs through today’s newsletter. In Kenya, where weeks-long protests show no signs of abating, journalists allege the police are waging a campaign of intimidation. The allegations are part of a worrying trend. While coups have garnered international attention in recent years, the prevalence of curtailed media freedom in apparent democracies has gone under the radar. Yet the harassment and detention of journalists is pernicious and no less important.

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Zimbabwe’s slow take up of new currency

The share of transactions in which the new Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency is being used. Zimbabweans are still using foreign currencies for the vast majority of their purchases, as the government works to build trust in ZiG. It is the sixth attempt by the government to establish a local currency, following more than a decade and a half of hyperinflation. The central bank has said that it plans to increase its reserves of ZiG, gold, and foreign currency reserves until 2030.

Gender inequality persists

The share of Africans who say that women on the continent are treated with respect and dignity appears to have reduced sharply within the last decade, a survey by Gallup found. A poll covering five African countries found that only Tanzania has the perception that respect for local women has increased, rising to 70% from 54% between 2013 and 2021, the year President Samia Suluhu Hassan took office. Otherwise, Gallup found steep declines in perceptions of respect for women in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Uganda. The sharpest decline was recorded in South Africa, a change the report attributes in part to the country’s high rate of femicide. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa described gender-based violence as a “second pandemic” in 2020, and in May signed a bill to create a council tasked with combating the issue.

Media ‘under attack’ in Kenya protests

NAIROBI — Kenyan journalists have alleged the police are subjecting them to extreme violence during the country’s ongoing protests.

The police have fired tear gas directly at reporters covering the protests, according to several journalists. Others have reported being assaulted.

Labor unions representing media workers have demanded the arrest of police officers they say are responsible for the rights abuses, which they say include journalists being shot at, injured, and abducted.

Wanjeri Kariuki, a reporter with local TV station K24, was shot in the thigh by a police officer while covering protests in the Rift Valley city of Nakuru on Tuesday, July 17, according to witnesses and video posted on X. Kariuki was wearing gear that identified her as a member of the press.

On Wednesday, footage showed veteran columnist Macharia Gaitho being forced into a vehicle by several men. He was released hours later following a public uproar.

Police said Gaitho’s arrest was a case of mistaken identity, but Gaitho believes the police targeted him.

The police service has denied targeting journalists. “We do not target journalists in any way, and today’s incident is highly regrettable,” a statement posted on X read.

The protest movement began in response to an unpopular finance bill but its focus has shifted with calls for Ruto’s resignation.

Starlink struggles to comply with regulations in Africa

Starlink, the satellite broadband service owned by South African-born tech billionaire Elon Musk, is struggling to open in several African countries due to regulatory concerns.

Regulators across the continent are worried about Starlink because they want control over the content being shared, industry analysts say. This has been a recurring theme of concern for African governments since the rise of the internet and, in particular, social media.

Starlink disconnected its service in Cameroon in April following a government order. The regulator said Starlink was operating without a license and posed a threat to national security and fair competition. The satellite company has also been blocked from approval in Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, DR Congo, South Africa, and Senegal.

Starlink’s satellites have no physical infrastructure or official presence in the countries, meaning it isn’t possible to turn off the internet. Similarly, Starlink can’t be held responsible by governments for content transmitted over the signals.

Officials are also concerned about the company reaching their citizens without paying taxes or regulatory fees.

But, with the right incentives, some African governments have granted approvals. Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa granted Starlink a license after it agreed to an exclusive partnership with a telco owned by his controversial friend Wicknell Chivayo. And in Kenya, a 30% local ownership requirement for telcos was waived after a deal was struck with President William Ruto to boost high-speed internet.

— Sultan Quadri 

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Nigeria pauses food import taxes to calm inflation

Nigeria will ramp up the importation of key food items and pause import taxes on certain grains in an attempt to battle runaway food inflation causing widespread hardship.

The suspension will be in place for 150 days and will cover maize, husked brown rice, wheat, and cowpea, according to the government’s agriculture minister Abubakar Kyari. The government will import 250,000 metric tons each of semi-processed wheat and maize that will be “supplied to small-scale processors and millers across the country,” Kyari said.

At 34.19%, Nigeria’s inflation rate in June marked another near-three decade high. It was more than 11 percentage points higher than the rate at the same time last year. The annual inflation rate for food in particular was nearly 41%, the government’s statistics agency said. The result of sky high food prices has been a cost of living crisis squeezing millions of already poor households.

But importing food to solve inflation is a “depressing” move, said Akinwunmi Adesina, head of the African Development Bank and a former Nigerian agriculture minister. The country should be “producing more food to stabilize food prices, while creating jobs and reducing foreign exchange spending” to stabilize the local naira currency, he said.

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu reiterated the temporary nature of the import plan at a recent event and that his government “will continue to drive local production” so Nigeria can feed on what it produces.

— Alexander Onukwue

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Commodities

🇬🇭 Cocoa production in Ghana has fallen 50% this year, placing further pressure on the country’s already-struggling economy. The disastrous harvest resulted from erratic weather and tree disease.

🇬🇳 Mining firm Rio Tinto said it had received regulatory approval from Guinea’s government to begin its long-delayed iron ore project, with production to begin next year.

🇳🇬 Nigeria’s Dangote Refinery alleged that international oil companies in the country are offering to sell crude to it at “way higher than the market prices.”

Governance

🇳🇬​​ Nigeria’s president asked lawmakers to approve $4 billion of additional spending to plug budget shortfalls. He proposed imposing a windfall tax on banks to increase government revenues.

🇬🇳 Guinea’s lawyers are on a nationwide strike in protest against arbitrary arrests and detentions they say have been carried out by the country’s military government.

Geopolitics

🇸🇩 Ten million people in Sudan have been displaced by fighting in the country, marking the largest displacement of people in the world, the United Nations has said. More than 2 million fled to neighboring countries.

🇦🇪 🇪🇹 The UAE and Ethiopia have entered into a currency swapping agreement worth $817 million.

Crime

🌍 International policing organization Interpol announced it had arrested 300 people from five continents in an effort to crack down on widespread online financial fraud originating in West Africa.

Deals

🇳🇬 Chappal Energies, an Africa-focused oil and gas investor, will buy TotalEnergies’s stake in oil and gas producing assets in Nigeria for $860 million.

🌍 d.light, a provider of solar home products to low income African households, will buy $176 million of receivables in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda through a debt facility secured by African Frontier Capital, an investment company.

🇿🇦 South African ride sharing company LULA acquired the local operations of London-based bus sharing company Zeelo for an undisclosed amount.

Tech

🇿🇦 Stakeholders in South Africa’s data center industry are warning that members of so-called “construction mafia,” who sometimes violently demand illegal shares in development projects, risk sabotaging investment in the sector.

Conflict between DR Congo’s army and the M23 militia is fueling deforestation and habitat loss, residents say. Locals in eastern DR Congo have described the rapid loss of the area’s forests and say deforestation within the conflict zone has accelerated to the worst levels seen since 2023. Meanwhile, the Virunga region — a biodiverse area home to great apes and rare species — is occupied by M23 rebels. Park rangers are struggling to identify the full extent of the damage. Fighting in the region has prevented them from getting a closer look at the issues.

• Trump’s call for Taiwan to pay for its defense rattles chip stocks.
• Germany plans to halve military aid for Ukraine in 2025.
• UK approves the sale of lab-grown meat — but not for humans.

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