Africa

🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embaló dissolved parliament on Monday, following an attempted coup last Friday. He issued a decree stating that the date for legislative elections “would be set in due time” in accordance with the constitution. It is the second time he has dissolved the lawmaking body since taking office in 2020. The opposition said the move was unconstitutional. Last Friday’s failed coup was reportedly prompted by soldiers attempting to free two detained government ministers accused of the irregular withdrawal of $10 million of state funds. Guinea-Bissau has suffered nearly a dozen coups or attempted coups since independence from Portugal in 1974.

🇳🇬 Nigerian President Bola Tinubu ordered an investigation into an accidental military airstrike that killed at least 85 people in the northern state of Kaduna. The military has said one of its drones that targets armed groups struck residents of Tudun Biri village as they celebrated a Muslim festival. It was the latest in a string of errant airstrikes by Nigerian forces targeting extremists and bandits in northern states. At least 14 bombings struck residential areas between February 2014 and September 2022. And in January, 39 people were killed by an airstrike in central Nasarawa state.

🇺🇬🇿🇼 The United States announced new visa restriction on Ugandan and Zimbabwean officials it says are responsible for undermining democracy in those countries. In Uganda this includes those deemed responsible for repressing marginalized groups including LGBTQ+ people and human rights activists. Prior to Monday’s announcement, the State Department had imposed visa restrictions on Ugandan officials in June following the passing of an anti-LGBTQ law. In Zimbabwe, the U.S. State dept said the officials restricted include those who manipulated the democratic process “in the lead-up to, during, and following Zimbabwe’s August 2023 elections.”

🌍 The African Development Bank has kickstarted the creation of “green banks” which aim to boost efforts to raise up to $1.5 billion by 2030 for climate financing. The multilateral lender is setting up green investment facilities in financial institutions in Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Morocco and Egypt. The initiative seeks to give local banks the technical capacity needed to attract climate finance from investors. It also aims to reduce the perceived risk for private investors.

The estimated cost to build a bridge linking Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, to the airport hub town of Lungi. The West African country has signed an agreement with China Road and Bridge Corporation and Senegal’s Atepa Group to construct the 8-kilometer (5 miles) bridge. The proposed bridge is part of a government plan to improve the country’s transport infrastructure. Visitors who fly into Sierra Leone typically travel from the international airport to Freetown by ferry. Sierra Leone’s government has said construction is expected to begin in the final quarter of 2024 and is set to take three years to complete.

Kenya’s tech industry is fighting AI regulation plans

THE NEWS

Kenya’s tech sector is opposed to a new bill aimed at regulating artificial intelligence (AI) in the country, arguing that it would stifle innovation and put off investors.

The bill seeks to create a professional body to oversee the activities of AI practitioners and imposes license fees for those working in the sector. It also aims to guarantee government funding for AI research and development. Critics say it could hold back a nascent sector by reducing the flow of private investment, locking young people out of opportunities, and undermining Kenya’s ‘Silicon Savannah’ reputation.

Alfred Ongere, founder of AI Kenya — an AI training and research organization in Nairobi — told Semafor Africa the bill would raise barriers of entry for AI in Kenya, hurting the sector’s ability to contribute to the larger tech ecosystem and economy.

Ben Roberts, chief technology officer at Liquid Intelligent Technologies, a digital infrastructure company that has invested in data centers in Kenya, told Semafor Africa that he “strongly condemned” the bill, arguing that it would dent investment flowing into the country’s tech sector.

“It’s like a tax on curiosity,” said Brian Muhia, chief technology officer at AI research lab Equiano Institute and co-founder of Fahamu AI. He told Semafor Africa the proposed legislation would lead to many AI startups closing down or failing to take off at all.

KNOW MORE

The debate around regulating AI in Kenya echoes a broader global conversation, as policymakers weigh how to regulate emerging technologies and protect consumers without stymying innovation. In the United Kingdom, the government has stated that it will avoid regulating AI “in the short term” in fear of stifling the sector’s growth. In the U.S., some smaller AI companies have raised concerns that tight regulation could limit their growth, arguing that they may not have the capital to meet extensive testing and regulatory requirements.

The AI sector is growing across Africa. Of the 2,400 AI companies on the continent as of 2022, 40% were established in the previous five years. Some estimates suggest AI could add $1.5 trillion to Africa’s GDP by 2030 if the continent captures just 10% of the global AI market.

Chinese firms provide the largest share of financing for businesses whose agribusiness and logging practices drive deforestation in Central and West Africa, claims a new report. The paper by biodiversity research coalition Forests and Finance, tracked money flows to companies in six “forest-risk” commodity sectors whose production involves harm to the community lands on which they are produced, namely beef, rubber, palm oil, pulp and paper, soy, and timber. Over 70% of forest-risk financing in Central and West Africa since 2016 has been in rubber companies, with the Beijing-based Sinochem Group the largest beneficiary of such funding at $3.4 billion in the years since. Forests and Finance’s report calls on governments to employ regulation in protecting biodiversity by “prohibiting the allocation of capital to certain sectors or corporations driving ecosystem destruction.”

Somalia’s weapons embargo

→ What’s happening? The U.N Security Council on Dec.1 voted to lift an arms embargo imposed on Somalia 31 years ago. It will allow Somalia to legally purchase weapons for its military. Somalia will, however, have to share a list of imported weapons with the security council. The council also called on Somalia to upgrade its weapons management strategy and continue professionalizing its security forces.

→ Why was the embargo imposed in the first place? The embargo is the oldest U.N sanctions regime. It was put in place after the toppling of former President Mohammed Siad Barre in 1991 to prevent weapons falling into the hands of various warlords. The country went on to experience decades of instability and conflict, and the rise of militant group al-Shabab.

→ What does it mean for Somalia? Somalia says the lifting of the embargo will enable it to strengthen its military and purchase the weapons it needs to combat extremist groups including al-Shabab, especially as the African Union-backed force fighting al-Shabab is set to leave the country in December 2024.

→ Why is Somaliland opposed to the lifting of the embargo? Somaliland, an unrecognized sovereign state that is internationally considered part of Somalia, warned that the move could lead to weapons falling into the hands of extremists and clan militia groups. “Somalia has not demonstrably established effective weapons tracing systems, oversight mechanisms, or ammunition management policies,” the government of Somaliland argued in a statement. “This raises serious concerns regarding the potential diversion of weapons to terrorist and extremist groups, further destabilizing the region.”

→ What does it mean for the region? It is a diplomatic win for countries including Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti who backed the lifting of the embargo on Somalia in February.

→ Why did China criticize the conditions imposed on Somalia? While it supported the lifting of the embargo, China criticized the ‘restrictive’ conditions set for Somalia’s importation of weapons, warning that they could “unnecessarily pose obstacles to efforts to enhance security capacity-building.” Ambassador Dai Bing further pointed out that “certain Western countries” were offered special exemptions for arms imports, describing it as a double standard.

— Martin

Semafor Africa will be on the ground at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, along with the rest of the Semafor Davos team, covering what’s happening on the main stages and lifting the curtain on what’s happening behind them. 

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South Africa’s communications authority said sales of Starlink terminals within the country are illegal, as it tries to stem imports of the satellite-enabled internet devices. “Starlink does not hold any licence issued by the authority to provide electronic communications,” the regulator said in a notice last week, mandating the Elon Musk-owned service to follow its procedure for obtaining permits. But a report by South African publication TechCentral suggests two affiliates of Starlink are beginning to receive such licenses for a potential launch but a timeline is unclear. Startlink is licensed to operate in seven African countries: Benin, Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Zambia.

French telecoms giant Orange has pulled its bid to buy a 45% stake in Ethio Telecom, Ethiopia’s state-owned telecoms utility. In a statement to Reuters, Orange said conditions would not allow it to rapidly deploy its strategy. Ethiopia’s ambitious economic liberalization agenda has been slowed by a two-year civil war which ended in November 2022 that has been followed by other regional conflicts. A minority stake in Ethio Telecom has been up for grabs since June 2021, two months after a group led by Safaricom won the race for Ethiopia’s first private telecom operator license. 

5G availability will grow 60% annually in sub-Saharan Africa in the years up to 2029, becoming the region’s fastest-growing internet connectivity type. 5G usage will grow from its current level of under 3% to 16% as service providers secure more spectrum from regulators. The projection in a report by Ericsson, the Swedish telecoms multinational, said 4G will be the dominant technology with 49%.

Ten years ago today news broke that the former South African president, Nelson Mandela, had died at the age of 95. At the time of his passing, the anti-apartheid activist, who was a political prisoner for 27 years, was widely celebrated for his remarkable legacy in South Africa and around the world. But 10 years on, the legacy of the great man has lost some of its shine at home because of the state of the nation and the African National Congress, the ruling political party for which he gave up so much of his life. The 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, delivered the 21st Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in Johannesburg to commemorate the anniversary.

• The White House issued an urgent plea to Capitol Hill for action on Ukraine assistance, warning that the U.S. will run out of military aid for Kyiv by the end of the year.
• A lead contender for the Republican Senate nomination in Montana said that he wants to privatize the U.S. healthcare system, according to audio obtained by Semafor.
• COP28 has been dominated by the climate summit’s most controversial question: Should fossil fuels be phased “out” or “down”? The White House’s climate advisor tells Semafor the U.S. remains open to that commitment.

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