Central African regional bloc, known as ECCAS, has announced the suspension of Gabon’s membership.
This development comes as General Brice Oligui Nguema was sworn in as the transitional president on Monday, consolidating his grip on power.
The coup unfolded shortly after Ali Bongo was declared the winner of a controversial third term as president. However, General Nguema has not provided a clear timeline for the return to civilian rule in Gabon, leaving the nation in a state of uncertainty.
During a pivotal meeting where leaders from Central Africa gathered to discuss Gabon’s suspension, moments of introspection may have emerged.
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the President of Equatorial Guinea, presided over this gathering and voiced concerns about Gabon’s impact on regional peace, security, and stability.
President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, now 81 years old, has been at the helm of Equatorial Guinea since 1979. Much like Ali Bongo’s family in Gabon, the Obiang Nguema family has faced allegations of massive embezzlement of state resources and harsh repression of political opposition.
This situation in Central Africa highlights a broader issue on the African continent, where several long-standing leaders have remained in power for extended periods and are understandably apprehensive about any talk of a “coup.”
The suspension of Gabon from ECCAS serves as a significant development in the region, shedding light on the ongoing challenges surrounding leadership, governance, and stability in Central Africa.
Kenya Championing Greater Use Of Renewable Energy In Africa
Kenya generates more than 70% of its energy from renewable sources like geothermal, hydro and wind energy, with the solar energy sector becoming attractive for industrial and home use.
The Kenyan government zero rates the importation of some inputs like solar panels and inverters to encourage sales.
During the inaugural Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, President William Ruto, echoed that Africa can manage to depend entirely on renewable energy,
“The continent has enough potential to be entirely self-sufficient with the mixture of wind, solar, geothermal, sustainable biomass and hydropower.” he said.
However, solar technology that is imported into Kenya continues to be taxed with import duties and retailers often have to charge over 15 percent value added tax making consumers foot the high cost of going green.
Solar energy’s reliability and lower cost despite initial high installation capital has attracted steel manufactures and edible oil factories who form some of the biggest clientele for a company based in the capital, Nairobi.
The Solar Managing Director for Clean Power Rashmi Shah said the company has done 25,000 kilowatts of installations in the last six years adding that “it’s very clean energy” and clients are able to recover their initial costs with savings made within the first four years.
“We are not polluting the air at all, we are not raising the temperatures, we are not affecting the climate of the earth. So that is why more and more emphasis is coming into cleaner energy and solar is certainly one of the cleaner energies,” he told The Associated Press.
Despite the company’s focus on industries, some home installations including that of Shah’s house have enabled him to be completely off grid, saving him from a recent national blackout where those relying on the electricity distributor Kenya Power and Lighting Company, including the country’s main airport, were in the dark for hours.
The World Bank notes that the deployment of solar mini grids has increased in Sub-Saharan Africa, from around 500 installed in 2010 to more than 3,000 installed today.
The UN’s environmental agency says 60% of the world’s best solar sites are located in Africa and says there is still a great potential as this only harnesses 1% of the power.
Russia-Ukraine Conflict: Turkiye’s Erdogan To Discuss Grain Deal With UN’s Guterres In September
President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkiye is in close contact with the United Nations on reviving the Black Sea grain initiative and he will discuss it with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at its general assembly this month, Turkish media reported.
Speaking to reporters after talks in Russia with Vladimir Putin, Erdogan was quoted as saying the latest UN proposal sought to address some Russian demands, and he repeated he believed a solution could be found soon.
Russian demands include a return of its Agricultural Bank to the SWIFT payments system and insuring the ships involved in the grain initiative, he was quoted as saying by TRT, Haberturk, and other Turkish broadcasters.
“On August 28, UN Secretary General Guterres, in the letter he sent, proposed an intermediary mechanism that would result from the SWIFT transaction, not directly SWIFT as the Russians wanted,” Erdogan said. “They said work was underway on the insurance issue too.”
He added that Moscow was putting these two demands forth as “musts” to revive the initiative, and that Putin had told him he would not take steps on this until “Europe keeps the promises they made me,” according to Turkish media.
NATO member Turkiye is seeking to convince Russia to return to the so-called Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by Ankara and the United Nations. Moscow withdrew in July, ending a year of protected exports from Ukrainian ports amid the war.
On Monday, Putin repeated that Russia could return to the initiative, but only if the West stopped restricting Russian agricultural exports from reaching global markets.
Erdogan will participate in the G20 summit in India on September 9-10 before attending the UN General Assembly in New York on Sept. 18-26.
“We will have meetings with Guterres there to discuss these issues,” Erdogan was cited as saying.
Israeli Ban On Gaza Exports Deals Blow To Long-Suffering Economy
Palestinians have demanded that Israel lift a ban on exports from the Gaza Strip imposed over what Israel called an attempt to smuggle explosives, saying it would hit thousands of families and ruin precarious livelihoods in the blockaded enclave.
Israel said on Monday it was temporarily stopping commercial goods from leaving Gaza after inspectors found several kilograms of “high-quality explosives” in a shipment, hidden in the lining of clothes.
At the beachfront Al-Bahar, The Sailor, restaurant and fish farm, owner Mohammad Al-Hajj said he used to export 20 tons of fish per week to Israel and the West Bank.
“The fish in fridges will decay if we can’t export it, and we will be forced to sell the fish of the farm at the lowest prices,” said Hajj, saying the jobs of 200 workers at his business were at risk unless the ban is lifted.
Around 2 million Palestinians live in the narrow Gaza Strip, the vast majority of them descendants of refugees who fled or were driven from what is now Israel at its founding in 1948.
Since the Hamas Islamist group took power in the territory in 2007, it has suffered from the one of the world’s highest unemployment rates under a blockade of many goods imposed by Israel with Egyptian backing. It has also been severely damaged in four major wars and numerous other clashes between Hamas and Israel.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said the Israeli decision “would increase the already existing tension because of continued Israeli blockade and aggression against our people.”
In Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian economy minister Khaled Assaili demanded Israel cancel the ban which stops Gaza exports to Israel and the West Bank.
The unjust decision added to a policy of collective punishment adopted by Israel since 2007 that had caused a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, said Assaili, who is part of the Palestinian Authority that claims to represent all Palestinians although it lost control of Gaza to Hamas.
Gaza exports are estimated at $134 million per year, mostly to Israel and the West Bank, according to the enclave’s ministry of economy.
The Hamas-run agriculture ministry in Gaza said the Israeli move would impact 60,000 families of farmers and fishermen. It estimated daily losses at one million shekels, $263,000.
“We demand the unjust decision be retracted. It isn’t based on any real justification and it violates the international law using fragile pretexts,” the ministry said in a statement.
Despite its blockade, Israel allows thousands of workers to leave Gaza to work in Israel and the West Bank, and maintains customs posts to allow exports in a bid to foster a certain level of economic stability.
As well as fish and agricultural produce, Gaza exports significant quantities of textiles and other products.
Osama Nofal, an official in Gaza’s economy ministry, said the border closure would have wider effects beyond the immediate freeze on exports.
“The decision will impact industrial installations, close them, and may lay off many workers and increase unemployment. Such a decision is purely catastrophic,” he said.
Wadhah Bseisso, spokesman of the Palestinian Industries Union, said as many as 30,000 jobs could be lost if the shutdown continued.