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Music. Apple Music’s list no African artists.

Apple Music’s latest list of the 100 greatest albums of all time has excluded any contributions from Africa. The musical richness of the continent continues has been ignored.

The exclusion of African music from Apple Music’s recent list of the 100 best albums of all time is disconcerting but at the same time not a real surprise. However, the probable reasons behind this omission are discouraging. Africa is still perceived musically as an unknown territory that more often than not arouses consternation, if not a lack of interest. Apple Music has simply chosen to ignore the reviled continent with its endless array of A-list musicians. Like the vast continent, the African musical tradition is equally heterogeneous, changing a lot based on the historical periods and regions of origin.
It is not always easy to find your way around this variety. Look at Kendrick Lamar. When the American hip-hop superstar was chosen to oversee the soundtrack of the Afrofuturist-themed Hollywood blockbuster Black Panther, he basically limited himself to randomly choosing a group of artists mostly from the southern regions of the continent, South Africa in particular.

The DNA of jazz, blues and his own rap can be traced back to Africa, and how their roots are deeply rooted in the continent’s musical panorama.123rf

The Afropop singer Sjava, the queen of Gqom music Babes Wodumo and the rapper Saudi were then selected. From the experience of Black Panther, it clearly emerges that the rapper had no idea how to bring artists from the continent together organically. His selection ended up giving life to a fragmented and above all poorly representative ensemble of the enormous musical richness of the region. Illuminating, in this sense, is an exchange published online some time ago between Lamar and the jazz musician and super producer Quincy Jones, the mind behind Michael Jackson’s trilogy of masterpieces composed of Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad. During the aforementioned conversation, Jones gives the rap star a lesson in African music, assuring him how the DNA of jazz, blues and his own rap can be traced back to Africa, and how their roots are deeply rooted in the continent’s musical panorama. Lamar, in response, appears completely incredulous and not at all sure what to do with all the knowledge Jones instilled. In short, despite the great cultural connection that exists between America and Africa, confusion still reigns supreme.

Salif Keïta is a Malian singer-songwriter, referred to as the “Golden Voice of Africa”. CC BY 2.0/ John Leeson

Another great opportunity to showcase the complexity of Africa’s musical heritage has been lost. In fact, each of the regions of the continent is home to incredibly varied musical traditions and genres:
just naming them makes you dizzy.
Only in Mali, the land of burning blues, do we find Ali Farka Touré, Oumou Sangaré, Salif Keita and the incomparable Toumani Diabaté. Their hymn to mystery, the dignity and value of the creative majesty of the Malian soul deserve to be known. Unfortunately, in the West, there are very few circles that recognize and appreciate the greatness of these artists. Obviously, Aya Nakamura also deserves a special mention, a Malian-born singer based in France who has been churning out global hits for some time now.

Discord
Often however, what is celebrated in the West is not what is popular in Africa, and vice versa. For example, the South African a cappella group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, winner of Grammy Awards and constantly on tour in the USA and Great Britain, is respected at home but is certainly not considered as one of the most avant-garde groups. And the same can be said of the flautist Wouter Kellerman, also a winner of several Grammys. The artist’s trajectory started from abroad and then arrived home: first, his non-South African fans came, and then he started to be appreciated in his own area too.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a South African male choral group singing in the local vocal styles of isicathamiya and mbube. CC BY 2.0/ Raph_PH

Artists like the ones just mentioned are in a certain way a cause of embarrassment for the South African public, who don’t really know what to do with them. The impression then is that Western critics and opinion leaders have their own preconceived idea of what African music should be. Everything that is outside this imagery is usually simply ignored, while those who enter it end up enjoying a certain recognition.
In South Africa, rock/pop bands such as Prime Circle, Parlotones, Jeremy Loops and Beatenberg have thriving careers, which also involve extensive touring outside the country’s borders.
As well as the alternative rap duo Die Antwoord, at least until their recent social oblivion. A success that does not, however, translate into greater consideration from critics. Examples of a misalignment as to how artists are received at home and abroad.

From Johannesburg to Cape Town
After all, the South African scene is truly complex and we understand the difficulty encountered by non-local markets in accommodating all this variety. The country’s musical reality is not only divided into different genres but is also fragmented along regional and ethnic lines. Cape Town’s rap scene is very different to that found in Johannesburg or the North-West Province. Modern and traditional genres then present further specificities and differences.

Tyla Laura Seethal as Tyla, is a South African singer and songwriter. The “Queen of Popiano.” CC BY 3.0/ Condé Nast.

Popular styles such as maskandi, mbaqanga and iscathamiya sit alongside jazz, gospel, neo-soul and hip-hop. Each of these variations has its enthusiastic fan base, its awards and its recognitions. Even the amapiano, the last great “export” product of South African music, can count on a pool of events, publications and blogs aimed at its diffusion. Ultimately, each genre relies on its systems and networks to take root in the territory. It’s easier now to understand how complex and multifaceted the South African music scene is. And we are referring here to only one of the 55 countries in the region.
Each of these, in turn, presents a musical scene that changes in heterogeneity and complexity. It almost seems that for the West all this is too much and that it is therefore more convenient to ignore a large part of all this musical wealth.

At the top
There ought to be some exceptions. The global rise of Afrobeats led to the creation of an “African music” category at the Grammys. Billboard magazine, which publishes relaunched charts all over the world, also seems to be following the same path.
The vast majority of the big names in Afrobeats are at the height of their careers, with tours followed all over the world: this is the case, among others, of Burna Boy, Wizkid, Davido, Asake, Rema, Omah Lay, Olamide, Sarkodie, Stone Bwoy, Shatta Wale, Flavour, Tiwa Savage, Yemi Alade, Ayra Starr, Tems and Adekunle Gold.

The exclusion of African albums from Apple’s list is probably the result of a combination of different factors: political, racial or simply ignorance. 123rf

From these extensive forays into the European and American music scenes, much infrastructure is developed, further networks are created and more and more inroads are made. Burna Boy can fill entire European stadiums and people like Davido, Wizkid and Asake prove that they are no different. Afrobeats and amapiano are fresh and popular genres. They manage to cross several dividing lines transversely. Afrobeats artists are increasingly gaining a place in other geographical spaces, collaborating on hits around the world with European, US, Caribbean and Latin American artists. Musicians from other regions find the style, native to Nigeria, simply irresistible, characterized as it is by infectious rhythms, joyful inspirations and profound sensibilities.
Ultimately, it can be said that the exclusion of African albums from Apple’s list is probably the result of a combination of different factors: political, racial or simply ignorance.
What is certain is that this is a mistake, with significant consequences for the continent’s industry. (Open Photo:123rf)

Sanya Osha

USA Presidential elections. For the Palestinians, nothing will change.

American administrations have always been close to the state of Israel. Democrats and Republicans adopt more or less the same policies. Among the Gazans, little hope for change.

The presidential elections will be held in the United States on November 5. The White House will be contested between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris, currently Joe Biden’s vice president. Until a few months ago, the road to the White House seemed clear for Trump, because Biden was in trouble due to his health.

But the Democrats’ move to replace him with Harris, less than 4 months before the elections, has reshuffled the cards. And the outcome of the electoral competition today is far from certain. Generally, it is domestic politics that influence the vote of Americans, in particular the economy, work and security. However, for these elections, the “geopolitical” factor could be decisive, due to the serious crisis in the Middle East that features the state of Israel, an undisputed ally of the United States regardless of the president’s political colour.

Since the beginning of the military offensive against Gaza – following the armed operation by Hamas on October 7, 2023 – the Americans have been supplying weapons to Tel Aviv and supporting it diplomatically. This despite the apparent political differences between Biden and Netanyahu in managing the conflict.

To date, according to the Hamas Health Minister, the Palestinian victims number more than 40,000, of which more than 16 thousand are children. And it is estimated that the missing under the rubble are more than 10,000. The Israeli army has destroyed 75% of Gaza’s infrastructure: hospitals, schools and water systems that
supply water to Gazans.

In the eyes of many countries and international institutions – and even some Jewish intellectuals – what is happening in Gaza is genocide. But faced with the appeal of the international community to stop the war, Netanyahu turns a deaf ear. Indeed, he is trying to extend it to the rest of the Middle East, provoking Iran.

On July 31, the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in Tehran in an Israeli raid. This shows that Tel Aviv is not interested in negotiations to stop the war against Gaza because you cannot assassinate the leader of the other side with whom you are negotiating to find a solution to the conflict. But even more serious was the violation of the sovereignty of Iranian territory in defiance of international law, which Israel has never respected.

Last April, Israel bombed the Iranian consulate in Damascus. With these operations, the Netanyahu-led government aims to drag Iran into war. In this scenario, the US and its European allies would be forced to enter the conflict. In America, many Republican parliamentarians support this idea. It should be remembered that in Congress, many, both Republicans and Democrats, are financially supported by the pro-Israel lobby (AIPAC, in particular) and therefore fully support the policies of the
Israeli government.

This lobby has always influenced the presidential elections in the US. And so, it will also have a decisive role in the November elections. Netanyahu relies heavily on Zionist pressure groups. This is why the Israeli prime minister is dragging out the war against Gaza while waiting for the inauguration of the new president, hoping that it will be Trump, his great ally.

The Palestinians, instead, expect nothing positive from these elections, because they consider the US establishment to be Tel Aviv’s accomplice in the Nakba in which they have been living for 76 years. (Photo 123rf)

Mostafa El Ayoubi
Middle East Analyst

 

Agadez. The Gateway to the Sahara.

The city in the north of the country is the main hub of the migration routes towards the Mediterranean. In 2016, the EU imposed a law that criminalized the transport and activities related to fleeing people. The coup junta repealed it. Return to “normality”.

Ousmane Mamou, a young Guinean, is waiting in front of a petrol station in Agadez in the middle of the desert of Niger. In life, Ousmane is a passeur: he organizes the journey of migrants who want to reach the coast of the Mediterranean and from there try to reach Europe.
Until a few months ago it was impossible to have an open conversation with people who carry out this profession. But now everything has changed: “I came back because I heard that the military junta had repealed that law and I came to take revenge. The policemen who treated us like traffickers and bandits, today feel ashamed,” he explains.
“That law” is the controversial Law 2015-36 which criminalized the transport of irregular migrants with heavy fines and sentences of up to ten years. Last November the new military junta, the National Council for the Protection of the Homeland (CNSP), which took power in Niger at the end of July 2023, announced its abrogation.

The city administers a desert region that covers half the territory of Niger. File swm

Agadez has always been considered the “Gateway to the Sahara”. The city administers a desert region that covers half the territory of Niger and in recent decades has become a pole of interest for Western European leaders, because some of the main migratory routes that lead from sub-Saharan Africa to the Mediterranean pass through here. The transit of migrants to Libya and Algeria has always been considered a legitimate activity that provided thousands of families with a decent income and created related activities and economic impulse.
Suddenly in 2016, after the entry into force of the law adopted under strong pressure from the European Union, hundreds of drivers, facilitators and passers usually based here were prosecuted and arrested. Ousmane experienced all this. Arriving in Agadez as a migrant, he decided to enter the business. In 2021 he was arrested by the Nigerien police and after two and a half years in prison in Niamey, he was released. A few weeks ago, he returned to the scene.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in 2023, 60 thousand migrants crossed Niger towards Libya and Algeria. File swm

In the Dubai neighbourhood, homes are barely visible behind high iron gates. Ousmane enters a “ghetto” to meet some clients. “Ghettos” are houses used to house migrants in transit. When the 2015-36 law was in force, migrants were forced to live locked up in these homes for months, in difficult conditions, until the day the facilitators managed to help them leave. There is no furniture inside, people sleep on the floor on mats. Outside there is usually a courtyard where people eat and from there is access to common latrines. “Everything had to happen in secret. Upon arrival, we had strategies to get the migrants out of the bus station and bring them here,” explains Ousmane. “We would make contact with people well beforehand in their countries, speaking in code due to the risk of wiretaps”. The passer says that waiting for the right moment to leave the pick-up in the desert was crucial and “it took place at night over unbeaten routes”.
In fact, Law 2015-36 did not stem the flow but only forced passers and migrants to avoid official roads, using more dangerous routes, where there were neither points of reference nor the possibility of asking for help. The data shows that irregular immigration to Europe from the Mediterranean has increased, as has the number of victims in the desert who remain mostly undocumented. Kaba, a migrant from Sierra Leone, is not afraid of this. He is waiting for more money from friends in Europe to be able to continue his journey and become an electrician there. “I have been thinking about it for a while and as soon as I heard about the revocation of the law, I decided to leave. They told me it’s faster now. They used to ask you questions and arrest you for your documents. Now all you need is the money.”

According to the mayor of Agadez, 98% of the vehicles that leave Agadez for the various destinations in the north are official. File swm

In the house opposite, a Senegalese passer has temporarily left the management of the “ghetto” to Khalifa, an Ivorian boy with a troubled past. A former bus driver, Khalifa fled after a fatal accident that almost led to his lynching. Since the law was repealed, he and others feel relieved “because departing vehicles fill up more quickly than before and leave more often.” Now he’s trying to save money for the crossing: “I’ve been informed that to get from here to Libya it takes 300 thousand CFA francs (457 euros), but I want to get more together so I will also have something to save my life along the way.” In fact, there is the risk of being stuck in the desert and being attacked by bandits or terrorists.
Bamira Hassane is the switchboard operator of the emergency number of Alarm Phone Sahara (Aps), an NGO that helps migrants in difficulty in the desert. Previously she received 10-20 calls a day, while after November she received double that: “These are mostly requests for health support and above all emergency calls from the desert or people expelled from neighbouring countries.”

In the desert there is the risk of being stuck and being attacked by bandits or terrorists. File swm

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in 2023, 60 thousand migrants crossed Niger towards Libya and Algeria. Now, however, it is difficult to have data on the flow of people because after the coup the activity of humanitarian organizations on the spot has decreased. In the city, in the area around the bus stations, stalls sell everything you need for the trip: clothes, food, water cans and cell phone batteries. The houses around the central station have been used as garages, where several pick-ups in line are tuned up and loaded with as much goods as possible.  In the office of the transporters’ union, Abdou Amma is among the most experienced passers back in business. For 19 years he sent ‘people from all over Africa’. Once the law came into force, he fled to avoid arrest. According to Abdou, “The EU promised us help, but nothing arrived. Many drivers have turned to drug and weapons trafficking, as well as banditry.”
Now Agadez “has become a paradise again, because everyone lives on migration from the merchant to the passer, from the restaurateur right up to the Municipality. Each migrant pays a tax of one thousand CFA.” By all accounts, migrants today travel in better conditions because every Tuesday the transporters take advantage of a military convoy that goes towards the northern borders.
The mayor of Agadez, Aboubacar Touraoua, confirms that everything is authorized by the authorities of Niamey: “98% of the vehicles that leave Agadez for the various destinations in the north are official. Before it was the opposite, only 30% showed up. Now we know who comes in and out.” For the mayor, the agreements made with the EU were accompanied by promises of support, but in reality “everything was aimed at bringing the European borders here. Now, however, everything that does not respect our sovereignty is called into question by the new government. This is why we are all on their side.” (Open Photo: Agadez: the “Gateway to the Sahara”. File swm)

Marco Simoncelli

Uruguay. A Buffer State.

The country is preparing for the next presidential elections which will be held on October 27th. The Frente Amplio is currently ahead in the polls. We retrace the political and economic path of this South American country.

Located on the Atlantic side of the Southern Cone, and second in extension only to Suriname, Uruguay is the smallest country in South America with a surface area of 176,215 thousand km2. Its size also appears reduced considering that the country is nestled between the two South American giants, Argentina and Brazil, from which it obtained independence in 1828 and with which it shares borders of 580 km to the west and 1,068 km to the east, with the remaining 660 km of coast washed by the Atlantic Ocean.

From a morphological point of view, the country is flat on which, at times, the cuchillas, low hill systems rise, rarely exceeding 500 m, and is crossed from East to West by two large rivers, the Uruguay and the Río Negro, its tributary, whose basin occupies approximately half of the state’s territory. Other tributaries of Uruguay are the Cuareim and the Queguay Grande; the Río Negro, in turn, receives the Tacuarembó and the Yi. From a historical point of view, Uruguay represents an exception within the South American continent since, unlike neighbouring countries, it has not undergone the experience of long dictatorial periods, except that which occurred from 1973 to 1984.
This has allowed it to develop, over the years, a democratic path that has led authoritative observers to define the country as the “Switzerland of Latin America”.

José Pablo Torcuato Batlle was the president of Uruguay for the Colorado Party for two terms: from 1903 to 1907 and from 1911 to 1915. Photo Archive.

The roots of the renowned economic prosperity and political stability that existed until almost the middle of the last century can be found in batillismo, an experiment implemented by then President Josè Batlle who managed to build a state free from the pressures of territorial caudillos, open both to modernization and industrialisation and capable of meeting the demands of the population of Montevideo and those of the nascent working class who, together, formed the basis of the interclass social bloc that merged into the Colorado Party. Not only from a political but also from a social point of view, Uruguay is unique since it was the first country in the area to admit divorce even at the sole will of the wife in 1923, to extend suffrage to women in 1927 and to found a truly secular state, equipped with an advanced welfare state system. These were factors which in those years made it become a model for avid supporters of liberalism.Overall, the system took shape as the unprecedented democratic version of an interventionist state, led by a charismatic leader and structured on a two-party system, the Colorados as the expression of the city bourgeoisie and the Masonic lodges, and the Blancos of agrarian inspiration and Catholic brand, whose alternation characterized Uruguayan political life.
The 1960s began to overshadow that period of splendour that had characterized Uruguay up to that point. The economy began to be suffocated by tremendous inflation which reached 40%, resulting in a high level of social unrest which translated into strikes and student mobilisations. It was in this phase (already in the two-year period 1958-1959) that for the first time in ninety years, the Blancos took back the reins of the country’s government and, in order to face the growing economic disaster, agreed with the IMF on a series of liberalist measures that, promptly adopted, consisted mainly in the reduction of credit and public spending and in the downsizing of the active role of the State. These measures, however, contrary to expectations, worsened the economic situation to the point of generating a process of unification of different social segments – such as the working class and students –
who aspired to obtain political representation that
differed from that of the two parallel parties and was historically
convergent in the government of the country.

It is in the described panorama of irritation and discouragement due to the insensitivity of a political class now in disarray and the obstinacy of the strong powers, that a group of politically prepared and determined people sanctioned the birth of the Tupamaros Nacional Liberation Movement in 1962 (MLN), among whose exponents was the future President Pepe Mujica. The Movement quickly managed to involve and attract students and intellectuals, as well as the most sensitive sections of the workers’ movement into its ranks and radicalized its work to the point of accentuating the breakdown of the political balance already tested by the crisis. In 1967, the Colorados returned to power and applied a bloody repressive policy which, contrary to predictions, contributed to increasing guerrilla actions in urban areas. Thus it was that from 1973 onwards the country’s democracy was channelled into a narrow bottleneck. The political forces represented in parliament, with the exception of the Frente Amplio – a movement that had entered the scene in 1967 bringing together the democratic and progressive forces and supported by the MLN – agreed on the suspension of individual rights and on the declaration of a state of war, entrusting, for the first time in Uruguay, the defence of national sovereignty to the armed forces. A Consejo de Seguridad Nacional was also established made up of soldiers and civilians which worked to suspend political activities with the closure of parliament and traditional parties and implemented ferocious repression with arrests and deportations.

Parade of the army of Uruguay. In 1967, for the first time in Uruguay, the political parties entrusted the defence of national sovereignty to the armed forces. Shutterstock/ Ceswal

Even the military, obviously, relied on liberalist recipes to deal with economic imbalances, significantly reducing the role of the State with the aim of reinvigorating demand and market forces, aiming mainly at relaunching exports in the agri-food sector. These manoeuvres, however, which had very heavy costs in terms of the real economy, did not have the desired effect; on the contrary, they led the country towards a terrible and burdensome indebtedness, exposing it in 1984 to a foreign debt four times greater than the total exports the military junta had aimed for.

Julio María Sanguinetti Coirolo was president of Uruguay from 1985 to 1990 and again from 1995 to 2000. He was the first democratically elected president after twelve years of military dictatorship.
CC BY-SA 3.0/ Agmontesdeoca

This unfortunate dictatorial parenthesis ended, at least formally, in 1984 when the presidential elections placed the civilian Julio M. Sanguinetti at the helm of the country. A member of the Colorado party, he was, moreover, reluctant to free himself from the protection of the army, benefiting on the contrary from its protection to repress the strikes and mass mobilizations that again affected the country in those years.A few years later, in 1989, the MNL returned to legality by participating – as the MPP – in the Frente Amplio which with Tabaré Vázquez would win the administrative elections in the capital in 1994 and, subsequently, the presidential election in 2004. This last date marked the end of the Uruguayan bipartisanship that was mainly responsible for the economic crisis and the military coup. (Open Photo: Uruguay Flag. 123rf)
(F.R.)

Angola. Not only rich in oil but also in (rare) earths.

The Longonjo mine is attracting interest from foreign governments and companies, including the British ones. Meanwhile, the US is busy interfering with China’s control over the supply chain of critical minerals mined in DR Congo.

Three hundred and twenty kilometres. This is the distance by rail that separates the port of Lobito, the largest in Angola, from Longonjo, a town in the central-western province of Huambo. It is in this area that the country’s first rare earth mine will come into operation in 2025.
A goal on which the government of President João Lourenço is focusing heavily to diversify the Angolan economy, anchored to the exports of diamonds and oil.
According to estimates by the British company Pensana, responsible for the project entrusted in the field to its subsidiary Ozango Minerais, the Longonjo mine has reserves equal to 30 million tonnes of critical minerals, mainly containing neodymium and praseodymium.
The mixed rare earth carbonate (Mrec) obtained will be used for the production of permanent magnets used for the construction of electric vehicle engines and wind turbines.

The cargoes will travel along the Lobito railway line, which from the Angolan port extends inland for 1,600 kilometres reaching Kolwezi, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and only 5 kilometres from the Longonjo site. It is on railway line that the precious minerals extracted in Congo, Zambia and Angola can reach the Atlantic outlet and from there the international markets.
“Work at Longonjo seems to be proceeding smoothly and the site is scheduled to be in operation by August 2025”, economist Dirk Kohnert, formerly deputy director of the German Giga Institute for African Affairs and author, explains to SouthWorld Magazine , in recent months, in an article entitled Prospects and challenges for the export of rare earths from Sub-Saharan Africa to the EU. “Thanks to the Lobito corridor, Angola could transform itself into an interesting new player in the sector in the next decade”, predicts Kohnert.
And this is where the interests of foreign players come into play. The concession that Pensana obtained in Longonjo from the Angolan government in 2020 is valid for 35 years.

The Longonjo mine has reserves equal to 30 million tonnes of critical minerals, mainly containing neodymium and praseodymium. 123rf

Together with the company, the Sovereign Fund of Angola is also investing in the mine (2.2 billion dollars). But it is London that dictates the timing of the project, which went from paper to the opening of the first construction site with the funds raised by the investment company M&G and those of the government program Automotive Transformation Fund.The Longonjo mine is just one part of a much larger plan designed by the British government.
At the end of 2023, with a loan of 415 million euros, disbursed through Export Finance, London entered the race to develop the Lobito corridor, a real challenge in this quadrant of southern Africa in which China, the United States and the European Union. But there is more.
The Canadian Ivanhoe Mines in November 2023 obtained exploration permits in an area of over 22 thousand km2 in the provinces of Moxico and Cuando Cubango, in the eastern part of the country.
A few months earlier, in August, the Minister of Economy and Industry of Japan, Nishimura Yasutoshi, had flown to Angola to sign a cooperation agreement between the two countries in the fields of trade and investment. At the moment, however, the United States seems to have the greatest grip on President Lourenço, and is interested in interfering with the control that China exercises over the supply chain.
Last November the Geological Institute of Angola and the United States Geological Survey signed an agreement under which the US government agency will support Angola in mapping its mineral resources. The country has 36 of 51 minerals classified as critical, including chromium, cobalt, graphite, lead, lithium and nickel. But only about 60% of these reserves have been explored to date. For Washington, grabbing even just part of these resources would mean gaining points over Beijing in the ongoing global energy transition process.

Lobito Port. CC BY-SA 2.0/Alan Jamieson

The Angolan government is, however, aware of the need to gradually distance itself from the exploitation of its two main resources: diamonds and oil. The country is the world’s second largest producer of diamonds which make up 5% of its exports, with 9.7 million gems produced in 2023. Also in 2023, Angola was the third largest crude oil producer in Africa, after Nigeria and Libya, as well as the largest offshore oil producer. Within the next five years, in addition to Longonjo, other rare earth mines should also be operational in the provinces of Uige, Cuanza-Norte and Huila. It is an ambitious path, but there is no shortage of obstacles. Starting with anti-personnel mines, a legacy of the civil war (1975-2002) and which remain scattered in various areas of the country. Other critical factors are represented by corruption (121st place out of 180 in the latest Transparency International Corruption Perception Index), the scarcity of water which complicates mining activities, and the dangerous conditions in which miners are forced to work, with deaths and cases of silicosis commonplace. If in the coming years the government does not get to grips with these structural limits by introducing stringent safety regulations in these workplaces, there is a real risk that the country will transform into yet another African mining state. (Open Photo: Longonjo Minesite. Photo Courtesy: Pensana)

Rocco Bellantone

 

 

Between China and EU.

Despite the privileged position it enjoys and the fertility of its land, Uruguay presents a large disproportion between its territorial area of 176, 215 thousand km², and the number of its inhabitants equal to 3, 5 million, comparable to those of any capital.

Of these, approximately 1,381,000 live in the capital Montevideo. In the opinion of some historians, this disproportion is linked to the historical origins of the birth of the country, strongly desired by English diplomacy but without concrete cultural reasons. This artificiality, determined by the desire to create a buffer between the Spanish and Portuguese empires, between Argentina and Brazil, in a key area for the navigation of the rivers leading to the heart of Latin America, has had a negative impact on the increase in population. It was the migratory flows of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, coming mostly from Spain and Italy, but also from Brazil and Argentina albeit to a lesser extent, that caused the inhabitants to grow in number.
It is estimated that around 600,000 people entered Uruguay from Europe between 1860 and 1920, transforming Montevideo into a cosmopolitan city, inhabited by Spaniards, Brazilians, Italians, French, English, Portuguese and other foreign communities. In the opinion of other historians, the development of the country in terms of population was conditioned by the indigenous factor.

Montevideo. Interior of the Mercado del Puerto.The majority of the Uruguayan GDP is made up of services. Shutterstock/ quiggyt4

According to this thesis, the Guarani and the indigenous Charruas, who inhabited those territories, continued to maintain control even after the arrival of the Europeans, and in particular of the internal part of the country, forcing the new arrivals to remain on the coast.
Today, indigenous peoples are almost extinct, even though 30% of the current population descends from them.
Since its birth, the country has presented itself as a secular state. Furthermore, unlike other countries in the region, Uruguay has not undergone the process of colonization of indigenous peoples. Despite this, Catholicism constitutes an essential component of national culture even if Catholics represent only 42% of the population. Concerning other religious cults, the presence of Protestants is recorded, equal to 16%, and there are 17% who profess to be believers but without affiliation, 16% are atheists, 5% are agnostics and 5% belong to other religions.
From an administrative point of view, the country is divided into 19 Departments each governed with a degree of autonomy from its relative executive bodies, by the mayor and by the Departmental Council. Mayors are elected by universal suffrage every five years.
While at a national level, the highest institution is the President of the Republic, who is elected directly by the people and whose mandate is not immediately renewable. He heads Executive Power and has the power to designate and dismiss Ministers.

Montevideo. Legislative Palace. Legislative power lies with the General Assembly, made up of two Chambers: The House of Representatives and the Senate. Shutterstock/Leonid Andronov

Together with the President, the Vice President is also elected, who automatically becomes President of the General Assembly and President of the Senate and in the event of temporary or permanent impediment of the President of the Republic in office, the Vice President takes over his duties. Legislative power lies with the General Assembly, made up of two Chambers: The House of Representatives and the Senate, within the framework of a perfect bicameral system, made up respectively of 99 and 30 members elected with a proportional system.
From an economic point of view, the country recorded interrupted growth in GDP from 2003 to 2019, mainly due to a significant increase in private consumption and the relaunch of exports. A relatively favourable situation that allowed Uruguay to face the global economic crisis caused by Covid-19.
The majority of the Uruguayan GDP is made up of services which correspond to approximately 70% of the total, the industrial sector equals 20%, while the primary sector stands at 10%, constituting, however, an important item in the export chapter. Cereal crops and livestock represent the two major sectors of this sector, despite the problems linked to drought and the reduction of freshwater basins.

Uruguay holds the record for the highest number of cows per inhabitant in the world. 123rf

Uruguay, in particular, holds the record for the highest number of cows per inhabitant in the world, equal to 11 million, almost triple the local population and beef represents the main export, with sales of two and a half billion dollars in 2022, of which China is among the largest importers. However, a Memorandum of Understanding was also signed with Beijing to strengthen economic cooperation in the sectors of artificial intelligence and technological innovation, of which the Huawei company is the leader and in that of renewables. The United States, in order to stem Chinese penetration, is also intensifying its investments in both the technological and agricultural fields. Furthermore, partnership with the EU is also of great interest to Montevideo as it constitutes the main foreign investor in Uruguayan territory. This partnership is greatly facilitated by the country’s recent infrastructural development which has allowed trade in goods and services between EU countries and Uruguay to make a leap of 15% more in 2022, reaching the record figure of 3.9 billion euros, of which 1.8 exclusively in the trade of services. (Open Photo: Pedestrians on a wide walkway outside of Museo Toerres Garcia in the old town of Montevideo.  Shutterstock/ Todamo)

Filippo Romeo

Herbs & Plants. Bridelia micrantha. A robust medicinal plant.

It is a small to medium semi-deciduous to deciduous tree up to 20m in height with a dense rounded crown.  The plant is traditionally used in tropical Africa to treat a wide range of human diseases.

The bark on young branches is grey-brown and smooth while on older branches, the stems are dark brown and rough, cracking into squares; branches often spiny; slash thin, fibrous, brown to dark red. Leaves alternate and simple. Inflorescence with flowers in axillary clusters containing male and female flowers; male flowers on pedicles 1-2 mm long. Fruit black, sub globose to ellipsoid drupe each with 1 seed.
Bridelia micrantha has been identified as one of the few plant species that should be integrated in the domestication process in farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa to support medicinal, nutritional and income security of local communities.

Bridelia micrantha, belonging to the family Phyllanthaceae . CC BY-NC 3.0/ JMK

Bridelia micrantha, belonging to the family Phyllanthaceae (formerly Euphorbiaceae) is traditionally used in tropical Africa to treat a wide range of human diseases including malaria, AIDS/HIV, anemia, asthma, cancer, colic, cough, diabetes, diarrhea, enlarged spleen, gonorrhea, hernia, joint pain, menstruation that is abnormal or painful, stomachaches and other stomach problems, syphilis, thrush, urinary tract infections, yellow fever, jaundice, and as a strong laxative. The plant is also used as anti-abortifacient, an antidote, and to treat diverse conditions of the central nervous system, eye infections, the gastrointestinal system, respiratory system, and the skin diseases including scabies and used hygienically as a mouth-wash.
The bark of Bridelia micrantha is used to treat burns, wounds, venereal diseases, tapeworm, diarrhoea and toothache.
The sticky substance from the inner bark is applied to fresh wounds to form an effective binding of the tissues. The bark decoction is widely used in the treatment of wounds, and as a purgative, abortifacient, aphrodisiac, cough and sore throat. In Southern Africa, the bark infusion/decoction is used as a remedy for headache, sore joints, sore eyes, diarrhea, venereal diseases and fever.

Bridelia micrantha orange leaves. CC BY-NC 3.0/ Purves, M.

A bark decoction is taken as a remedy for stomachache and tapeworm. The bark is also boiled to make a soup for treating diarrhea in children, or is mixed with milk and drunk as a tonic. Bark extract is applied to scabies. The powdered bark is applied to burns to speed healing. The bark, after the removal of the corky outer layer is administered in various preparations for stomach and intestinal complaints, and for conditions in which the stomach is considered the cause-sterility, amenorrhoea, dysmenorrhoea, beriberi, and oedemas. Some of the medicine-men use the bark for bringing to full term ‘prolonged pregnancy’, doubtless false pregnancy or obesity. The fresh bark is slightly aromatic and is used for treatment of stomachaches and as a powerful purge in cases of obstinate constipation and poisoning. Powdered bark is used in decoctions with palm-oil as a cough medicine. The hot decoction of bark and leaves may be held in the mouth for sores and to relieve sore gums, toothache and cough.

A decoction of Bridelia micrantha roots is drunk to cure aching joints. CC BY-NC 4.0/ SAplants

A decoction of Bridelia micrantha roots is drunk to cure aching joints. The root is used as a remedy for severe epigastric pain. A decoction of the root is drunk as a purgative, an anthelmintic or an antidote for poison, as it causes vomiting or diarrhoea that gets rid of the poison. An infusion made from the root is taken orally for coughs. The roots are used to treat symptoms of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus such as excessive thirst and urine production, and sweating. Root is used to treat stomach pains, possibly gastric ulcers, or can be powdered and mixed with fat or oil and rubbed into the head to cure headaches. The root may also be given for stomach-troubles as a laxative. Root-sap instilled into the anus for the treatment for oxyuris worm.
The leaves are used as a laxative and the young leaves chewed against headache. The leaf sap of Bridelia micrantha is used to treat sore eyes and in a decoction with a number of other plants for treatment of conjunctivitis. In some communities, the leaf-decoction is given as treatment for guinea-worm. Leaf and root extracts are applied as anthelmintic and to treat malaria and trypanosomiasis.
Bark, leaves and roots are pounded for external use on bruises, boils, ulcers, dislocations and burns.

The leaves are used as a laxative and the young leaves chewed against headache. CC BY-NC 4.0/ SAplants

The fruits are sweet and edible when ripe and are widely eaten particularly by children and can be used to make jams and juices. The bark is a source of tannins plus red and black dyes. A red dye is extracted by boiling the bark. A black dye is obtained from the leaves, twigs and wood. The fruit also contains a dye. The resin is used for sealing cracks in doors, baskets, pottery and winnowing trays. In East Africa, the bark is pounded to a paste which is used to seal cracks in doors, and baskets. Bridelia micrantha is also an important timber tree species in tropical Africa and the species is being overexploited as a source of wood for construction, poles, furniture, mortars, spoons and tool handles. The leaves are fed to cattle. In West Africa, the bark is added to palm wine to improve the taste.
(Photo: CC BY-SA 3.0/ Purves, M.)

Richard Komakech

The flower of Quetzal.

At that time, Prince Ulmac, ‘The One from the Water Palace’, who had ascended the throne in ‘Year Nine of the Rabbit’, reigned in Tollan. His kingdom enjoyed such prosperity that it even aroused the envy of the Rain Gods, whom one day challenged him to play a game of ball with them. The proud king accepted!

Prince Ulmac offered three precious stones he possessed and the beautiful quetzal feathers as prizes. Even the Rain Gods bet on ‘their’ precious stones and ‘their’ feathers. Prince Ulmac did not know it, but the stones and feathers of the gods were none other than the corn cobs and the leaves that enveloped them.

After the victory, when the defeated gods presented the king with simple corn cobs, Prince Ulmac flew into a rage and demanded that the pacts be fulfilled. The gods were quite surprised by the king’s reaction, but gave in to his insistence: they gave him precious stones and quetzal feathers, but demanded that the corn cobs be returned to them.

They took leave of Prince Ulmac saying: “As you see, we give you what you want. But know that from now on, for several years, you will not see a single grain of corn: for a long time, you and your people will know what famine means.”

Soon, the land over which Prince Ulmac reigned was gripped in the grip of an extremely harsh frost: the fields were scourged by terrible hailstorms. The maize disappeared: not a single cob could withstand the terrible weather. The population, decimated by cold and hunger, was unable to endure such a calamity. All the children died before they were even one year old.

Only after four years of famine did the Rain Gods feel compassion for the people. One morning a radiant sun flooded the fields tormented for so long by frost and hail.

A farmer came out of his hut and, to his amazement, saw that in the bare ground surrounding his house some corn plants were struggling to get up, loaded as they were with large cobs.

He ran home to call his wife and children, and while they were munching with incredible greed on the beautiful fruit, a shaman appeared to the man and said to him: “Take some of these ears of corn to Prince Ulmac and tell him that the Rain Gods are willing to forgive him on condition that ‘Quetzal Flower’, daughter of Tozcuecuex, of the Tenocas lineage, is sacrificed to them.

The corn that will come out of the earth, by the will of the gods, is destined for them. The kingdom of the Toltecs will, in fact, disappear.

When the message was relayed to Prince Ulmac, he was seized with great anguish: how could he ask a mother to sacrifice her eight-year-old daughter? The news of the end of his reign shocked him even more. But before the will of the gods, even the will of a prince was bound to bend. Prince Ulmac cursed in his heart the day he had accepted that damned ball challenge, but he was forced to send the Tenocas the message that came from the gods of Rain.

The mother of ‘Quetzal Flower’ absolutely would not accept what the gods had decreed. She clutched her child to her chest and locked herself in her house, never wanting to see anyone again. All the Tenoca people dressed in mourning and proclaimed four days of fasting.

Prayers and sacrifices were continuously offered in the temples. But in the end the high priest, after scrutinizing the entrails of the last llama immolated on the altar, ruled that the will of the gods had not changed: the child was to be sacrificed for the prosperity of the Tenocas.

On the day ‘Quetzal Flower’ was offered to the gods, a voice was heard speaking to her mother: ‘Tozcuecuex,’ said the Rain Gods, ‘do not weep. Your daughter will live forever with us. Her sacrifice will bring abundance to the Tenoca people’.

And so, it did. The next night, a fertilizing rain poured over the fields. The next morning, an extraordinary surprise appeared before everyone’s eyes: corn and a hundred other fruits had sprung up in the fields, and they hung ripe and abundant. No one had sown seed in the barren fields for some years. It was the ‘Year Two of the Dog’.

The blood of ‘Quetzal Flower’ had fertilized the earth. At the beginning of ‘Year One of the Flint’, there was not a single Toltec left in the entire region: an entire people had disappeared. This was the will of the gods.

In a remote cave in the Andes, Prince Ulmac spent his days in solitude. When the gods called him to their kingdom, no one down on the plain noticed. Everyone had long forgotten the famous ball game that had sealed the fate of two peoples: the Toltecs and the Tenocas.

A Mayan  Myth. (Pyramid of Uxmal, an ancient Maya city of the classical period. One of the most important archaeological sites of Maya culture.  Yucatan, Mexico. Photo:123rf

 

The Earth, “The Common Home” of humanity.

The encyclical Laudato Si’ offers a new way of thinking about our understanding of the current planetary crisis of environmental degradation, the causes of this situation and the path to recovery.

The new vision of reality offered by Laudato Si’ can be defined as integral ecology. It is a new paradigm or manifesto that Pope Francis proposes for the care of creation in the current era of planetary emergency. The integral approach permeates and runs through the entire encyclical: the perception of the Earth as a common home; an integral understanding of the ecological crisis as a cry of the Earth and the poor; a positive vision of the natural world as the “Gospel of creation”. Significantly, Laudato si’ has precisely this subtitle: “On the care of our common home”. The earth is our ‘home’ and it is much more than just the environment that surrounds us.
The world is not just an environment that we can exchange for another, migrating somewhere else, as soon as our planet becomes uninhabitable, as is sometimes presented by science fiction and the media. Earth is actually our only home.

“What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are growing up?” UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe.

The Pope describes the various manifestations of the contemporary ecological crisis, underlining in particular that we have inflicted serious damage on the Earth “due to the irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her” (2): pollution and waste, climate change, the depletion of natural resources, especially water,
and the loss of biodiversity.
According to the pontiff, we are playing a risky and senseless game of chance with the future of our common planetary home and of our brothers and sisters, especially future generations. Against the current alarming situation, Francis forcefully asks: “What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are growing up?” (160). We could leave just rubble, deserts and rubbish to future generations. Francis forcefully denounces that the rate of consumption, waste and alteration of the environment, beyond any denialism, is exceeding the possibilities of survival of the planet, in such a way that the current unsustainable lifestyle can only result in catastrophes, as is already happening periodically in various regions of the globe.
According to the pontiff, “Today, however, we have to realise that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate justice into debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor” (49 ).

Ecological Debt
Laudato Si’ places social justice and environmental justice in close connection. The sad paradox of the contemporary ecological crisis is that it is caused primarily by a minority of extremely wealthy people, whose victims are the poor and vulnerable members of humanity.

“Today, however, we have to realise that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate justice into debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor”. UN Photo/John Isaac

The encyclical denounces various cases of ecological and social injustice in today’s world. The most relevant is the issue of “ecological debt”. On this problem, the Pope writes: “A true ‘ecological debt’ exists, particularly between the global north and south, connected to commercial imbalances with effects on the environment, and the disproportionate use of natural resources by certain countries over long periods of time. The export of raw materials to satisfy markets in the industrialized north has caused harm locally, as for example by mercury pollution in gold mining or sulphur dioxide pollution in copper mining… The warming caused by huge consumption on the part of some rich countries has repercussions on the poorest areas of the world, especially Africa, where a rise in temperature, together with drought, has proved devastating for farming.” (51).

“There are not two separate crises, one environmental and another social, but rather a single and complex socio-environmental crisis”. 123rf

Linked to this, according to Francis, is the deterioration not only of our physical home but also of our social ties, which are intimately connected with it: “The human environment and the natural environment deteriorate together; we cannot adequately combat environmental degradation unless we attend to causes related to human and social degradation” (48). And later he writes that “there are not two separate crises, one environmental and another social, but rather a single and complex socio-environmental crisis” (139) … Everything is connected. “This requires a concern for the environment combined with a sincere love for human beings and a constant commitment to society’s problems” (91).Pope Francis speaks of solidarity and the preferential option for the poor as the best means to achieve the common good and promote eco-justice. In the current conditions of world society, where there are so many inequalities and an ever-increasing number of people who are discarded, and deprived of fundamental human rights, the principle of the common good is immediately transformed, as an unavoidable consequence, into a call for solidarity and a preferential option for the poorest.
“This option – says the document – requires drawing the consequences of the common destination of the earth’s goods… it requires contemplating first of all the absolute dignity of the poor in the light of the deepest convictions of faith. It is enough to observe reality to understand that today this option is a fundamental ethical requirement for the effective realization of the common good” (158).

“The Gospel of Creation”
A third characteristic of integral ecology is openness to a positive and religious vision of the natural world seen as creation, that is, the work of God. The same title of the second chapter of Laudato Si’, in which Pope Francis offers the theological vision of the natural world, is highly significant. The chapter bears the title “The Gospel of Creation” and offers the theological foundations of the ecological vision of the encyclical. This states that creation is truly gospel, Evangelion, that is, “good news”. In the wake of modernity, we have been too accustomed to looking at the natural world as inert matter – the Cartesian res extensa, as in modern science – or simply as an emporium of resources to be exploited, as in neo-liberal economics. Laudato Si’ is radical not only as a social doctrine but also as a theology of creation.

Laudato Si’ is radical not only as a social doctrine but also as a theology of creation. 123rf

Creation is good news because of two fundamental truths about it. First of all, creation has a fundamental and original goodness, as we read in the book of Genesis. Secondly, the physical world was brought into existence as an act of love by the triune God. Creation, therefore, is the bearer of an original blessing. The fundamental goodness of creation in the eyes of God is, for a believer, the founding basis of the intrinsic value of every created reality. If God created the world, then the world and everything in it, including all forms of animate and inanimate matter, must have value.
A second aspect regarding creation is that it manifests a ‘love story’ on the part of God. For those who have faith, the universe is not an accident, a random event or a stroke of luck, as is sometimes assumed by secular thought and culture or non-believers.
Every creature is brought into existence out of love and with a specific purpose. God’s expansive love is what animates every creature.

Every creature is brought into existence out of love and with a specific purpose. God’s expansive love is what animates every creature. 123rf

The entire creation, Francis also says, is “open to the transcendence of God, within which it develops” (79). And God is not only transcendent to creation but is also profoundly immanent in it. Creation is truly the oikos (house) of God, as it is imbued with the divine presence. The glory of God resounds throughout the universe in and through the resurrected Christ whose life now flows throughout the cosmos through the life-giving Spirit. In this way, the creatures of this world no longer present themselves to us as a merely natural reality, because the Risen One mysteriously envelops them and directs them to a destiny of fullness.  (Open Photo: 123rf)

Joshtrom Isaac Kureethadam

Literature.Three women talk about their Sudan, bitter and divided.

In A Mouth Full of Salt, Sudanese writer Reem Gaafar traces the country’s recent history from a female perspective, shedding light on decades of suffering and abuse.

Rather than news stories, it is often novels that enter into the historical perspectives that help us understand societies better. The tragedies and weaknesses of these societies. This applies to a recent publication. The author is the Sudanese Reem Gaafar who in her debut novel – A Mouth Full of Salt – explores strong themes: racism, intolerance, gender violence, oppressive traditions and female genital mutilation.
Destructive feelings and “habits” that condition life and relationships between Northern Sudanese and Southern Sudanese. And it is women above all who pay the price. The novel tells the life of three of them and through their stories – oscillating between the 80s, then the 40s and then returning to where it all began – it tells of a Sudan that concedes nothing to the female world.

In the background Khartoum, the centre of power and coups d’état, like the one included in the narrative and which concerns Jaafar Nimeiry, his regime and the evil that resulted from it. But back in time, the historical scenario is that of a North and South Sudan colonized by Great Britain and Egypt and considered two separate countries – a policy which, on the other hand, laid the foundations for the subsequent separation.
It is in that context that an encounter occurs between a man from the north and a woman from the south. An encounter that will mark not only their lives but also those of other generations. Nyamakeem does not doubt the words of the boy who stole her heart (love is mutual) nor does she have any reason to doubt the welcome she will receive from his family, there in that village on the Nile in the north of the country. But she is met with violence – first verbal and then also physical – and that mother anchored to traditions who with harsh words puts in order the roles and positions of everyone in society: “… we are Arabs… Ashraaf, our lineage it is pure and uncontaminated and goes back to the prophet Muhammad… There is only Arab blood in it. Even your reckless relatives knew to keep their non-Arab adventures in the dark. That is how it always has been and it must always be so”.

Reem Gaafar is a writer, physician and filmmaker. Photo: HhouseBook

It is with this phrase that the author gives shape to the relationships and civil clashes that for decades – and still today – mark Sudan. After all, that (black, Christian) population was a part of the population “that was always” destined for slavery, for servitude, right in the homes and service of Arab Africans. Then – a 40-year leap – there is Fatima who, unlike the other girls in the village, does not long for marriage but wants to attend Khartoum University, and Sulafa, the mother of a drowned boy, mistreated by her husband and his family because she is unable to have more children. And it is this drowning – as well as other strange, sudden events: livestock deaths, fires – which unites the threads of stories. Yes, because evil generates evil and the past, especially when marked by pain, rejection, and loss, creates a trail, like an underground river, which sooner or later finds a way to return to the surface and drag along those who seemed safe. This is the meaning of the book’s title, A Mouth Full of Salt, a reference to a Sudanese proverb: the taste that remains in the mouth after a great loss.

Antonella Sinopoli

 

Libya is the key hub for Moscow’s operations in Africa.

By maintaining a strong presence in Libya, Russia is able to pursue its geopolitical goals. One of them is to challenge the West.

Until the collapse of the Soviet Union and subsequent end to the Cold War, Russia maintained a strong foothold in the Middle East, recognizing the region’s potential importance to global power dynamics. During the Cold War in particular, Russia maintained its presence by creating allies among those Arab nations that would help it achieve its goal of creating an anti-Western camp, most notably Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Libya, along with Algeria, Yemen, and Sudan.

Its relations expanded from diplomatic ties to arms shipments to support for liberation movements such as the Palestinian Liberation Organization. The Soviet influence in the region was most obvious in its support for the Arab states during the Suez Canal Crisis (1956), the Six-Day War (1967), and the Yom Kippur War (1973), conflicts that saw a strong involvement by the United States on the side of Israel.

The 1990s, however, saw a major shift in Russia’s presence in the Middle East and North Africa with the collapse of the Soviet Union. The subsequent economic crisis forced Russia to dramatically scale back its involvement in the region, reducing both military engagement and economic support in order to focus on domestic issues.

Additionally, Boris Yeltsin, the then president, saw a window to improve relations with the West. Scaling back Russia’s presence in what had been confrontational states represented one way to resolve tensions at a time when the country was reeling from internal economic turmoil.
As a result, Russia played a marginal role in major confrontations such as the First Gulf War (1990–91), the US invasion of Afghanistan (2001), and the Iraq War (2003–11).

The 2011 NATO-led intervention in Libya to topple Muammar Gaddafi represented the beginning of the end of Russia’s disengagement from the region. Due to the ongoing rapprochement with the West, Russia’s then president, Dmitry Medvedev, abstained from adopting the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973.

This allowed Western intervention in Libya to overthrow the longtime dictator, who had by then turned on his own people. To many experts, Medvedev’s decision not to veto the resolution signaled an important change in Russia’s support of its Arab allies and allowed for a regime change to happen. Among the most notable critics of this action was Vladimir Putin, the then prime minister, who described the West’s subsequent intervention as akin to “medieval calls for crusades.”

The intervention in Libya left an indelible mark on Russian elites, many of whom saw it as emblematic of Western attempts to meddle in foreign countries and impose Western-like values. This threat left Russia feeling disillusioned with the West, which it accused of hypocrisy because of its violations of international law by interfering in Libya.

It also left Russia feeling seemingly isolated at a time when the United States had promised that a regime change in Libya would not occur, and when Russia-US relations were strong and based on the pursuit of mutual trust. This backtracking convinced Russian elites of the necessity to intervene in the region to contrast US presence and therefore restore the balance of power.

Russia’s distrust of the West and recognition of the importance of the Middle East and North Africa region help explain its intervention in Syria in 2015 and in Libya in 2017. Following two decades of relative disengagement from the region, Russia saw a window of opportunity to reassert itself with the outbreak of the Syrian civil war and the request by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for help.

Additionally, the United States’ lack of intervention, underscored by the failure of Barack Obama, the then-president, to adhere to his “red line” commitment, cemented Russia’s belief that the United States would not interfere in its quest for increased influence in the area.

The end of two decades of Russian disengagement came with the recapturing of Aleppo from rebel forces in December 2016, thanks to Russian involvement, and Libyan General Khalifa Haftar’s request for help a month earlier. Libya, engulfed in a civil war, saw the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and France aiding Haftar, with Russia emerging as a prominent ally at a time when its presence in the region was
becoming more entrenched.

Emboldened by its victories in Syria and the potential to exert influence in the region by supporting another Arab country, Russia began deploying mercenaries to Libya as early as 2018. From its marginalized position, Russia saw Libya not only as another window of opportunity to reemerge as a great power competing for influence in North Africa but also as a gateway to other regions, such as sub-Saharan Africa.

With the deployment of troops under the Kremlin’s authority, the days of being second to Western regime change in neighbouring regions were over, and the potential for the resurgence of Russian primacy once again became a real prospect.

Russia reemerged as a regional power in the Middle East when Haftar attempted a takeover of Tripoli in 2019, with Russian forces fighting alongside Haftar’s. Egypt and the UAE were also involved, while Qatar and Turkey supported the Government of National Accord forces of Libya’s then prime minister, Fayez al-Sarraj.

Libya became a military quagmire for foreign power interferences, with Russia refusing to be the marginal player it had been during the First Gulf War and the US invasion of Iraq. While Haftar’s objective of gaining control of Libya was thwarted by Turkish troops, Russian involvement in the country remained consistent, with around 2,000 mercenary troops permanently stationed in eastern Libya, evidence of Russia’s unabated goal to establish a continued presence.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is keeping the Kremlin largely occupied with redefining its borders to the west. Yet, Southern missions have not been downgraded to lesser-scale priorities. On the contrary, some 800 – 1200 mercenaries from Wagner (now called Africa Corps) remain present in Libya, many controlling key oil production facilities and thus positioning the Kremlin to control output from Libya and
affect world oil prices.

Their continued presence illustrates the Kremlin’s conviction that North Africa and the Middle East is a region of vital importance, with enormous untapped resources that could help Russia’s economy in the long term. It also underscores that Russia is making a strategic bet during a time when the American presence is diminishing and the Chinese presence is growing, asserting itself alongside China as a main power by buying local support through influence and mercenary deployment.

This strategy of Russian reassertion is further exemplified by the ongoing activities of the Africa Corps in the wider Sahel region, where the mercenary group’s control has been well documented and is set to increase. In recent years, the area has been destabilized by numerous coups, creating power vacuums in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.

Russia and China have moved to fill these voids, seeking to expand their influence as French and American troops have withdrawn. While Western countries focus on short-term diplomatic solutions, Russia appears to be ahead in its strategy, providing military and financial support to nations it considers strategically important.

Indeed, it would be a mistake to frame Russia’s presence in Libya exclusively in the context of its competition with the West. Its presence is driven primarily by national interests, many of which are linked to the continent of Africa. Libya serves as the crucial hub for Moscow’s mission in Africa due to its geographical location and political instability, which favours allows Russia’s actions.

Strategically positioned at the crossroads of Africa and Europe, it provides Russia with a gateway to its operations in Sudan, Chad, Niger, and other Sahel and Central Africa countries, eventually wielding power and influence throughout these regions. Libya’s ongoing political chaos creates opportunities for Russia to establish footholds through alliances with both local factions and official authorities.

This is exemplified by Russia’s support of General Haftar over the past few years and its more recent relations with the government of Tripoli. Not least, the country’s fragmented governance has guaranteed Russia much-needed access to air and naval military bases, especially across Cyrenaica, allowing it to coordinate its military expeditions.

By maintaining a strong presence in Libya, Russia is able to pursue its broader geopolitical goals, including defying the West, expanding its military reach, and securing critical resources that are essential to sustain its economy and long-term strategic aspirations. (Photo: 123rf)

Alissa Pavia & Chiara Lovotti/ISPI

Music. Tiken Jah Fakoly. The star of African reggae.

With his latest work the Ivorian artist, who has lived in Mali for years also for political reasons, gives new voice to 13 flagships of his career. A path that took him to the top of the continental reggae scene.

Emerging in the 1960s, reggae was welcomed promptly and with great enthusiasm throughout Africa. But Ivory Coast in particular has established a special harmony with this genre. If there has been no shortage of important African reggae protagonists of other nationalities, such as the Nigerian Majek Fashek (1963-2020) and the South African Lucky Dube (1964-2007), in half a century of reggae in Africa two great stars stand out, and they are both Ivorian , Alpha Blondy and Tiken Jah Fakoly: both with an international reputation, but on the global reggae scene the long-standing star of Tiken Jah – whose sixteenth album, Acoustic (label Chapter Two/Wagram Music) has just been released – has become brighter even than that of an extraordinary pacesetter
of African reggae like Blondy.
Tiken Jah Fakoly’s success took off with the 1996 album Mangercratie; at the time, in the convulsions of the post-Houphouët-Boigny period – the father-figure of independent Ivory Coast – Ivorian reggae, with Alpha Blondy at the head, valiantly took a stand against xenophobia, used without scruples, in the delicate Ivorian ethnic kaleidoscope, for power scheming: and in Mangercratie Tiken Jah pointed the finger at the cynicism and irresponsibility of politicians.

Tiken Jah Fakoly performing at Ancienne Belgique, Brussels. CC0 1.0/ VerwimpBruno

Born in 1968, at the age of eight Tiken Jah began listening to Bob Marley, and when he died in 1981, he cried; in the eighties, Blondy, born in 1953, had established himself, and Tiken Jah had learned from his talent as a singer, and treasured the example he offered of conscious, committed, denunciatory reggae. Threatened with death in the torn Ivorian context, Tiken Jah has been living in Mali since 2003, from where he brilliantly continued his career, and where he decided to stay despite the difficult situation that the country has been experiencing
for about fifteen years.
With the addition of a new song, in Acoustic Tiken Jah dusts off in an acoustic version thirteen workhorses from his discography, around a quarter of a century of production between the albums Mangercratie and Braquage de pouvoir released in 2022: it is therefore a sort of self-anthology, which lends itself both to a summary of his work and to a first approach for those who do not know him.
“I protested against racism, tribalism, but it was no use. (…) I have the impression of preaching night and day in the desert. (…) I’m tired, I’m tired”, sang Tiken Jah Fakoly in Délivrance, a song included in Mangercratie and re-proposed in the new album: however disillusioned, the Ivorian singer actually never fell out of love with the role he gave himself with his reggae, that of “awakening consciences”, and has not stopped making his voice heard.

Tiken Jah Fakoly at the Eurockéennes de Belfort (France). CC BY-NC 3.0/Rama

His next album, in ’99, was Cours d’histoire, “Course of History”: a challenging title for an artist who feels the responsibility of a name that is equally so, and one that has been consigned to history.
Born Moussa Doumbia Fakoly, Tiken Jah is in fact a descendant of Fakoly Koumba, who according to tradition in the thirteenth century, siding with Sundjata Keita, played a significant role in the military victory that was the basis of the birth of the glorious empire of Mali.
In Acoustic, from Cours d’histoire Tiken Jah takes up among other things Les Martyrs: «They have forgotten that they tortured, that they murdered, that they humiliated – among the various martyrs he names is Thomas Sankara – we will forgive but we will never forget”. Tiken Jah then continued to impart authoritative history lessons, which many young people, especially from West Africa, have listened to, and here he offers an anthology: in Plus rien ne m’étonne and in Tonton d’America he talks about who it was who divided up Africa and still casually divides up the world and of the uncle from across the Atlantic who takes advantage of the miseries of the black continent, while in Ça va faire ill dreams of an Africa finally united and capable of facing the arrogance of the developed countries (all three of the songs are taken from the 2004 album Coup de gueule); un Africain à Paris – Sting’s version of an Englishman in New York – he puts himself in the shoes of a son who writes to his mother, and it is an implicit invitation to Africans to stay at home, but in Ouvrez les frontières (“Open the borders”), he recalls the injustice of preventing Africans from entering Europe, while Europeans can enter Africa whenever they want.

Tiken Jah Fakoly in concert. CC BY-NC 3.0/Dieudo

Tiken Jah Fakoly has a direct and wise way in presenting his lyrics, which are simple, and therefore incisive: but being simple is not easy. In Délivrance, Tiken Jah also said: “We were optimistic, we dreamed, we hoped, but nothing has changed”; almost thirty years later, here, in the only unreleased album, Arriver à rêver, the need to dream has not yet abandoned him, and Tiken Jah finds the simplicity to say: “We will have to succeed, be able to dream, succeed, yes, to succeed, in the end, to truly change the world”. (Open Photo: Tiken Jah Fakoly, singing in a SABC recording studio in Johannesburg. 123rf)

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