Welcome to a shorter-than-usual version of Foreign Policy’s Africa Brief.
The highlights this week: U.S. President Joe Biden makes a long-promised visit to Angola, Namibia’s opposition disputes election results, and a deadly stampede follows a soccer match in Guinea.
Welcome to a shorter-than-usual version of Foreign Policy’s Africa Brief.
The highlights this week: U.S. President Joe Biden makes a long-promised visit to Angola, Namibia’s opposition disputes election results, and a deadly stampede follows a soccer match in Guinea.
If you would like to receive Africa Brief in your inbox every Wednesday, please sign up here.
U.S. President Joe Biden landed in Luanda, Angola, on Monday to meet with Angolan President João Lourenço after delaying a planned trip to the country in October. It is the first-ever visit by a U.S. president to Angola.
Biden’s main project is to tout the Lobito Corridor, a critical minerals infrastructure project that the United States hopes will act as a counterweight to Chinese influence in Africa through its Belt and Road Initiative.
Related posts
As FP’s Christina Lu noted in February, “The Lobito Corridor is emblematic of Washington’s broader ambitions of de-risking ties with China amid growing concerns over its critical mineral supply chain dominance.”
But Beijing is still a major player, and other countries are also seeking investments and influence on the continent. As Lu wrote, “The intensifying competition and entry of new players could offer African governments greater leverage in striking future deals and partnerships.”
The rail corridor would transport cobalt and copper from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia to the Angolan coast and could challenge China, which is far ahead of the United States when it comes to infrastructure and critical minerals investments. Beijing has considered running a competing railroad connection to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Biden also plans to meet with Congolese, Tanzanian, and Zambian leaders during his trip, which comes in the waning days of his presidency.
FP’s Most Read This Week
Noam Chomsky Has Been Proved Right by Stephen M. Walt
The Pitfalls for Europe of a Trump-Putin Deal on Ukraine by Fredrik Wesslau
Xi Jinping Doesn’t Have an Answer for China’s Demographic Crisis by Lizzi C. Lee
Namibia’s contested election. Namibia’s Nov. 27 general election was marred by long lines in sweltering heat and a ballot shortage. Despite being a sparsely populated country of just 3 million people, its electoral infrastructure was not prepared for high turnout in what was billed as the most competitive election since the country’s independence in 1990.
The South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO), the liberation movement and party that has ruled Namibia since 1990, faced a strong challenge from opposition candidate Panduleni Itula. Voters under 35, who make up nearly half of Namibia’s electorate, are fed up with high unemployment and tend to gravitate toward the opposition.
Voting in some places was extended for several days due to long wait times, leading to criticism of the country’s election commission and concerns about tampering and fraud from opposition leaders and voters.
SWAPO candidate Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah was declared the winner of the presidential race by the election commission on Dec. 3, with 57 percent of the vote, making her Namibia’s first female leader.
Itula has refused to recognize the results of the election due to alleged irregularities, which included the arbitrary extension of voting hours at some polling stations and not others. “The electoral malpractices are glaring, undeniable, and unacceptable. This is not about us. This is not about me. This is about Namibia,” Itula said in a statement on Tuesday, vowing to challenge the election results in court.
Senegal marks massacre anniversary. On Dec. 1, Senegal observed the 80th anniversary of a 1944 massacre in which French soldiers at the Thiaroye military camp near Dakar killed at least 35 West African riflemen—who had served alongside French troops during World War II—after they demanded equal wages. Some estimates put the death toll at 400.
Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said France has acknowledged responsibility for the massacre for the first time. The Associated Press quoted a letter from French President Emmanuel Macron saying that “France must recognize that on that day, the confrontation between soldiers and riflemen who demanded their full legitimate wages be paid, triggered a chain of events that resulted in a massacre.”
Faye said Macron’s letter might “open the door” so the “whole truth about this painful event of Thiaroye” could emerge.
Deadly stampede in Guinea. A crush after a contentious soccer match in Nzerekore, Guinea’s second-largest city, killed at least 56 people on Dec. 1. The chaos began after a disputed red card led fans of the opposing team to storm the field. Police fired tear gas into the crowd, and fans fled the stadium. Many people were trampled as they sought to escape.
The game was part of a tournament intended to honor the country’s military leader, Mamady Doumbouya. The Guinean opposition called the tournament “illegal and inappropriate” and denounced it as publicity effort on behalf of Doumbouya.
