Musings From Abroad

African leaders arrive Kyiv to broker peace in Russia/Ukraine war

Published

1 year ago

June 16, 2023

A delegation of African leaders and senior officials have arrived in Kyiv on a peace move between Ukraine and Russia.

The leaders are seeking to usher in a dialogue between Russia and Ukraine. South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa in May had said President Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy had agreed to meet a group of African leaders to discuss a potential peace plan for the conflict.

Zelenskiy had last month also made a major push to court countries from Latin America, Africa, and Asia after peace moves from the regions.

The delegation is made up of leaders from South Africa, Senegal, Zambia, and the Comoros Islands. Their first visit will be Bucha, a suburb of Kiev that was the centre of global attention last year after Russian troops abandoned an attempt to grab the city and departed from the area, leaving bodies of civilian residents believed to have been brutally murdered lying in the streets.

The team will also meet with Putin on Saturday in St. Petersburg, where Russia’s premier international business conference is being held (June 17).

One of the delegates, Zambian President, Hakainde Hichilema told journalists that Africa could look away from the conflict. “Instability anywhere is instability everywhere,” he said.

“Life is universal, and we must protect lives – Ukrainian lives, Russian lives, global lives,” Hichilema added.

In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War that began in 2014. The invasion caused Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II with around 7.3 million Ukrainians fleeing the country and a third of the population displaced. It has also caused global food shortages.

Related Topics:Africa Featured Russia and Ukraine war

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Musings From Abroad

China’s Xi meets with Morocco’s Crown Prince

Published

11 minutes ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Morocco’s official media reports that Chinese President, Xi Jinping, visited Morocco briefly on Thursday.

According to Morocco’s MAP, Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan welcomed Xi in Casablanca. The visit demonstrated the close ties of camaraderie, collaboration, and solidarity between the Moroccan and Chinese peoples, it said.

China’s official broadcaster, CCTV, said that Xi and Hassan had a “cordial conversation” at the airport after being received by the Crown Prince and Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch.

After attending the G20 Summit in Brazil, Xi paid the visit.

In recent years, China has increased its investments in Morocco’s rail and infrastructure. Morocco is desirable for Chinese electric car battery manufacturers because of its proximity to Europe, free trade agreements with important EU and US markets, and an established automotive sector.

Morocco was chosen by Chinese EV battery company Gotion High Tech in June to establish Africa’s first gigafactory, which will cost $1.3 billion in total.

Musings From Abroad

Finnish court imprisons Nigeria’s Simon Ekpa for aiding terrorism

Published

22 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Simon Ekpa, a Nigerian separatist leader based abroad, has been placed under detention by the Päijät Häme District Court in Finland on suspicion of inciting others to commit acts of terrorism.

According to the local daily, Helsingin Sanomat, the court rendered the ruling on Thursday following his arraignment by the Central Criminal Police for his involvement in the terror attacks that have afflicted the southeast area of Nigeria.

“The police suspect that the man has promoted his efforts from Finland with means that have led to violence against civilians in the region of South-Eastern Nigeria,” stated Otto Hiltunen, the crime commissioner and investigation head.

“The man has carried out his activity, among other things, on his social media channels.”

Hiltunen also informed the court that the police suspected four additional individuals in Finland of funding Ekpa’s activities.

According to the story, Ekpa is of Nigerian descent and was born in the Finnish city of Lahti.

His offence occurred between August 23, 2021, and November 18, 2024, according to court documents cited in the publication.

Ekpa is not the only person the police have arrested. In February 2023, they caught him at a private Lahtian flat, but he was freed the same day.

Through the Eastern Security Network (ESN) and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) movement, Ekpa has continued to be outspoken on social media, raising money and agitating for a Biafran nation to secede. In the southeast part of Nigeria, both factions have been involved in acts of violence, murders, and maimings.

Since gaining formal independence in 1960, Nigeria has seen the emergence of several separatist organisations. The latest surge of calls for self-determination among different ethnic groups has been louder under its immediate previous President Muhammadu Buhari.