Over the past week, there were lots of important stories from around the African continent, and we served you some of the most topical ones.
Here is a rundown of the backstories to some of the biggest news in Africa that we covered during the week:
‘Let the poor breathe’; Nigeria’s VP Shettima admits hardship, poverty
Shortly after he was sworn in as Nigeria’s President on May 29, Bola Tinubu made the famous “Let the poor breathe” remark which immediately caught on with officials of the new administration who latched onto the remark whenever an opportunity presented itself.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio made a meal of the comment during a plenary of the Upper Chamber, which drew the angst of Nigerians who noticed the derision in his voice and the laughter of his colleagues when he made the comments.
However, no official of the administration has come out in the open to admit that Nigerians are going through harrowing times as a result of the “unplanned” removal of fuel subsidy by Tinubu in his inaugural speech, where he said “Subsidy is gone.”
And since then, coupled with some unfriendly economic policies, Nigerians have faced untold hardship, misery and poverty amid rising cost of living as a result of spiralling inflation.
However, Vice President Kashim Shettima, on Saturday, took the path of honour when he admitted that a majority of poor Nigerians were suffering, and angry with government officials.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony of the Executive Intelligence Management Course 16 in Abuja, Shettima said the Tinubu-led administration was aware that Nigerians were going through harrowing times, and was doing everything possible to ameliorate the pains as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy and the attendant inflation.
He also pleaded with Nigerians to be patient and support Tinubu so that he could work to solve the problems.
“All of us here belong to a tiny segment of the Nigerian population. And you don’t need a soothsayer to tell you that the poor are angry with us,” the VP admitted.
“The poor are the most neglected segment of our society. You can hardly differentiate between them and their animals. Even the animals they rear belong to those in the city. So, there have to be kinetic and non-kinetic solutions to all the problems.
“I want to ask you to give the President the benefit of the doubt. Let us be patient. Let us support him.
“Let us rally round him and be reassured that he is determined to redefine the meaning and concept of modern leadership, and is ever ready to reposition the Nigerian nation. But without the support of you and I, he can’t do much,” he added.
But beyond the pleas for patience and time for the government to fix the economy and put things right, Nigerians keep wondering when that El Dorado will come as there are no clear indications that things will soon be on the bright side.
The daily escalation of inflation, fluctuations in the foreign exchange regime, flip-flopping economic policies, job losses as a result of companies folding up and the general melancholic feelings in the country have not given the ordinary Nigerian the hope that the future looks bright.
With the rallying cry by Shettima, Nigerians will be hoping the government will be sensitive enough to do the needful and truly “Let the poor breathe.”
DRC’s Tshisekedi’s personal war with Rwanda’s Kagame gets feisty
The cold war that has existed between DR Congo’s President Fekix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, may soon boil over after Tshisekedi compared Kagame to German dictator, Adolf Hitler, whose actions during the second world war led to the death of millions of people.
For several years now, the two east African countries have been at loggerheads following accusations and counter accusations of sponsorship of rebel groups to destabilise each other.
Though both heads of states have been careful not to attack one another openly, Tshisekedi threw caution to the wind when he categorically said Kagame was behaving like Hitler, and insisted that he was equal to the task of putting him (Kagame) in check.
While addressing his supporters during a campaign rally in Bukavu, capital of the troubled South Kivu on Friday, Tshisekedi called out Kagame, comparing him to Hitler, and accused him of pursuing “expansionist aims” in the DRC.
“I’m going to address Rwandan President Paul Kagame and tell him this: since he wanted to behave like Adolf Hitler by having expansionist aims (in the DRC), I promise to end up like Adolf Hitler,” Tshisekedi said at the rally.
“When I took power as president of this country, I proposed a plan to live in peace with our neighbors, but the problem is that our neighbors have eyes bigger than their stomachs, and that’s the case with my colleague Paul Kagame.
“But this time, Paul Kagame has met a son of the country determined to protect his country against all kinds of foreign aggression,” he added.
Since the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Tutsi rebels who formed the M23 (March 23 Movement) group, have continued to make incursions into eastern DRC and have captured swathes of territories in the mineral-rich province.
Congo has consistently accused Kigali of backing the rebels, accusations Rwanda has continued to vehemently deny, but with the first salvo fired by Tshisekedi, it remains to be seen what Kagame’s response will be.
Zambia’s political crisis gets messier as opposition party labels Hichilema’s govt ‘corrupt’
Like most African countries going through political crisis, the impasse in Zambia is threatening to boil over with several opposition parties accusing the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND) and President Hakainde Hichilema of several atrocities including evolving into a “more corrupt institution than what was obtaining under the PF government.”
The fresh allegations were made by the leader of Zambia’s Citizens First (CF) Party, Harry Kalaba, who accused Hichilema’s government of widespread corruption and dwelling on “false promises while failing to implement enduring policies that would help to change the economic woes of the country” in the three years of his administration.
Kalaba, who held a press conference in Lusaka during the week, said the country was facing “much worse than what caused Zambians to vote out the previous government of Edgar Lungu and the Patriotic Front (PF).”
“Three years down the line, the President had shown his true colours by presiding over the most corrupt and tribally-polarized government,” Kalaba said.
“The CF is therefore dismayed that while in opposition, the President promised sweeping changes that would help enhance the governance of the nation as well as help win international confidence in the way he would govern the nation.
“It is even more worrying that the pain and anguish we are going through as a nation is happening barely three years into the Presidency,” Kalaba added.
Kalaba’s accusations are not new as other opposition parties, notably the PF, had also laid those accusations on Hichilema and the administration.
But like his counterparts in the continent, the President does not seem a bit worried as his spokespersons keep churning out statements in his defence, often blaming the opposition for the country’s woes.
Zero to Hero: The inspiring story of Asake as he became Spotify’s most-streamed artiste in 2023
A little over three years ago, Nigeria’s Afrobeats sensation, Ahmed Ololade, popularly known as Asake, was a “bag carrier” and session man for comedian and skit maker, Broda Shaggy.
According to him, all efforts to get signed on to Olamide’s YBNL Record label proved abortive as the rapper refused to give him an opportunity to showcase his talent.
But fast forward to 2023, Asake has become one of the hottest properties in the world music scene, getting nominated for the 2024 Grammy Awards, and also helping the same Olamide get a nomination from featuring in one of his hit tracks.
Apart from the Grammy nomination, Asake has gone on to break several records, the latest being named as the most streamed musician in Nigeria in 2023 by music streaming platform, Spotify.
The global platform, in a release tagged, “Spotify wrapped: 2023 – Nigeria Diverse Music Scene in 2023”, revealed that from available data, Asake topped the list of the most streamed artistes of the year as his songs emerged in the top 10 most streamed tracks, with three of his hits in tracks, “Lonely At The Top” “2: 30” and “Amapaino” topping the charts.
The platform also noted that thr 28-year-old star’s reign at the top extended to the Gen Z demographic, with Asake becoming the most streamed artiste among Nigerian and Ghanaian Gen Z listeners.
Asake’s rise rise from zero to hero has again exposed the never-die spirit in the African man who thrives in the most stringent circumstances to rise to the top whenever he sets his mind to it.
Exodus of multinationals from Nigeria taking its toll on economy
Situations where international companies close shops and leave a country due to one reason or the other are not new.
Some of the businesses do cite unfavourable conditions of doing business such as bad economic policies, dwindling fortunes, multiple taxation, insecurity and other indices as reasons for their decision.
However, the rate at which international conglomerates are closing down and exiting Nigeria in the past one year has become something of a concern as experts say the exodus could see the Nigerian economy lose more than $335 million in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
Despite the Nigerian government’s continued promise of creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive, the country has suffered the exit of high-profile firms amidst rising operating costs.
The latest company to leave Nigeria is Procter & Gamble, a major global player in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), which announced its exit during the week in review.
Andre Schulten, chief financial officer at P&G, who explained the decision of the company to leave Nigeria, said it was a result of “the challenging business environment in Nigeria, as well as the difficulty in creating US dollar value”.
P&G’s closure came on the heels of the departure of Equinor, a major global player in the upstream oil sector, after selling its Nigerian business, including its share in the Agbami oil field to Nigerian-owned Chappal Energies.
Before then, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc, a manufacturing behemoth that had developed and manufactured innovative pharmaceutical medicines, vaccines, and consumer healthcare products, shut down its operations in Nigeria.
Equinor’s Senior Vice President for Africa Operations, Nina Koch, who also explained their decision to quit Nigeria, said:
“Nigeria has been an important part of Equinor’s international portfolio over the past 30 years, but the transaction becomes necessary as it would enable it to realise the value and is in line with Equinor’s strategy to optimize its international oil and gas portfolio and focus on core areas.”
What the exodus of these global companies mean for Nigeria is that the taxes they pay to the government had ceased while Nigerians and their families who depended on them for their livelihoods have been thrown into the job market with little hopes of a reprieve amid excruciating hardship occasioned by escalating inflation.
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