Africa, explained

Tristan McConnellFebruary 7, 2012 13:16

Congo gold scam involved several Americans

A Congo gold scam involving several American business men goes horribly wrong.

Enlarge

A boy pans for gold in a river on February 16, 2009 in Iga Barriere, 25 kms north of Bunia, north eastern Congo. DR Congo is rich in precious minerals such as diamonds and gold - but its people have gained little from this wealth because of conflict and bad government. (Lionel Healing/AFP/Getty Images)

NAIROBI — GlobalPost's Denis Fitzgerald is reporting the detail of a gold scam that involved a motley crew including Houston oil tycoon Kase Lawal, who is also an advisor to President Obama, along with former NBA star Dikembe Mutombo, U.S. diamond dealer Carlos St. Mary, and a Congolese warlord.

More from GlobalPost: Congo News: How gold smuggling profits warlords not Congo

It's a brilliant, only-in-Congo tale, but it is also just the latest chapter in a story t hat we first reported back in March last year, and about which there will surely be more to come.

In short, Kase Lawal lost $30 million dollars in a botched deal which attempted to illegally smuggle 1,000 pounds of gold out of the DRC.

In a United Nations Security Council report, it is said the group expected to make a $10 million dollar profit off of the gold deal.

More from GlobalPost: Congo News: Catholic church rejects Congo election results

Much of today's detail comes from a UN Group of Experts report on the arms embargo in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But what exactly does the UN Group of Experts (or GoE if you like acronyms) do and what was their latest report about?

The report is 392-pages long and, being written by experts, it's also really only for experts, but luckily Jason Stearns, who once led the Group and now writes on his CongoSiasa blog.

In his blog he summarizes:

"The gold trade is booming and helps finance armed groups and criminal networks within the FARDC. It has not been affected thus far by the limited international efforts to promote due diligence in supply chains, as nearly all the gold trade goes unrecorded. We believe close to three tons of Congolese gold likely to have been smuggled out of Uganda to Dubai alone during 2010."

Here is his interview with former colleagues that helpfully summarizes the latest report and its key findings.

Tristan McConnellFebruary 7, 2012 12:30

Sudan News: China faces Sudan dilemma

China's policy of non-interference in both Sudans looks increasingly unsustainable.

Enlarge

President Of Sudan Omar al-Bashir and Chinese President Hu Jintao attend the signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People on June 29, 2011 in Beijing, China. (Liu Jin-Pool/Getty Images)

NAIROBI, Kenya — China is an old friend of Khartoum.

Beijing's policy of non-interference in domestic affairs has made it some pretty unsavory friends, most recently in Syria when it joined Moscow in vetoing a UN Security Council resolution.

More from GlobalPost: China mulls contribution to Europe’s rescue fund

China has shown no qualms about investing in oil infrastructure, roads and railways in Sudan or for that matter selling armaments that were then used against the people of Darfur.

But as southern independence approached China realized that if it wanted to keep getting 5 percent of its crude imports from Sudan it needed friends in the South, too, since that's where most of the oil is.

More from GlobalPost: Tullow Oil to invest in Uganda's oil industry

Diplomatic overtures were launched and Beijing's envoys found a warm welcome in Juba.

Late last month came the kidnapping of 29 Chinese road builders who were working in South Kordofan, a region of north Sudan where a rebel group is battling the Khartoum army. During the raid by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-North) rebels 17 other workers escaped while one, it turned out, was killed.

China's official news agency, Xinhua, says the 29 captives have now been released but their captivity shows the tricky balancing act that Beijing is trying to pull off, staying friends with both sides as they inch ever closer to war.

In these circumstances, and with its own citizens now at risk, China's policy of non-interference looks increasingly unsustainable.

More from GlobalPost: China housing market restricts mortgages for foreigners

Tristan McConnellFebruary 7, 2012 12:23

Mali News: Tuareg rebellion gathering momentum

A new rebel group is attempting to take advantage of an influx of soldiers and weapons in states surrounding the Sahara.

Enlarge

Security forces stand in front of relatives and supporters of soldiers fighting rebels Tuareg in the north, during a protest against the 'weak' response to attacks by the rebels, in Bamako on February 2, 2012. Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure has urged citizens not to attack civilian Tuareg, after retaliatory attacks on the community following the resumption of the Tuareg rebellion. (Stringer/AFP/Getty Images)

NAIROBI, Kenya — Since September there have been warnings that the demise of Libya's Muammar Gaddafi will flood the the Sahel — the name given to the dusty fringes of the Sahara — with seasoned fighters and weapons.

Now that has come to pass with the birth of a new Tuareg rebel group, calling itself the Azawad National Liberation Movement (MNLA, in its French acronym).

More from GlobalPost: Ex-Gaddafi Tuareg fighters start a new battle

The rebels launched their first assaults last month, after which Mali's army claimed to have won the fight. That now looks both premature and optimistic.

More from GlobalPost: Mali claims victory in desert fight

The MNLA is reportedly getting ready to launch an assault on the desert town of Kidal in northern Mali, and the aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres — never the first to abandon their posts — has pulled out of northern Mali.

This is not just a Malian problem, as most of the Sahelian countries have faced Tuareg rebellions in the past. If this one gains momentum, the situation looks bleak.

More from GlobalPost: Tuaregs: 5 Things You Need to Know

To see what the MNLA looks like, check out this impressive slideshow by the intrepid award-winning photographer Veronique de Viguerie playing on The New York Times website.

Tristan McConnellFebruary 6, 2012 11:36

Kenya News: Obama's grandmother Sarah Onyango Obama in car accident

Sarah Onyango Obama, 90, was in a car that rolled off a country road.

Enlarge

Then-US Senator Barack Obama greets his grandmother Sarah Obama at their rural home in Siaya, Kisumu, on Aug. 26, 2006 during his first visit in 14 years. (Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images)

NAIROBI, Kenya — Local television footage shows the smashed windscreen and battered car that was carrying Sarah Onyango Obama, the president's grandmother, when it rolled off a country road on Saturday night.

More from GlobalPost: Obama's grandmother in Kenya gets beefed up security

The 90-year-old, referred to as "Granny Sarah" in Barack Obama's memoir "Dreams from My Father," was only lightly injured and is now back at her home in the village of Kogelo in western Kenya.

One of the president's uncles, Sayid Obama, told me that his mother was fine and back at home.

"She's in good health right now," he said.

According to local witnesses the accident happened at about 9 p.m. on Saturday night when the driver lost control of the car which swung off the paved road and then rolled into a ditch. The passengers — Sarah Obama, two bodyguards and one other — were treated at a local hospital before being discharged.

Sarah Onyango Obama was the third wife of Hussein, Barack Obama's grandfather, and attended the president's inauguration ceremony in Washington in January 2009.

More from GlobalPost: President Obama sings Al Green (VIDEO)

Tristan McConnell February 3, 2012 12:06

Somalia: Famine ends but problems remain

Famine conditions in Somalia have ended, but a serious emergency situation remains in the war-torn nation.

Enlarge

Displaced Somali children queue as they wait for food-aid rations on Jan. 19, 2012 at a distribution centre in Mogadishu. Famine conditions have ended in war-torn Somalia six months after they were declared, but the situation remains dire with a third of the population needing emergency aid. (Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images)

NAIROBI, Kenya — Six and a half months on and Somalia's famine is officially over, according to the UN, which crunches the numbers and determines just how on-the-brink people are on a scale of 1to 5, with 5 being famine.

More from GlobalPost: Somalia famine over, UN says, but Sahel food crisis worsens

Tristan McConnellFebruary 3, 2012 11:46

Uganda News: Tullow Oil to invest in Uganda's oil industry

Tullow Oil signs a new production sharing agreement with Uganda's government.

Enlarge

Tullow Oil has signed a deal with Uganda. Here, Tullow Oil company technician Joachim Vogt (L) describes the properties of the oil discovered on an offshore oil platform off the coasts of the French overseas department of Guiana. (Jody Amiet /AFP/Getty Images)

NAIROBI, Kenya — Months of unseemly wrangles have delayed Uganda's much-touted oil production but now it is set to begin.

More from GlobalPost: South Sudan halts oil production as talks falter

Tullow Oil, a spectacularly successful oil exploration company that has discovered large reserves in Uganda and Ghana in recent years, says that it has signed production sharing agreements with Uganda's government paving the way for a $10 billion investment in the country's nascent oil industry.

More from GlobalPost: Uganda News: Kampala traders protest interest hike

The next step will be for Tullow, a relatively small company (in the multi-billion dollar world of oil), to finalize its new partnership with France's Total and China's CNOOC that will enable the building of a refinery and an export pipeline from the Lake Albert oil fields.

It is estimated there may be as much 2.5 billion barrels of oil, enough crude to supply all of Uganda's domestic needs with more left over for export to neighboring countries.

More from GlobalPost: Uganda: New front in war on corruption

Tristan McConnellFebruary 2, 2012 12:24

Somalia: British Foreign Secretary William Hague visits Mogadishu

British government strives to lead initiative to bring peace and stability to Somalia, will host conference in London on Feb. 23.

Enlarge

On March 30, 2011, a Somali coastguard patrols off the coast of Somalia's breakaway Republic of Somaliland, where piracy has flourished and turned increasingly violent. (Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images)

The latest diplomat to clamber in through Somalia's much-touted "window of opportunity" is Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague.

Tristan McConnellFebruary 2, 2012 11:52

Senegal: How not to defuse a protest

Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade calls the latest round of protests to his continued rule "no more worrying than a light breeze."

Enlarge

A protester lights a fire on Jan. 31, 2012 in Dakar during a demonstration demanding that President Abdoulaye Wade drop plans to seek a third term. Senegal riot police fired tear gas and sprayed protesters with water to break up the thousands-strong rally. (Seyllou Diallo/AFP/Getty Images)

NAIROBI, Kenya — If you're hoping to stay in power until you're 90 and face youth-led street protests, then talking like a patronizing old schoolmaster is not a clever idea.

More from GlobalPost: Protests continue against President Abdoulaye Wade

Tristan McConnellFebruary 2, 2012 11:42

Africa News: 'African Spring' needed for revolutionary change

Will Senegal protests lead to long-lasting demonstrations that force change?

Enlarge

People demonstrate during a protest organized by the June 23 Movement (M23) which opposes Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade's candidacy on Jan. 27, 2012 in Dakar. (Seyllou/AFP/Getty Images)

NAIROBI, Kenya — Last year as walk-to-work protests gripped Uganda it seemed as if the long winter of autocracy under which some African countries have labored might be drawing to a close.

But it turned out Kizza Besigye, Uganda's opposition and protest leader, was not the man of the moment, his support was not large or widespread enough and the protests fizzled in the face of a heavy-handed crackdown by President Yoweri Museveni's police and army.

More from GlobalPost: Egypt: Protests erupt on anniversary of revolution (LIVE BLOG)

Also last year, in Khartoum students took to the streets, angry with rising living costs and angry with Sudan President Omar al-Bashir, the unpalatable head of a pariah regime. His security forces put a swift end to those protests.

Last month Nigerians railed at their government for removing fuel subsidies, an Occupy Nigeria movement was born using the social media tools of the Arab Spring, but then President Goodluck Jonathan backtracked and the protests withered away.

Now it is Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade's turn as the streets of Dakar fill with protestors against his continued rule, fueled by the suspicion that he is grooming his son for power.

Will Senegal see the beginning of an 'African Spring?'

Right now it seems unlikely but, in an interview with the Reuters news agency, the celebrated Nigerian writer and Nobel winner Wole Soyinka issues a warning to what he calls "sit-tight rulers."

More from GlobalPost: Nigeria: Crises could make the country stronger

Soyinka hits the nail squarely on the head:

"What is wrong with them? Why do they think that the world will not continue to turn after they've left office, I don't understand," said Soyinka. "In the end, those who refuse to bow to popular will, who continue to treat, describe and regard their own peoples as inferior to themselves or their petty clans, I'm afraid will confront the same nature of violence as we witnessed in the Arab world."

Many across Africa will be hoping for just such revolutionary change.

More from GlobalPost: Africa: Facebook users grow by 165%

Tristan McConnellFebruary 1, 2012 12:50

Senegal News: Protests continue against President Abdoulaye Wade

Senegalese protestors want President Wade to withdraw his candidacy for the upcoming election.

Enlarge

Senegalese in Dakar opposed the candidacy of President Abdoulaye Wade for the highly disputed third term in office. Senegal's top court said President Wade could seek a third term in office but rejected the candidacy of music icon Youssou N'Dour. (Seyllou/AFP/Getty Images)

NAIROBI, Kenya — It could go either way in Senegal.

There were protests against President Abdoulaye Wade's intention to run for a third term on Friday, Monday and Tuesday. The most recent saw thousands of anti-government protestors take to the streets against police armed with tear gas and batons.

Reuters reports that at least one person died last night, run over by an armored police vehicle. Amnesty International reports that three have died.

These events have worried the UN and others. An opposition coalition called M23 has promised long-lasting mass action until Wade withdraws his candidacy for the February 26 election but it's hard to gauge how much support the protests really have and how broad it is spread. Dakar's Place de l'Obelisque is no Tahrir Square, yet.

Mitigating against a popular revolution in Senegal is not any latent love for the octogenarian leader but the fact that elections are scheduled to take place in just a few weeks time on Feb. 26.

Yes, the incumbent can use state media and infinitely more (usually national) resources to ensure there is not a level playing field, and rigging the vote is that much easier for the ruler, but there is still the option of Wade's ouster coming at the ballot box.

If, come election day, Wade claims a victory that is widely perceived as fraudulent then all bets will be off and Senegal's hard-won and long-standing stability will be in serious doubt.

Below is a video of the recent riots in Senegal:

Senegalese Riot as President Cleared for 3rd Term

World News Videos by NewsLook

ABOUT THIS BLOG

Tracking Africa from the Sahara to Cape Town, to everything in between. The politics, economics and culture of a continent. On Africa is a reported blog from Nairobi, written by GlobalPost senior correspondent for Africa Tristan McConnell.

Correspondents

Tristan McConnell

GlobalPost senior correspondent in Nairobi, Kenya. read more