Crypto News: Next Africa: A coup too many

Welcome to Next Africa, a twice-weekly newsletter on where the continent stands now — and where it's headed.

The coup in Niger places the entire central Sahel region under the control of military regimes. That's a threat to the wealthier coastal members of the Economic Community of West African States, and they are weighing military action.

There have also been putsches in Mali and Burkina Faso over the past three years, with the usurpers vowing to tackle jihadist insurgents. Both nations have instead descended further into chaos.

Coup supporters wave Russian flags and anti-France posters in Niamey on July 30. Photographer: AFP/Getty Images

Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Senegal fear Niger will suffer a similar fate. Their leaders will also want to send a message that power grabs won't be tolerated.

With sanctions having failed to reverse coups elsewhere, Ecowas has threatened to use force to reinstate Mohamed Bazoum, the democratically elected president. It has set a deadline for Sunday.

This is "one coup too many," said Senegal's foreign minister, Aissata Tall Sall, adding that her government will participate in any regional intervention.

The bloc's warning prompted a shrill response from Niger's new rulers as well as the juntas of Mali and Burkina Faso, with the latter two saying military action would be a "declaration of war."

It may well not need to come to that.

Niger is desperately poor and landlocked, and economic pressure could be sufficient to eject the junta. Already Ecowas has closed Niger's southern borders, shutting key supply routes, banned flights and frozen the country's assets held by the regional central bank. Nigeria has cut off the bulk of its electricity.

Ecowas has the support of France and the US, which have bases in Niger and regard it as one of the last bastions they have against encroaching jihadist forces in West Africa.

The last thing they want is for Niger to follow Burkina Faso and Mali into Russia's orbit. — Katarina Hoije and Antony Sguazzin

Key stories and opinion:
Niger's New Military Leader Warns Against Intervention Threat
Niger Ambassador Sees Junta Surrendering Power as Sanctions Bite
Ecowas May Use 'Force' to Reinstate Niger's President Bazoum
Niger Rally Supports Coup as Bloc Imposes Sanctions on Junta
Putin and Wagner Are Still Gunning for Africa: James Stavridis

Nigerian labor unions called off protests against what they said were President Bola Tinubu's "anti-poor policies" that triggered a surge in living costs. The Nigerian Labour Congress staged boisterous but largely peaceful demonstrations in Lagos, Abuja and some other state capitals to press demands for the government to reverse a decision to scrap fuel subsidies — a move that's caused pump prices to more than triple. Meanwhile, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced a $73 million aid package to boost food security during his first official visit to Nigeria.

A rickshaw driver refuels his vehicle in Lagos on July 30. Photographer: Benson Ibeabuchi/Bloomberg

A planned announcement on the expansion of BRICS at a forthcoming summit in South Africa will mark a significant change in the global order, the nation's ambassador to the five-nation bloc said, even as some of its members push back against new admissions. Heads of state from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will make a pronouncement on the enlargement later this month. China favors a rapid expansion, but India and Brazil want guidelines to be framed first. Click here to read an opinion piece by columnist Mihir Sharma on why the grouping may struggle to become a serious counterweight to Western-run institutions.

Darfur residents who've been caught up in Sudan's civil conflict between forces backing rival generals, have been wantonly killed and subjected to a range of other atrocities, according to human rights groups. An Amnesty International report details scores of attacks on civilian, and labeled some of the combatants' violations as war crimes. The violence has evoked memories of a years-long conflict in Darfur that erupted in 2003 and saw people being targeted based on their ethnicity after the government accused them of supporting insurgents. Sudan's army didn't respond to requests for comment. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, its rival, denied wrongdoing.

The market of El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, on April 29. Source: AFP/Getty Images

Kenya's eurobonds plunged after Moody's Investors Service warned that it may treat a planned buyback of some of the debt as a default. Redeeming the securities for less than par value would constitute an economic loss to investors, according to David Rogovic, a senior credit officer at Moody's. He was commenting on President William Ruto's plan, announced in June, to repurchase half of the country's $2 billion of 2024 eurobonds before the end of the year.

Ethiopian Airlines suspended flights between Addis Ababa, the capital, and the northern Amhara region amid reports of fighting between government forces and a rebel group. Tensions between the Fano militia army, which allied with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in his two-year war against rebels from the Tigray region, have escalated since the government decided in April to integrate all regional special forces into the national army or the police force. Fano refused to surrender its weapons, sparking clashes with federal troops. The government declared a state of emergency in the region.

An Ethiopian Airlines plane in Addis Ababa in March 2020. Photographer: Eduardo Soteras/AFP/Getty Images

Trafigura Group has been forced to seek new funding for one of its flagship investments — a $600 million copper-cobalt project in the Democratic Republic of Congo — in the latest headache for the trading house's embattled metals business. The project being developed by Chemaf, a longtime partner of Trafigura, has run into difficulties amid cost overruns and weak cobalt prices, sources say. It follows the metals company's disclosure in February that it had fallen victim to a massive alleged nickel fraud.

Data Watch

South African business leaders told President Cyril Ramaphosa that the jobless rate could rise to 38% by 2030 without urgent action to solve the country's energy, logistics and crime crises.
Sierra Leone's government sees the West African nation's economic growth slowing to 2.7% this year, weighed down by global uncertainty, higher food and fuel costs and a weaker exchange rate.
Uganda's inflation rate fell to 3.9%, the lowest level since March last year.
Gabon's debt-for-nature swap is edging closer to reality as the African nation tests international markets with a $500 million bond deal.

South Africa's state power company is losing ground to private producers. Statistics-office data show Eskom produced 11% less power in the first half of 2023 compared with the same time last year, and consumption of its electricity fell almost 10%. Over the same period, generation and consumption from other producers, including roof-top solar, surged more than 22%.

Coming Up

Aug. 7 Mauritius inflation & reserves data for July, South African reserves and Seychelles inflation for July
Aug. 8 Tanzania inflation for July
Aug. 9 Kenya interest-rate decision, Ghana inflation for July
Aug. 10 South African mining & manufacturing data for June, Rwanda and Namibia inflation for July
Aug. 11 Bloomberg's monthly economic survey for South Africa

"The reality is that there will continue to be a battle against rhino poaching for the foreseeable future," South Africa's environment minister, Barbara Creecy, said after announcing that more of the animals are being targeted in private reserves.

Creecy at the COP27 climate conference on Nov. 9. Photographer: Islam Safwat/Bloomberg

Elon Musk castigated South African politician Julius Malema over a controversial chant he made at a rally attended by tens of thousands of his party's supporters. The chant "kill the boer, kill the farmer" was popularized in the 1990s by Peter Mokaba, a youth leader of the African National Congress party that's led the country since the end of White-minority rule in 1994. Mokaba, who died in 2002, said the call shouldn't be literally interpreted, but was a metaphor for taking a stand against apartheid, and last year the country's Equality Court ruled that it didn't amount to hate speech. "They are openly pushing for genocide of White people in South Africa," Musk, who was born in Pretoria and emigrated at the age of 17, said on X, his social media platform. Malema, who heads the Economic Freedom Fighters, the nation's third-largest political party, dismissed the criticism.