Crypto News: Next Africa: Who’s to blame?

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

The string of coups in sub-Saharan Africa has sparked outrage from leaders across the continent, yet they may partly be to blame.

The limp response when longtime rulers cling to power in disputed elections has eroded the credibility of the ruling elite and may well be emboldening soldiers to usurp control.

West African leaders last year toyed with the idea of having an anti-putsch force to protect incumbents from being deposed.

Residents walk past a torn campaign billboard of ousted Gabon President Ali Bongo on Thursday. Photographer: AFP/Getty Images

But many have turned a blind eye to attempts by their peers to stay in office by having term limits scrapped, or rigging votes.

Gabon's coup this week may be a case in point.

There was silence when President Ali Bongo sought to extend his family's 56-year rule by changing the law to bolster his reelection bid, denying entry to foreign observers to oversee the Aug. 26 vote and shutting down the internet, banning protests and imposing a night-time curfew while the count was under way.

The military's response — after his victory was declared — drew international condemnation, yet within the central African nation, General Brice Oligui Nguema's junta has been lauded.

Residents of Libreville, the capital, took to the streets to celebrate, just as Guineans did in 2021 when Alpha Conde was overthrown after securing an unconstitutional third term in a disputed election.

The risk of another coup will remain if leaders manipulate the system, and fail to translate their outrage into actions. The regional grouping to which Gabon belongs condemned the putsch — yet its current head, Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadera, last month pushed through a referendum to secure an unconstitutional third term.

As the European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell put it: "There are military coup d'etats and there are institutional coup d'etats, which don't use weapons. If I rig elections to take power, it's also an irregular way of getting power." — Yinka Ibukun

Key stories and opinion:
Gabon Junta Cements Grip as Deposed Leader Appeals for Help
What's Driving the Coups Across Sub-Saharan Africa?
Niger's Junta Orders Police to Expel French Ambassador
Gabon to Swear In Transitional Leader After Coup in OPEC Member
Domino Effect in Africa, Embarrassment in Paris: Lionel Laurent

Russian President Vladimir Putin is moving swiftly to take control of Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin's sprawling operations in Africa and the Middle East, days after his renegade ex-protege died in a mysterious plane crash. A Defense Ministry-affiliated armed contractor is poised to assume charge of the group's operations in the Central African Republic and all of Wagner's covert overseas network is due to fall under effective Russian military command, sources say.

A Russian flag on a statue in Bangui, Central African Republic. Photographer: Barbara Debout/AFP/Getty Images

Western-based creditors expect to resume talks with Zimbabwe on restructuring its $18 billion of debt, despite doubt over the credibility of last week's elections, which handed President Emmerson Mnangagwa another five-year term. Zimbabwe defaulted on its loans in 1999, shutting off its access to credit lines, and its economy has been hobbled by runaway inflation and an almost worthless local currency. The main opposition party demanded a rerun of the vote, labelling it a "sham."

A fire in a five-story building in downtown Johannesburg that left more than 70 people dead has highlighted the dire housing shortage in South Africa's biggest city. The lack of accommodation has forced many people, including undocumented immigrants, to rely on unscrupulous landlords who house people in the city's abandoned buildings. The blaze in the illegally occupied building in the central business district also injured 52 people.

India has allowed some rice shipments to Mauritius and other countries for food security purposes after the South Asian nation imposed sweeping export restrictions to control domestic prices. The permission highlights the plight of several nations, which have been relying on India for their rice needs. Guinea has sent its trade minister to New Delhi to convince the government to exempt the West African country from the restrictions. Top buyers of Indian rice include Benin, China, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Togo.

Harvested paddy rice at a market in Ambala, India. Photographer: T. Narayan/Bloomberg

South Sudan is in talks with Kenya and Ethiopia to truck oil to the coast for export, which would mitigate the risk of depending on pipelines running through war-plagued neighbor Sudan. The East African nation relies on crude shipments to fund state coffers and can't afford disruptions of its exports, despite flows having persisted since fighting between the army and a paramilitary group started in Sudan in April. Oil sent through Kenya could leave from the port in Mombasa, while Ethiopia could transport it onwards to a Red Sea port in neighboring Djibouti.

Weekly Next Africa Quiz — Which two African countries have been invited to join the BRICS group of emerging nations? Send your answer to gbell16@bloomberg.net

Data Watch

South Africa recorded its biggest monthly budget deficit yet in July. The 143.8 billion rand shortfall compared with a surplus the month before. Producer inflation, though, eased to the slowest pace since the early months of the coronavirus pandemic.
Zambian inflation climbed to 10.8% in August, the highest level in 16 months. Uganda's inflation rate, at 3.5%, was the lowest since February last year, while Kenya's fell to a 16-month low of 6.7%.
Ghana agreed to terms to swap about $4 billion of domestic debt, taking another step toward meeting its obligations under an International Monetary Fund bailout.

At least five African presidents have been in power for more than two decades, with 81-year-old Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasago of Equatorial Guinea set to extend his rule to half a century after winning an election in November. Bongo was president for 14 years, but his family had ruled Gabon since 1967.

Coming Up

Sept. 4 Start of the African Climate Summit in Nairobi
Sept. 5 South Africa GDP data for the second quarter, country PMI reports for Kenya, South Africa, Zambia, Uganda, Mozambique and Ghana
Sept. 6 Nigeria second-quarter trade balance, South Africa business confidence
Sept. 7 South Africa current-account balance for the second quarter, consumer confidence & reserves data, Mauritius reserves and Seychelles inflation for August
Sept. 8 August inflation data for Tanzania and Mauritius

"My son is somewhere, my wife is in another place and I'm at the residence," Gabon's Bongo said in a video. "Right now, I'm at the residence, and nothing is happening. I don't know what's going on. I'm calling you to make noise."

French President Emmanuel Macron with Bongo at the Presidential Palace in Libreville on March 1. Photographer: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images

The elephant population in five southern African nations is estimated to have grown by 5% over the past six years to around 227,900. That's according to the results of the first-ever aerial survey, which spanned across the countries that together provide a home to more than half of the world's savanna species. It was done using seven fixed-wing aircraft covering Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe in an area known as the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area that's nearly the size of France. Botswana has the biggest population with 131,909, followed by Zimbabwe. While endangered elsewhere, the number of the animals in southern Africa has surged in recent decades, resulting in an increase in sometimes fatal clashes with farmers whose crops they eat.