Why is the Sahel/Africa becoming a battleground between Russia and the West? Once again, the Sahel-Saharan zone is on the brink of conflagration. If these West African countries (ECOWAS) decide to intervene militarily to dislodge the Niamey putschists and restore constitutional order, it will be one of the worst crises in African history.
Why is the Sahel/Africa becoming a battleground between Russia and the West?
The deposed president, Mohamed Bazoum, was a great ally of the West, but the military junta that took power is waging a war of words with the Western powers, who are fighting to maintain their dominance not only in Niger, but in several African countries.
All this is happening at a time when Russia’s presence on the continent is growing – with increasing investment and military support from Moscow, as well as the increasingly frequent involvement of mercenaries from the Wagner group in local conflicts.
The West, particularly the United States, accuses Vladimir Putin’s government of interfering to derail democracy in some African nations, while seeking allies for its position in the Ukraine war.
“Our respect for the sovereignty of African states, their traditions and values, their desire to independently determine their own destiny and freely build relations with their partners remains unchanged,” wrote Mr. Putin in a statement issued in July this year on the occasion of the Russia-Africa summit, which brought together several leaders in St. Petersburg.
For Nigerian researcher Ebenezer Obadare, of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) think tank, the power struggle between Russia and the West in Africa is a new chapter in the rivalry between these two poles of power, which intensified especially last year following the invasion of Ukraine.
“What Russia wants in Africa is what Western countries want too: diplomatic influence, influence over the economy and politics, projection of their power and influence,” he explains.
“There are no altruistic intentions, only political ones.”
The West, Russia and the Africans!
What is currently at play is far from being a simple ethnic or religious conflict. The West, which has vigorously rejected the coup d’état, suspects Moscow of pulling the strings.
According to Western theories, Vladimir Putin is seeking to open a new front in his all-out war against NATO through the Wagner militias, already well established in these countries. The master of the Kremlin would also seek to deprive his enemies, led by France, of their influence and vital natural resources, such as uranium.
According to experts, the actions of the two sides mainly take the form of aid, military presence and economic investment, as well as propaganda and cultural influence.
According to documents obtained by The Intercept, in 2019, the United States had 29 bases located in 15 countries or territories on the African continent.Another force with a strong presence is France. The European country, which once colonized the territories where Algeria, Senegal, Chad, Mali, Benin, Sudan, Gabon, Tunisia, Niger, Congo, Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire are located today, maintains bases in Djibouti, Gabon, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire.
British troops are also present in countries such as Djibouti, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Kenya. In the latter country, the British government maintains a permanent training center where military exercises are organized every year.
Why is the Sahel/Africa becoming a battleground between Russia and the West
Tatiana Smirnova, a Russian researcher at the Université du Québec à Montréal and a specialist in Sahel politics, explains that the paramilitary organization’s presence is one of the main ways in which the Kremlin is expanding its presence not only in Mali, but also in several other countries on the continent.”
Russia is one of the main suppliers of arms to Africa, in particular to Egypt and Algeria. But in addition to this official security cooperation, there is the work of the Wagner Group and other private military companies”, explains Ms Smirnova.
In addition to Mali, Wagner is also very active in the Central African Republic, Libya, Mozambique, Chad and Sudan. More recently, the US government accused the paramilitary group of “profiting” from the instability in Niger following the military coup.
The links between the mercenaries, the Kremlin and local political forces are hard to pin down. However, according to analysts, since the organization’s leader, Evgeniy Prigozhin, called for an uprising against the Russian army, it has become increasingly difficult to deny these links.”
We can now state with certainty that the Wagner group is supported and financed by Moscow.”
The power most affected by the coup in Niger? Nigeria, not France?
All too often, the foreign media overestimate the Western perspective. Indeed, apart from the African countries hit, the state perceived to be most affected by these military coups is France. However, all analyses emphasizing the decline of the French Republic’s strategic position on the African continent overlook the importance of geography.
Rather, it is Nigeria, which shares a border of over 1,500 kilometers with Niger, and not France, that is the power most affected by these anti-democratic developments in West Africa.
There is a long list of complex challenges facing the Nigerian state, including corruption in the oil industry and difficulties with development and security.
That said, Nigeria is a country of the rule of law and a young democracy that has survived a long history of military coups. Let’s be clear: despite its shortcomings, Nigeria is a regional power with demographic, economic and military clout unmatched by its West African neighbors, which is why Abuja is the cornerstone of ECOWAS.
Mauritania and Chad next targets for Algeria and Wagner
Why is the Sahel/Africa becoming a battleground between Russia and the West
Algeria‘s decision to authorize Wagner’s growing presence in the Sahel is sparking intense debate as to the motivations and consequences of the Algerian strategy, especially as Mauritania and Chad could be the Russian paramilitary group’s next targets, after Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, according to Western experts.
At a time when the Sahel remains a zone of great turbulence, with its share of conflicts and terrorist threats, this strategic opening towards Wagner raises questions about Algeria‘s underlying interests and the potential repercussions of the Russian group’s presence on the regional balance.
One of the arguments put forward by the Chief of Staff of the People’s National Army (ANP), General Saïd Chengriha, in favor of Wagner’s involvement, is the need to reinforce capacities to combat independence groups and movements in southern Algeria and northern Mali.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is also keen to consolidate Wagner’s presence to strengthen economic and energy relations with Russia. Russian companies could potentially invest in infrastructure and natural resource extraction projects, creating long-term economic opportunities.
By allowing Wagner to establish itself in the Sahel, Algeria is also seeking to diversify its geopolitical alliances. For Algerian leaders, this move will serve as a counterweight to Western influences or other regional players.
Sudanese refugee crisis: Fighting between regular army and paramilitary rapid intervention forces has dangerous human consequences. Hundreds of thousands of refugees!
Sudanese refugee crisis
Deadly fighting in Sudan has displaced more than 330,000 people inside the country, and another 100,000 have already fled to countries in the region, the United Nations reported on Tuesday, May 2. In all, “more than 800,000 people” could flee the country, the UN estimates.
The 2023 Sudanese refugee crisis began in Africa in mid-April 2023 after the outbreak of the 2023 Sudanese conflict. By May 12, 2023, over 200,000 people had fled the country and over a million had been internally displaced.
These included diplomats, citizens and foreign nationals from countries such as Somalia, Eritrea, Brazil, the USA, the UK, Kenya and Uganda. Thousands more were displaced, mainly from Khartoum.
Sudanese refugee crisis
On April 24, 2023, several countries, including Chad and South Sudan, reported the presence of several thousand civilians, some arriving by bus, car or on foot in extremely dangerous conditions.
In Chad, the situation is critical
Sudanese refugee crisis
The influx of Sudanese refugees entering Chad, 80% of whom are women and children, has been happening so fast that it’s testing international efforts to provide them with shelter, food and drinking water.
Ali Salam, a Chadian-American working with the Sudanese Association of American Physicians (SAPA), tells the Guardian that conditions in a refugee camp in Koufroun are “overwhelming”.
The rainy season, which starts at the end of June, will turn the region’s dirt roads into mudslides, further complicating the delivery of aid to those in need, and causing a rise in cases of malaria and other diseases, according to aid agencies.
“We know we won’t be able to relocate them all before the rainy season,” Pierre Kremer of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) tells Reuters. “We run the risk of a major humanitarian catastrophe in this region.
Disastrous economic situation
Chad, a landlocked country, depends on Sudan for access to international markets for foodstuffs, refined oil products and other imports. The fighting has complicated this system, exacerbating the fuel shortages that began in early March and driving up food prices.
According to the Observatory for Economic Complexity, the closure of the border with Sudan has caused prices to rise by up to 70%. In Chad’s capital, high inflation has caused major problems for shopkeepers and their customers alike, as the economic fallout from the fighting in Sudan influences the price of everything, including the red tea prized by Chadians.
Chad requests international aid
On Saturday June 24, Chad, where tens of thousands of new refugees are fleeing the war in Sudan, called for “massive aid” from the international community, which it accuses of “leaving it almost alone” in the face of an “unprecedented” humanitarian crisis.
Prime Minister Saleh Kebzabo told diplomats and representatives of international organizations on Saturday that “the mobilization of the international community (…) is not on a par with the mobilization seen elsewhere, leaving Chad almost alone in the face of hosting refugees, while exhausting its own resources to the maximum”.
Sudanese refugees between a rock and a hard place in the Central African Republic
For the past eight weeks, Sudan’s civil war has been turning the country upside down. Fleeing the fighting in Darfur, ten thousand refugees have taken refuge in the north of the Central African Republic.
While the fate of these shipwrecked warriors has caused a stir, more than 10,000 people have found themselves in an even more precarious situation in Amdafock. This small Central African village on the border with Darfur has been the scene of a drama behind closed doors since mid-April.
Sudanese refugee crisis
Life here is hard. No water, no electricity, no shelter for those shipwrecked – mostly women, children and the elderly – by the violence that continues to shake neighboring Darfur, bringing in hundreds of new arrivals every day.
Humanitarian assistance to date has been insufficient to cope with the influx. Bandits and armed groups lurk nearby. The security stakes are high. Here, the border only exists on paper, and with the exception of a few undermanned peacekeepers, no one is protecting the locality. At the end of May, the vehicle of an international NGO was attacked on the road, killing one person.
Egypt: government restricts entry conditions for Sudanese refugees
Sudanese refugee crisis
Egypt is tightening entry formalities for Sudanese nationals. Their country has been torn apart for almost two months by a deadly war that has led to a serious humanitarian crisis.
In a statement published on Sunday June 11, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced new procedures. The aim is to “establish a regulatory framework for the entry of Sudanese brothers into Egypt after more than 50 days of crisis” in their country.
Egypt has welcomed more than 200,000 Sudanese citizens since the start of the crisis” two months ago, according to local authorities. They add that these recently arrived refugees “are in addition to the five million Sudanese citizens already present in the country before the war”.
These restrictive measures are not intended to “prevent or limit the number of Sudanese citizens entering” Egyptian territory, but rather to put an end to the “illegal activities of individuals and groups on the Sudanese side of the border, who falsify entry visas” for profit, explains the statement.
Darfur again threatened by “ethnic cleansing
Both the United Nations and human rights organizations have been warning in recent weeks of the proliferation of attacks in the region against civilians based on their ethnicity.
The international organization’s special representative for Sudan, Volker Perthes, recently warned that some of these attacks could potentially constitute “crimes against humanity”.
The New York Times recently reported, based on the testimony of refugee survivors in Chad, that snipers had been positioned to shoot down fleeing civilians.
On Tuesday, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed its alarm at the situation in Darfur, pointing out that the fighting was intensifying and that “the ethnic dimension seen in the past is unfortunately returning”.
A crisis that drags on
The conflict in Sudan could join the long list of forgotten regional and international crises. A number of factors support this hypothesis, which is not to everyone’s displeasure. Firstly, the unbridled nature of the parties to the conflict, dominated by the desire for revenge and the quest for a decisive military victory over the two generals, who do not seem to have any intention of ceasing their actions, at least in the foreseeable future.
These crimes against civilian facilities such as airports, hospitals, schools, water points and the like are not the only evidence of the disaster that has befallen Sudan. The worst has been confirmed, especially after the collapse of the ceasefire and the suspension of talks in Jeddah announced by the Saudi and American mediators, accusing both sides of failing to respect the ceasefire and hindering aid and appeasement measures.
The perpetuation of the conflict in Sudan risks extending the fighting scenario beyond the country’s major cities. It could spread to other regions and neighboring countries, exacerbating existing insecurity and the causes of tension and conflict. The result would be humanitarian crises and a wave of refugees, outstripping the capacity of countries in the region to cope with such challenges.
How much do influencers earn in Africa? In this article, we will explain the concept, the contents exploited and we will estimate the income of the influencers in Africa.
How much do influencers earn in Africa?
What is the salary of influencers? Influencer has now become a real profession that brings in a lot of money! The professionalization of content creators is now at the center of the social network economy. Zoom on the astronomical salaries of these professionals.
The business of influence is becoming more and more profitable. An advertising campaign led by an influencer can have a considerable impact on customers’ consumption. Influencers are now considered as a full-fledged means of communication that easily reaches thousands of people, or even millions of subscribers, thus potential consumers. Their salaries can therefore reach astronomical amounts!
Influencers business
African stars are increasingly flocking to social networks, especially Instagram, and have many followers who follow them in their lives. Among African influencers, Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah is the highest paid, with $180,000 per ad. The Pharaoh is ahead of singer Davido Adeleke, who earns $91,100.
Instagram influencers with less than 10,000 followers can earn an average of $88 per post. Those with less than 100,000 followers average $200 per post, but these figures often vary from account to account. Many celebrities and athletes in Africa are brand advocates and generate additional revenue through social media advertising and sponsored content.
What is an influencer?
Networks are now omnipresent and have created new consumer actors. The term influencer was born with the advent of these tools and designates in marketing “digital opinion leaders who, through their posts and recommendations on social networks, significantly influence the buying behavior of their followers.”
Influencer has become a real profession in its own right. Brands set up affiliation programs with influencers in order to promote their products through promo codes or affiliation links.
There are three types of influencers:
Mega-influencers:
The most famous or celebrities with a very large community and allowing brands to increase their visibility.
Macro-influencers:
They have a committed community that is close to their interests.
Micro-influencers:
They have a smaller community. These influencers are known mainly for their authenticity and their proximity to their followers. They don’t hesitate to make meetings and meetups to strengthen these links.
Influencers’ salaries: how are they paid?
How much do influencers earn in Africa? What is the salary of TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Twitch or Instagram influencers made of? Their remuneration can take several forms. The most classic formula is the one called sponsored publication. It is often found on Instagram and TikTok. It is simply stories in which influencers, in exchange for a salary, will promote a product or a site.
This practice was recently denounced by the rapper Booba and other public figures. Complément d’Enquête made an investigation on this subject. The reason? Most of the time, influencers put forward a product from dropshipping that is easy to find at 50% or even 90% off on the Internet. Sometimes, these items can even be dangerous or are not up to European standards.
The second way for an influencer to get paid is product placement. This is slightly similar to sponsored publishing, but it takes various forms. It can take the form of an advertisement or a small promo moment in the heart of a video, as Squeezie does regularly with the #Ad. It can also be a product slipped into the foreground of a video, without necessarily mentioning it.
Finally, there are other ways for influencers to earn a salary: paid partnership, a brand can sponsor one or a series of videos without necessarily being highlighted, sponsors, then, with time, other projects can emerge such as the launch of its own brand, photo shoots or even appearances in movies or series.
Africa: The highest paid influencers on Instagram (Examples)
1- Mohamed Salah $180,000 per ad – Sports
2- Davido $91,100 per ad – Music
3- Tiwa Sa-vage $61,400 per ad – Music
4- Yemi Alade $60,200 per ad – Music
5- Funke Akindele 59 500 dollars per ad – Movies
6- Wizkid $57,300 per ad – Music
Understanding influencer marketing, the source of influencer pay
Influencer marketing is a marketing strategy that involves using influencers to promote a product or brand. Influencers are usually popular personalities on social networks (like TikTok or Instagram), such as celebrities, bloggers, vloggers, Instagrammers, etc. They have a large audience and a strong influence on their fans and followers, which makes them particularly effective in promoting a product or brand.
Influencer marketing can be very effective because influencers are perceived as experts in their field and their recommendations are often considered authentic and reliable. It is this authenticity that attracts followers and makes the marketing campaign more impactful. In addition, influencers tend to have a trusting relationship with their audience, which can help increase the credibility and awareness of the brand they promote.
To run an effective influencer marketing campaign, it is important to choose the right influencers. It is advisable to target those who have a relevant audience for the brand and who are authentic and credible. In addition, it is important to involve them in the campaign in a natural way, asking them to share their personal experience with the product rather than asking them to advertise for the brand.
Influencer marketing can be used in different ways. For example, influencers can share photos or videos on social networks, where they use or talk about the product. They can also organize events or contests to promote the brand, or offer discount codes to their audience.
Influencer marketing can be very profitable for brands, but it is important to manage it properly. It is advisable to work with influencers who have a large audience and strong influence, but also to establish clear rules and ensure that the campaign complies with advertising and ethical rules.
Influencer salaries: The calculation methodology used by Intellifluence
How much do influencers earn in Africa?
Marketing platform Intellifluence conducted a survey of 1,249 influencers to define their compensation. The questionnaire was sent in May 2021 in three countries: the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. In this case, it was interested in content creators and more specifically in the amount of money they charged brands for creating sponsored content on social networks (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube).
How much do influencers earn in Africa? Intellifluence divided this data to create groups of influencers by number of followers, ranging from less than 10,000 to more than 5 million. The bottom line? Creators can be paid between $56 (47 euros) per post on Twitter and more than $4,300 (3,630 euros) per post on TikTok.
The influencers who participated in this survey do not have the same level of experience. Indeed, 64% had just started their career and had barely three years of experience. The method of payment can also vary from one person to another: about 70% of the influencers confided in receiving both products and money and only 6% were paid exclusively in free products.
Looking at this study will allow many influencers to know exactly what price to offer to brands. Indeed, 41% of them told Intellifluence that they didn’t feel that brands offered “adequate compensation” for sponsored posts.
Where does the money given to influencers by platforms come from?
In general, platforms earn money via subscriptions, this is notably the case for YouTube and soon for Facebook and Instagram. They can also generate significant amounts of money via ads shown before videos or between two publications. Most of the time, platforms pay influencers via ad revenue sharing.
In general, on most platforms, influencers are paid $1 per 1,000 views. This is notably the case on TikTok, on YouTube or on Instagram. Nevertheless, pay policies evolve according to the periods, the quality of an influencer’s audience, the number of views, etc.
Influencers of course earn money through their partnerships with brands, whether to promote a product, a service, an event, etc. Some even have annual partners, like MATH and NordVPN. This company also regularly comes back to YouTube and supports hundreds of YouTubers of all types, such as Squeezie.
Study: How much do Instagram influencers earn in 2023?
How much do influencers earn in Africa?
HypeAuditor surveyed more than 1,865 Instagram influencers who have more than 1,000 followers to conduct its study.
The main key numbers from this study on Instagrammer salaries:
48.49% of the 1865 influencers surveyed reported earning money on their accounts.
On average, influencers earn $2,970 per month from their Instagram accounts (micro influencers 1K-10K earn $1,420 per month, mega influencers over 1 million earn $15,356 per month).
On average, influencers spend 24 hours a week maintaining an account. Most of their time is spent on posts, stories, communicating with followers, team management, marketing strategy, and partner communication.
Instagram influencers who earn money on their account, worked on their account an average of 28.7 hours per week, while those who do not earn money spent an average of 20.9 hours per week.
The average Instagram influencer makes $31 per hour. Beauty influencers earn the most with an average income of $60 per hour. Mega influencers earn from $187 per hour (relative to the time spent maintaining the account).
Among the most popular ways for influencers to earn money beyond promoting a brand (40.15%), creating a personal brand with redirecting traffic and customers to one’s own business is the second most popular source of revenue for influencers (21.71% say they use this monetization method).
Affiliate programs
Participating in affiliate programs comes next (14.92%). Selling online courses also ranks high with 3.86%. Subscription services (Onlyfans, Discord and others) were noted as an additional source of revenue by 7.68% of influencers.
47% of influencers said that after starting Covid, they started making more money than before.
25.78% said that in the future, they will be able to live off of income from an Instagram account, and 4.27% of respondents are already living off of income from an account (on average, these influencers receive $5912 from their account per month).
21% of influencers work with brands through unpaid partnerships via barter (product donations for exposure), 23% for cash and 56% on a hybrid model with donations and cash.
61% disclose to their community the fact that it is a sponsored partnership, when it is a paid post with brand mention, 12% do not.
47% of influencers say they are impacted by fraudulent activity (bots, automated likes, bot comments, …).
49.68% are seeing more and more fraudulent activity and unnatural engagements now.
Sudan – 200 dead and severe division of the ruling military junta: Since the 2019 coup, the situation in Sudan has continued to shift. Foreign interference and the despotism of the junta have created an intractable situation. In addition, the whole of Africa is being impacted.
Russia’s role in Sudan
“There is a real concern that Russian equipment and Russian training will allow him (Dagalo) to overwhelm the Sudanese armed forces, which outnumber him,” analysts said.
They stressed that “what appears – once again – is the inflation of Russian influence in most of Africa, especially in Sudan, is the arrival of this case to this point”.
Zahra Al-Wardi, a Sudanese citizen, spoke about the conditions of the Sudanese people and what her family is going through there, saying, “Talk to my mother before I go on the air. They are running out of food. Most of the stores are closed. In fact, all the stores are closed. The banks are closed.” “I talked to some of my relatives who are lying on the ground with their children. thankfully they are not near the barracks where some of the fiercest fighting is going on.”
She continued, “But honestly, there’s a barracks four blocks from my parents’ house now. It’s really scary. I mean, my parents would hate for me to get hit, they’re angry like a lot of Sudanese people are, and in fact, they’re probably better off than a lot of us who are.” They’re out.”
She ended her commentary by saying, “But we must remind viewers that these are the same men who ruined Sudan’s fledgling democracy. We all remember those images of tens of thousands of Sudanese risking their lives, and now these same men are holding a whole country hostage, and it seems like all anyone can do is watch.
Sudan – 200 dead and severe division of the ruling military junta:
Context of the outbreak of hostilities between the belligerents in Sudan
The country’s economy has been in crisis since the secession of South Sudan in 2011 and the loss of revenue from oil fields. The overthrow of the Islamist military regime of Omar al-Bashir in April 2019 and the installation of a civilian government four months later led to the beginning of reconstruction.
Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok was popular with the public and appreciated by Western countries and international donors, resulting in a slight improvement attributed to the country’s return to the circles of the “international community,” the lifting of U.S. sanctions, the reform of the foreign exchange market situation, and the development of a poverty alleviation plan, despite insanely spiraling inflation – it reached more than 359% in 2021, partly due to speculation, the Covid crisis, and political obstacles.
The October 25, 2021 coup d’état threw the country into the abyss. All international aid was frozen, and perhaps to the surprise of the leadership, loans, grants, debt negotiations and technical support were all frozen. Investors who had begun tentatively to return to the country have also withdrawn. Inflation remains unsustainable, exceeding 300% in 2022, before falling in recent months to over 87% in January 2023.
This is a sign that the country is not in a better position, but rather a sign that it is entering a state of economic recession. Simply put, the population can no longer afford even the basics. There is no more demand, so the price increase is slowing down. The military council did absolutely nothing to reform the economy. This coup has stopped the momentum for reform that was in place. Poverty and unemployment have also increased. And it is imperative to return to a civilian government to regain donor support.
Civilians attempt to restore order
And the civilians in the Alliance of Forces for Freedom and Change/Central Council had just that urgency to act quickly, to explain and justify their secret negotiations with the coup generals. The negotiation process was formally held under the auspices of the tripartite mechanism established in May 2022, which includes the United Nations Integrated Transitional Support Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), the United Nations political support mission, the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional cooperation organization in East Africa.
However, as with any conflict in Sudan, all parties are involved. The “troika” countries – the United States, Norway and the United Kingdom – also weighed in, not to mention the European Union. Also involved in the intervention is the “Quartet”, composed of the United States, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The result of these months of secret talks was a framework agreement that was officially signed on December 5, 2022. The head of the Military Council and Commander-in-Chief of the army, Major General Al-Burhan, and his rival and deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, signed on behalf of the military side, Shahr “Hemedti”, commander of the Rapid Support Force, which is made up mainly of the assembly of “Janjaweed” forces, Khartoum’s bloody suppletives in its war in Darfur.
Some 40 parties and groupings signed on the civilian side, the largest of which was the Alliance for Forces of Freedom and Change/Central Council, the political arm of the revolution.
Sudan’s battle toll
On Monday, the head of the U.N. Mission in Sudan, Volker Berthes, announced that more than 180 people had been killed and 1,800 wounded in the fighting that has raged in Sudan for the past three days between the army and the Rapid Support Forces.
“The situation is very fluid, so it’s hard to say which way the balance of forces is leaning” on the ground, Perthes told reporters in New York after making a video address to the U.N. Security Council from Khartoum.
In addition, the United Nations announced that the number of casualties has risen to more than 200, while the number of injured has risen to 2,200.
On Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for “an immediate cessation of hostilities, a return to calm and the engagement of dialogue to resolve the crisis” in Sudan, where heavy fighting has been going on since Saturday between the army and the Rapid Support Forces.
“I strongly condemn the outbreak of fighting in Sudan,” Guterres said, warning that “any further escalation” of the conflict between the army and paramilitary forces “could be devastating for the country and the region.”
Sudan – 200 dead and severe division of the ruling military junta
For the fourth consecutive day, fighting continues between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces in the capital, Khartoum, and other areas, while international and regional parties are making tireless efforts to urge both sides to move toward peace.
And the Sudanese army spokesman announced that the army commander, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, had pardoned those who had laid down their arms from the Rapid Support Forces.
For its part, the Rapid Support Forces said that a new revolution began on Saturday and continues to achieve its goals, the first of which is the formation of a civilian government.
“Since last Saturday, a new revolution was launched that has achieved successive victories and still continues to achieve its noble goals, foremost of which is the formation of a civilian government that will lead us to a true democratic transition,” it added in a statement.
The effects of the civil war in Sudan on peace and security on the African continent
Sissi: We hope to retrieve Egyptian forces from Sudan as soon as possible
3 days after the detention of a group of Egyptian forces at the military base in Marawi in northern Sudan by the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces in Egypt held a meeting on Monday night, chaired by President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi.
The video released by the “Rapid Support Forces” in Sudan of the Egyptian soldiers detained at the base in Marawi has caused many reactions in Egypt and calls for the need to intervene to save these soldiers and respond to the “humiliating” way in which the “Rapid Support Forces” dealt with them.
The Egyptian president said in a speech after the meeting on “the need for security and safety of Egyptian forces in Sudan,” expressing his hope to restore these forces “as soon as possible.”
Al-Sissi said “elements of the Egyptian army were present under a protocol with the Sudanese army to conduct joint training, and it is not true that Egyptian forces are in Sudan to support one side at the expense of another.”
Armed clashes in Sudan point to increased numbers of displaced people heading to Morocco
Violent clashes between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces have increased the number of Sudanese displaced persons flocking to North Africa, particularly Libya, which has become a border area for reaching European lands after crossing the Algerian and Moroccan borders.
Data available to the electronic newspaper Hespress indicate that the violent events taking place in the “Land of the Two Niles” have prompted new groups to flee the region’s hotbeds of tension, resorting to human trafficking networks to reach Chad and Libya.
Once in Libya, Sudanese IDPs continue their march to Algeria, through which they cross the Moroccan border, where they often settle temporarily in Oujda or Nador with a view to fleeing to the occupied port of Melilla.
Sudanese human rights sources told the newspaper that human trafficking networks have taken advantage of the security chaos in Khartoum to double their illegal activities in recent hours, as hundreds of young Sudanese want to leave the country, which is living under the impact of the army tension.
Most of the Sudanese migrants fleeing to Morocco are from the Darfur region, and are heading mainly to Libya, which is a key crossing point to reach Italy, but the multiplicity of criminal networks on the Libyan coast has forced them to flee to Algeria and Morocco.
The first route for Sudanese immigrants is from the Libyan city of Ghadames to the Algerian city of Debdab, then to Ouargla, then to Algiers, then to Oran, during which a cab can be taken to Maghnia, to reach the “Mount Zoe” that leads to Morocco.
Digital economy: a growth driver for Africa? The digital economy represents an opportunity for Africa to emerge, according to specialists. With the demographic pyramid, Africa can build a strong digital economy quickly. In addition to the commitment of African leaders and development partners, the training of talent remains a major challenge.
Digital economy: a growth driver for Africa?
Digital economy, a growth driver for Africa? When discussing digital transformation on the continent, a first observation emerges: digitalization is well underway in the five African sub-regions. However, there are disparities between them and of course between the 54 states of the continent. On the one hand, we have champions of digital transformation, followed by challengers, and finally countries where digital transformation is not a priority for the moment, particularly because they are experiencing a situation of tension or conflict.
“To develop the digital economy, two basic elements are required. First, a consistent ICT infrastructure to launch digital services. One cannot claim to have e-learning or e-health services for example if one does not have an adequate infrastructure… And unlike traditional infrastructure, ICT infrastructure requires a clear impetus and vision to be at the same level and have the same technologies as those of advanced countries,” said Adnan Ben Halima, vice president of public relations at Huawei Northern Africa, speaking at an e-conference organized on April 14 on the digital economy.
Digital economy: a growth driver for Africa?
Indeed, indicators on communication infrastructure and the digital economy would quickly bring us closer to the reality of the continent’s digital transformation: only 17% of the population has enough money to buy a gigabyte of data, compared to 37% in Latin America and the Caribbean and 47% in Asia. The lowest costs are observed in North Africa and the highest in Central Africa.
African digital economy analysis by sub region
Digital economy, a growth driver for Africa?
In Southern Africa, the digital transformation is at two speeds. Among the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) countries – Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa – South Africa is leading the way in digital transformation. In contrast, in the non-SACU countries of Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, digital transformation is still in its infancy with only 25% of the population having access to the Internet.
In this subregion, only 23% of the population can afford to buy 1GB of mobile data each month. South Africa is the main driver of a vibrant digital economy in the region. The country has between 700 and 1,200 technology startups operating in several sectors. South Africa also has the highest number of data centers in Africa at 21, compared to Mozambique’s 1 and Angola’s 3.
According to a recent study by the African Union and the OECD, East Africa, with 14 countries, holds the world record for mobile payment penetration, with 1,106 reported mobile payment accounts per 1,000 adults. The widespread use of mobile payment services in Kenya has lifted at least 194,000 households out of extreme poverty. All told, only 34% of the sub-region’s population can afford to buy 1GB of mobile data each month
In 2019, East African tech startups raised over $729 million in investments, up from $367 million in 2016. For the most part, these investments are in Kenya, ahead of Rwanda and Uganda.
North Africa consolidates its position in the digital economy
With six countries, North Africa is the best-connected region on the continent with mobile penetration at around 70% and 4G coverage at 83% by 2020. Mauritania and Egypt have relatively lower levels of digitalization than the other countries. Telephone penetration is higher in Algeria and Tunisia, while 4G coverage is better in Morocco and Tunisia. Finally, Internet coverage appears to be better in Libya and Algeria.
The digital potential of North Africa has led to improved business communication through websites and the development of e-commerce platforms.
In West Africa, which includes 15 countries, the region’s digital ecosystem is growing rapidly as the number of active technology hubs increased from 84 in 2016 to 142 in 2018. Mobile banking services have boosted financial inclusion in the subregion, which reached 57.1% in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) in 2018, with remarkable rates for some countries, notably Togo with a 71.9% rate.
In Central Africa, which includes 9 countries, only 9 out of 100 people use a computer and only a third (34.2%) of its territory is covered by 4G. Mobile payments have increased ninefold since 2010… but the potential of digital entrepreneurs remains largely untapped. In this subregion, only 5% of intermediate cities are within a ten kilometer radius of a high-speed terrestrial fiber optic network, whereas in West Africa, 20% are within this radius.
Africa’s Potential in Numbers
Digital economy, a growth driver for Africa? Africa has the potential to use the digital economy as an engine of growth and innovation, especially in light of the increased investment in digital transformation, to enable internet access to a wide range of citizens across Africa, and the African Union has developed a digital transformation strategy to seize the opportunities for Africa to leapfrog development.
A study by the Pharos Center for African Business found that Africa has become a hotbed of innovation, as it has witnessed several rounds of investment for emerging African technology companies to get individuals using mobile payment systems that were developed in Kenya and renewable energy solutions in Africa are working toward a more sustainable future.
The African continent has 18% of the world’s population, but accounts for 0.4% of high-tech exports and 2% of large-scale services exports. Promoting these exports would therefore accelerate the continent’s growth.
South Africa in pole position
The study pointed out that the virtual company can be defined as a company that relies on electronic employment, where employees perform their work remotely, and they communicate with each other through electronic means, and do not have a fixed seat, and bear little expense when compared to the physical expenses of the company, and it saves a lot of money, time, effort and buildings, And a company can decide to move from a traditional company that operates in familiar and known methods to a virtual company that relies on everything it does on remote work.
The study reported that South Africa ranks as the 35th largest e-commerce market in the world, with revenues of $3 billion in 2019. The prevalence of e-commerce among internet users in South Africa is about 56%, followed by Russia at 60%, while the global average is 76%. It is the largest online market on the African continent. Among the product categories most in demand by South Africans are: electronics, which is the largest sector and generates 31% of e-commerce revenue; toys, leisure and entertainment, which accounts for 21% of e-commerce revenue; furniture and appliances, which accounts for 21% of e-commerce revenue; fashion, which accounts for 19% of e-commerce revenue; and personal care products, which accounts for 8% of Internet revenue in South Africa.
African leaders commit to building a digital economy
At the 2018 Spring Meetings, the World Bank Group launched the Digital Economy for Africa initiative, which brought together African finance and ICT ministers, central bank governors, global technology and telecom giants, as well as local and regional internet platforms, think tanks, leaders, and entrepreneurs Free Digital and Development Partners. The forum focused on the role of the digital economy as a new engine of growth, discussed how to build its foundations and addressed the risks of being left behind.
Today, the African Digital Economy Initiative is working with a group of countries to prepare a national digital economy assessment that will serve as the basis for national digital economy strategies. One of the goals of the initiative is to increase connectivity throughout the region and connect the rural and urban poor to digital financial and government services, markets, and information. Digital economy, a growth driver for Africa? This will create a foundation for active digital entrepreneurship and raise the level of digital education and skills.
Many countries have already embarked on the path to a digital economy. Senegal has set a goal of getting 10% of its GDP from the digital economy by 2025. Rwanda has launched 4G and fiber connectivity to provide e-government and other services across the country. Kenya pioneered the mobile money transaction services industry and is now exporting its model.
Toward Universal Internet Coverage in Africa
The provision of affordable Internet services is a key requirement for sub-Saharan Africa to participate in the digital economy. However, the region is not fully connected to broadband infrastructure. The African continent has 21 countries among the twenty-five least connected to the digital economy in the world, while the number of those with access to the Internet does not exceed 22% of the total population. The region will benefit from focusing on introducing innovative business connectivity models, leveraging alternative infrastructure, and improving the policy and regulatory environment to increase private sector investment.
In addition to connecting people to the digital world, it is important to facilitate people’s self-expression through digital identity cards. However, 29% of adults in sub-Saharan Africa have no way to prove their identity. This percentage is much higher among women, youth, and the very poor. Digital ID programs can enable people to access basic government services, just as Rwanda is already doing.
Digital economy, a growth driver for Africa
Bringing people together online also helps increase access to financial services, including mobile money transactions. Fortunately, sub-Saharan Africa has seen the highest level of use of mobile money transactions. For example, when the government of Côte d’Ivoire issued several licenses to mobile operators, it opened up the market and with it new data from the Global Financial Inclusion Index showing a significant increase in access to financial services. The challenge, however, is to increase the means of such facilitation. And there are still 57% of adults prevented from opening an account for transactions, while no more than one in five adults have an account for financial transactions on a cell phone. To improve access to financial services, countries are beginning to consider harmonizing regional frameworks for payment systems, cross-border data flows, data privacy, cybersecurity and consumer protection. These are also important for achieving economies of scale and promoting regional integration, both of which are necessary for sub-Saharan Africa to compete in the global digital economy.
Digital Commerce
The creation of mobile payment and transaction platforms opens the door to the “platform economy” through e-commerce, e-markets, and the “shared economy,” all of which are growth engines for digital economies. For these platforms and shared economies to take off, the region needs dynamic entrepreneurial environments to help local businesses transform their operations and energy into value-generating activities online. Sub-Saharan Africa has the most entrepreneurial and youngest population in the world, according to the Early Entrepreneurship Index, but most countries lack the elements of the entrepreneurial system-mentoring, seed capital, and office equipment. While Africa is full of examples of excellence, we need to create businesses with superior technical capabilities that will bring jobs and open new markets.
Improving digital awareness and skills is another necessity. At the least basic level, people need digital knowledge to interact with the digital world. Most workers need digital skills to use technology in their daily work. Digital entrepreneurs need special coding and software skills to build their online businesses. Large technology and education companies like Andela are already developing these skills in key African markets.
We need to work together across the public and private sectors, regional organizations, and development partners to support Africa’s efforts to leverage digital transformation technology to accelerate sustainable development.
Draft Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa (2020-2030)
Africa presents a sea of economic opportunity in almost every sector, the continent’s predominantly young demographic structure represents a huge opportunity in the digital age, and therefore Africa must make digital social and economic development a high priority. Digital transformation is an engine for achieving innovative, inclusive and sustainable growth. From innovations such as mobile money platforms to the development of large-scale business outsourcing, digital transformation creates jobs, fights poverty, reduces inequality, facilitates the delivery of goods and services, and contributes to the achievement of Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Africa’s digital economy will grow sixfold by 2050, to $712 billion
The size of the digital economy in Africa is expected to grow sixfold by 2050, to $712 billion from the current $115 billion, the international network of high-impact entrepreneurs Endeavor estimated in a report released on June 9, 2022.
Entitled “The inflection point: Africa’s digital economy is about to take off,” the report states that the continent represents “the next growth frontier” of the digital economy.
Boosted by the Covid-19 pandemic in recent years, the growth of the digital economy in Africa is based primarily on three factors: the rising penetration of digital tools among the population, rapid urbanization, increased consumer spending and strong economic growth.
By 2030, consumer spending is expected to reach $2.5 trillion on the continent. By 2025, one in six Internet users worldwide will be in Africa, while 33% of new cell phone subscriptions will come from sub-Saharan Africa.
Significant impact on African economies
Endeavor also believes that the growth potential of the digital economy in Africa remains very high compared to other regions of the world. All the more so as there is still a lot of room for improvement. Only 33% of Africans use the Internet compared to a global average of 63%, while mobile broadband penetration is only 41% in Africa compared to a global average of 83%.
On the other hand, the digital opportunity is currently concentrated in four countries on the continent. Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt and Kenya. These countries capture 51% of all mobile subscriptions on the continent, 50% of software developers, and 73% of startup gas pedals.
Despite the differences between countries, the growth of the digital economy is expected to have a significant impact on African economies. GDP per capita is expected to increase by 2.5% for every 10% increase in mobile penetration, and by 1.9% for every 10% increase in digitization (conversion of information to a digital medium).
44 million jobs could also be created if Africa’s Internet penetration rate reaches 75%, and 3 million jobs will be created by marketplaces by 2025.
Growing opportunities for investors
The digital economy is already attracting considerable funding in Africa. Investments in strat-ups operating on the continent have increased 18-fold between 2015 and 2021. Between 2020 and 2021, these investments grew twice as fast as the global average.
The increase in the number of mega rounds (over $50 million), liquidity events, and unicorns further reinforces investors’ excitement about digital opportunities on the continent.
Since 2011, there have been 7 liquidity events over $50 million and over 20 mega rounds over $50 million. In addition, Africa has produced 11 unicorns in the past six years, including Jumia, Interswitch, Opay, and Flutterwave, while the time it takes for an African startup to become a unicorn is rapidly decreasing.
In the coming years, opportunities will exist in pre-seed, seed, and early stage as well as in scale-up and exit. Endeavor notes, however, that “white space” remains important. Due to the large number of deals in the $0.2-5 million range recorded in 2021 (600 raises) compared to the $5-50 million range (150 raises), there is likely to be a shortage of funding supply when companies that have raised between $1-5 million need additional capital to scale further. To fill this gap, investors will have to consider adjusting their ticket sizes
In this context, the authors of the report recommend that international investors looking to support the development of African tech nuggets should learn more about the continent’s markets, working with local incubators and gas pedals.
Training the talents of tomorrow
The second basic element for developing a digital economy is resources in terms of talent, as Ben Halima reminds us. “In the countries where Huawei is present in Africa, we have launched various training programs with local institutions, such as ICT Academy, which aims to train between 5,000 and 10,000 students or engineering students per country. We also work with national government departments to select the best engineering students to provide them with training in China,” says Adnan Ben Halima.
Internet access remains out of reach for most people on the continent, digital startups struggle to attract funding, and “traditional” businesses are slow to adopt digital technologies and platforms to boost productivity and sales. Few governments are investing strategically and systematically in developing digital infrastructure, services, skills, and entrepreneurship. Digital economy, a growth driver for Africa?
Africa needs to think big on digital development. At the current rate of socio-economic achievement, many young Africans will be denied the opportunity to realize their potential. Digital technologies offer a chance to correct this trajectory, opening up new avenues for rapid economic growth, innovation, job creation, and access to services that would have been unimaginable just ten years ago.
In a universal vision, the digital economy should inevitably accelerate the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially on the African continent. Finally, there would be no secret to building a real digital economy: political will, targeted investments, quality digital infrastructure and talented human resources to meet the challenge of the next ten years.
“I believe that technologies will boost emerging economies. They should allow Africa to play a more important role by 2030, with more foreign investment, lower unemployment and more opportunities for young people to develop their talents,” says Ben Halima.
Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights: Action plan & recommendations for human rights-sensitive and ethical artificial intelligence. In this study, we addressed topics relating to human rights violations in the artificial intelligence environment. In particular, we recommend that public authorities appoint an institution to provide national leadership in artificial intelligence in general and that human rights be addressed in all dimensions of artificial intelligence. Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights in Africa.
Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights in Africa
Arise of problematic
More than 10 years ago, the issue of the impact of social media sites on major events in the world, particularly in the Arabic-speaking region, was raised in what was dubbed the “Arab Spring.” Several studies have defended distinct suggestions on whether or not to have such an impact, and the role of the media in shortcuts about “social network revolutions” (Bensalah, Réseaux socations et révolutions arabes?, 2012). Today, artificial intelligence has become an increasingly important place in human life in terms of technological developments and the resulting studies, research and inventions. Artificial intelligence has certainly brought solutions to facilitate life in an increasingly interdependent world, contributed to the development of services in various fields and contributed significantly to the improvement of benefits for humanity and in the areas of health, education, culture, finance, transport, communications, etc. However, it also raised serious issues affecting human rights and freedoms, including those relating to the exercise of freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, opinion, rights to information, privacy, security, health and employment, as well as problems of incitement to hatred or violence and discrimination. These problems are expected to increase with accelerated technological development, particularly through the spread of connected objects (Internet of Things or Internets), ‘virtual reality’ or ‘augmented reality’ and the popularization of the fifth generation 5G.
Guiding principles for artificial intelligence
Certainly, several national laws and regulations, as well as several international texts, govern some of the above-mentioned risk aspects. However, these regulations generally do not take into account the artificial intelligence environment or its evolution over the past 20 years. We have adopted a human rights-based approach to studying the interaction of artificial intelligence with rights and freedoms. In this study, we propose general principles for guiding artificial intelligence for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. In this study, we addressed topics relating to human rights violations in the artificial intelligence environment. Indeed, the risks of profiling, discrimination, invasion of privacy, interference in the exercise of freedoms, addiction or extremism, violation of the security of individuals or the integrity of data systems, especially personal, barriers to participation in public life, etc., are present and verifiable. In particular, we recommend that public authorities appoint an institution to provide national leadership in artificial intelligence in general and that human rights be addressed in all dimensions of artificial intelligence. We also recommend, inter alia, that this institution develop a code of ethics on artificial intelligence, taking into account the principles and recommendations of this study.
Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights in Africa:
