Dear Friends,

On Tuesday, 18 July we celebrate Mandela Day, the birthday of the late Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. The day is marked by acts of public service in his memory. Enjoy the read and please share.

• African Development Bank. The AfDB Group is looking to back a new debt-for-nature swap amid a rise in African debt and climate impact costs (Bloomberg).

• BRICS. South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said that arresting Vladimir Putin, should he arrive in the country for the BRICS Summit, would amount to declaring “war” against Russia (AP News). The Kremlin has since announced Putin will not attend the conference in person.

• Climate Change. US climate envoy John Kerry remarked that the US will not “under any circumstances” pay climate reparations to low- and middle-income countries (BBC).

• Democratic Republic of the Congo. Chérubin Okende, an opposition leader in the DRC, was slain by unknown assailants. The murder is likely a political hit (rfi).

• Food Security. Nigerian officials declared a national emergency on food security amid record inflation on basic food items and escalating malnutrition rates (VOA). The collapse of the Black Sea grain deal will only exacerbate the problem.

• Kenya. Schools have closed in the lead up to more protests against the cost of living and proposed tax hikes (Reuters).

• Mali. A common typo has misdirected millions of US military emails to Mali, exposing sensitive information such as diplomatic documents, tax returns, passwords and the travel details of top officers. Mistyping .MIL as .ML, the country identifier for Mali, has led to a steady flow of emails despite repeated warnings over a decade (Financial Times).

• Nigeria. Nigeria’s High Court ordered the country’s State Security Service to release detained and suspended Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele or charge him within a week (Al Jazeera).

• Pandemic Fallout. The UNDP reports that the pandemic pushed more than 165 million people into poverty (those living less than $3.65 per day).

• Sudan. The spillover from the conflict risks worsening hostilities in an already volatile Sahel region, a corridor stretching from the Red Sea to the Atlantic (Financial Times).

• Tunisia. After months of speculation, Tunisia and the EU have finalized a deal to try and stem irregular migration from northern Africa. The deal boils down to EU cash for Tunisia in exchange to stop migrants entering Europe (Al Jazeera).

In context: This graphic details the end of the free money era. Central banks across the continent have been bumping up interest rates in an attempt to tackle inflation.

Building on our Graphic of the Week, African states are putting the G20 under pressure to reform international credit markets. In the lead up to the meeting of 20 finance ministers’ in India, African states detailed their needs on World Bank reform ahead of G20 (Devex). Former US Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers co-authored a recent report commissioned by the G20 arguing that there is no escaping a capital increase.

South Africa and the DRC last week pledged to revive Congo’s giant Inga III hydroelectric project. The renewed efforts represent SA’s attempts to solve its own crippling domestic power crisis. The $14bn project, harnessing the power of the Congo River, has been repeatedly delayed by red tape and disagreements between Congo and its partners (Fin24). Inga Three, announced in 2013 with World Bank’s financial support, was supposed to deliver 11GW of power, primarily for export to SA and for mines in eastern Congo. However, the World Bank canceled its involvement in 2016 due to what it called “strategic differences.” Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi said he had held discussions with potential new and old partners, including China and the World Bank, in recent weeks.

Finally, SA will require that crypto exchanges in the country operate with licenses by the end of the year. That's according to the financial services regulator (News24).

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa welcomed the opening of a new Huawei Innovation Center in Johannesburg, praising the company for its “confidence in the South African economy and its potential” (Voice of America).

In the Central African Republic (CAR), news has emerged that Wagner mercenaries rescued Chinese gold miners. Wagner claims it received intelligence on July 1 about an attack planned by local militants and that the Chinese embassy reached out for help. The news shared by a Russian-based outfit may signal a new effort to rebuild its image after its failed mutiny (SCMP). More in Foreign Policy; What the Wagner Mutiny Means for China in Africa.

The Economist reports on the massive potential of African hydrocarbon producers both in their capacity for export (supply) and new buyers in Europe (demand) following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Projects span East Africa (Shell and Equinor are resuscitating their proposed $30bn-40bn LNG project in Tanzania) and West Africa (with multi-billion projects in LNG in Senegal and Mauritania).

In a move to strengthen health systems for pandemic preparedness, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) launched a Health Security Partnership to Strengthen Disease Surveillance and Epidemic Intelligence in Africa. The partnership aims to strengthen Africa’s health security capabilities in biosecurity, integrated disease surveillance, event-based surveillance, genomic surveillance, and epidemic intelligence in six African states (WHO).

Some Wagner mercenaries returned to CAR after the outfit’s short-lived mutiny in Russia. According to a government spokesperson, the mercenaries will oversee an upcoming constitutional referendum, which could allow the president, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, to run for a third term. Wagner has operated in the CAR since 2018. On Thursday, Wagner said its operations across the continent will continue (BBC).

Listen to the Rest is Politics for an excellent podcast about its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Across the Sahel and further east, UN human rights chief Volker Türk demanded an independent investigation into the discovery of a mass grave in Sudan’s West Darfur region, where the remains of at least 87 individuals were found (CNN).

TechCrunch this week reports on Kenyan startup Lawyers Hub as a key business partner supporting African startups in establishing their operations within the bounds of law. Its founder and leader, Linda Bonyo, is driven to support startups, meet regulatory requirements, improve corporate governance, and prepare other founders for funding raises.

United States in Africa

Our final story is comical. As a result of a common typo, millions of US military emails have been misdirected to Mali, exposing sensitive information such as diplomatic documents, tax returns, passwords and the travel details of top officers. Mistyping .MIL as .ML, the country identifier for Mali, has led to a steady flow of emails despite repeated warnings over a decade (Financial Times). Wagner enjoys warm relationships with the Malian government. It is unlikely that the group has not seen these misdirected emails.