Musings From Abroad

France/Mali relationship goes cold as new bride Russia continues to support with 2 new helicopter

Published

2 years ago

April 19, 2022

Mali has continued to enjoy military support from Russia despite being at the detriment of its relationship with France. The West African country has received two more combat helicopters and surveillance radars on a Russian cargo flight.

The two new helicopters make it eight known helicopters that Moscow has provided under closer ties forged by colonels who seized power in 2020.

A source in the defense ministry said four similar deliveries were expected over the next three months.

“This is the manifestation of a very, very fruitful partnership since we started to work with the Russian state again,” said Oumar Diarra, Chief of the General Staff of the Malian Armed Forces.

The objective of everything we do at the level of the General Staff of the Armed Forces is to work to keep our autonomy to be able to defend our territory in an autonomous way.

The Mali War started in January 2012 between the northern and southern parts of Mali in Africa with several insurgent groups, Jihadist and separatist fighters with affiliations with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group began fighting a campaign against the Malian government for independence or greater autonomy for northern Mali, which they called Azawad. The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), an organization fighting to make this area of Mali an independent homeland for the Tuareg people, had taken control of the region by April 2012.

Meanwhile, the French army officially handed over the keys of the Gossi base in northern Mali to the Malian armed forces (FAMA) on Tuesday, a major step in the departure of the Barkhane anti-jihadist force from the country.

Until recently, the relationship between Mali and France seems smooth with French-led military intervention ousting jihadists who were taking control of northern Mali but the relations have deteriorated with Mali’s new military leaders, who seized power in a 2020 coup.

Also, recall that Malian authorities announced plans last month to suspend broadcasts by French state-funded international news outlets RFI and France 24 amid accusations of reporting “false allegations”.

Related Topics:Featured France Mali Russia

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Musings From Abroad

World Bank supports Kenyan central bank’s interest rate hike

Published

23 hours ago

April 15, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The World Bank has noted that the decision of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to raise interest rates, and the partial payment of its Eurobond have contributed to the recent stability of the Kenyan Shilling.

Bank of Kenya’s (CBK) Monetary Policy Committee raised the policy rate by 50 basis points to 13.00% at its first meeting of 2024 on February 6, 2024. The policy rate then rose to its highest level in more than ten years. It was a big surprise to most market experts that the rate went up after being raised by 200 basis points in December.

The Central Bank Rate (CBR) was raised twice in a row by CBK in December and February, bringing it up from 10.5% to 13%. The main goal was to support the shilling by getting foreign investors to put their money into local investments like government bonds.

The international lender says that the Central Bank of Kenya’s move to raise the benchmark lending rate has helped protect the local currency. They also say that the demand for shilling has grown because Eurobond notes that mature in June are being partially repaid.

So far this year, the shilling has gained the most value compared to other currencies in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Zambian Kwacha has also gained some value, but not as much.

“The Kenyan shilling is the best-performing currency in the sub-continent, and it recorded an appreciation of 16% so far this year. After strengthening by 14% in mid-February, the Zambian Kwacha has lost some ground and recorded a year-to-date appreciation of 2.4% as of mid-March. In both cases, the monetary authority hiked interest rates to defend their currencies,” the World Bank notes in a new regional outlook report.

Musings From Abroad

WHO says Nigeria is the first country to use new meningitis vaccine

Published

1 day ago

April 15, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that Nigeria is the first country in the world to give out the “revolutionary” new vaccine— Men5CV.

Nigeria is one of the places in Africa where the sickness is doing the most damage. The WHO says that the number of yearly cases rose by 50% in 26 African countries that are considered to have a high risk of meningitis.

Nigeria reported 1686 possible cases of meningitis between October 1, 2022, and April 16, 2023. Of these, 124 people died, giving the country a case fatality rate (CFR) of 7%.

Meningitis is a very bad illness of the meninges, which are the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. It is a terrible disease that poses a big threat to public health.

“Nigeria’s rollout brings us one step closer to our goal to eliminate meningitis by 2030,” Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, was quoted as saying in a statement.

The WHO says that from October of last year to the middle of March of this year, there were 1,742 probable cases and 153 deaths in seven states in Nigeria.

The WHO said that the new vaccine will protect against all five major types of the disease that are common in Nigeria. This is different from the first vaccine, which only protected against one strain.