Violent clashes following protests against Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize PM leave more than 70 dead

About 78 people were killed in violent clashes that followed protests against Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in parts of Ethiopia.
409 people have also been arrested, according to a Billene Seyoum spokeswoman for the Prime Minister.
The protests against the PM began when an influential activist accused security forces of trying to orchestrate an attack against him.
The government has said that the violence has ethnic and religious elements and has also been criticised for its response to the violence.
An Amnesty International researcher, Fisseha Tekle, told the guardian that the violence included instances of security forces opening fire on protesters, but it was increasingly taking the form of ethnic and religious clashes.

South Africa celebrates rugby world cup win

The South African Rugby team beat England 32-12 in the world cup final in Japan.
The victory is especially symbolic as the team was led by Siya Kolisi, the team’s first black captain.
This is also the third time that the Springboks have won the trophy equalling New Zealand’s record.
The victory of the team has brought into focus how much the country has changed since the end of apartheid. When the team won its first World Cup in 1995, it had just one black player. The 2019 squad has twelve players and is more reflective of the country’s diversity.

Nigeria extends border closure to January 31

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the extension of the closure of Nigeria’s border with neighbouring countries to January 31.
Nigeria closed all its land borders since August to tackle smuggling of commodities especially rice.
Nigeria banned the importation of rice from Benin in 2004 and from all its neighbours in 2016, but that did not stop the trade.
It is cheaper to import rice into Nigeria’s neighbours such as Benin and Cameroon as Nigeria imposed a tax of 70% on imported rice in 2013 to encourage the local production of rice.
Nigeria’s neighbours including Benin, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Ghana, and Togo have been affected by the border closure.

US expels Cameroon from trade programme over human rights violations

The US is cutting Cameroon from a trade pact that allows African countries to sell goods to the United States on a duty-free basis citing human rights violations.
In a letter addressed to Congress last week, the United States accused the Cameroonian government of torture, extrajudicial killings, and unlawful detentions of citizens by the country’s military.
The current conflict between armed Anglophone separatist groups and government forces started in 2016 with protests in English-speaking areas over the use of French in schools and courts.

Rwandan government backs electric cars, bikes

The Rwandan government is backing German’s Volkswagen test run of electric vehicles in Kigali while a local company has also started selling electric bikes.
In the first few months of the program, VW will import 50 e-Golf models into Rwanda which will be served by 15 charging stations in Kigali. The company is introducing its product to the Rwandan market through its Uber-like Move service.
The Rwandan Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente said electric cars would be a step forward in Rwanda’s drive to become less dependent on carbon-emitting fossil fuels.
Kigali-based Ampersand has also started sales of electric-powered bikes. Most Kigali residents rely on bikes to get around because of a poor road system and dense population.