Global Pulse

标签： Africa

非洲

  • Passengers stranded as strike disrupts flights at Kenya’s main airport

    Passengers stranded as strike disrupts flights at Kenya’s main airport

    A nationwide go-slow strike by Kenyan aviation workers demanding improved working conditions and fulfillment of a years-old negotiated agreement has entered its second day, leaving hundreds of travelers stranded at East Africa’s critical transport hub, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi. As of Monday, major disruptions including massive delays, widespread cancellations and diverted flights continued to upend travel plans for thousands of passengers, with some already stuck for more than 12 hours and others forced to spend the night in airport check-in zones waiting for updates.

    JKIA ranks among the busiest airports on the African continent, serving as a primary connecting gateway between Africa and global destinations, with Kenyan government data showing it handled roughly 9 million total passengers in 2025. This ongoing work stoppage is not an isolated incident: labor disputes have disrupted operations at the airport multiple times in recent years, and this current action follows a two-day collective bargaining dispute back in February that centered on staffing agreements and the use of volunteer workers at the facility. Union leaders launched the new strike after core concerns from that earlier confrontation remained unaddressed by airport management.

    On Sunday, both the Kenya Airports Authority and Kenya Airways, the country’s flag carrier, issued public warnings that departing flights would face significant delays. Fresh negotiations between labor union representatives and airport leadership were scheduled to resume on Monday, after talks on the previous day collapsed without any tentative agreement reached. Kenya Airways confirmed in an official statement that the industrial action by air traffic control staff has caused delays exceeding six hours for most scheduled services, and the accumulating backlog of disrupted flights has forced the carrier to cancel multiple scheduled departures. The airline has offered its full apology to affected passengers and has waived all change and rebooking fees for travelers looking to adjust their itineraries.

    Other regional and international airlines have also been forced to adjust their operations in response to the crisis. RwandAir, the Rwandan national carrier, announced Monday it had canceled two additional flights to Nairobi, following multiple cancellations of services to the airport on Sunday, citing persistent operational constraints impacting JKIA’s air traffic control system. Global flight tracking platform Flightradar24’s real-time data showed a large number of delayed, canceled and diverted flights across the airport’s schedule as of Monday morning.

    Travelers stuck at the airport have described widespread confusion and frustration over poor communication and extended wait times. Mendel Goldman, a passenger en route to a wedding in Florida, told Reuters his original flight was eventually canceled after multiple rolling delays, and he had already waited 12 hours for a resolution. “The earliest flight they can get us is only tomorrow night, so we’ve got to wait. We’re going to try and make most of it, but in the meantime, I’ve been here for 12 hours now, waiting in the airport,” Goldman said. Twenty-two-year-old traveler William Obino told Agence France-Presse that the lack of timely updates had completely upended his travel plans. “Nothing is happening, updates are reaching us late. It’s ruining our itinerary,” Obino said.

  • Russia cements its role as Africa junta protector after helping quell Niger’s mutiny

    Russia cements its role as Africa junta protector after helping quell Niger’s mutiny

    A weekend mutiny by renegade soldiers marked the gravest internal challenge to Niger’s ruling junta since its 2023 coup, a crisis that ended only after Russian paramilitary forces stepped in to subdue the uprising, according to regional analysts and diplomatic sources.

    The mutiny, staged largely by young service members, unfolded at the strategic Base 101 near Niamey’s international airport, where the insurgent soldiers took fellow troops hostage. Gunfire from the unrest reached within seven kilometers of the presidential palace, sparking a 24-hour standoff that could have toppled the junta before outside intervention, analysts note. It was presidential guard troops backed by Russia’s Africa Corps, a paramilitary group under direct command of Moscow’s defense ministry, that ultimately quelled the uprising.

    Russia’s ambassador to Niger, Viktor Voropayev, confirmed to Russian state media that Niger’s government had requested support from the Russian force, and that the mutineers were fully neutralized as a direct result of the Africa Corps’ involvement. As of press time, Nigerien official authorities have not released any public statement on the event.

    Regional security analysts emphasize that the mutiny hung in the balance for hours: the mutineers were both large in number and highly determined, making the outcome uncertain until Russian forces joined the fight. This intervention marks the second time in 2024 that the Africa Corps has stepped in to defend junta-held power centers across the Sahel, the arid, conflict-plagued region south of the Sahara Desert. In May, the same Russian force helped put down large-scale coordinated attacks by jihadi insurgents in junta-led Mali.

    In a region long labeled the global epicenter of terrorist activity, the Africa Corps’ core mission diverges from counterterrorism, argues Wassim Nasr, a senior research fellow at the New York-based Soufan Center think tank. “Fighting jihadis comes as a second priority for the Africa Corps, but the first priority is to sustain regimes, and they are succeeding in this,” Nasr explained.

    The current dynamic in the Sahel stems from a sweeping political shift over the past two years. Military juntas that seized power on promises to fix widespread security failures across Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso cut ties with long-time Western security partners and turned to Moscow for support. The countries first welcomed the Kremlin-backed Wagner Group private mercenary force, before Wagner was reorganized into the Africa Corps following the death of its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin in 2023.

    Estimates of how many Russian military personnel are deployed across the three Sahel junta states vary widely, ranging from 1,700 to 2,000 troops, with an additional 1,000 Wagner personnel stationed in the Central African Republic. As Moscow competes with Washington, European capitals and Beijing for expanding influence across the African continent, these security partnerships have allowed Russia to build footholds across economic, political and security sectors.

    Beverly Ochieng, a Sahel-focused security analyst at global risk consultancy Control Risks, notes that the current arrangement of counterinsurgency support, military hardware shipments and parallel economic deals is heavily tied to the ruling juntas in all three states. Even with limited resources to allocate to the region, Ochieng explains, Russia has mastered the balance of diplomacy, counterinsurgency action and geopolitical positioning to frame itself as a reliable, all-weather partner for African governments. Nasr echoed that assessment, noting the model of partnering through the Africa Corps is low-cost, high-reward for Moscow.

    While Russian support has cemented the juntas’ hold on power, the broader security situation across the Sahel continues to deteriorate. Armed insurgent groups increasingly target populated urban centers as they compete for territory and influence, putting civilian populations at growing risk. Niamey’s airport, the site of this weekend’s mutiny, has already been targeted twice by jihadi groups in 2024: an attack by al-Qaeda-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin in June killed 11 soldiers and two civilians, while a January strike by the Islamic State Sahel Province targeted high-value military drone assets stationed at the base.

    Analysts warn that recurring threats to junta rule, like last weekend’s mutiny, will push the ruling military governments to prioritize their own survival over broad public security, worsening the humanitarian and stability crisis across the region. The Senegal-based Timbuktu Institute for Peace Studies pointed out that the mutiny and subsequent Russian intervention exposes how deeply vulnerable the junta’s regime is, as its stability now rests almost entirely on Moscow’s support.

    “The intervention of an external partner to help contain an internal crisis raises a central question: how far can the pursuit of strategic autonomy go when it is accompanied by a growing dependence on Moscow?” the institute wrote in an analysis of the crisis.

    Still, the successful intervention to prop up Niger’s junta could strengthen Russia’s appeal to other sympathetic governments across the continent, according to Nathaniel Powell, a West Africa analyst at Oxford Analytica. “Having a foreign anti-coup force has advantages in that they have no local interests that could compete for their loyalty, and might be seen to be militarily superior to national military formations, thus deterring potential coup-makers,” Powell explained.

    Moscow has publicly framed its engagement in the Sahel as counterterrorism support: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated recently that the country stands ready to help African nations defeat terrorist insurgencies. But analysts note that most African governments will remain cautious about partnering with the Africa Corps, due to the force’s well-documented history of human rights abuses across the regions where it operates.

  • South African airline defends low-altitude aerial stunt over packed stadium

    South African airline defends low-altitude aerial stunt over packed stadium

    A high-stakes pre-match aerial stunt by South African regional carrier Airlink has sparked fierce public debate, after two of its jets executed an extremely low close formation flyover Cape Town’s packed DHL Stadium just ahead of a hotly anticipated rugby test between South Africa and New Zealand, two of the sport’s most bitter rivals.

    Flight tracking data from industry platform Flightradar24 shows the lead aircraft passed within 15 meters, or less than 50 feet, of the stadium’s upper structure, a maneuver that has drawn accusations of reckless endangerment from critics while winning praise for its technical precision from aviation and sports fans alike.

    In the wake of growing criticism, Airlink has pushed back to defend the event, emphasizing that the stunt was months in the making and received full regulatory approval from South Africa’s civil aviation authorities. In an official statement published on a South African government news portal, the airline detailed the extensive precautions taken to mitigate risk: both aircraft were crewed exclusively by top veteran pilots, with each flight deck staffed by three senior captains serving as commander, co-pilot, and dedicated safety and technical observer respectively.

    The airline added that all flight parameters, including altitude and speed, were pre-approved in protocols and rehearsed extensively ahead of the public event, with strict safety limits enforced throughout the flypast. Airlink doubled down on its confidence in the maneuver in a social media post accompanied by viral footage of the stunt, tagging the post with three words: “Planning. Precision. Performance.”

    The polarizing reaction to the flypast has split public opinion. Critics have questioned the wisdom of conducting such a high-risk maneuver over a stadium filled with thousands of spectators, warning that even a small technical error or pilot mistake could have led to catastrophic consequences. Conversely, many South Africans have embraced the stunt as a display of national skill and pride, echoing the long-standing tradition of low-altitude flypasts ahead of major South African rugby matches.

    That tradition dates back to one of the most iconic moments in South African sports history: the 1995 Rugby World Cup final, also hosted against New Zealand in Johannesburg. That event, immortalized in the Clint Eastwood-directed Hollywood feature *Invictus*, carried profound national symbolism, marking a unifying moment for South Africa just years after the end of apartheid, when then-president Nelson Mandela – the country’s first Black head of state – wore the Springboks jersey, a symbol once closely tied to the apartheid regime, to celebrate the team’s victory.

    As debate over the 2026 stunt continues, the flypast has cemented its place as a beloved, if controversial, pre-ritual for the country’s biggest rugby matches, balancing national pride against ongoing questions about public safety.

  • Algeria president seeks death penalty for arsonists after deadly forest fires

    Algeria president seeks death penalty for arsonists after deadly forest fires

    A devastating outbreak of more than 100 wildfires across northeastern Algeria has left at least 12 people dead, dozens injured, and thousands of residents displaced, prompting the country’s president to announce a sweeping policy shift that would reinstate capital punishment for intentional arsonists.

    In public remarks following the crisis, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune confirmed he is not ruling out the possibility of deliberate foul play behind the unusually intense wave of fires, which swept through large swathes of northern Algeria amid a record-breaking heatwave across North Africa that has also hit neighboring Tunisia hard. While more than 90 percent of the blazes recorded in the 24 hours leading up to Sunday had been extinguished by civil emergency teams, crews continued to battle active hotspots as of Sunday afternoon.

    Tebboune has issued a formal deadline of September 15 for the country’s justice ministry to draft amendments to Algeria’s criminal code that would introduce the death penalty for anyone convicted of intentionally igniting wildfires in forested areas. Currently, the maximum penalty for deliberate arson in Algeria is 30 years imprisonment, with life sentences reserved for the most extreme cases. Though capital punishment remains on the books for a small number of offenses in Algeria’s existing penal code, the country has not carried out any executions since 1993.

    Alongside the proposed legal changes, the president has ordered immediate support for affected communities: compensation for impacted families, full repairs to damaged residential properties, and rapid restoration of damaged critical essential services. Official investigations are also set to be launched to fully document the scope of damage and losses caused by the wildfires, as well as to probe the origins of the blazes, particularly given their unexpected intensity.

    Wildfires are a regular seasonal occurrence in Algeria during the hot summer months, but scientists and observers note that climate change has steadily amplified the frequency and severity of these events across the Mediterranean region in recent years, increasing the risk of large, destructive outbreaks that are harder for emergency teams to contain.

  • Russia says it helped to repel Niger attempted coup

    Russia says it helped to repel Niger attempted coup

    In the early hours of Saturday, the capital city of Niger, Niamey, was rocked by the sound of explosions and sustained gunfire as an attempted coup unfolded. Key strategic sites, including the presidential palace and a major military airbase, found themselves at the center of the violence. Within hours, the ruling government of Niger announced that the rebellion had been successfully put down. On Sunday, Russia’s foreign ministry made a public confirmation that its military personnel, part of the African Corps under the Russian Ministry of Defence, played a direct role in assisting Nigerien forces to quash the uprising.

    Moscow further stated that it will maintain its security support for Niger in the country’s ongoing campaign against extremist groups, and emphasized that full control of the situation has now been restored to the legitimate government led by President Gen Abdourahmane Tiani. Over recent years, Russia’s African Corps has emerged as a critical security ally for a number of military-led administrations across the Sahel region, where governments have faced persistent challenges in containing years-long jihadist insurgencies.

    The Alliance of Sahel States, a regional bloc made up of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, has condemned the attempted coup, labeling it as a destabilizing act of betrayal carried out by a rogue faction of soldiers. As of Sunday, Niger’s authorities have not released details on the size of the mutinous faction or the number of casualties sustained during the violence. Gen Tiani, who took power last year after ousting the country’s democratically elected leader and was sworn in as president shortly after, has yet to make any public statement addressing the coup attempt.

    Footage broadcast on Niger’s state television showed multiple alleged mutineers in custody of the country’s Presidential Guard, confirming that a number of arrests have been made. According to Niger Press Agency, commercial activity across Niamey had returned to normal by Sunday, with petrol stations, retail shops and other businesses resuming operations after the unrest. Public gatherings in central Niamey also saw dozens of government supporters rallying to back the country’s security forces and Tiani’s administration.

    The site of the initial attack, Air Base 101, is integrated into the Diori Hamani international airport complex. The base hosts Nigerien military aircraft and drone fleets, as well as a counter-terrorism unit operated by the Alliance of Sahel States. Multiple international military contingents, including Russian and Italian personnel, are also stationed at the facility, Reuters reporting confirms.

    All three members of the Alliance of Sahel States — Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso — are currently under military rule. In recent years, all three nations have cut security and diplomatic ties with Western partners and significantly deepened their political and military cooperation with Moscow. Despite this strategic shift, large-scale jihadist violence remains rampant across all three countries, with insurgent groups carrying out regular attacks on civilian and military targets.

    Saturday’s mutiny lays bare the multiple challenges facing Tiani’s government: beyond the persistent external threat of jihadist insurgency, the administration now faces clear evidence of discontent within its own military ranks. Notably, Air Base 101, the site where the mutiny began, has already been targeted twice by jihadist groups this year alone — first by an affiliate of the Islamic State, and later by a faction linked to al-Qaeda.

    In the wake of the failed coup, Nigerien security officials have confirmed that they have stepped up patrols across key strategic sites in Niamey, including the main entrance to Diori Hamani Airport and the presidential pavilion, to prevent further unrest.

  • Zambian opposition leader charged with treason

    Zambian opposition leader charged with treason

    Amid rapidly escalating political tensions following Zambia’s recent presidential election, opposition presidential candidate Brian Mundubile has been formally charged with treason, according to his legal representation. The charges cap a week of escalating unrest that began after official results confirmed incumbent President Hakainde Hichilema won a second consecutive five-year term.

    Official election data released by Zambia’s electoral body shows Hichilema secured 60% of the vote in the 13 August poll, while Mundubile, running for the opposition National Restoration Party of the United Progressive (NRPUP), won 38% of the national vote. Mundubile immediately rejected the official outcome, raising unsubstantiated claims of irregularities in the vote-counting process.

    In response to the opposition’s challenge, Zambian authorities accused NRPUP of plotting to launch an armed insurgency to overthrow the elected government, an allegation the party has repeatedly and vehemently denied.

    The situation turned deadly one day after the election, when Zambian security forces carried out a raid on a Lusaka property linked to Mundubile. The operation left one former cabinet minister dead and multiple other opposition figures in detention. In the wake of the violent raid, Mundubile and his running mate Makebi Zulu fled to seek safe shelter in a local United Nations compound in the capital, where they remained in hiding for several days.

    President Hichilema’s administration subsequently put diplomatic pressure on the United Nations to hand the two opposition figures over to local authorities, leading to their detention shortly after. On Saturday evening, Mundubile’s defense attorney Milner Katolo confirmed to local outlet *Zambian Eye* that his client had been served with a formal treason charge. Katolo added that Mundubile is prepared to contest the accusation publicly in an open court of law.

    Katolo also confirmed that 17 additional people, including Zulu himself, face the same treason charges alongside the opposition leader.

    The opposition’s efforts to formally challenge the election results through the country’s judicial system were ultimately blocked, after authorities sealed off access to all court buildings on Monday — the final legal deadline for filing election petitions. This move left opposition figures with no formal avenue to contest the outcome through institutional channels.

    As Zambia prepares for Hichilema’s 1 September swearing-in ceremony for his second term, the political fallout continues to draw regional and international scrutiny. While most regional and international election observers assessed that election day itself was conducted in a largely peaceful manner, the Zambia Human Rights Commission has opened a call for accountability, demanding investigations into the cases of dozens of people who remain unaccounted for following post-election arrests and security operations.

  • Antonio helps young Ghanaians chase Premier League dreams

    Antonio helps young Ghanaians chase Premier League dreams

    Beneath the warm summer sun of rural Leicestershire, a group of talented young Ghanaian footballers is pushing every muscle and chasing a life-changing goal: to earn a professional contract with a top European club. This two-and-a-half-month UK tour, organized by the Samba Stars Academy – a youth development program backed by former West Ham and Nottingham Forest forward Michail Antonio – marks an innovative new approach to unlocking the abundant football talent hidden across West Africa.

    Unlike the standard model where European scouts travel occasionally to African nations to spot emerging players, Samba Stars took the bold step of bringing their most promising prospects directly to the United Kingdom, putting them face-to-face with club recruiters and testing their skills against top youth sides. Antonio, who co-founded the academy to create tangible pathways for Ghanaian young talent into professional football, explained the core mission behind the project. “The talent the lads have is incredible,” he said. “We created Samba Stars Academy to give young players in Ghana access to elite coaching, shape them as players and create real avenues into the pro game and show how much talent Ghana has.”

    Headquartered in Kumasi, with a new state-of-the-art training facility under construction in Bompata, just over 100 miles north of Ghana’s capital Accra, the academy’s risky gambit has already delivered early results. This summer, top clubs across England – including Bournemouth, Everton, Manchester City, Charlton, Preston, Barnsley and Peterborough – have already invited multiple Samba Stars players to join trial periods, a clear signal of the talent on display.

    For head coach Freddie Okyere, the tour has been a transformative experience for his young squad. “The first two or three weeks it hadn’t sunk in, but then they saw the facilities we’d be using and the teams we were playing,” Okyere said. “They want to go and show what they can do. They are hungry, they really want it. I’m hoping there will be so much interest because we have so much talent here. With the facilities we will have in Ghana we feel we will be top two, top three academies. We hope we can bring the best of Ghana to Europe.”

    This is not the first time the academy has produced success. In February, 18-year-old midfielder Listowell Lord Hinneh earned a permanent move to Middlesbrough after a successful trial, becoming one of the first Samba Stars graduates to land a professional contract in England. Having swapped the warm climate of West Africa for the cooler north east of England, Hinneh has already stepped up to train with the club’s first team, and opened up about the challenges and excitement of his new journey. “When I came in January, it was so cold. Experiencing something like that for the first time was tough,” he told BBC Sport. “Moving was a big milestone. It just makes me feel the dreams I’ve been having, thinking of trying to find myself in Europe to become a professional footballer. I feel the kind of dreams that I want, I’m on the verge. I’m on the way to becoming who I wanted to become.”

    During the Samba Stars’ UK tour, Hinneh met with the current squad to share hard-won advice for the young prospects chasing the same dream he once did. “What you’ve been dreaming about the future, it starts from here,” he told them. “Don’t just try, be so passionate. You need to play and enjoy it because you can have the success in whatever you’re doing. You have to just put your heart in it.”

    The tour almost never happened: 19 of the 20 players in the touring squad had their initial UK visa applications rejected, only gaining entry after a successful re-evaluation. Since arriving, the squad has been hosted by Brook House College in Market Harborough, and trains at the ground of National League North side Harborough Town. For 17-year-old goalkeeper Joshua Tetteh Tuwor, the experience has already opened his eyes to a new level of professional football. “The football here is very detailed,” he said. “In Ghana we have the same passion but I’m seeing a different side of professional football. We are grateful to have such opportunities to train with elite coaches.”

    Rob Newman, a vastly experienced former football recruitment executive who previously served as head of recruitment at West Ham and international scouting manager at Manchester City – where he played a key role in bringing Sergio Agüero to the club – has worked with the Samba Stars both in Ghana and during their UK tour. He believes the young prospects are far closer to European first-team football than many expect. “Hopefully clubs can see the potential,” Newman said. “Nothing will give me greater pleasure in six months than going to see these boys playing in a first team in Europe. I believe they are two or three months away from being able to do that.”

    On the pitch, the Samba Stars have more than held their own during their series of matches against youth teams from the English Football League and non-league system. They opened their tour with a dominant 9-0 victory over Dorking Wanderers’ youth side, followed by wins against the Under-21 teams of Sheffield Wednesday, Luton Town and Peterborough. They earned draws against Sheffield United and Barnsley U21s, with their only defeat coming by a narrow 3-2 score against Preston North End’s U21 side.

    Antonio, who watched the side thrash Peterborough U19s 6-0 last month, said the on-pitch results speak for themselves about the quality of the academy’s prospects. “You can see from what they’ve done since they’ve been in the UK – the results against top teams – that they have what it takes to play pro level,” the 36-year-old said. “It’s great to help knock down barriers and give these lads a real chance.”

    Ghana’s national men’s football team has established itself as a consistent force on the global stage over the past two decades, qualifying for five of the past six FIFA World Cups – reaching the quarter-finals in 2010 – after never qualifying prior to 2006. At this year’s World Cup, eight of the nation’s squad were born overseas, and while the Black Stars have not leaned as heavily on diaspora talent as some other African nations, the Ghana Football Association has signaled it will widen its global search for talent – a shift that makes programs supporting home-grown prospects like Samba Stars even more critical.

    For 18-year-old striker Sherif Mashadu, who already earned a trial with Hungarian top-flight side Zalaegerszegi through his connection to Samba Stars, the weight of expectation from back home fuels his ambition. “You have to have a tough mentality,” he said. “Back home everyone is depending on you, everyone is looking up to you to succeed, to come and help them, your friends, your family. Everyone is praying for you.”

    As the new English football season gets underway, six Ghanaian internationals currently hold contracts with Premier League clubs: Mohammed Kudus at Tottenham Hotspur, Antoine Semenyo at Manchester City, Ibrahim Osman at Brighton, Ipswich Town new signing Abdul Fatawu, and Coventry City pair Brandon Thomas-Asante and Caleb Yirenkyi. Ghana’s first Premier League player was Nii Lamptey, who joined Aston Villa in 1994, while legendary midfielder Michael Essien holds the record for the most appearances by a Ghanaian in the division, winning two Premier League titles with Chelsea. Only two other Ghanaians have lifted the Premier League trophy: Jeffrey Schlupp and Daniel Amartey, part of Leicester City’s iconic 2015-16 title-winning squad.

    For Hinneh, who names Kudus as his biggest inspiration, the journey is just getting started, even as he adapts to life far from home. “Back home we’ve got people you grew up with and you might miss them, but that doesn’t kill the dreams I’m here for,” he said. “I’m trying to figure out what the reality is, what the future holds for me and then just chase the dreams.”

  • Africa’s male midwives are rare but increasing in the fight against pregnancy deaths

    Africa’s male midwives are rare but increasing in the fight against pregnancy deaths

    On a crisp, cold morning in the mountainous Southern African kingdom of Lesotho, Ntlhane Sehloho slung his backpack stuffed with critical medical gear over his shoulders and set off on a three-hour trek along winding, unpaved gravel roads. His destination: Mpharane Health Center, a small clinic tucked into a remote valley that serves scattered rural communities with limited access to advanced care.

    Sehloho occupies a role once almost unheard of in this part of the world: he is a male midwife. When he stepped through the clinic’s doors on this particular morning, a group of waiting women exhaled in relief — some expecting their first child, others balancing fussy infants on their backs, all seeking the routine prenatal and postnatal care Sehloho has provided for 20 years.

    For generations, midwifery has been strictly regarded as women’s work in Lesotho’s largely conservative society. But facing one of the world’s worst maternal mortality crises, the country has launched an urgent push to recruit more men into the profession, upending long-held cultural norms to save lives. According to United Nations data, Lesotho records roughly 530 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births — a rate more than two and a half times the global average of 200.

    This crisis is not unique to Lesotho. Sub-Saharan Africa, the world’s fastest-growing region, accounts for 70% of all global maternal deaths, with roughly 180,000 pregnancy-related fatalities recorded across the continent each year. Severe staffing shortages in remote rural clinics, where most of Lesotho’s population lives, have only worsened the crisis. With just over 2 million people nationwide, the country’s rural health posts are chronically understaffed, leaving thousands of pregnant women without access to skilled care during childbirth.

    Global health bodies have sounded the alarm for years over this shortage. World Health Organization data estimates that men make up less than 1% of the global midwifery workforce. Both the WHO and UNICEF have called for expanding recruitment to all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, to close gaping gaps in emergency obstetric care.

    Sehloho is one of an estimated 300 male midwives now practicing across Lesotho — a milestone that would have been unthinkable a generation ago. The Lesotho government does not track midwifery data by gender, so an exact count is not available, but recruitment efforts over the past two decades have steadily grown the share of men in the field. Sehloho never set out to become a midwife: as a high-achieving student, he originally planned to work as a nurse, driven by childhood memories of preventable tragedy in his rural home village.

    “Our village was far away from the health facility, so most pregnant women delivered at home. We were still young, we were not supposed to see that, as some were dying,” he recalled. “I didn’t understand how far they had to travel just to get care.”

    After he finished his nursing training, Lesotho’s health authorities encouraged Sehloho and other male nursing graduates to pursue additional midwifery training, part of a targeted strategy to expand care access to underserved rural areas. The strategy has already delivered measurable results: UNICEF data shows that 92% of births in Lesotho now are attended by a trained health provider, up from a far lower share just two decades ago.

    Lesotho’s government says the core goal is saving lives, and that gender should never stand in the way of that mission. “I think the system and the community is starting to slowly accept that gender should not matter when it comes to this issue of delivery,” explained Dr. Llang Maama, acting director of health services at Lesotho’s Ministry of Health. She acknowledged that a small number of patients still report discomfort with male midwives, and the health system formally accommodates those requests when possible. “But in the urgency of childbirth, there isn’t always time to choose,” Maama added.

    For Sehloho, acceptance comes down to building trust, one patient at a time. A talkative, quick-witted provider, he makes a point of putting pregnant women at ease from their very first prenatal visit, often sharing his own background growing up in a rural Lesotho community and highlighting his 20 years of experience delivering babies. “We are a very cultural and traditional African society,” he said.

    Blandina Motaung, a representative for the United Nations Population Fund, which partners closely with Lesotho’s midwifery community, said public reactions to male midwives remain mixed, but many patients are surprised by the unique strengths men bring to the role. Many patients report that male midwives tend to be more gentle and less strict than their female counterparts during consultations, she said. During prenatal checks, Sehloho routinely pauses after taking blood pressure or measuring fetal progress to ask patients if they are comfortable, a small habit that has won him loyalty among the community he serves.

    Motaung noted that while most female midwives have personal experience with childbirth, men’s lack of that firsthand experience often makes them more attentive to small changes and warning signs that can signal complications. “For the men, because they have not been through the process, they become more vigilant and more attentive to the nitty gritties, and that in itself improves the quality of care that they provide,” she explained.

    Patients across the country are slowly adapting to the new norm. Mpolokeng Mafereka, a 21-year-old patient at Mpharane Health Center, said she still prefers care from a female provider, but has grown accustomed to seeing Sehloho when he is the only clinician available. “I’m used to being treated by women,” she said.

    But 21-year-old Bonolo Tebello, another patient at the clinic, said she has never had concerns about seeing a male midwife. “I’m happy to be treated by a male because they still provide the same level of care,” she said. “Even when one arrives late for a check-up, they just treat you like any other person who arrived on time.”

    This reporting is part of AP News’ Africa Pulse series, supported by a grant from the Gates Foundation. The Associated Press maintains full editorial control over all funded content.

  • Guinea-Bissau votes in a referendum to grant expanded presidential powers ahead of election

    Guinea-Bissau votes in a referendum to grant expanded presidential powers ahead of election

    Nearly a year after a military takeover plunged West Africa’s only Portuguese-speaking nation deeper into regional democratic backsliding, Guinea-Bissau opened polling stations Sunday for a high-stakes constitutional referendum that will shape the balance of power ahead of December’s planned general election — a vote billed by military leaders as the final step back to civilian rule.

    The current military junta seized control of the small nation of 2.2 million people in November 2023, following a bitterly contested presidential election where both incumbent former President Umaro Sissoco Embaló and opposition challenger Fernando Dias claimed victory. The coup was widely dismissed by African regional leaders as a staged power transfer; skeptics have long argued that Embaló struck a deal to step aside peacefully after projecting he would lose the official vote count, leaving the military in control of the transition process.

    At the center of Sunday’s vote is a new draft constitution crafted by the military-appointed National Transitional Council. If approved by voters, the charter would expand executive authority granted to the presidency, cut the size of the national parliament from 102 seats to 65, and explicitly cement the president’s supremacy over the office of prime minister.

    Military leaders frame the changes as a long-overdue fix for the chronic political instability that has plagued Guinea-Bissau since it gained independence from Portugal in 1973. “In a community, there is only one leader. No community or village can have two leaders,” General Tomás Djassi, head of Guinea-Bissau’s armed forces, explained in defense of the reforms. “We revised the constitution to avoid constant conflict between the president of the republic and the prime minister. We clarified the law and helped the public understand that the president of the republic is the national symbol, elected directly by the people.”

    The junta argues that a smaller legislature will streamline legislative debate and eliminate gridlock, while clearer separation of authority between the presidency and prime minister’s office will end the power struggles that have repeatedly toppled governments over the past five decades.

    But opposition groups have rejected the framing, and have organized a widespread boycott of the referendum, warning that the changes are little more than a power grab designed to cement military influence through an allied executive. The reforms, they argue, systematically weaken the office of prime minister, subordinate the national legislature and independent political parties, and erase the will voters expressed in last year’s disputed election — creating exactly the kind of deep political division the junta claims it is trying to fix.

    “This constitution significantly weakens the Prime Minister and the government, subordinates the National People’s Assembly and political parties, and devalues—or even ignores the popular will expressed at the polls, carrying all the attendant risks of political and social division and tension,” said Muniro Conté, spokesperson for the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, one of the nation’s largest opposition blocs.

    Public sentiment toward the referendum reflects deep division and widespread confusion across the country. Roughly 915,000 voters are registered to cast ballots, but polling data suggests most registered voters do not view constitutional change as a pressing priority, and many remain unfamiliar with the full text of the proposed reforms.

    Bacar Camará, a high school teacher in the capital Bissau, announced he would boycott the vote entirely, arguing the transitional government should prioritize national reconciliation over restructuring power ahead of the planned general election. “The transitional government should focus on creating conditions for better understanding and reconciliation among Guineans,” he said. Other voters who plan to cast ballots say they will reject the charter, simply because they do not have enough information to support it.

    “I’ll go vote on Sunday. However, I’ll vote ‘no’ because — honestly, and I think this is the case for many other citizens — I don’t know this new Constitution well, so I can’t vote ‘yes’,” said Bissau resident Carolina Djeme.

    Independent political analysts share the opposition’s core criticism, noting that the unelected transitional government lacks the democratic legitimacy to rewrite the national constitution. “The fundamental question is: Who drafted this Constitution, and on whose behalf? To protect which interests or institutions? Who stands to benefit from this Constitution?” asked Paulino Quadé, a prominent Guinean political analyst.

    For West Africa, the referendum comes at a moment of deepening democratic crisis. Last year’s coup in Guinea-Bissau added the country to a growing list of nations in the region now under military rule, extending a trend that began with the 2020 coup in Mali and has since spread to Burkina Faso, Niger, and Gabon.

    Guinea-Bissau’s long history of political instability is well-documented: since independence in 1973, the country has weathered more than a dozen successful and attempted coups, with a failed coup attempt recorded just one month before last November’s successful takeover. While the World Bank ranks the country as having the highest per capita share of natural wealth in West Africa, more than half of its 2.2 million residents live in extreme poverty. Experts also widely note that the country’s strategic location between Latin America and Europe has made it a major transshipment hub for international drug trafficking, an illicit trade that has funded political corruption and fueled repeated power grabs for decades.

  • Trump administration deports relative of Afghans who helped US military to Central African Republic

    Trump administration deports relative of Afghans who helped US military to Central African Republic

    DAKAR, SENEGAL – A controversial U.S. deportation operation that landed in the Central African Republic’s capital of Bangui this past Saturday has drawn sharp criticism from immigration advocates and legal teams, after it emerged the flight carried a young Afghan man explicitly granted legal protection from deportation to his home country over documented Taliban persecution risks.

    The 20-something Afghan was cleared for protection from expulsion to Afghanistan by a U.S. judge, after court records reviewed by the Associated Press confirmed his extended family had faced repeated targeted threats from the Taliban over his brothers’ work supporting U.S. military operations. Alma David, the man’s legal counsel, shared details of his family’s tragic history: one brother, a U.S.-trained pilot, was already killed by Taliban fighters, while a second brother currently resides in the U.S. after serving with the U.S.-aligned Afghan National Army that collapsed when the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan in 2021.

    Savi Arvey, policy director for refugee and immigrant rights at the advocacy organization Human Rights First, confirmed Saturday’s flight carried 30+ deported people in total, beyond the at-risk Afghan. The group includes 11 other Afghans, 8 Iranians, and additional migrants from Nepal and Nicaragua.

    This expulsion is not an isolated incident. Advocates have long documented that the controversial practice of third-country deportations – expelling migrants and asylum seekers to nations that are not their country of origin – has been in place since the Trump administration, when thousands of people were sent to more than 20 third countries under largely undisclosed agreements as part of a broader hardline immigration crackdown. Immigration legal experts warn the policy functions as a deliberate legal loophole, allowing U.S. authorities to indirectly return protected asylum seekers to danger by routing them through neutral countries. Saturday’s flight marks the second such deportation operation to the Central African Republic since June; the first flight carried 24 migrants, including an Iranian woman who also faced confirmed persecution risks in her home country.

    The controversial operation comes amid a string of growing global migration crises, with multiple recent incidents of migrant deaths and hardened immigration policies across multiple continents making headlines alongside this expulsion.