Africa Media Analysis Report JUNE - AUGUST 2020 Tangaza Africa Media 20 Baker Street, Rosebank 2196 P O Box 1953, Houghton 2041 Tel: +27 11 447 4017 Fax: +27 86 545 7357 email: [email protected] Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Overall Scorecard 3 Eastern Africa & Great Lakes 9 Politics 11 Economy, Trade & Development 13 Peace, Security & Terrorism 15 Health & Food issues 17 Business & Investments 19 Tourism, Travel & Leisure 21 Science, Technology & Innovation 23 Education, Arts & Culture 24 Entertainment 25 Southern Africa 26 Politics 28 Economy, Trade & Development 30 Health & Food issues 32 Peace, Security & Terrorism 34 Tourism, Travel & Leisure 35 Business & Investments 37 Science, Technology & Innovation 39 Education 40 Arts & Culture 41 West Africa 42 Politics 44 Economy, Trade & Development 46 Peace, Security & Terrorism 46 Business & Investments 46 Tourism, Travel & Leisure 47 Health & Food issues 48 Science, Technology & Innovation 49 Education 50 Entertainment 51 North Africa 52 Politics 52 Peace, Security & Terrorism 53 Tourism, Travel & Leisure 54 Economy, Trade & Development 55 Business & Investments 56 Health & Food issues 57 Science, Technology & Innovation 58 Education 59 Arts & Culture 60 Entertainment 61 3 Overall Scorecards West East Southern North Total Africa Africa Africa Africa (n) (n) (n) (n) N % Politics 756 617 304 324 2,001 37.84 Peace, Security & Terrorism 302 243 463 27 1,035 19.57 Economy, Trade & Development 508 150 80 72 810 15.32 Health & Food issues 206 200 35 116 557 10.53 Tourism, Travel & Leisure 86 104 19 90 299 5.65 Business & Investments 105 100 25 64 294 5.56 Science, Technology & Innovation 19 59 2 13 93 1.76 Entertainment 9 48 1 33 91 1.72 Education 20 46 3 18 87 1.65 Arts & Culture 1 10 3 7 21 0.40 N 2,012 1,577 935 764 5,288 Total % 38.05 29.82 17.68 14.45 Core news frames in June for Politics mentioned that President ther limit access to US courts by victims of human rights abuses Donald J. Trump was tapping Indian American career diplomat abroad. Geeta Pasi, who spoke several languages including Hindi and has The US released the 2020 Fiscal Transparency Report, which served as political officer in New Delhi as the new US ambassador assessed that The Gambia made significant progress in its continu- to Ethiopia. Gambian man living in US charged with torturing peo- ing efforts at government fiscal reform. ple in home country. A forthcoming US report that showed child Chief of the US Central Command Kenneth McKenzie hailed the labour has risen in the West African cocoa sector was to be role of the Egyptian Armed Forces in achieving stability and bal- reviewed independently after Ivory Coast and Ghana objected to ance and combating terrorism in the region, in a meeting with the methodology, the US Labor Department. Kenyan President Egypt’s Defense Minister Mohamed Zaki in Cairo, the Egyptian mili- Uhuru Kenyatta has added his voice to the global calls for equality, tary spokesman said. saying discrimination creates chaos. Kenyatta made the remarks in that Sudan said it cannot establish diplomatic relations with Israel an interview with the Atlantic Council, where he urged the US to for now, dashing hopes for a speedy breakthrough during a visit by draw lessons from Kenya’s past experiences in its quest for racial US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Prime Minister Abdalla equality. Images of a white police officer kneeling on the neck of Hamdok told Pompeo that Sudan’s transitional government which African American George Floyd, who then died, have sparked pro- replaced ousted strongman Omar al-Bashir last year and was set to tests from Amsterdam to Nairobi, but they also exposed deeper rule until 2022 elections had “no mandate” to take such a weighty grievances among demonstrators over strained race relations in step. their own countries. President John Magufuli accepted the credentials of the new US Zimbabwe’s Zanu-PF threatened the US ambassador with expul- Ambassador to Tanzania, Dr Donald J. Wright. Apart from Dr Wright, sion, amid an intensifying crackdown on opposition and union President Magufuli also received credentials of the Vietenamese activists ahead of planned anti-corruption demonstrations. Officials ambassador to Tanzania, Nguyen Nam Tien. Dr Wright became the from the Zanu-PF called ambassador Brian Nichols “a thug” who 19th full-time US Ambassador to the United Republic, succeeding was fomenting unrest by funding protest organisers. Mr Mark Bradley Childress who stepped down on his own volition In Cote d’Ivoire, the Supreme Court would consider ending a on October 25, 2016. lawsuit that claimed Nestle and Cargill facilitated the use of child The Trump administration filed charges and imposed sanctions slave labour on cocoa farms in Ivory Coast, a case that could fur- against an adoption scheme that removed more than two dozen 3 Overall Scorecard Ugandan children from their families and placed them in American State Department by surprise. The move represented an intelli- homes. gence failure and shone a light on a State Department policy on The US embassy in Libya said that ambassador Richard Norland Somalia in free-fall. consulted with senior Turkish officials on his visit to Ankara about Reports on Health & Food issues said Eight municipalities in the urgent need to support Libyan voices genuinely seeking an Côte d’Ivoire would soon be selected as beneficiaries of end to the conflict and return to UN-facilitated political dialogue, MuniWash. A project financed by the USAID, which aimed to with full respect for Libya’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. improve the access of West African populations to water, sanitation News in Economy, Trade & Development said Dr Akinwumi and hygiene services. IMA World Health would lead a five-year Adesina, as president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), he cooperative agreement of up to $200 million from the US Agency may be punch ball of a global political agenda pitting the US for USAID to improve the health and well-being of women and chil- against African leaders, and maybe China. Egyptian, US leaders dren in fragile and conflict affected settings globally. hold phone talks on Ethiopia Nile dam, Libya crisis. Kenya’s negoti- The USAID has announced US$50 million to support Kenya’s ations with the US on an unprecedented two-way trade deal were response and recovery efforts to meet the immediate and lon- on schedule to begin on July 7 despite difficulties posed by the ger-term challenges that COVID-19 was posing. The US has coronavirus pandemic, President Uhuru Kenyatta. The Mosaic expressed its appreciation to Morocco’s initiative to support fellow Company was filing petitions with the US Department of African states in combating COVID-19. The Federal Government Commerce and the US International Trade Commission that has concluded arrangements to evacuate more Nigerians by air request the initiation of countervailing duty investigations into from the US imports of phosphate fertilizers from Morocco and Russia. The US Government led the globe with $12.5 billion allocated to For Peace, Security & Terrorism, Several Arab countries, along benefit international Covid-19 response, including commitments with the US, have announced their support of Egypt’s stance on for the development of vaccines and therapeutics, preparedness Libya and its right to defend its borders against extremists and ter- efforts, and foreign assistance. rorist militias. A US activist and former political prisoner has filed a The US government pledged Ksh5.3 billion ($50 million) to lawsuit against a former Egyptian prime minister who now lives in boost Kenya’s Health sector and economic recovery in the wake of Washington DC, arguing he was illegally jailed and tortured as part the coronavirus pandemic. of a brutal crackdown by Cairo in 2013. Liberia has moved up to US donated 100 ventilators to Rwanda to combat Covid-19. Tier 2 of the US’ human trafficking report after being on the Tier 2 While flights across Africa were grounded and many nations Watch List for three years. shut their borders to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, one American Former US Ambassador, Herman J. Cohen urged the govern- agency ignored directives to stop cross-border travel. The Federal ment of Cameroon to embrace ceasefire discussions with separat- Government said 322 Nigerians, who departed New Jersey in the ists to put an end to the long-drawn conflict in the English- US were expected to arrive at the Murtala Mohammed International speaking regions of the country. Airport, Lagos. Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama made An American woman lured to Nigeria by a promise of marriage this known via his verified Twitter account. from a man she met on Facebook was rescued after being held Morocco had several agreements signed with the Arab countries captive for more than a year. in addition to the free trade agreement with the United Arab An American medical student detained without trial in an Emirates. Morocco might be ideal region for Latin American berries Egyptian prison for nearly 500 days was freed and returned to the producers. US The release of Mohamed Amashah, a dual Egyptian-American For Business & Investments, the Ministry of Finance, Planning citizen from Jersey City, New Jersey, followed months of pressure and Economic Development has signed an agreement with an from the Trump administration. American Company RIPPLENAMI INC to provide a solution to US President Donald Trump and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip improve rental income tax compliance for Uganda. The agreement Erdogan agreed to work “more closely” for a solution to the Libya was signed by the Ministry Undersecretary, Betty Kasimbazi on conflict during a phone call. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo behalf of government and Faruk Awadh, Director for Operations said he wants to delist Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism, see- Africa on behalf of RippleNami.