Africa

1. Nigeria’s security emergency
2. S. Africa’s response to US
3. Trump’s migration crackdown
4. Setback in global HIV fight
5. African music royalties rise
6. Guinea-Bissau’s coup

Weekend Reads, and a South African festival to mark the anti-corruption movement.

Nigeria declares security emergency

Nigeria’s president declared a national security emergency and named nominees to fill key ambassadorial posts, as he grapples with mass kidnappings that represent his biggest crisis since taking office two years ago. The abduction of hundreds of children in two northern states last week — including more than 300 from a Catholic school — comes as Washington threatens sanctions and military action over claims that Christians are targeted in violent attacks.

Tinubu, announcing the “nationwide security emergency” this week, vowed to nearly double the initial target for a new police recruitment drive to 50,000 officers. The army will also add to its ranks, he said, describing Nigeria as being in “a challenging moment.” The Nigerian leader also, finally, nominated ambassadors to the US, UK, and France, after hollowing out the diplomatic service in 2023. The absence of senior diplomats to advocate for Nigeria’s government through backchannels has weakened the country’s international standing and helped US allegations of Christian persecution take hold in the White House.

S. Africa reacts to G20 ban

South Africa hit back at US President Donald Trump’s decision to exclude the country from next year’s G20 summit following his repeated false claims that Pretoria is conducting a “genocide” against its white minority. It’s the latest sign of fraying bilateral ties between Washington and Africa’s biggest economy.

“President Trump continues to apply punitive measures against South Africa based on misinformation and distortions about our country,” said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. He called the US decision “regrettable” while urging other G20 members to work “in the spirit of multilateralism, based on consensus, with all members participating on an equal footing.”

Trump said next year’s summit — due to be hosted at a resort he owns — would be invite only, prompting concerns among the bloc’s members that only those friendly with him could attend. On Thursday, Germany’s chancellor said he would seek to persuade Trump to reverse his decision to bar South Africa, while Ramaphosa’s spokesperson told Reuters that “a lot” of G20 members had sent Pretoria private messages of support, without identifying specific countries.

Trump pauses migration

US President Donald Trump pledged to pause migration from developing nations in response to the shooting of National Guard members in Washington, an incident in which the suspected attacker is an Afghan refugee. The move is set to affect citizens of several African countries that the Trump administration subjected to travel restrictions this year.

Trump, in a post to his Truth Social network, railed against immigration and called for “REVERSE MIGRATION.” His administration will also review all permanent residency applications by nationals hailing from 19 countries of concern, which include Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Somalia, and Sudan.

The New York Times noted that anti-immigration rhetoric has gained traction in the political right following Wednesday’s shooting, with Trump tying the attack to purported problems involving Somali refugees and a Republican senator calling for potential Muslim migrants to be banned.

Conflict, aid cuts hit HIV fight

The global fight against HIV is facing its biggest setback in decades, largely as a result of cuts to international aid funding, the UN warned. Distribution of preventative medication was down sharply in a number of places — 64% in Burundi — while countries such as Nigeria were seeing lower numbers of condoms being handed out, and test kits were out of stock in DR Congo and Ethiopia. In part, the setbacks are down to worsening conflict, but a key driver was reduced Western aid. Ultimately, the failure to restore preventative efforts could result in an extra 3.3 million HIV infections in the next five years, said UNAIDS, the UN body charged with combating HIV and AIDS.

Africa’s music industry boom

The amount of royalties African music earned in 2024, marking a 30% rise over the last decade, the latest CISAC Global Collections Report found. Africa’s music industry is the fastest-growing globally, with social media and streaming platforms boosting artists’ visibility worldwide. Spotify reported a 114% growth in music consumption in sub-Saharan Africa, while the Grammy Awards introduced a new category for African artists in 2024, and Japan launched its first Afrobeats festival this year. South Africa dominated Africa’s royalty collections, buoyed by a rise in income from concerts, the new report found, followed by Morocco and Côte d’Ivoire. However, local revenues on the continent represent a fraction of what is available in the West, with Africa remaining the world’s smallest collecting region.

— Paige Bruton

Person of Interest: Horta N’Tam

General Horta N’Tam was sworn in as Guinea-Bissau’s new leader, a day after army officers deposed the president in the country’s ninth coup or attempted takeover in five decades.

N’Tam, previously head of the presidential guard, has been named the transitional president for a period of one year. He replaces President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, who was briefly detained after the West African country’s disputed presidential election days earlier. Embaló, who fled to neighboring Senegal after his release, had claimed victory in the poll, as did his closest rival Fernando Dias. Some have questioned whether the military takeover was staged for Embaló to block the election result, which was due to be announced on Thursday.

At his swearing-in ceremony in the capital Bissau, N’Tam pledged to combat corruption and drug trafficking. “In this fight, the army’s actions to restore security and national order require the cooperation of all Guineans,” he said.

As one of the world’s foremost financial hubs, Abu Dhabi is emerging at the crossroads of innovation, investment, and inclusion — linking markets across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

Held at Abu Dhabi Finance Week, Semafor will showcase insights from the upcoming Global Findex 2025 report and the Global Digital Connectivity Tracker, translating global research into practical, locally grounded conversations. With Abu Dhabi prioritizing sustainable finance, digital transformation, and cross-border collaboration, the city provides an ideal stage to explore how technology and capital can work together to expand access, inclusion, and economic opportunity.

Dec. 11 | Abu Dhabi | Request Invitation

• The location of a new $3,500-a-night safari lodge in Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Game Reserve is sparking widespread controversy. Opponents filed a lawsuit against Marriott International, Ritz-Carlton, and their Kenyan partner Lazizi Mara over the location of the camp, which opened in August, saying it is built in the middle of a corridor used by wildebeest during the Great Migration, The New York Times reports. Marriott said it could not comment on ongoing litigation while Lazizi told Reuters in August that the camp was not in a migration corridor. “Experts disagree,” writes the Times.

• Aside from gold, critical minerals, and crops, Russia has become increasingly interested in another commodity on the African continent: fish. Several research vessels have left from the Baltic port of Kaliningrad in recent months to map fish stocks in the waters around Africa, which, though often overfished, are also significantly under-regulated compared to other locations globally. “The scale of the Russian presence may well be significantly increased,” one researcher who helped coordinate a recent expedition tells Bloomberg.

• UAE-based company Blue Carbon, which promised to protect vast tracts of forests and offset emissions in Africa, has struggled to get deals with several governments off the ground, an investigation by AFP and Code for Africa finds. The company had, in some cases, agreed to protect a fifth of a country’s landmass, though there has been little progress. “For environmentalists, Blue Carbon’s Africa agreements were at best mismatched with local realities.” AFP writes. “At worst, critics say, they were a means to allow oil producer the UAE to earn “green” credentials before hosting the COP28 summit.”

• Angola is becoming an increasingly important global “middle power,” writes a think tank analyst. The country is harnessing its oil, minerals, and logistical resources “to become more autonomous” while “pursuing a strategy of non-alignment,” notes Alex Vines, the Africa program director at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Luanda is building new relationships with European states alongside the US, Gulf nations, and emerging powers such as India, to reduce its reliance on China.

Business & Macro