Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has said that his country will develop, with or without World Bank loans. The president’s defiance follows a decision by the World Bank to stop making fresh loans to Uganda due to the nation’s contentious anti-LGBTQI+. The Washington, DC-based lender announced that it would halt project financing while it reviewed the steps it took to safeguard sexual and gender minorities from prejudice and exclusion in its initiatives. “Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act fundamentally contradicts the World Bank’s values,” the lender said in a statement. As a result of the anti-homosexuality legislation, the U.S. placed travel restrictions on Ugandan officials in June 2023. President Museveni, who described homosexuality as a psychological condition, dismissed criticism from other countries, saying that the law was “necessary” to prevent members of the LGBTQI+ community from trying to “recruit” people. Uganda’s legislation provides for a mandatory death sentence for a person convicted of “aggravated homosexuality”. President Museveni has insisted that Uganda will do with, or without, the support of the World Bank.

Chairperson Fakki Mahamat calls for dialogue to achieve lasting solution to conflict

Nigeria’s president announced a cabinet of close advisers and political loyalists as he seeks to rejuvenate a faltering economy and respond to a crisis in neighbouring Niger that has dominated the first few months of his term in office. Bola Tinubu, who took over in May, appointed investment banker Wale Edun as finance and co-ordinating minister of the economy in a sweeping role responsible for rebooting the battered finances of Africa’s most populous nation. Edun, a former chair of the Lagos-based investment bank Chapel Hill Denham, was previously Tinubu’s special adviser on monetary policy. Many had expected Edun to be appointed finance minister eight years ago under former president Muhammadu Buhari but he was overlooked. One of Tinubu’s closest allies, he served as commissioner of finance in Lagos, Nigeria’s economic capital, from 1999 to 2007 when Tinubu was governor of the state. Edun, 62, played a key role in crafting Tinubu’s economic manifesto during the campaign for February’s elections and is regarded as the architect of market-pleasing attempts to return to economic orthodoxy in Africa’s biggest economy.

Boat was carrying more than 100 people, at least 38 rescued.

Somalia to launch new large-scale military offensive against terrorists

The new U.S. ambassador to Niger, Kathleen FitzGibbon, will arrive in Niamey, the State Department said

Nigerian state starts dialogue with bandits over escalating killings

Bloc urges military administration to restore constitutional order.

Pressure grows in DR Congo to revoke emergency measures in east

An agreement has been reached to establish a strong unified army that reflects Sudan’s diversity, under civilian authority, and lays the foundation for a true democratic civilian governance system at all levels

The Sudanese community in Cairo says there are more than a million Sudanese who have come to Egypt following the escalation of the crisis in Sudan

A top Sudanese official has said that a plan should be put in place to end the conflict between the army and RSF amid the continuing violence in the country

The Sudanes army says that it has liberated all the areas that Joseph Tuka’s forces had reached

Death toll from clashes in Libya rises to 55 – medical agency

A peace agreement between Salamat and Beni Halba tribes was reached following civil conflict in Kubum, South Darfur

S Africa church leads class action against mining companies

Egypt’s blackouts seen as a symbol of discontent against Sisi

Kenya’s treasury reports record high debt levels

Nigeria engaging in new contract negotiations with coach Peseiro

Attack near Mali border claims lives of seventeen Nigerien soldiers

Dozens of migrants rescued, others found dead off Cape Verde

Deaf Nigerian dancers capture public’s delight while defying expectations

Sudan’s army has been attacking an area of Omdurman city where a traditional healer has been treating injured RSF fighters. Ten people died in shelling on Monday, which marked four months since the start of the brutal power struggle between the military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Since the war began the RSF has moved into bases in many residential areas of the three cities that make up Greater Khartoum – Bahri, Khartoum and Omdurman – that are often targeted by air strikes and shelling. One shell, fired from the nearby Karari military base, hit a small square in Omdurman’s Ombada 19 suburb where young men were seeking shade from the heat. A separate shell hit a restaurant owner’s home, killing his son. Another shell was fired towards the traditional healer’s house on Tuesday, but it did not explode. The attacks cut internet connections, which only returned later on Tuesday.  She is known to deal with bone fractures and has recently been treating RSF personnel. Traditional healing is popular in Sudan – many believe this method is better than modern medicine for treating broken bones. Ombada 19 is also home to members of the Rizeigat ethnic group. They originally hail from Darfur, like RSF leader Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who is a Rizeigat as are many of his fighters. RSF soldiers are often seen carrying rifles in and around the neighbourhood, where hundreds of people have fled because of the latest attacks. But Ombada 19 resident Hawa Adam, who has fled with her young son to find shelter at a stranger’s house in a safer area, said: “I really don’t know why they shelled our neighbourhood. There’s not a single RSF fighter here.” On Sunday, a separate area of Omdurman, Ombada 16, was hit by an airstrike. Three young men, two brothers and a neighbour, were killed, a neighbourhood organisation said.

Germany expressed concern about the recent military intervention in Niger.