African Union

During its 3rd grandiose summit in Luanda that brought together a distinguished panel of leaders, including the ministers of transport from Zimbabwe and Rwanda, the secretary-general of the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC), the director of strategies at Morocco’s Ministry of Transport and Logistics, the CEOs of Ethiopian Airlines and TAAG Angola Airlines, as well as representatives from the World Bank Group and the European Commission (EC), the African Union finally earmarked $30 billion for aviation infrastructure.

In his opening address, João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, President of the Republic of Angola and Chairperson of the African Union (AU), stressed that Africa must invest between $130 billion and $170 billion annually to lay the foundation for sustainable growth. “We must move from words to action,” President Lourenço urged. “This summit represents a decisive step toward mobilizing the resources needed to enhance connectivity and integration across our continent.”

The ambitious investment plan strategically aims at modernizing the continent’s aviation infrastructure under the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), according to summit reports. Lerato D. Mataboge, African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, during the high-level session on Financing and Modernizing African Civil Aviation Infrastructure to Promote Integrated Continental Airspace and Enable Free Movement Under SAATM, emphasized aviation’s pivotal role as both an engine of integration and a cornerstone of Africa’s economic transformation.

“Aviation is not merely a mode of transport,” Mataboge stated, speaking at the session. “It is a strategic engine of continental integration and a core enabler of Agenda 2063 and the AfCFTA. The Single African Air Transport Market will only succeed if we build the modern, safe, and efficient infrastructure that Africa’s growth demands.”

Citing findings from a Continental Aviation Infrastructure Gap Analysis conducted with AFCAC, ICAO, and the World Bank, Mataboge revealed that Africa needs between $25 and $30 billion over the next decade to close critical aviation infrastructure gaps. Passenger traffic is projected to triple from 160 million in 2024 to nearly 500 million by 2050, intensifying the urgency for investment.

Key funding requirements include US$10 billion for airport and aerodrome infrastructure and $8 billion for modernizing communication, navigation, and meteorological systems. The AU’s strategy aims to mobilize $10 billion in catalytic public finance to attract an additional $20 billion in private and institutional investment. Through partnerships with Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and AUDA-NEPAD, the AU is aligning investment priorities with SAATM and the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA).

The modernization plan integrates cutting-edge technologies such as Airport Collaborative Decision-Making (A-CDM) and System-Wide Information Management (SWIM) to enable seamless continental airspace. It also incorporates renewable energy solutions at airports to attract green financing and advance sustainability goals.

“As we modernize African skies, we are doing so sustainably,” Mataboge added. “Every project we prepare is designed to meet global green standards, reduce fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions, and make African aviation an attractive asset class for the world’s growing pool of climate-focused capital.”

Mataboge reaffirmed the AU’s commitment to ensuring that a modern, efficient, and sustainable aviation network drives Africa’s economic integration, connectivity, and global competitiveness. The AU’s officials reaffirmed their focus on Africa’s most strategic priorities, including building aviation infrastructure, digital data systems, and data interoperability. The discussion underscored the importance of collaborative efforts in building a better aviation sector across Africa.

Deals and Dollars: Concrete Commitments 

The summit moved beyond dialogue to secure tangible commitments, marked by the signing of three key Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs):

– A partnership between the African Social Security Association and AUDA-NEPAD to channel African pension funds into continental infrastructure.

– An MOU with Qatar Airways establishing a $500 million endowment for renewable energy and climate-aligned industrialization.

– The establishment of the Angola Export and Trade Facility to promote regional cooperation and trade.

Ms. Nardos Bekele-Thomas, CEO of AUDA-NEPAD, reported significant progress since the previous summit in Dakar, Senegal. She announced that the AU, alongside African financial institutions, has already raised $1.5 billion to execute high-impact cross-border projects.

“The lesson from Dakar is clear: we can no longer treat financing as a fragmented market of scattered deals. We must transform it into a unified strategy,” Bekele-Thomas stated. She detailed new financial instruments, including the Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa’s Project Development Fund, which has achieved a first close of $118 million and is managed by Africa50.

In his contribution, African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf emphasized that Africa is entering a new phase of self-determination, one in which the continent must take ownership of financing, planning, and implementing its own development. He underscored that infrastructure investment is not merely technical but deeply political and strategic, vital to Africa’s economic sovereignty, competitiveness, and unity. Highlighting progress made under the PIDA framework, he called for an African-driven ecosystem for development financing through domestic resource mobilization, stronger private sector participation, and greater access to climate funds.

Echoing the urgency of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, framed infrastructure investment as a deeply political and strategic imperative for Africa’s economic sovereignty. “We are shifting from a logic of assistance to a logic of alliance, where partners align their engagement with priorities defined by Africa itself,” he declared. He concluded with a powerful vision: “What we are building here are not merely roads and bridges. We are building an Africa that is connected, confident, and sovereign.”

There were special sessions designed to facilitate in-depth due diligence and accelerate projects toward financial close. The summit for Africa’s infrastructure development stands as a definitive moment, signaling Africa’s unified resolve to finance its own destiny and build the interconnected, prosperous future its people deserve.

Colonel Randrianirina set to assume presidency in Madagascar after President Andry Rajoelina removed.

Military leader Colonel Michael Randrianirina will be sworn in as Madagascar’s transitional president on Friday, the country’s new leadership has announced, as the African Union (AU) said it would suspend the country after a coup to remove President Andry Rajoelina.

Randrianirina “will be sworn in as President of the Refoundation of the Republic of Madagascar during a solemn hearing of the High Constitutional Court” on October 17, said the statement, published on social media by a state television station on Thursday.

Rajoelina, who was impeached by lawmakers after fleeing abroad during the weekend, has condemned the takeover and refused to step down despite youth-led demonstrations demanding his resignation and widespread defections in the security forces.

Randrianirina led a rebellion that sided with the protesters and ousted Rajoelina on Tuesday in the sprawling country of about 30 million people off of Africa’s east coast. Since gaining independence from France in 1960, the country has had a history of coups and political crises.

The latest military takeover capped weeks of protests against Rajoelina and his government, led by youth groups calling themselves “Gen Z Madagascar”. The protesters, who also included labour unions and civic groups, have demanded better government and job opportunities, echoing youth-led protests elsewhere in the world.

Among other things, the Madagascar protesters have railed against chronic water and electricity outages, limited access to higher education, government corruption and poverty, which affects roughly three out of every four Madagascans, according to the World Bank.

Although some suggest the military seized power on the backs of the civilian protesters, demonstrators cheered Randrianirina and other soldiers from his elite CAPSAT unit as they triumphantly rode through the streets of the capital Antananarivo on Tuesday. The colonel has promised elections in two years.

The takeover was “an awakening of the people. It was launched by the youth. And the military supported us”, said the protest leader, Safika, who only gave one name as has been typical with the demonstrators. “We must always be wary, but the current state of affairs gives us reason to be confident,” Safika told The Associated Press news agency.

The protests reached a turning point Saturday when Randrianirina and soldiers from his unit sided with the demonstrators calling for the president to resign. Rajoelina said he fled to an undisclosed country because he feared for his life.

Randrianirina had long been a vocal critic of Rajoelina’s administration and was reportedly imprisoned for several months in 2023 for plotting a coup.

His swift takeover drew international concern. The African Union condemned the coup and announced the country’s suspension from the bloc. The United Nations said they were “deeply concerned by the unconstitutional change of power”.

An eerily familiar set of headlines is making the rounds in Ethiopia, troubling many in the fragile, northern Tigray region.

Successive delegations of civil society and religious leaders have, in recent weeks, travelled to the Tigrayan capital, Mekelle, for “dialogue”. For some, it is a reminder of the events that played out in the final weeks before Tigray descended into war in November 2020.

That war left 600,000 people dead and some five million displaced. It brought global attention to Ethiopia’s fractured politics and tarnished the reputation of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who had won a Nobel Peace Prize for mending long-severed ties with neighbouring Eritrea.

A ceasefire two years later was supposed to end the war; instead, analysts say, another conflict might be looming. This time, it could involve not just the Tigrayan regional authorities, but also Eritrea, and potentially, that country’s own allies. It is not a conflict that the region can withstand, experts fear.

“We are now at a point where we are all frightened at another conflict in Tigray, and with Eritrea,” analyst Abel Abate Demissie of the Chatham House think tank in the United Kingdom told Al Jazeera. “It would be extremely devastating.”

Fractured agreements signed back in November 2022 that ended the war between the regional Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the federal government are at the root of the tensions. However, it is the deepening resentment between neighbours Eritrea and Ethiopia that analysts say is the scariest development this time.

Ethiopia is a key player in East Africa, and war there could derail regional stability as neighbouring Sudan, South Sudan, and Somalia deal with ongoing armed conflict. It could also affect Africa’s self-reliance in the aviation sector, as Addis Ababa is one of Africa’s most important air travel hubs.

Peace agreement pushed aside

War broke out in Tigray in November 2020 after Ethiopia’s Abiy accused the TPLF of attacking a command centre of the national army, the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF).

For decades, the TPLF dominated the ruling coalition in Addis Ababa in what experts say was an autocratic system. The group was disliked in nearly all 10 regions of Ethiopia, a country where regions form along ethnic lines. Eritrea, which fought a border war with TPLF-dominated Ethiopia in 1998, also had gripes with the party. When Abiy, an Oromo, was elected in 2018, though, he established peaceful ties with Eritrea and set about implementing reforms for a stronger central government. The TPLF, however, saw Abiy’s moves as a threat to its power and sought to overthrow his government.

Addis Ababa, in its military response to the TPLF attack, teamed up with other TPLF-opposed entities, including the Amhara army and allied militias, as well as Eritrean forces. All sides were accused of attacking civilians; however, rights groups also accused the federal government of deliberately blocking aid to Tigrayans and causing a near-famine. The United States called attacks by Amhara militias “ethnic cleansing” while many Tigrayans claim the war was a genocide. Many were forcibly displaced from western Tigray, which the Amhara region claims. Thousands of women were raped.

In November 2022, Addis Ababa and TPLF signed the Pretoria peace agreement. The ceasefire deal mandated that the TPLF disarm and a new government be jointly appointed by both sides. It also mandated that Addis Ababa oversee the safe return of displaced people and that all third-party armies withdraw.

However, a power struggle emerged in the TPLF between the Abiy-appointed Tigray mayor, Getachew Reda, and the TPLF head, Debretsion Gebremichael. It began when Getachew attempted to implement the disarmament clause. Core TPLF members, however, accused him of being a sellout. In March, the TPLF faction aligned with Debretsion staged a coup, seized the Mekelle radio station, and forced Getachew to leave Mekelle for Addis Ababa. The coup was a direct affront to Abiy, analysts say. Although he has since appointed another interim president from Debretsion’s camp, Addis Ababa and TPLF have traded insults and threatened attacks.

“Both sides have downplayed their responsibility,” said Abel of Chatham House, speaking of how both sides appear to have moved away from the Pretoria agreement. The TPLF accuses Addis Ababa of failing to resettle people, with some 1.6 million still displaced, and is threatening to forcibly return them. It also blames the government for revoking its licence as a political party, although the national electoral body says it is because the TPLF has failed to hold a general assembly as it previously mandated.

Addis Ababa, on the other hand, has faulted the TPLF for failing to disarm, and also accuses the party of allying with Eritrea.

In a speech in parliament in July, Abiy urged religious leaders and civil society members to warn TPLF leaders against escalation, because when conflict starts, “it would be too late”.

Getachew, who has been expelled from the TPLF, has formed a new party, the Tigray Democratic Solidarity Party. Analysts say it is possible that the party might be installed in Tigray instead.

Meanwhile, Amhara militias and the TPLF continue to clash. Many young people who joined the TPLF in the 2020 war have defected to form new militias allied with Getachew’s faction and attempted an attack on the TPLF in July.

The problem with Eritrea

Ethiopia’s perpetual entanglement with Eritrea has taken on a different dimension since 2020, with both again at loggerheads.

Cracks appeared in their parley after Abiy’s government agreed to peace with the TPLF. President Isaias Afwerki, who has been Eritrea’s de facto leader since 1994, was reportedly angered as he did not feel sufficiently consulted, even as Eritrean troops are still in Tigray.

A bigger problem, however, is Abiy’s comments since 2023 about landlocked Ethiopia’s “existential” need to access a seaport. Asmara has taken those statements as a threat that Addis Ababa might invade and seize the coastal areas it previously lost after Eritrea fought to secede in 1993. In one comment, Abiy described Ethiopia losing sea access as a “historical mistake”.

Since then, Eritrea has been building up defences, sending military tanks to the border, according to analysts, with Ethiopia doing the same. In February, Eritrea put out calls for conscription into the army. Asmara is also reportedly in cahoots with the TPLF to undermine Abiy, although officials deny this.

Both sides do not really want to go to war and are merely posturing, analyst Abel said. Eritrea would meet in Addis Ababa a formidable enemy, and Ethiopia is not eager to mar its reputation as a growing regional leader where the African Union has its headquarters.

“The problem, though, is it only takes one small act to ignite a war, even if both sides don’t want it,” the analyst said.

In March, Abiy attempted to downplay the tensions while speaking in parliament.

“Our intention is to negotiate based on the principle of give and take,” he said, implying that any port deals would be commercial. “Our plan is not to fight but to work together and grow together.”

It is not only Asmara that has been angered by Abiy’s bid to find a port. Neighbouring Somalia nearly declared war last year after Abiy sealed a port deal with the self-declared state of Somaliland. Somalia, which views Somaliland as part of its territory, was furious, but Turkiye, Somalia’s close ally, mediated repairs between the two in December. Before they reconciled, Eritrea held meetings with Somalia, as well as Egypt, which is also angry with Addis Ababa over the Grand Renaissance Dam, which it says will limit its water supply from the Nile.

Can all sides find peace?

Analysts say the work of finding common ground rests mostly with Abiy as Asmara, for one, is not strong on diplomacy, and the TPLF appears more confident with reported Eritrean backing.

The big unknown is whether Abiy is willing and able to restore ties with either the TPLF or Eritrea without either side feeling sidelined. In the background, as well, are the Amhara militias who are still present in disputed western Tigray. Any attempts to remove them could lead to conflict.

In any case, Abiy is already suffering a crisis of legitimacy, analyst Micheal Tsegay Assefa concluded in a brief for the Atlas Institute for International Affairs.

“Regional leaders, particularly from Amhara and Oromia, increasingly question the central government’s capacity to secure peace and manage inter-regional conflicts,” he wrote, due to Addis Ababa’s inability to enforce the peace deal.

Meanwhile, as the sabre-rattling continues, Tigrayans are once again fearing for their lives. The recent tensions have sent scores of people fleeing from the region, with some risking deadly routes to get out of the country altogether.

Researchers say Ethiopian migrants attempting, and dying, to enter Yemen via the Gulf of Aden increasingly appear to be from Tigray, based on the clothing or jewellery found by rescuers during shipwrecks.

Analysts say another war simply must not happen.

“Conflict only needs one side to go rogue,” Abel said. “I really hope that sanity will prevail and all sides will apply wisdom.”

Africa’s leaders have no one to blame but themselves if they cannot reach equitable trade deals with the United States, argues the former representative of the African Union to the US, Arikana Chihombori-Quao.

Chihombori-Quao tells host Steve Clemons that US President Donald Trump’s “trade, not aid” policy opens up “an opportunity that African leaders were not awarded by the colonisers, the European nations, when they set out to exploit the continent of Africa”.

She adds that African leaders should not allow themselves to be bullied by Trump, “because he has what you need, you also have what he wants”.

Paul Kagame gives cautious welcome to US-brokered agreement, but says success depends on goodwill from warring parties.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has cautiously welcomed a United States-brokered peace deal with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), while suggesting Kigali will retaliate if provoked.

Speaking at a news conference in Kigali on Friday, Kagame said Rwanda remained committed to the agreement but questioned whether Kinshasa would uphold its part of the deal.

“If the side that we are working with plays tricks and takes us back to the problem, then we deal with the problem like we have been dealing with it,” Kagame said.

The agreement, backed by the administration of US President Donald Trump, was signed last week and calls for Rwandan troops to withdraw from eastern DRC within 90 days.

The region has seen intense fighting this year, with M23 rebels seizing major towns. The United Nations has accused Rwanda of backing the group with thousands of troops – an allegation Kigali denies.

While the peace deal is seen as a turning point, analysts do not believe it will quickly end the fighting because M23 – a major belligerent in the conflict – says the agreement does not apply to it.

US ‘not to blame’ if deal fails

Rwanda insists its military presence in eastern DRC is a response to threats from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), an armed group made up of ethnic Hutu fighters linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Kagame said Kinshasa must act to dismantle the FDLR if the deal is to succeed.

“We are grateful to the Trump administration for its efforts,” he said. “If it doesn’t work, they aren’t the ones to blame.”

There has been no official response from Kinshasa, which has consistently accused Rwanda of fuelling the conflict.

Rwanda-backed M23 is the most prominent armed group in the conflict in eastern DRC, and its major advance early this year left bodies on the streets. With 7 million people displaced in DRC, the UN has called it “one of the most protracted, complex, serious humanitarian crises on Earth”.

M23 has not been involved in the US-mediated efforts, although it has been part of other peace talks. On Thursday, both the Congolese government and M23 representatives agreed that they would return to Qatar for further discussions aimed at ending the conflict.

Meanwhile, Washington has proposed a separate investment plan that could allow Western companies to tap into the region’s rich deposits of tantalum, copper, and gold – resources that have long fuelled violence in eastern DRC.

Kagame’s appearance on Friday marked his first public remarks since June 6, prompting speculation during his absence about his health. Dissidents abroad, including former adviser David Himbara, claimed the president was seriously unwell.

Kagame dismissed the rumours with a joke. “Some of my personal health problems might originate from managing you people,” he said, sparking laughter.

“What is the problem? What would people want me to account for? That I am not human?” he added. The president appeared in good health throughout the briefing.

Helicopter with eight people on board crashes at Aden Adde airport, the main international airport in Mogadishu.

A helicopter used by an African Union peacekeeping mission has crashed at the international airport in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, killing at least three people, authorities said.

The incident occurred at Aden Adde airport on Wednesday as the helicopter was trying to land, according to Artan Mohamed, the head of the immigration office at the airport.

The helicopter, which belonged to the Ugandan Air Force but was being operated by the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), had taken off from Baledogle Airfield in the Lower Shabelle region with eight people on board, he said.

The fate of the remaining five people on board has yet to be determined, said a Ugandan military spokesperson.

Witnesses described the helicopter plummeting to the ground and exploding, causing a fire.

Abdirahim Ali, who lives nearby, said he saw “a huge explosion and smoke everywhere” while aviation officer Omar Farah told The Associated Press news agency that he “saw the helicopter spinning and then it fell very fast”.

Minor delays were reported at the airport, but the director-general of the country’s civil aviation authority said that flights had resumed.

“The situation is under control. The runway is clear and fully operational – flights can land and take off as usual,” Ahmed Macalin Hassan noted.

The AUSSOM mission has more than 11,000 personnel in Somalia from countries including Uganda and Kenya.

They are helping the Somali military to counter the armed group al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda affiliate that wants to topple the country’s government and establish its own rule.

This week, the Somali army killed a prominent leader from the group in the Middle Shabelle region, state media reported.

Quoting military sources, the Somali National News Agency said the leader was targeted during an operation in the Dar Nama’a area.