economic crisis - The African Mirror

Nov

2022

Ghanaian protesters demand president step down over economic crisis

COOPER INVEEN and FRANCIS KOKOROKO MORE than 1,000 protesters marched through Ghana's capital Accra, calling for the resignation of President Nana Akufo-Addo amid an economic crisis that has hammered the cedi currency and seen fuel and food costs spiral to record levels. Filing past police in riot gear, the red-clad crowd waved placards and chanted 'Akufo-Addo must go' and 'IMF no' in reference to the government's ongoing talks with the International Monetary Fund for billions of dollars to prop up the economy. The president last week sought to reassure Ghanaians that the authorities would get the country's finances back on track after consumer inflation…

Jul

2022

By The African Mirror

Seething Sri Lanka stops president’s brother flying out of the country

WORLD

UDITHA JAYASINGHE and DEVJYOT GHOSHAL SRI Lankan immigration officials stopped the president's brother and former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa from flying out of the country on Tuesday, as anger mounted over the island's worst economic crisis in decades. It was not clear where Rajapaksa, who also holds U.S. citizenship, was trying to go. He resigned as finance minister in early April as street protests surged against shortages of fuel, food and other necessities, and quit his seat in parliament in June. His elder brother, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, will resign as president on Wednesday to make way for a unity government, after…

Jan

2022

By The African Mirror

As Taliban threats grow, LGBT+ Afghans struggle for work and food

LGBT+

ANNIE BANERJI LGBT+ Afghans face increasing threats and violence five months since the Taliban seized power, with many forced into hiding and unable to earn a living amid a worsening economic crisis, researchers said. Sixty LGBT+ Afghans who were interviewed by rights groups said the community was being targeted by members of the hardline Islamist movement and their supporters, making it too risky for them to work or even leave the house. Two gay men said they had been raped by Taliban fighters, while many others said they had been threatened or attacked, found the report by Human Rights Watch…

Oct

2021

By The African Mirror

INSIGHT-Facebook shuts fake accounts in Sudan, as fight for public opinion rages online

NEWS

NAFISA ELTAHIR, MALAIKA TAPPER and KHALID ABDELAZIZ FACEBOOK says it has shut down two large networks targeting users in Sudan in recent months, as civilian and military leaders spar with one another over the future of an interim power-sharing arrangement. The battle for public opinion, much of it happening online, is intensifying as Sudan reels from economic crisis and a shaky transition to democracy following 30 years under President Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted in a popular uprising in 2019. Facebook said one of the networks of inauthentic pages it took down was linked to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

New joint force to “crack down on insecurity” in Sudan

NEWS

SUDAN’S military has announced plans to create a joint force to "crack down on insecurity" and assert the state's authority in the capital and nationwide as an economic crisis and regional tensions plague a fragile transition period. The announcement was made in an order from General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, deputy head of Sudan's ruling sovereign council, that was published late on Thursday. Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, is head of the Rapid Support Forces which will be part of the new force with the police, armed forces, General Intelligence Service and "representatives" of rebel groups and the public prosecutor, the…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Sudan’s basic income scheme aims to ease economic pain

NEWS

NAFISA ELTAHIR and ELTAYEB SIDDING FOR Intisar Altayib, who ekes out a living drawing henna tattoos in Khartoum, soaring prices in Sudan mean running up tabs at local stores and cutting back on evening feasts during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. She is one of millions struggling through an economic crisis that has deepened as Sudan tries to emerge from decades of isolation and conflict. Inflation has risen to more than 340% and there are shortages of everything from power to medicines. To ease the pain of reforms the government is introducing a donor-funded scheme that aims to provide…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Tunisia’s powerful union urges political, economic reform to head off crisis

NEWS

TAREK AMARA and ANGUS McDOWALL THE leader of Tunisia's UGTT labour union, widely seen as the country's most powerful political player with more than a million members, told Reuters urgent reform was needed to head off a social and economic crisis. "We need a national discussion on the political system ... the dialogue should include reforms to revive the economy," said Noureddine Taboubi, secretary-general of the union, a national movement that helped end colonial rule in 1956 and won a Nobel Peace Prize for its role calming tensions after the 2011 "Arab Spring" revolution. As the revolution's 10th anniversary arrived…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Sudan gives final approval to 2021 budget – finance ministry

BUSINESS

A joint meeting of Sudan's ruling council and cabinet has given final approval to the country's 2021 budget, a finance ministry statement said. The budget is the first to be passed since the removal of Sudan from the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list and a peace deal involving some rebel groups last year. Sudan is going through a deepening economic crisis, with inflation in December at 269% and periodic shortages of fuel, bread, and electricity. International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Monday the IMF was working "very intensively" with Sudan to build the preconditions for broad…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Riots break out in several Tunisian cities

NEWS

RIOTS and violent clashes between Tunisian police and protesters broke out yesterday in the capital Tunis and several other cities for the second consecutive day, as the country faces an unprecedented economic crisis. Tunisian authorities said earlier that they had arrested 240 people, mostly teenagers, after violent clashes with police in several cities overnight and during the day on Sunday. A decade on from a revolution against poverty, corruption and injustice, Tunisia has progressed towards democracy but its economic problems have worsened, with the country on the verge of bankruptcy and public services in a dire situation. The protesters made…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Ghana votes as candidates offer routes out of economic crisis

NEWS

CHRISTIAN AKORLIE and CHRISTOPHE VAN DER PERRE THE polls have closed and counting has started in an election that is expected to be a close race between President Nana Akufo-Addo and his main rival John Mahama, who are offering competing plans to end an economic crisis. Eyes are on the West African powerhouse to see if it can keep its standing as a bastion of democracy in an unstable region where election disputes this year have fanned fears of a slide back into authoritarianism. In the morning, a long line of voters stretched out of a polling station and down…