here is your latest african news
niger french forces make niger their new home after being expelled by mali
french forces in the sahel have said they will switch operation modes
after they leave mali acting more in support of local forces rather than substituting for them
after nearly a decade fighting militants in mali france is pulling its troops out of the country
after falling out with its military government but are now planning to make niger their new base
president emmanuel macron announced the withdrawal in february saying operation bakan would continue
elsewhere in the sahel but in a smaller and reconfigured form in an interview bakan commander
said the force now had less than 2 000 men left in mali the pull out was on track for completion by
the end of summer with operations determined more strictly by requests from the african countries
and will take the form of in support of and not in replacement for the local military the commander
stated as for the pull out france has already left its bases in gaussia and menaka in central mali
and is currently disengaging from a camp in gao in all 4 000 containers and just under a thousand
vehicles are to leave mali france intervened in mali in 2013 to stem a jihadist-backed
revolt in the north of the country the following year it launched the broader bakan operation
among five sahel allies all former french colonies that is bukin afaso chad mali mauritania and niger
at its peak the mission had 5100 troops across the region providing key support in air power troop
transport and reconnaissance 58 french troops have died in bakan and its predecessor mission savelle
zimbabwe zimbabwe central bank to introduce gold coin amid inflation crisis
zimbabwe's central bank has said it will start issuing gold coins as legal tender in late july as
the country battles to control soaring inflation that has considerably weakened the local currency
the gold coin is named mossy or tunia after victoria falls and can be converted into cash
according to the apex bank the latest measure comes as the country's inflation rate more than
doubled last month to 191 percent bringing back memories of the hyperinflation of the early 2000s
that saw the zimbabwean dollar redenominated three times the local currency would later be
abandoned in 2009. governor of the central bank john mangudia in a statement said that the gold
coins will be available for sale to the public in both local currency and u.s dollar and other
foreign currencies at a price based on the prevailing international price of gold and
the cost of production the coins are expected to act as a store of value and to reduce the demand
for us dollars something that has been blamed for the weakening value of the local currency
there have been mixed feelings over the news as zimbabwean's experience with the central bank's
policies is often of concern and uncertainty many zimbabweans are known to have lost their
savings including pensions when the zimbabwean dollar crashed in 2009. the south african nation
uses foreign currencies mostly the us dollar despite attempts to revive the local currency
the most recent attempt with its reintroduction in 2009 has the sim dollar in use but once again
with plummeted value the central bank last week raised interest rates to 200 percent
from 80 percent and has outlined plans to make the us dollar legal tender for the next five years
guinea guinea halls chinese mandu iron ore project and seeks new partners guinea's mines minister has
ordered all work related to the simundu iron ore mine project to be halted out of the two companies
involved missed an extended deadline to agree on a joint venture in a july 3rd letter addressed
to rio tinto's guinea subsidiary simpha sa and chinese-backed consortium winning consortium
simandu wcs mines minister mosa mogasuba said they have shown a lack of willingness to work on
a partnership magazuba said the halt would apply across the country effective from 8am local time
on july 4th rio tinto declined to comment on the latest stoppage and wcs did not immediately reply
to a request for comment in a later statement the government said it was open to discussions with
new partners in the ambitious project that aims to extract iron ore from its remote hinterland to a
port hundreds of kilometers away but which has been dodged by delays in recent years guinea's
military government has suspended construction of the mine and related infrastructure once before
in march that resulted in rio and wcs signing a framework agreement that month under which
they would co-develop infrastructure for the mine including a 670 kilometer railway
and a port the government gave the companies 14 days on june 19 to agree on a joint venture
itself an extension of a previous deadline the march framework agreement guaranteed the state
15 percent of the siemendu iono as well as a free and non-dilutable 15 stake in the railway and port
joint venture the government has said magazuba cedrio and wcs were stalling over the terms
of the government's stake in the joint venture blaming the companies for inertia on this issue
nigeria boko haram takes over kuja federal prisons releases 600 hardened criminals into abuja
boko haram fighters have seized control of the prisons in kuja and abuja sabab freeing hardened
criminals into the nation's capital the insurgents stormed the facility at about 10 pm on july 5th
detonating explosives and opening live rounds on stage agents guarding the facility according to
a senior government official the official could not immediately elaborate on the unfolding chaos
at the prison which hold suspects ranging from disgraced police chief abba carey
to infamous terror masterminds residents in the areas have also confirmed hearing loud noises
believed to be explosives and gunfire soldiers and other security personnel
around the facility reportedly fled when the attackers arrived in over 1 000 motorcycles
a spokesman for the nigerian correctional service and the fct police did not immediately
return requests seeking details about the incident on july 5. the attack comes as
insecurity inundates president muhammadu buhari and his security chiefs earlier on the same day
the administration confirmed an attack on the president's convoy in his home at katsina state
diaspora ballet school in rio pavela risk closure due to lack of funds 410 students
between the ages of 6 and 29 who take free dance classes in mongrels a favela in the north of
rio while another 700 the vast majority of them girls are on the waiting list risk losing their
chance to break in out of the favela cycles due to a threat on the institution's closure
in this neighborhood that lives under the yoke of drug trafficking and where
classes are regularly interrupted by gun fights during police operations
the ballet mangroves association is a kind of oasis but its continuity is under threat as the
pandemic left its mark with the tragic death from kovite 19 of the association's founder
diana ferreira in january 2021 months later it suffered another blow a three-year finding
contract with the u.s philanthropic foundation the secular society tss ended as planned and
ballet mangus was left without a major source of income thanks for watching please subscribe
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