<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="462" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/107220710-1680673592628-gettyimages-1180313082-56201573023836_pic_hd-820x462.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-424096" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/107220710-1680673592628-gettyimages-1180313082-56201573023836_pic_hd-820x462.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/107220710-1680673592628-gettyimages-1180313082-56201573023836_pic_hd-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/107220710-1680673592628-gettyimages-1180313082-56201573023836_pic_hd-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/107220710-1680673592628-gettyimages-1180313082-56201573023836_pic_hd-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/107220710-1680673592628-gettyimages-1180313082-56201573023836_pic_hd.jpeg 929w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron are meeting this week. Pool | Getty Images News | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



European officials are traveling to China in the hope of persuading Beijing to denounce Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and cool its recent kinship with the Kremlin.



The 27-member bloc walks a tightrope, looking to develop economic ties with China but also reaffirming a close political and cultural relationship with the United States. This has became particularly difficult with the U.S. administration ramping up its anti-Beijing rhetoric and, even more so, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of its neighbor.



“It is clear that our relations have become more distant and more difficult in the last few years,” Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said in a speech Thursday ahead of her trip to Beijing this week.



“We have seen a very deliberate hardening of China’s overall strategic posture for some time. And it has now been matched by a ratcheting up of increasingly assertive actions,” she added.



Von der Leyen is traveling to Beijing alongside France’s President Emmanuel Macron this week. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez met China’s President Xi Jinping last week. Europe’s top foreign affairs diplomat, Josep Borrell, is heading to China next week.



“A lot of Europeans [are] going to China,” Borrell said Tuesday, adding that they have a clear message.



“Its position on Russia’s atrocities and war crimes will determine the quality of our relations with Beijing. In the meantime, the European Union stands united and our transatlantic community remains also united,” he said.



China has failed to condemn Russia’s onslaught in Ukraine. In a visit to Moscow in March, China’s leader Xi Jinping referred to his Russian counterpart as a dear friend.



Beijing in February proposed a 12-point peace plan for the Ukraine war. The plan fails to specify whether Russia needs to leave Ukrainian territory for a deal to be completed. Ukraine has made it clear it will not agree to any peace deal that does not involve regaining full control of its territory, including Crimea which the Kremlin annexed in 2014.



“Europe has converged quite a lot to the position of the United States,” Niclas Poitiers, a research fellow at Bruegel, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” Monday, adding that Brussels wants to reduce dependencies on China. The EU was heavily reliant on Russia for energy and it now wants to avoid similar mistakes with other parts of the world.



“Overall, there is a consensus that we need to do something about our overreliance on China and ensure they don’t blackmail small member states,” Poitiers said.



A recent example of the increased convergence between the U.S. and the EU is the decision in the Netherlands to go ahead with export restrictions to China, following a move stateside aiming to curb Beijing’s access to the most cutting-edge microchip production.



In addition, the United States has also became Europe’s main provider of liquefied natural gas (LNG) last year as the bloc looked to phase out Russian hydrocarbons.



There’s also an increased, though natural, cooperation between EU nations and the U.S. on security matters given most of them are also members of NATO.



“U.S. &#8211; European Union relations have never been stronger or more important to advance our shared interests,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Brussels Tuesday.



Blinken is meeting his fellow NATO counterparts this week, where they will discuss further support for Ukraine as well as ramping up financial contributions to the military alliance.



But moving closer to the U.S. is not an easy decision for European leaders. In 2022, China was the largest source of EU imports and the third largest buyer of EU goods, highlighting the economic importance that Beijing has for Europe. This is particularly relevant when economic growth in the EU is vulnerable to the ongoing war in Ukraine.

107220710-1680673592628-gettyimages-1180313082-56201573023836_pic_hd

Europe’s relationship with China reaches critical juncture after Xi-Putin meeting

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="562" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1246737066-820x562.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-422891" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1246737066-820x562.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1246737066-300x205.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1246737066-131x90.jpg 131w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1246737066-768x526.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1246737066-1536x1052.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1246737066-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">KINSHASA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO &#8211; FEBRUARY 02: Pope Francis wave to public as he leads the mass at Martyrs Stadium in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo on February 02, 2023. (Photo by Chris Milosi/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



KINSHASA, Feb 3 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Pope Francis wraps up an emotional visit to Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday and heads to neighbouring South Sudan, another nation struggling to overcome decades of conflict and grinding poverty.



The 86-year-old pontiff, on his&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N34A3NQ&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">third visit to sub-Saharan Africa</a>&nbsp;since his papacy began in 2013, was given a rapturous welcome by huge crowds in the Congolese capital Kinshasa but also confronted the reality of war, poverty and hunger.



On Wednesday, he heard&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N34H0IG&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">harrowing stories</a>&nbsp;from victims of conflict in eastern Congo who had witnessed the killings of close relatives and been subjected to sexual slavery, amputation and forced cannibalism.



The pope condemned the atrocities as war crimes and appealed to all parties, internal and external, who orchestrate war in Congo to plunder the country&#8217;s vast mineral resources to stop getting rich with &#8220;money stained with blood&#8221;.



Eastern Congo has been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N34G5B9&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">plagued for decades by conflict</a>&nbsp;driven in part by the struggle for control of deposits of diamonds, gold and other precious metals between the government, rebels and foreign invaders. The spillover and long fallout from neighbouring Rwanda&#8217;s 1994 genocide have also fuelled violence.



Francis returned again and again to the theme of conflict fuelled by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N34G0PP&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&#8220;the poison of greed&#8221;</a>, saying the Congolese people and the wider world should realise that people were more precious than the minerals in the earth beneath them.



After a meeting with Congolese bishops in Kinshasa on Friday morning and a farewell ceremony at the airport, his plane is scheduled to take off at 0940 GMT, heading for Juba, the capital of South Sudan, where it is expected to land around 1300 GMT.



The pope will be joined for the whole of his visit to South Sudan by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, leader of the global Anglican Communion, and by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Iain Greenshields.



It is the first joint foreign trip by the three Christian leaders, who have called it a &#8220;pilgrimage of peace&#8221;.



South Sudan broke away from Sudan to become independent in 2011 after decades of north-south conflict, but civil war erupted in 2013. Despite a 2018 peace deal between the two main antagonists,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N34I3AT&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">violence and hunger</a>&nbsp;still plague the country.



Francis has wanted to visit the predominantly Christian country for years but each time planning for a trip began it had to be postponed because of instability on the ground.



In one of the most remarkable gestures of his papacy, Francis knelt to kiss the feet of South Sudan&#8217;s previously warring leaders during a meeting at the Vatican in April 2019, urging them not to return to civil war.



FACTBOX-Pope Francis heads to Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N34I3AT&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



UPDATE 9-&#8216;Hands off Africa,&#8217; Pope Francis tells rich world<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N34G0PP&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



UPDATE 3-Pope hears harrowing tales of Congo violence and says: &#8216;Enough!&#8217;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N34H0IG&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



UPDATE 1-Shun ethnic rivalry and corruption, pope tells African youth<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N34I0IA&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



EXPLAINER-What is driving the violence in eastern Congo?<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N34G5B9&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



EXPLAINER-Why has peace eluded South Sudan?<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N3411GL&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



(Writing by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

Pope Francis in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Pope wraps up Congo visit, heads to volatile South Sudan

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1461605456-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-422883" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1461605456-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1461605456-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1461605456-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1461605456-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1461605456-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1461605456-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">KINSHASA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO &#8211; FEBRUARY 02: (EDITOR NOTE: STRICTLY EDITORIAL USE ONLY &#8211; NO MERCHANDISING). Pope Francis meets with young people and catechists from across the Democratic Republic of Congo on February 02, 2023 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. On the third day of his Apostolic Journey to the DRC, Pope Francis held a lively encounter with young people and the local Church’s catechists. The meeting took place in the Martyr’s Stadium in Kinshasa on Thursday morning, and the Pope thanked the Congolese youth for their shows of affection and dancing. (Photo by Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



KINSHASA, Feb 2 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Pope Francis on Thursday urged young people in Democratic Republic of Congo to forge a new future without the ethnic rivalry, corruption and distrust that have fuelled so many bloody conflicts in Africa.



Addressing more than 65,000 young people in Martyrs Stadium, Francis spoke of forgiveness and reconciliation, themes that have dominated his visit to Congo,&nbsp;where armed conflict has killed and displaced millions of people over the past decades.



But Thursday&#8217;s speech, focused on what he called &#8220;ingredients for the future&#8221;, struck a more hopeful tone than his previous ones as he spoke of potential new horizons for Congo rather than of its bloody past and present.



The speech was interrupted so often by applause and cheers that at one point an organiser took a microphone and shouted &#8220;let the pope speak&#8221; before he could continue.



&#8220;Beware of the temptation to point a finger at someone, to exclude another person because he or she is different; beware of regionalism, tribalism, or anything that makes you feel secure in your own group,&#8221; he told them.



&#8220;You know what happens: first, you believe in prejudices about others, then you justify hatred, then violence, and in the end, you find yourself in the middle of a war,&#8221; he said.



Congo has some of the world&#8217;s richest mineral deposits, but its abundant resources have stoked conflict between ethnic groups, militias, government troops and foreign invaders.



Eastern Congo has also been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N34G5B9&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">plagued by violence</a>&nbsp;connected to the long and complex fallout from the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda.



&#8220;To create a new future we need to give and receive forgiveness. That is what Christians do,&#8221; he said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-do-the-right-thing">DO THE RIGHT THING</h2>



In urging the young people in the packed stadium to &#8220;do the right thing&#8221;, Francis also asked them not to repeat the mistakes of previous generations. He singled out &#8220;corruption, which never seems to stop spreading&#8221;.



He led the stadium in an impromptu chant of &#8220;no to corruption&#8221; in French, Congo&#8217;s lingua franca.



The theme struck a chord with many young people in the stadium, who denounced their own leaders as corrupt and complained of routinely having to pay bribes to receive what should be ordinary services.



&#8220;The pope is right,&#8221; said Joel Muhemereri Amani, 21, an art student. &#8220;Because the country is going badly, imagine, to enter somewhere you have to corrupt the police. And I hope that the government, the police will change in this respect.&#8221;



Genovic Lobombo, a medical student, said he had come up against corruption during his time at university. &#8220;In order to succeed, you have to give money,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Corruption reigns here.&#8221;



The United Nations says African economies lose nearly $150 billion to corruption each year.



&#8220;Look, corruption is a scourge that exists in many countries of the world,&#8221; said Patrick Muyaya, minister of communication and government spokesman, after the pope&#8217;s speech.



&#8220;There are structural problems linked to the organisation of the country. So we are going to work so that all those who work can earn money by the sweat of their brow,&#8221; he told Reuters.



The 86-year-old pope,&nbsp;who arrived in Congo on Tuesday,flies to neighbouring South Sudan on Friday.&nbsp;He will be visiting jointly with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Church of Scotland Moderator, in what the three Christian leaders have described as an unprecedented &#8220;pilgrimage of peace&#8221;.



South Sudan, the world&#8217;s youngest country, is also grappling with conflict and hunger following a civil war that was fought mostly on ethnic lines and killed 400,000 people.



(Additional reporting by Sonia Rolley; Writing by Philip Pullella and Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Nick Macfie, Alexandra Hudson)

Pope Francis Travels To Democratic Republic Of Congo And South Sudan

Shun ethnic rivalry and corruption, pope tells African youth

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="549" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/4UP5FT3K4RK75GUSFPSPC3PD7M-820x549.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-422823" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/4UP5FT3K4RK75GUSFPSPC3PD7M-820x549.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/4UP5FT3K4RK75GUSFPSPC3PD7M-300x201.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/4UP5FT3K4RK75GUSFPSPC3PD7M-134x90.jpg 134w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/4UP5FT3K4RK75GUSFPSPC3PD7M-768x514.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/4UP5FT3K4RK75GUSFPSPC3PD7M.jpg 1176w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Congolese police talk to demonstrators calling on authorities to enforce an agreed withdrawal of M23 rebels from occupied territory in the region, within Goma in the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo January 18, 2023. REUTERS/Djaffar Sabiti</figcaption></figure>



GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Jan. 31 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;A focus of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N34G0PP&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pope Francis&#8217; visit</a>&nbsp;to the Democratic Republic of Congo is a meeting on Wednesday with around 60 victims of the decades of violence in the east of the country who have made the cross-country journey to see him.



The pontiff had hoped to travel to the eastern city of Goma but cancelled the stop following a resurgence of fighting in the mineral-rich region, where more than 120 armed groups are fighting for control of land and natural resources.



Millions have been killed, and millions more have been displaced by the violence in the east since the 1990s.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-is-driving-the-violence-in-eastern-congo">WHAT IS DRIVING THE VIOLENCE IN EASTERN CONGO</h2>



The conflict in Congo goes back decades, making it difficult to isolate a few causes, said Jason Stearns, director of the Congo Research Group. At the start, rebellions abroad with rear bases in Congo, local struggles over land, resources, and identity – especially over the status of groups speaking Rwandan languages, and the weakness of the Congolese state were the main causes, he said.



The state has a large responsibility because it has done little to dismantle, demobilize, or defeat any of the 120 armed groups in the east, he said.



Competition for control of the region&#8217;s rich natural resources has also contributed to the violence.



Pierre Boisselet from Kivu Security Tracker, which monitors unrest in the region, said: &#8220;The conflict has reached a stage where it seems to be self-sustaining because, over the decades, a class of professionals in violence has been formed, both among local and foreign armed groups and the states of the region.&#8221;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">WHO ARE THE MAIN ACTORS IN THE VIOLENCE</h2>



Myriad armed groups are involved in the violence, some with a few dozen members while others have hundreds of armed combatants, sometimes along ethnic lines. The most active in recent years include:



*&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL5N2XI4BQ&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The M23</a>. The name refers to the March 23 date of a 2009 accord that ended a previous Tutsi-led revolt in eastern Congo. The group says the government has not kept its promise to fully integrate Congolese Tutsis into the army and government.



It seized swathes of territory in a resurgence since March 2022, displacing over 500,000 as they advanced to the gates of Goma, leading to the cancellation of the pope&#8217;s visit there.



* The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), is an armed group run by mostly ethnic Hutus who fled Rwanda after taking part in the 1994 genocide. They are seen as M23&#8217;s main rival. Rwanda has accused Congo of using the FDLR a proxy, while Congo has accuse Rwanda of backing the M23. Both sides have denied the accusations.



* Fighters from the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo, commonly known as CODECO, are drawn mainly from the Lendu farming community, which has been in conflict with Hema herders. They are seen as one of the most violent against civilians. The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Congo blamed the militia for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N3442FO&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a mass grave with 49 bodies</a>&nbsp;including 12 women and six children found on Jan. 19.



* Islamic State-linked militia, known locally as the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL4N2SL44A&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Allied Democratic Forces (ADF)</a>&nbsp;is another violent group operating in the region. It has killed and maimed scores in village raids and bombings. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for some of ADF&#8217;s violence. The group is suspected of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N3483AG&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">killing 20 people</a>&nbsp;in a raid last week, and 14 others in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N3412E0&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">church bombing</a>.



(Writing by Bate Felix; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

Congo police scatter protesters denouncing slow M23 rebel pullback

What is driving the violence in eastern Congo?

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/107184415-1674739123002-gettyimages-1246549300-SOUTH_AFRICA_YELLEN-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-422818" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/107184415-1674739123002-gettyimages-1246549300-SOUTH_AFRICA_YELLEN-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/107184415-1674739123002-gettyimages-1246549300-SOUTH_AFRICA_YELLEN-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/107184415-1674739123002-gettyimages-1246549300-SOUTH_AFRICA_YELLEN-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/107184415-1674739123002-gettyimages-1246549300-SOUTH_AFRICA_YELLEN-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/107184415-1674739123002-gettyimages-1246549300-SOUTH_AFRICA_YELLEN-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/107184415-1674739123002-gettyimages-1246549300-SOUTH_AFRICA_YELLEN.jpeg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Janet Yellen, US Treasury secretary, during a news conference with Enoch Godongwana, South Africa’s finance minister, at the National Treasury in Pretoria, South Africa, on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. Waldo Swiegers | Bloomberg | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, new Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen have all embarked on African tours within the past month.



Yellen met with South African officials including President Cyril Ramaphosa last week, just days after the country’s Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor stood alongside Lavrov and vowed to strengthen bilateral relations between Pretoria and Moscow.



Yellen’s three-country African tour, which also included stops in Senegal and Zambia, was presented as an effort to build trade and investment ties with the continent, accompanied by discussions about sustainable energy and food security initiatives and debt relief.



Yellen noted last week that Africa would “shape the future of the global economy,” signaling the U.S. motivation to re-engage with the continent of 1.4 billion people, but she also said Friday that she had discussed adherence to Russian sanctions in each of the three countries visited.



Earlier in the week, Pandor refused to reiterate any calls for Russia to withdraw troops from Ukraine, and took a subtle swipe at Western attempts to influence other countries’ choice of allies. South Africa was one of 17 African nations to abstain from the U.N. vote in March to condemn Russia’s war of aggression.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="720" height="405" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/107183561-1674642597553-GettyImages-1246470281-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-422819" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/107183561-1674642597553-GettyImages-1246470281-1.jpg 720w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/107183561-1674642597553-GettyImages-1246470281-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/107183561-1674642597553-GettyImages-1246470281-1-160x90.jpg 160w" sizes="(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">PRETORIA, South Africa &#8211; Jan. 23, 2023: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (L) meets South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor (R) during his official visit in Pretoria Ihsaan Haffejee/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Perhaps more controversially, South Africa last week announced a joint military exercise with Russia and China next month, coinciding with the anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, which drew concern from the White House.



U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also toured sub-Saharan Africa last year, while U.S. President Joe Biden held a U.S.-Africa Summit in December, perceived as an effort to recoup some of the economic and trade influence Washington has lost to China over the past decade or more. Blinken also stopped off in Egypt on Monday on the first leg of a planned tour of the Middle East amid a renewed spate of Israel-Palestinian violence.



Diplomatic analysts told CNBC last week that the flurry of diplomatic activity should not be seen as a “scramble for Africa,” but rather a demonstration that the continent’s economic and geopolitical bargaining power means it now firmly occupies a seat at the table.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-african-governments-resist-taking-sides">African governments resist taking sides</h3>



In the backdrop of Yellen’s trip is Washington’s concern about its waning influence on a continent that has increasingly pivoted toward bilateral relations with global powers that do not exert pressure to adopt certain geopolitical positions.



As such, China has massively expanded its economic presence on the continent in recent years, while Russia has been able to build military and diplomatic influence in certain regions, particularly those beset by civil conflict or insurgency.



Chinese involvement on the continent began in earnest with Beijing’s backing of liberation movements challenging colonial rule, with commercial engagements intensifying from the late 1990s and culminating in the formalizing of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013.



The Biden administration’s U.S. sub-Saharan Africa strategy was published in August 2022, and frames China’s view of Africa as “an important arena to challenge the rules-based international order, advance its own narrow commercial and geopolitical interests, undermine transparency and openness, and weaken U.S. relations with African peoples and governments.”



Prior to President Biden’s U.S.-African Leaders Summit in December, Thomas P. Sheehy, distinguished fellow at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), highlighted that over the decades since the Cold War, China’s presence and influence in almost every African nation has increased significantly, while U.S. influence has “flatlined.”



“China is Africa’s largest two-way trading partner, hitting $254 billion in 2021, exceeding by a factor of four U.S.-Africa trade. China is the largest provider of foreign direct investment, supporting hundreds of thousands of African jobs. This is roughly double the level of U.S. foreign direct investment,” Sheehy said.



However, he highlighted that most African leaders remember with concern the U.S.-Soviet proxy wars conducted on the continent during the Cold War, and are therefore reluctant to become part of a global power struggle. As such, many African nations desire a strong relationship with both the U.S. and China, and U.S. diplomacy will be more effective when not framed as an “us-or-them” proposition.



The administration’s strategy paper alleges that Russia views Africa as “a permissive environment for parastatals and private military companies, often fomenting instability for strategic and financial benefit.”



This refers primarily to private military contractors such as Russia’s notorious Wagner Group, which has been increasingly active in politically unstable nations such as Mali, Burkina Faso, Sudan and the Central African Republic.



“Russia uses its security and economic ties, as well as disinformation, to undercut Africans’ principled opposition to Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine and related human rights abuses,” the paper adds.



Eleonora Tafuro, senior research fellow at the Russia, Caucasus and Central Asia Centre at Italy’s Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI), told CNBC last week that there was an increasing realization among Western powers that African nations have “their own agency” and it is up to them to decide whether relationships with China, Russia or Turkey, for instance, are in their interests.



“It’s very easy to fall into comparisons with the Cold War and talking about a scramble for Africa, but I think it’s certainly true that the U.S. in particular is trying to make up for certain disengagement,” Tafuro said.



“Africa is not a region that the U.S. wants to be or should be absent from if it wants to keep being a superpower, so I think there is this realization in Washington that it has to be present or at least it has to give the impression that it is present — of course it is present in economic and security terms, especially with some African partners, but it has to show it.”



The increasing appeal of China’s apparent separation of trade and investment from geopolitical requirements was evident in South Africa’s refusal to be “bullied” into adopting a position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a sentiment shared across much of the continent.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">China and Russia building influence</h3>



Alex Vines, managing director of the Africa Programme at Chatham House, said in a report last week that China had positioned itself as a contrast to Western governments in its African investments.



“It characterizes its loans as mutually beneficial cooperation between developing countries, promising not to interfere in the internal politics of those it loans to,” Vines said.



“In this respect it presents itself in contrast to Western countries, who are accused by China and some African governments of arrogant, democratic posturing — often by former colonial powers that looted African resources during the 18th and 19th centuries.”



Some Western politicians have voiced fears that China’s loan financing in Africa amount to “debt trap diplomacy,” in which unmanageable debts are racked up so as to allow Beijing to request access for resources as collateral.



China staunchly denies this, and Vines highlighted that while some African nations with extensive Chinese loans — such as Kenya and Zambia — are suffering spiraling debt burdens, their situations “cannot be entirely blamed on Chinese loans.”



“Meanwhile, other African countries have created realistic, manageable debt arrangements with China without the tremendous risk and uncertainties that characterized some major BRI projects,” he highlighted.



Vines also noted that the deluge of loans made during the initial boom of the Belt and Road initiative poses a problem for China, as it may struggle to collect repayments while maintaining its image as a friend of developing nations.



What’s more, the BRI projects were “largely uncoordinated and unplanned,” he said, with competing Chinese lenders offering credit to African nations, challenging the notion of a coherent centralized “debt trap” policy from Beijing.



“However, the idea that China may use debt strategically, to expand its influence in the African content and secure access to resources, cannot be completely dismissed,” Vines said.



“China is an emerging superpower in strategic competition with the U.S. Building stronger economic relationships in Africa would be a logical step in its aspirations to be a global power.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Mahama: Western arms to Ukraine ‘probably a good thing’</h3>



In a Q&amp;A session in London on Friday, former Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama noted the resistance among African nations to be drawn into the conflict by Western powers.



“Europe and NATO, I would say, have been occupied with the Ukraine-Russia war, and several times again we are called on to choose which side we’re on,” he told an audience at Chatham House.



“When Tigray and Ethiopia are fighting, we don’t ask you ‘who do you support?’ When two African countries are fighting, we don’t ask anybody in the world ‘who do you support?’ We try to intervene and resolve it. I think that the priority should be how to resolve the conflict.”



Although he called for the conflict to be addressed via international bodies such as the U.N., Mahama did go some way to condemning Russia’s invasion, a step many governments on the continent have been reluctant to take.



“Of course, I don’t believe that it is right for one country to make an incursion into another because if we condone that then you don’t know where it is going to end, so after Ukraine, who else?” Mahama said.



In contrast to South African Foreign Minister Pandor’s loaded remarks on how Western arms supply to Ukraine had changed South Africa’s position, Mahama — who served as president of Ghana from 2012 to 2017 — seemed to view the intervention as necessary.



“NATO and the West will continue to pour in arms to help Ukraine to hold its own, which probably is a good thing, to defend themselves, but this war is not winnable. If eventually it will be solved by dialogue, why would you eat up more human lives before we sit and talk?” he said.



Ghana was one of 28 African nations to vote in favor of the U.N. resolution condemning Russia’s invasion, and Mahama noted that Accra retains strong ties with the U.K., U.S. and France with regards to military training and anti-terror support.

107184415-1674739123002-gettyimages-1246549300-SOUTH_AFRICA_YELLEN

Top U.S., Chinese and Russian officials tour Africa as global charm offensive gathers pace

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="542" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/LYKJGW3CZJNTHPH4HH3FM6QUY4-820x542.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-421571" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/LYKJGW3CZJNTHPH4HH3FM6QUY4-820x542.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/LYKJGW3CZJNTHPH4HH3FM6QUY4-300x198.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/LYKJGW3CZJNTHPH4HH3FM6QUY4-136x90.jpg 136w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/LYKJGW3CZJNTHPH4HH3FM6QUY4-768x508.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/LYKJGW3CZJNTHPH4HH3FM6QUY4-1536x1016.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/LYKJGW3CZJNTHPH4HH3FM6QUY4-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>FILE PHOTO: United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) peacekeepers patrol areas affected by the recent attacks by M23 rebels fighters near Rangira in North Kivu in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, March 29, 2022. REUTERS/Djaffar Sabiti/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



KINSHASA, Nov 23 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;African leaders have declared a ceasefire in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo starting Friday, which is aimed in particular at stopping attacks by the M23 rebel group, they said in a statement.



The declaration was issued by the leaders of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Angola, and former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, after a summit in Luanda on Wednesday aimed at finding solutions to the east Congo crisis.



Eastern Congo is facing an insurgency by the M23, a Tutsi-led rebel group which the Congolese government claims is supported by neighbouring Rwanda. Rwanda denies this, but the M23&#8217;s resurgence this year has caused a major diplomatic crisis.



In addition to the ceasefire, the statement said the M23 must withdraw from its occupied territories or face intervention by regional forces.



&#8220;If M23 does not withdraw the East African Community (EAC) heads of states shall authorize use of force to compel the group to comply,&#8221; it said.



The M23&#8217;s military spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.



Despite billions of dollars spent on one of the United Nations&#8217; largest peacekeeping forces, more than 120 armed groups continue to operate across large swathes of eastern Congo.



The seven countries of the EAC, which Congo joined this year, agreed in April to set up a regional force to help fight the militias. Uganda will be the third country&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N32H0TT&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">to deploy troops</a>&nbsp;after&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N31Y2PK&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kenya and Burundi</a>.



Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his Congolese counterpart Felix Tshisekedi also met in Luanda in July and agreed on an immediate cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of M23 fighters from Congo.



But the M23 did not respect that agreement, saying only it could sign a ceasefire with the government. Fighting has continued since, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes.



A group of U.N. experts said this year it had&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2ZG5GO&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&#8220;solid evidence&#8221;</a>&nbsp;that Rwandan troops were fighting alongside the M23 and providing it with weapons and support. Rwanda denied the claims.



The statement issued on Wednesday included an agreement to cease all politico-military support to the M23 and all other local and foreign armed groups in the region.



(Reporting by Fiston Mahamba and Sonia Rolley; Writing by Nellie Peyton; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Sandra Maler)

FILE PHOTO: Resurgent M23 rebels attack displace hundreds in eastern Congo

African leaders agree on ceasefire in east Congo from Friday

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="728" height="511" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/AA72GHPH4VMCXC65PNZHFUAAFQ.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-421061" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/AA72GHPH4VMCXC65PNZHFUAAFQ.jpg 728w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/AA72GHPH4VMCXC65PNZHFUAAFQ-300x211.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/AA72GHPH4VMCXC65PNZHFUAAFQ-128x90.jpg 128w" sizes="(max-width: 728px) 100vw, 728px" /><figcaption>Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte gestures during a news conference at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, October 4, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner</figcaption></figure>



AMSTERDAM, Nov 4 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The Dutch government will apologise later this year for its role in slavery during the nation&#8217;s colonial past, a member of Prime Minister Mark Rutte&#8217;s Cabinet said on Friday.



Minister for Legal Protection Franc Weerwind confirmed a report by broadcaster RTL that the government planned to make a formal apology in December.



The government also plans to spend 200 million euros on a fund promoting awareness about the colonial power&#8217;s role in slavery and 27 million euros to open a slavery museum, RTL reported.



The decision follows the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N2OD11S&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">recommendation last year by an advisory panel</a>&nbsp;that the government acknowledge that the 17th-19th century transatlantic slave trade amounted to crimes against humanity, and that the Dutch government apologise.



It is a &#8220;big moment and a beautiful moment,&#8221; Weerwind was quoted by news agency ANP as telling journalists in The Hague on Friday. By apologising, the government will &#8220;open the page to a shared future. You do that together and you do that by making this statement.&#8221;



(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch; editing by Jason Neely)

German Chancellor Scholz and Dutch PM Rutte attend a news conference in Berlin

Dutch government to apologise for role in colonial-era slavery

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="728" height="478" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/7SF3OAJBCJPMBCXR4YMVNHPKMQ.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-419882" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/7SF3OAJBCJPMBCXR4YMVNHPKMQ.jpg 728w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/7SF3OAJBCJPMBCXR4YMVNHPKMQ-300x197.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/7SF3OAJBCJPMBCXR4YMVNHPKMQ-137x90.jpg 137w" sizes="(max-width: 728px) 100vw, 728px" /><figcaption>Angola&#8217;s President and leader of the People&#8217;s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) ruling party, Joao Lourenco, gestures after castsing his vote in the general election in the capital Luanda, Angola August 24, 2022. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko</figcaption></figure>



Sept 15 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Angolan President Joao Lourenco promised to create jobs for the country&#8217;s disenfranchised and largely unemployed youth on Thursday, as he was sworn in after an election he acknowledged had been bitterly disputed by the opposition.



Angola&#8217;s Constitutional Court threw out a complaint filed by the runner-up, opposition party UNITA, in the Aug. 24 election. UNITA, a former rebel group who fought the ruling MPLA for nearly three decades, received many of its votes from youths who feel left out of the country&#8217;s oil riches.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N30F4YF&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Analysts fear their anger could boil over into violence if they answer UNITA&#8217;s calls for protests starting on Sept. 24.



Security was tight throughout the capital Luanda on Thursday and UNITA, whose leaders did not attend the inauguration, decried the heavy police presence as an effort to stifle protest.



Just over 51% of the electorate voted for the former Marxist MPLA. The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) meanwhile took about 44%, its best result yet.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N30511T&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



&#8220;We will work on policies and good practices to incentivise and promote the private sector of the economy to &#8230; create more jobs for Angolans, but specially for young people,&#8221; Lourenco said, draped in the black and red of the Angolan flag.



He added that the MPLA would &#8220;guarantee peace, stability and economic and social development,&#8221; but gave no further details.



Lourenco acknowledged the polls had been &#8220;the most disputed elections of the history of the young Angola democracy,&#8221; but he said they had nonetheless &#8220;contributed to the strengthening of our democracy&#8221;.



Lourenco, 68, has pledged to press on with reforms in his second term, including privatising poorly run state assets and continuing to clean up corruption after investigating wealthy and powerful members of the Dos Santos family.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N3003SO&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>.



But his reforms have so far failed to create a fairer distribution of Angola&#8217;s vast oil wealth, which remains mostly in the hands of a few well-connected MPLA officials.



(Reporting by Joao Manuel Mauricio; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Angolan President Lourenco casts his vote in general election, in Luanda

Angola leader pledges jobs for youth at swearing in after disputed poll

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="499" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/6MQ52ENRNROCPICRVCAU3NTV4U-820x499.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-419706" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/6MQ52ENRNROCPICRVCAU3NTV4U-820x499.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/6MQ52ENRNROCPICRVCAU3NTV4U-300x183.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/6MQ52ENRNROCPICRVCAU3NTV4U-148x90.jpg 148w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/6MQ52ENRNROCPICRVCAU3NTV4U-768x467.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/6MQ52ENRNROCPICRVCAU3NTV4U.jpg 960w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>A woman leaves a voting station after casting her vote during the general election in Cacuaco, a suburb of the capital, Luanda, Angola August 24, 2022. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



LISBON, Sept 8 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Angola&#8217;s Constitutional Court made a final ruling on Thursday to dismiss a complaint filed by the runner-up in the Aug. 24 election seeking to annul the results that gave victory to the ruling MPLA.



After the country&#8217;s most closely fought election, the electoral commission declared last week the People&#8217;s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) the winner, prolonging its nearly five decades of uninterrupted rule and handing President Joao Lourenco a second term.



Just over 51% of voters had supported the ex-Marxist MPLA, it said. The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), its longtime opponent and former civil war enemy, took about 44%, its best result on record, according to the commission.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N30511T&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



UNITA leader Adalberto Costa Junior rejected the results, citing discrepancies between the commission&#8217;s count and the party&#8217;s own tally. He accused the electoral commission, which mostly controlled by the MPLA, of fraud.



The commission has repeatedly said the process was fair and transparent.



According to UNITA&#8217;s parallel count, it got 49.5% of the vote and the MPLA 48.2%. A parallel count by civic movement Mudei, which monitored the process, also showed UNITA slightly ahead.



The court, which is led by a former member of the MPLA, made an initial ruling on Monday against a complaint filed by UNITA but Thursday&#8217;s decision is final and cannot be appealed, paving the way for Lourenco to be sworn in next week. <a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N30C41V&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-angolan-court-rejects-opposition-claim-to-annul-election-result">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/angolan-court-rejects-opposition-claim-to-annul-election-result/">Angolan court rejects opposition claim to annul election result</a></h3>



Court chief Laurinda Cardoso told reporters that evidence was analysed and, based on that, they decided to reject the case.



UNITA and other opposition parties called for peaceful demonstrations to protest against what they have described as election &#8220;irregularities&#8221;.



Among other issues, there were only 1,300 observers to cover a country twice the size of France, around 2.7 million deceased people were included in the electoral roll, and the MPLA was given more air time than others.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N30511T&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



People took to social media to urge the electoral commission to release its result sheets so they can be compared with parallel counts.



&#8220;We demand electoral truth,&#8221; a young woman said in a video shared by Mudei on Twitter. &#8220;No to fraud!&#8221;



Angola has placed its armed forces in &#8220;high combat readiness&#8221; until Sept. 20 to avoid incidents that might &#8220;disturb public order&#8221;, it said.



Analysts fear the court decision could ignite mass street protests among a poor and frustrated youth who voted for UNITA.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2ZY3VJ&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Grant McCool)

6MQ52ENRNROCPICRVCAU3NTV4U

Angolan court rejects election results complaint, opposition calls for protests

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="595" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/TZBX2X5RMROOXLPSZOAAV7JOSQ-820x595.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-419643" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/TZBX2X5RMROOXLPSZOAAV7JOSQ-820x595.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/TZBX2X5RMROOXLPSZOAAV7JOSQ-300x218.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/TZBX2X5RMROOXLPSZOAAV7JOSQ-124x90.jpg 124w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/TZBX2X5RMROOXLPSZOAAV7JOSQ-768x557.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/TZBX2X5RMROOXLPSZOAAV7JOSQ-1536x1114.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/TZBX2X5RMROOXLPSZOAAV7JOSQ.jpg 1733w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Angola&#8217;s president and leader of the ruling MPLA Joao Lourenco looks on as he leaves after a meeting at the party&#8217;s headquarters in the capital Luanda, Angola August 26, 2022. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko</figcaption></figure>



Sept 5 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Angola&#8217;s constitutional court rejected on Monday&nbsp;an opposition party claim seeking&nbsp;to annul general election results&nbsp;which handed the victory to&nbsp;the ruling MPLA.



The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) filed the complaint&nbsp;after the country&#8217;s electoral commission last week declared the People&#8217;s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) the winner of the national election.



The court&nbsp;ruled that&nbsp;UNITA&#8217;s complaint did not meet the requirements to allow the&nbsp;legal body&nbsp;to&nbsp;annul&nbsp;the results.



UNITA used a procedure reserved for situations in which&nbsp;&#8220;there are no other means intended to safeguard the useful effect of the alleged rights,&#8221;&nbsp;and therefore the claim was dismissed,&nbsp;the judges said.



The electoral commission&#8217;s results last week gave the MPLA 51.17% of the votes and UNITA 43.95%.



According to UNITA&#8217;s parallel count,&nbsp;it got 49.5% of the vote and the MPLA 48.2%, UNITA&nbsp;President Adalberto Costa Junior said at a press conference on Monday.



&#8220;The data collected by the UNITA (parallel) counting &#8230; reveal huge and unacceptable differences from those published by the CNE (electoral commission),&#8221; Costa Junior said. The discrepancies indicate wilful manipulation of the results,&nbsp;he added.



Costa Junior&nbsp;also said 347,436 votes were &#8220;subtracted&#8221; from UNITA in 15 provincial constituencies, while 185,825 votes were &#8220;added&#8221; to the MPLA in 16 provincial constituencies.



(Reporting by Catarina Demony and Sergio Goncalves; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian in Johannesburg; Editing by Richard Chang)

Angolan election draws low voter turnout as ruling party on course to win

Angolan court rejects opposition claim to annul election result

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="429" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/CASIAXVAHNJLDK3EQXXOR57VX4-820x429.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-419519" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/CASIAXVAHNJLDK3EQXXOR57VX4-820x429.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/CASIAXVAHNJLDK3EQXXOR57VX4-300x157.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/CASIAXVAHNJLDK3EQXXOR57VX4-160x84.jpg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/CASIAXVAHNJLDK3EQXXOR57VX4-768x402.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/CASIAXVAHNJLDK3EQXXOR57VX4.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Adalberto Costa Junior, leader of Angola&#8217;s main opposition party UNITA after casting his vote in Luanda, Angola, August 24, 2022. REUTERS/Lee Bogota/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



LISBON, Aug 30 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Angola&#8217;s main opposition party has submitted a legal complaint challenging the electoral commission&#8217;s finding that the governing party won last week&#8217;s election, a letter seen by Reuters shows.



In a separate statement on Tuesday, the opposition party, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), said it would file a complaint that would have the effect of suspending the declaration of results of the vote.



It was not immediately clear whether UNITA&#8217;s letter to the commission, sent on Monday, was the same complaint.



After the most closely fought election since independence from Portugal in 1975, the commission reported on Monday that 51.17% of voters had supported the ex-Marxist People&#8217;s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), prolonging its nearly five decades of uninterrupted rule.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-angola-s-governing-party-wins-divisive-election-extending-long-rule">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/angolas-governing-party-wins-divisive-election-extending-long-rule/">Angola’s governing party wins divisive election extending long rule</a></h3>



UNITA, its longtime opponent, got 43.95%, its best result ever, according to the commission.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N30511T&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



UNITA&#8217;s letter says the party&#8217;s representative at the commission &#8220;was not granted the right to record in the result sheet his complaint about the electoral results&#8221;.



The leader of UNITA, Adalberto Costa Junior, has repeatedly said in the past few days that he does not recognise the results of the vote and that complaints have been filed.



&#8220;UNITA reiterates that it will not recognise the results announced by the National Electoral Commission until the complaints already in its possession are resolved,&#8221; the party said in its Tuesday statement.



Under Angola&#8217;s rules, if UNITA wishes to challenge the results it must first lodge a complaint with the commission. If that is rejected, the party can take the matter to the Constitutional Court, which must rule within 72 hours.



(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Writing by Francesco Guarascio; Editing by Bradley Perrett)

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Angola’s main opposition party challenges election results – letter

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="728" height="527" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/ZZDHPHPNLVILVP5YOVQ6BNNTR4.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-419497" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/ZZDHPHPNLVILVP5YOVQ6BNNTR4.jpg 728w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/ZZDHPHPNLVILVP5YOVQ6BNNTR4-300x217.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/ZZDHPHPNLVILVP5YOVQ6BNNTR4-124x90.jpg 124w" sizes="(max-width: 728px) 100vw, 728px" /><figcaption>Angola&#8217;s president Joao Lourenco and his wife Ana Dias Lourenco arrive for the funeral of Angola&#8217;s former President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who died in Spain in July, at the Agostinho Neto Memorial, in Luanda, Angola, August 28, 2022. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko</figcaption></figure>



LISBON, Aug 29 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Angola&#8217;s electoral commission on Monday declared the ruling MPLA,&nbsp;in power for nearly five decades since independence, the winner of last week&#8217;s national election, handing President Joao Lourenco a second term amid concerns about possible fraud.



The commission gave the ex-Marxist People&#8217;s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) a 51.17% majority after all votes were counted. Its longtime opponent, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, or UNITA, got 43.95%, its best result ever.



Fewer than half of Angola&#8217;s registered voters turned out for Wednesday&#8217;s election which, despite being the closest fought yet, extends the rule of&nbsp;the MPLA&nbsp;that has ruled since independence from Portugal in 1975 and defeated UNITA in a long civil war.



UNITA leader Adalberto Costa Junior has rejected the results, citing discrepancies between the commission&#8217;s count and the main opposition coalition&#8217;s own tally.



Analysts fear any dispute could ignite mass street protests and possible violence among a poor and frustrated youth who voted for&nbsp;Costa Junior.



&#8220;The international community perceives this election as being free, fair and transparent,&#8221; Lourenco told a news conference after the final results.



He promised more jobs for the&nbsp;young, in a country where half of under-25s are jobless and few feel the benefit of its vast oil wealth.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">CONCERNS OF FRAUD</h2>



Local observers said the elections were free. International observers from the Southern African Development Community said the vote was calm and peaceful, but noted an insufficient number of local observers.



The head of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) election observers&#8217; mission, Jorge Carlos Fonseca, a former president of Cape Verde, told CNN Portugal that the mission&#8217;s initial assessment did not say the vote was fair and free.



He said that around 2.7 million deceased people were included in the electoral roll, party delegates at polling stations did not have access to the roll and some candidates were given more air time than others.



A&nbsp;European Union spokesperson said in a statement the election was conducted in a &#8220;peaceful environment&#8221; but said it was aware of complaints by the opposition and civil society on &#8220;some shortcomings in the electoral process&#8221;.



It said stakeholders should use all &#8220;legal remedies to address their concerns&#8221; and urged authorities to &#8220;make every possible efforts to respond to them in a fair and transparent manner&#8221;.



With a new, centralised vote-counting system, first provisional results were announced just hours after polling stations closed, and the final tally was available a few days later, in what was the fastest result ever.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-resolve-grievances">&#8216;RESOLVE GRIEVANCES&#8217;</h2>



If Costa Junior decides to dispute the result, he must lodge a complaint&nbsp;with&nbsp;the electoral commission. If that is rejected, he can challenge the result in the Constitutional Court, which must rule within 72 hours.



He has urged his supporters to remain calm.



The MPLA and UNITA, formerly anti-colonial guerrilla groups, were on opposing sides of a civil war since independence in 1975 until 2002, when Angolan troops killed UNITA&#8217;s rebel leader, Jonas Savimbi.



The U.S., which backed UNITA in the civil war, called on all parties to &#8220;express themselves peacefully and to resolve any grievances in accordance with applicable legal processes under Angolan law&#8221;.



&#8220;We will continue to closely follow the electoral process,&#8221; said U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel.



Despite losing the election, UNITA has nearly doubled to 90 its seats in the 220-seat parliament, for the first time depriving the MPLA of the two-thirds majority needed to pass major reforms. The ruling party will need the backing of opposition lawmakers to pass legislation.



UNITA won in Luanda, Angola&#8217;s most populous province, and in Cabinda and Zaire, the provinces which produce most of the country&#8217;s oil.



The final tally came a day after the funeral of Angola&#8217;s long-serving ex-ruler and MPLA stalwart, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who died in Spain in July.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N30403W&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Lourenco, 68, has pledged to press on with reforms in his second term, including privatising poorly run state assets and continuing to clean up corruption after investigating wealthy and powerful members of the Dos Santos family.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N3003SO&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>.



But his reforms have so far failed to create a fairer distribution of Angola&#8217;s vast oil wealth, which remains mostly in the hands of a few well-connected MPLA officials.



(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Francesco Guarascio, Nick Macfie and Ros Russell)

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Angola’s governing party wins divisive election extending long rule

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="728" height="497" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/5VTKCIDSIROLRDF64M6APULDJU.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-419430" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/5VTKCIDSIROLRDF64M6APULDJU.jpg 728w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/5VTKCIDSIROLRDF64M6APULDJU-300x205.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/5VTKCIDSIROLRDF64M6APULDJU-132x90.jpg 132w" sizes="(max-width: 728px) 100vw, 728px" /><figcaption>A woman sits outside a voting station after casting her vote during the general election in Cacuaco, a suburb of the capital, Luanda, Angola August 24, 2022. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko</figcaption></figure>



LUANDA, Aug 25 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Most votes in Angola&#8217;s parliamentary elections have been counted and provisional results show that the ruling MPLA party is ahead with a 52% majority, while their main opposition rivals have 42%, the election commission said on Thursday.



The commission said 86% of ballots had so far been counted, which suggested that former Marxist People&#8217;s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) was likely to extend its near five-decade stint in power &#8212; giving President Joao Lourenço a second five-year term.



The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola&#8217;s (UNITA), the opposition party led by Adalberto Costa Junior, did not immediately respond. UNITA dismissed the first provisional results announced by the commission earlier on Thursday as unreliable.



UNITA&#8217;s vice-presidential candidate Abel Chivukuvuku told Portuguese radio station TSF that the party was considering contesting the elections result because they do not &#8220;correspond to reality&#8221;.



Political analysts saw Wednesday&#8217;s election as UNITA&#8217;s best-ever chance of victory amid growing anger among young Angolans at the MPLA for being sidelined in profiting from their country&#8217;s oil-fuelled booms. The MPLA has ruled since Angola gained independence from Portugal in 1975.



Thursday&#8217;s announcement of provisional results by the National Electoral Commission (CNE) was surprisingly soon after polls closed &#8212; previous announcements have taken days. In 2017, the elections&#8217; final results were announced two weeks after the polls took place.



UNITA and the MPLA have been rivals since before Angola gained independence from Portugal in 1975. The two sides fought a civil war intermittently for over 25 years, in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed.



The last, decade-long bout of fighting was triggered in 1992 when UNITA contested election results giving the MPLA a clear majority. That triggered a re-start of the civil war which lasted until the two sides made a peace agreement in 2002.



Recent ballots, including the last one in 2017, did not spur widespread violence as MPLA&#8217;s lead remained solid, but a report by the Institute for Security Studies said that if an MPLA win is perceived as fraudulent, unrest could follow.



&#8220;Voters reacted with a lot of incredulity and disbelief,&#8221; Angolan political analyst Claudio Silva told Reuters on Thursday, noting that photos of results sheets taken by voters contradicted the provisional count of the CNE.



Several videos emerged during the night of angry voters at polling stations complaining that the result sheet was not shared with the public for consultation, a requirement under Angolan law.



Reuters could not independently verify the footage.



UNITA&#8217;s leader Costa Junior had told Reuters on Sunday that contesting the election result was not off the table if the process was deemed undemocratic.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N2ZX0BV&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Additional reporting by Miguel Gomes; Editing by Francesco Guarascio, Tim Cocks and Raissa Kasolowsky)

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Angola’s election commission says ruling MPLA party leads with 52% majority; most votes counted

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/3FERQABIQZNBFA6ZB72CWSZVEA-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-419422" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/3FERQABIQZNBFA6ZB72CWSZVEA-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/3FERQABIQZNBFA6ZB72CWSZVEA-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/3FERQABIQZNBFA6ZB72CWSZVEA-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/3FERQABIQZNBFA6ZB72CWSZVEA-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/3FERQABIQZNBFA6ZB72CWSZVEA-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/3FERQABIQZNBFA6ZB72CWSZVEA-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Angola&#8217;s President and leader of the People&#8217;s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) ruling party Joao Lourenco casts his vote in a general election in the capital Luanda, Angola August 24, 2022. REUTERS/Stringer</figcaption></figure>



LUANDA, Aug 25 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Provisional results on Thursday from ballot counting in Angola&#8217;s election indicate the ruling party MPLA, in power for nearly five decades, holds a strong lead over the main opposition UNITA, which said the initial outcome was not reliable.



With 33% of the votes counted, the National Electoral Commission (CNE) said the first provisional results showed the People&#8217;s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), led since 2017 by President Joao Lourenco, garnered 60.65% of the vote.



The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola&#8217;s (UNITA), the opposition party led by Adalberto Costa Junior, received&nbsp;33.85%, CNE said.



Since independence from Portugal in 1975, Angola has been run by the MPLA. Political analysts believed UNITA had its best-ever chance of victory yet as millions of youth left out of its oil-fuelled booms were likely to express frustration with nearly five decades of MPLA rule.



Abel Chivukuvuku, UNITA&#8217;s vice-presidential candidate, said the&nbsp;provisional results&nbsp;were not reliable and the party would publish its own based on a parallel vote count using the same data as the CNE.



&#8220;Tomorrow morning we will have clearer and more concrete indicators and whoever wants to celebrate will&#8230;I hope it&#8217;s us,&#8221; Chivukuvuku told a news conference.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/angolans-to-vote-in-tight-race-that-could-affect-pro-russia-ties/">Angolans to vote in tight race that could affect pro-Russia ties</a></h3>



The election was widely seen as the country&#8217;s most competitive in decades. An Afrobarometer survey in May showed UNITA increasing its share to 22%, from 13% in 2019.



That is still seven points behind the MPLA, but nearly half of voters were undecided. Many young people &#8211; under 25s make up 60% of the southern African country &#8211; were voting for the first time.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2ZY3VJ&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Angola is Africa&#8217;s second biggest oil producer, but as with many poor nations sitting on oil wealth, decades of pumping billions of barrels of crude has done little for most except jack up the cost of living.



Half of Angolans live in poverty and more than half of under-25s are unemployed. In the capital Luanda, one of the world&#8217;s most expensive cities, jobless people ply petty trade in trash-strewn streets overshadowed by skyscrapers.



&#8220;The people have nothing &#8211; no water, no light, kids eat from rubbish bins,&#8221; a 59-year-old former military officer who gave his name as Salomão told Reuters after voting in the neighbourhood of Nova Urbanização.



President Lourenco, who is seeking a second five-year term, urged voters after casting his ballot at Lusiada University in Luanda to go out and do the same.



&#8220;In the end, we will all win, democracy wins and Angola wins,&#8221; Lourenco told reporters.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tensions-over-fears-of-fraud">TENSIONS OVER FEARS OF FRAUD</h2>



Many voters were less confident in Angolan democracy.



An activist monitoring group, Mudei Movement, has taken pictures of results sheets at as many polling stations as possible, fearing the fraud that marred past polls.



UNITA urged voters to stay near polling stations after casting their ballots, a call many seemed to be heeding as polls closed in the evening.



&#8220;The police said to vote and go home. I told them I would vote and sit down,&#8221; said Severano Manuel, 28, in Cacuano, outside Luanda.



&#8220;School is awful. Health system is awful. They get richer, and we suffer,&#8221; he said, echoing the sentiments of other young voters around him.



The electoral commission earlier said there had been no disturbances that could jeopardise the process.



Tweaked vote-counting rules were expected to delay official results by days, analysts had said. The announcement of the provisional results was not expected so soon.



&#8220;Voting is over, the vote count continues and we cannot have any predictions on the (announcement of) final results until this (process) is concluded,&#8221; CNE spokesman Lucas Quilunda said.



A report by the Institute for Security Studies said that if an MPLA win is perceived as fraudulent, unrest could follow.



If UNITA pulls off a win, its victory could weaken decades of close ties with Moscow, for whom the MPLA was a Cold War proxy during Angola&#8217;s 27-year civil war which ended in 2002. The United States backed UNITA.



UNITA condemned &#8220;the invasion of Ukraine by Russia&#8221;, Costa Junior said on Twitter. He also travelled to Brussels and Washington to build ties with Western partners before elections.



Russian Ambassador Vladimir Tararov was quoted in Angolan media in March as praising Angola for its neutrality in abstaining from the United Nations resolution condemning the Ukraine war. He lambasted UNITA for wanting to show it &#8220;stands with the West, the so-called civilised countries&#8221;.



&#8220;A UNITA win would mean a distancing of Angola from Russia,&#8221; Charles Ray, head of the Africa Programme at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, told Reuters, but only if it can consolidate power over a pro-Russian military first.



Lourenco has tried to improve relations with Washington, and just before the elections applied to join a trade agreement with the European Union and southern African states that has been in force since 2016. Talks start in a few months.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2ZR2KZ&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a><a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N2ZZ0DE&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Explainer-What is at stake for investors in Angola&#8217;s elections?<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-angola-election-explainer-idAFKBN2PO0RC">https://www.reuters.com/article/us-angola-election-explainer-idAFKBN2PO0RC</a>



(Reporting by Catarina Demony and Miguel Gomes in Luanda; additional reporting by Francesco Guarascio in Johannesburg; Writing by Francesco Guarascio and Tim Cocks; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Lincoln Feast)

Angolan President Lourenco casts his vote in general election in Luanda

Vote counting begins in Angola, provisional results show MPLA ahead

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="728" height="494" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/5XRLBV24VFK6BMMJDNC2NTYG2M.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-419388" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/5XRLBV24VFK6BMMJDNC2NTYG2M.jpg 728w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/5XRLBV24VFK6BMMJDNC2NTYG2M-300x204.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/5XRLBV24VFK6BMMJDNC2NTYG2M-133x90.jpg 133w" sizes="(max-width: 728px) 100vw, 728px" /><figcaption>Angola&#8217;s president and leader of the ruling MPLA Joao Lourenco and his wife Ana Dias Lourenco wave as they arrive to attend their party&#8217;s final rally in Camama, on the outskirts of the capital Luanda, in Angola, August 20, 2022. REUTERS/Lee Bogata</figcaption></figure>



LUANDA, Aug 24 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Angolans will vote on Wednesday in a tight race in which the main opposition coalition has its best-ever chance of victory, as millions of youth left out of its oil-fuelled booms are expected to express frustration with nearly five decades of MPLA rule.



The ruling party remains favourite, though the margin is narrow enough for a surprise UNITA victory, which could shift relations with global superpowers &#8212; with possibly less friendly ties with Russia.



Since independence from Portugal in 1975, Angola has been run by the formerly Marxist People&#8217;s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), led since 2017 by President Joao Lourenco.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/angolan-parties-wrap-up-campaigning-as-tense-election-nears/">Angolan parties wrap up campaigning as tense election nears</a></h3>



But an Afrobarometer survey in May showed the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA)&#8217;s opposition coalition, led by Adalberto Costa Junior, increasing its share to 22%, from 13% in 2019.



That&#8217;s still seven points behind the MPLA, but nearly half of voters were undecided. Many youths &#8212; under 25s make up 60% of the country &#8212; are voting for the first time.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2ZY3VJ&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



In a tense run-up to the vote for both president and parliament, UNITA has urged voters to stay near polling stations after voting to reduce the risk of fraud.



Tweaked vote-counting rules may delay official results by days, analysts say, raising tensions &#8212; which some fear may boil over into violence.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-russia-ties">RUSSIA TIES</h2>



A UNITA victory could weaken decades of close ties with Moscow, for whom the MPLA was a cold war proxy during Angola&#8217;s 27-year civil war ending in 2002, while UNITA was U.S.-backed.



UNITA condemned &#8220;the invasion of Ukraine by Russia,&#8221; Costa Junior said on Twitter. He also travelled to Brussels and Washington to build ties with Western partners before elections.



Russia&#8217;s ambassador to Angola, Vladimir Tararov, was quoted in Angolan press in March as praising the country for its neutrality while lambasting UNITA for wanting to show it &#8220;stands with the West, the so-called civilised countries&#8221;.



Lourenco has also opened up to the West since his election in 2017, but in March it abstained from supporting a United Nations resolution which condemned Russia&#8217;s war in Ukraine.



&#8220;It is highly possible that a UNITA win would mean a distancing of Angola from Russia,&#8221; Charles Ray, head of the Africa Programme at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, told Reuters, but only if it can consolidate power over a pro-Russian military first.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/what-is-at-stake-for-investors-in-angolas-elections/">What is at stake for investors in Angola’s elections?</a></h3>



Lourenco has tried to improve relations with Washington, and just before the elections applied to join a trade agreement with the European Union and southern African states, which has been in force since 2016. Talks start in months.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2ZR2KZ&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Asked about this shift in stance, Costa Junior told Reuters over the weekend: &#8220;The image (Lourenco) built to the outside world is disappearing.&#8221;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2ZX0AD&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>.



Lourenco was &#8220;successful in terms of international relations&#8221;, but that had not achieved positive consequences for Angolans, Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, professor of African Politics at Oxford University, said.



Lourenco has also pledged to continue economic reforms, including privatisation and encouraging the non-oil sector.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N2ZZ0DE&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Explainer-What is at stake for investors in Angola&#8217;s elections?<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-angola-election-explainer-idAFKBN2PO0RC">https://www.reuters.com/article/us-angola-election-explainer-idAFKBN2PO0RC</a>



(Reporting by Catarina Demony in Luanda and Francesco Guarascio in Johannesburg; Additional reporting by Miguel Gomes; Writing by Francesco Guarascio; Editing by Tim Cocks and Mike Harrison)

Unequal and divided, Angola braces for tense election

Angolans to vote in tight race that could affect pro-Russia ties

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="728" height="515" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/JZ2QL2V3VZOOFAHW25B37SV4QM.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-419373" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/JZ2QL2V3VZOOFAHW25B37SV4QM.jpg 728w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/JZ2QL2V3VZOOFAHW25B37SV4QM-300x212.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/JZ2QL2V3VZOOFAHW25B37SV4QM-127x90.jpg 127w" sizes="(max-width: 728px) 100vw, 728px" /><figcaption>Adalberto Costa Junior, leader of Angola&#8217;s main opposition party UNITA, addresses his supporters during the party&#8217;s final rally at Cazenga, outside the capital Luanda, Angola, August 22, 2022. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko</figcaption></figure>



LUANDA, Aug 22 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Angolan presidential candidates on Monday wrapped up a month-long campaign ahead of this week&#8217;s election which is likely to be a tense standoff between a ruling party in power for decades and an opposition with growing appeal among youth.



The MPLA, led by João Lourenço since 2017, has governed Africa&#8217;s second-biggest oil producer since independence from Portugal in 1975. But longtime opposition party UNITA is stronger than ever, as anger grows at government failures to convert vast oil wealth into better living conditions for all.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2ZR171&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



More than 14 million Angolans are eligible to vote and will elect the president and 220 members of parliament simultaneously, with a single mark on the ballot paper.



An Afrobarometer survey in May showed the number of Angolans favouring UNITA, led by the charismatic Adalberto Costa Júnior, had increased to 22% from 13% in 2019, still seven points behind the MPLA. Nearly half of voters were undecided.



The MPLA held its last rally on Saturday but Lourenço took part in an event on Monday focused on women&#8217;s rights issues and said voting was &#8220;fundamental for the future&#8221; of the country, one of Africa&#8217;s most unequal nations.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-what-is-at-stake-for-investors-in-angola-s-elections">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/what-is-at-stake-for-investors-in-angolas-elections/">What is at stake for investors in Angola’s elections?</a></h3>



&#8220;The moment to party has not arrived yet (but) that moment of celebration will come,&#8221; Lourenço said.



Wearing red and green, UNITA&#8217;s colours, thousands of people, mostly young, gathered in the suburbs of the capital Luanda on Monday for the party&#8217;s final rally. UNITA is being backed by several groups, including the fourth-largest party, Bloco Democratico.



&#8220;There is no democracy without a change in political power,&#8221; Costa Júnior told the packed rally. &#8220;The continuity of a single party in power corresponds to the postponement of Angola&#8217;s development.&#8221;



Voter fraud fears have led UNITA to urge voters to remain near polling stations after they cast their ballot to monitor the election process. The electoral commission, which is mostly controlled by the MPLA, said the election will be fair and transparent.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N2ZX0BV&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



More than 80,000 officers have been mobilised for the election, and the police commander said voters were not allowed to remain near polling stations.



A report by the Institute for Security Studies said that if an MPLA win is perceived as fraudulent, unrest could follow. UNITA leader Costa Junior told Reuters on Sunday that contesting the election result was not off the table.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N2ZX0BV&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



(Reporting by Sisipho Skweyiya, Miguel Pereira, Siphiwe Sibeko, Catarina Demony and Leandro Lima in Luanda; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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Angolan parties wrap up campaigning as tense election nears

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="535" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/4SZ2PXKNNFLCBOO5S5R2NBQ5ZI-820x535.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-419314" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/4SZ2PXKNNFLCBOO5S5R2NBQ5ZI-820x535.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/4SZ2PXKNNFLCBOO5S5R2NBQ5ZI-300x196.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/4SZ2PXKNNFLCBOO5S5R2NBQ5ZI-138x90.jpg 138w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/4SZ2PXKNNFLCBOO5S5R2NBQ5ZI-768x501.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/4SZ2PXKNNFLCBOO5S5R2NBQ5ZI-1536x1002.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/4SZ2PXKNNFLCBOO5S5R2NBQ5ZI-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>FILE PHOTO: Supporters of Angola&#8217;s main opposition UNITA party stand on a lamppost as they wave flags during an election rally in Luanda August 25, 2012. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



LUANDA, Aug 19 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Angolans head to the polls next week in what is likely to be a tense standoff between a ruling party in power for nearly five decades and an opposition with growing appeal to a frustrated, impoverished youth.



The MPLA, led by João Lourenço since 2017, has governed Africa&#8217;s second-biggest oil producer since independence from Portugal in 1975. But longtime opposition party UNITA is stronger than ever, as anger grows at government failures to convert vast oil wealth into better living conditions for all.



Angola, one of the world&#8217;s most unequal nations, will on Aug. 24 elect a new president and lawmakers in its fifth multi-party election since the first in 1992.



Half of Angolans live in poverty and more than half of those under 25 are unemployed, facts which UNITA hopes to capitalise on in promising a change of regime. Half of voters are under 35.



An Afrobarometer survey in May showed Angolans favouring UNITA, led by the charismatic Adalberto Costa Júnior, had increased to 22% from 13% in 2019, still seven points behind the MPLA. Nearly half of voters were undecided.



&#8220;Without a doubt, this election is the tensest since 1992,&#8221; said Oxford University researcher Ricardo Soares de Oliveira. &#8220;There&#8217;s a huge amount of volatility and unpredictability &#8211; and the party in power has a lot of fear.&#8221;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-what-is-at-stake-for-investors-in-angola-s-elections">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/what-is-at-stake-for-investors-in-angolas-elections/">What is at stake for investors in Angola’s elections?</a></h3>



Handpicked by his predecessor José Eduardo dos Santos when he stepped down in 2017 after ruling Angola for 38 years, Lourenço pledged to fight corruption and boost the economy at a time of crisis due to the 2014 oil price crash.



He investigated corruption during the dos Santos era, targeting the former leader&#8217;s children in seeking to recover billions of dollars of siphoned-off revenue, a moved aimed at trying to &#8220;gain some popular legitimacy,&#8221; said Justin Pearce, senior lecturer in history at South Africa&#8217;s Stellenbosch University.



Lourenço also signed a deal with the IMF and improved ties with the West to reposition Angola as a trustworthy investment destination, but was confronted with COVID-19 and a fall in oil prices, then the impact of Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine.



&#8220;Issues that affect people very directly &#8230; haven&#8217;t been solved,&#8221; Jon Schubert, an anthropology professor at the University of Basel. &#8220;The cost of living is very high and salaries are worth a third of what they were six years ago.&#8221;



Angola emerged from a 27-year civil war between the MPLA and UNITA in 2002, but Soares de Oliveira said the youth had little concern for this history, and worried more about economic ills.



That raises the risk of violent protest, if they feel their voices were not heard. A report by the Institute for Security Studies said that if an MPLA win is perceived as fraudulent, unrest could follow.



EXPLAINER-What is at stake for investors in Angola&#8217;s elections? <a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2ZS59K&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Additional reporting by Rachel Savage in London; Editing by Tim Cocks and David Holmes)

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