THIS WEEK

 

17: UN World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought

 

17: Malawian Vice-President Saulos Chilima will be buried in his home district of Ntcheu, 180km south of Lilongwe on Monday, which has been declared a public holiday. Chilima died in an air crash last week.

 

18: International Day for Countering Hate Speech

 

19 SA’s President-elect will be inaugurated (Pretoria).

 

20: World Refugee Day

 

20-30: History, Nostalgia and Reflection are the themes selected for the National Arts Festival (Makhanda)

 

21-22: World Congress on Information Technology and Computer Science (Oujda)

 

22-23: International Conference on Accounting and Finance (Port Louis)

 

23-24: International Conference on Business Analytics and Operations Research (Kenema, Sierra Leone)

 

OTHER:

 

* Libya’s Chamber of Commerce has signed a cooperation agreement with the Indian Economic and Trade Organisation in Tunis. The signing took place on the margins of the seventh edition of the Financing Investment and Trade in Africa Conference (FITA 2024) held in Tunis from 11 to 12 June. The event was organised by the Tunisian African Business Council.

 

* South African artist Zanele Muholi, whose work prominently features the lives of black South Africans in the LGBTQ+ community, has returned to the Tate Modern after being cut short by the Covid-19 pandemic. The revived exhibition features over 300 photographs representing their career to date, from their first images to their more recent works. The exhibition is on until January 2025 (London).

 

* Namibia has opened a three-month voter registration period, ahead of 27 November elections. The registration period for the presidential and National Assembly elections is due to run until 1 August.  For the first time since independence, the ruling party, the Swapo will have a female presidential candidate, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah.

 

* Despite the bitter cold winter season, the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South AFrica (Contralesa) said it would ensure that adequate measures are in place to protect young initiates from the unforgiving weather. In a few days, dozens of young men will begin their initiation ceremonies into manhood. This is a right of passage in many African cultures. Contralesa general secretary Zolani Mkiva said there has been a directive for the different initiation schools to ensure that the boys are in good health. This includes ensuring that there are sufficient blankets and heating.

 

* Somalia will expel thousands of Ethiopian troops stationed in the country to help with security by the end of the year unless Addis Ababa scraps a disputed port deal with the breakaway region of Somaliland, a senior Somali official said last week. Security experts and foreign diplomats said the move risks further destabilising Somalia as local forces would be unable to fill the security vacuum, which would likely be exploited by fighters from al Shabaab, an affiliate of al Qaeda. At least 3 000 Ethiopian soldiers are stationed in the Horn of Africa country as part of an AU peacekeeping mission fighting al Shabaab, which controls large portions of Somalia.