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This week, African leaders took action, amidst growing frustration with the slow pace of global reforms. Plus, Russia’s inroads in Africa grow less subtle, and South Africa sets its sights on electric cars.

Top news Fired up: At the AU Summit, African leaders repeatedly voiced support for reforming the global financial system, demanding that it serve Africa’s needs. That includes securing more concessional finance, better representation in global financial bodies, and effective debt resolution mechanisms. African leaders are not sitting idly by. On the sidelines of the summit, they launched the Africa Club, a new alliance of African financial institutions aimed at improving development finance collaboration. And they agreed to create a pooled procurement mechanism to boost the continent’s vaccine manufacturing potential. Despite Africa having nearly twice the average global disease burden per capita, Africa manufactures just 1% of its vaccines. African leaders are aiming to increase that to 60% by 2040. 🥳 Et tu, Putin?: Russia is reportedly offering African governments a "regime survival package" in exchange for natural resources. The Wagner Group has helped entrench the ruling military regimes in Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Mali, Niger, and Sudan. The plausible deniability of the Russian government’s involvement in the Wagner Group’s forays evaporated last year, after the suspicious death of the group’s leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. Since then, the group’s activities have been more openly controlled by the Kremlin. That doesn’t bode well for the future of democracy in the region, nor for the likelihood that resource revenues will be managed transparently and effectively. Rebel rebel: France joined a growing list of countries calling on Rwanda to stop supporting the M23 rebel group in the DRC. Rwanda denies involvement, but the DRC, UN, and US say it funds and fights alongside the group, and have urged Rwanda to end its support. The UK government has been notably silent on the issue; since 2021, it has paid Rwanda £240 million as part of a controversial plan to send asylum-seeking refugees to Rwanda. Rwanda claims that the DRC is supporting the DFLR, a Rwandan militia involved in the 1994 Rwandan genocide that now fights in eastern DRC. 5.6 million people have been displaced in four provinces in eastern DRC, largely due to the ongoing conflict. Election countdown: The date has been set: South Africans will go to the polls for national elections on May 29. The announcement on Tuesday coincided with some bad economic news for the ruling ANC party. New data showed an uptick in the country’s unemployment rate, to 32.1%. And one of the world's largest mining companies, Anglo-American Platinum, announced plans to cut thousands of jobs. The clock is ticking for the ANC and opposition parties to convince voters of their ability to set the country’s economy back on track. Going electric: South Africa will issue major tax breaks for manufacturing investments in electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles. The measure, which would start in 2026, will grant a 150% tax deduction. The move aims to protect the country’s US$12 billion automotive industry, its largest manufacturing sector. It would also enable South Africa to harness its mineral potential. It has the world’s sixth-best supply of minerals used in lithium-ion batteries. It also has the world’s largest reserves of manganese and is the world’s largest producer of platinum, both of which are used in battery production. “Slave wages”: Workers in Angola plan to launch a general strike next month, outraged at the country’s low monthly minimum wage of US$38. More than half of all Angolans live on less than US$3.65 per day, and one-quarter of children are out of school. That’s despite the country being one of Africa’s leading oil producers, extracting over 1 million barrels of oil per day. Trade unions are demanding that the minimum wage be raised to US$288. The government has proposed a much more modest increase to US$45, despite government statistics showing that a basket of basic food items costs more than US$100. 👀 From the ONE Team Meet ONE’s new CEO, Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli. Désiré Assogbavi outlines the key developments from the AU Summit. Stephan Exo-Kreischer spoke to Bayerischer Rundfunk about the links between development and security. David McNair with key takeaways from the Munich Security Conference and the AU summit. The numbers One-quarter of the United Nations Population Fund’s staff will be relocated to Nairobi by 2025. US$2.5 billion: How much the Wagner Group and Russia have earned from “blood gold” in the Central African Republic, Mali, and Sudan since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. 23,000 Africans died in terror attacks in 2022, up from 23 in 2002.

Quote of the week "With the African Union’s new seat at the G20, we have an opportunity to move from being rule-takers to rule-makers." –Dr. Hanan Morsy, Deputy Executive Secretary and Chief Economist at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

What you should read, watch, and listen to: Saving lives, one shot at a time. (CNBC Africa) Tech is already being used to manipulate African politics. (The Continent) Growing queer representation in African literature. (The New York Times) Cheap, plentiful and devastating: The synthetic drug kush is walloping Sierra Leone. (NPR) Droughts risk spurring HIV cases in rural African women. (Bloomberg) New “Green Accountability” platform aims to improve climate finance. (GPSA)

A look ahead 26 - 29 February: World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. 28 - 29 February: First G20 Finance and Central Bank Ministerial Meeting in São Paulo, Brazil. 28 February - 5 March: 2024 Economic Commission for Africa Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

The ONE Campaign’s data.one.org provides cutting edge data and analysis on the economic, political, and social changes impacting Africa. Check it out HERE.

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