Dr Chairman Okoloise

"The Commission wishes to stress that any crisis affecting the Gaza Strip, a territory that has a land border with ...Egypt, a State party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights..., would inevitably have negative repercussions on the African continent." -@achpr_cadhp

@araghchi The status of the Strait of Hormuz explained 👇

Is a global energy pirate state emerging in North America? @richimedhurst makes a well-researched deepdive.

Seyed M. Marandi: Negotiations Collapsed - Return to War youtu.be/nRYcvX1eX5k

🚨DOES IRAN HAVE A RIGHT TO CONTROL THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ? @afshinrattansi: ‘Ships have to pass through Iranian and Omani territory because the strait is only 21 miles.’ UAE’s🇦🇪 Mishal Kanoo: ‘I’ll accept that argument and take it to the next stage. Even if that’s the case, the last I checked, neither of the countries created the strait. That was made by God, through the natural movement of tectonic plates. Neither country created it, so neither country has a right to it.’ Afshin: ‘No, but under international maritime law you’re allowed 12 miles. You own up to 12 miles off the coast.’ Mishal Kanoo: ‘None of the countries on either side of the water created that. They happen to be there. So this is a natural passage, it shouldn’t be under anyone’s control in such a manner that they can use it as a gateway. I’d like to say it’s unfair, but this has been a tradition where everyone has been utilising this for the longest time. It’s only now Iran is wanting to weaponise it, that Iran is making issues out of it. It didn’t benefit Iran before because we couldn’t enforce it, so Iran didn’t weaponise it before.’ -One of the UAE’s🇦🇪 most prominent businessmen @MishalKanoo, Chairman of the @KanooGroup_UAE, and one of Gulf Business’s Top 100 Powerful Arabs 2025. Watch the full interview in the quoted post below👇

The game has changed now that Iran says it will accept payments from ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz in cryptocurrencies, or the yuan, writes @andymukherjee70 (via @opinion) bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…

𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐇𝐮𝐛 (𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥) Africa’s energy and extractive sectors remain vital to economic growth, yet challenges such as weak governance, revenue leakages, and limited value addition persist. This Summer School is designed to equip professionals with the knowledge and tools to shape effective, inclusive, and forward-looking governance of natural resources. 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲? We are looking for applicants who: • Work in institutions engaged in energy or extractive sector governance (e.g. Parliament, Academia, CSOs, Media, Law, Environmental Management, Finance, Development Policy etc) • Have at least 3 years’ relevant experience in oil, gas, mining, or energy • Demonstrate strong interest in policy, governance, and energy transition issues • Can fully commit to the programme duration • Have a good command of written and spoken English Apply here to be part of a network driving accountability and transformation in Africa’s resource governance: acep.africa/2026-afreikh-s…

🌍 The LéO Africa Institute & Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (@KasUganda ) are pleased to announce that applications for the YELP 2026 Fellowship are now open. Now in its seventh year, the Young and Emerging Leaders Project is one of our most enduring communities — bringing together emerging leaders from across #Africa who are committed to lives of significance and impact. Entrepreneurs. Media practitioners. Social innovators. Artists. Activists. If you are building something meaningful, this fellowship is for you. The program unfolds across three residential seminars: 1️⃣ Values, Ethics & the Philosophy of Leadership — Grounding your leadership in identity, purpose, and conviction 2️⃣ Political Economy & Development — Understanding the systems that shape our continent and your choices within them 3️⃣ Media, Art & Technology — Exploring the tools and narratives that define our time With alumni in eight African countries and a growing network of thought leaders, YELP is more than a fellowship; it is a community you carry with you. ✅ Who should apply: ▫️Young people aged 21–35 from across Africa ▫️From any professional or creative background ▫️Committed to personal growth, values-driven leadership, and meaningful contribution to community and continent 📌 Apply now: bit.ly/48oa7aT

Refining Value in Africa’s Energy Ecosystem From crude to refined products, Afreximbank’s support for the @DangoteGroup Petroleum & Petrochemicals Refinery is driving a new phase of industrialisation while delivering real impact across value chains and communities. This transformational project reflects Afreximbank’s commitment to financing large-scale infrastructure that retains value within Africa, strengthens intra-African trade, and advances economic independence. With its scale, the refinery is creating opportunities for industries, generating jobs, and helping Africa compete globally through value-added production. This is how Africa industrialises. This is how Africa leads. Watch Afreximbank Impact Stories here: youtu.be/-SUq_7X2dNk #Afreximbank #ImpactStories #Industrialisation #EnergySecurity #IntraAfricanTrade

📢📢 Registration is NOW OPEN for #FIFAfrica26! 📢📢 The 13th edition of the Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa is heading to #Mauritius from September 28 – October 1, 2026 - and YOU are invited to be part of it. Join over 500 participants from across Africa and beyond for exciting conversations, critical reflection, and collective action on #InternetFreedomAfrica and the future of our digital societies. #FIFAfrica26 will convene policymakers, activists, journalists, academics, technologists, and creatives to engage the most pressing issues shaping Africa’s digital landscape, including: 🟠Digital Democracy and Civic Participation 🟠Data Governance and Sovereignty 🟠Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies 🟠Platform Accountability 🟠Digital Inclusion 🟠Digital Economy, Trade and Practices 🟠Movement Building 🟠Digital Security and Safety Register now and secure your spot 👉🏾tinyurl.com/FIFAfrica26

WhatsApp’s “encryption” may be the biggest consumer fraud in history — deceiving billions of users. Despite its claims, it reads users’ messages and shares them with third parties. Telegram has never done this — and never will 🤝

The war with Iran will doubtlessly be studied for decades but what's already pretty clear at this stage is how much of a strategic defeat it is for the U.S. and Israel, perhaps the worst ever in their history (which is actually what former Israeli PM Yair Lapid already called it: x.com/yairlapid/stat…). I mean, how crazy is this: JP Morgan calculated (jpost.com/middle-east/ir…) that, as per the new Hormuz toll arrangement, Iran may get as much as $70-90 billion in additional annual revenue, representing a stunning 20% of its GDP, in extra revenue. Hilariously, Trump commented on Truth Social that the arrangement means “big money will be made” and “Iran can start the reconstruction process” (@realDonaldTrump/116367088879643074" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTru…). Damn right: they gained the single most valuable geographic rent on earth, by a huge margin. For comparison, the Suez Canal earns Egypt “only” $9-10B/year, and the Panama Canal about $5B. Stunning. Make no mistake, this establishes Iran as the new dominant power in the Middle-East. When you're a country that others need to effectively pay to do business in a region - which is what having a toll booth on Hormuz means in practice - you're no longer shut out of the global economy: you're the one charging admission. It's a phoenix rising from the ashes story if there ever was one (an apt metaphor since it comes from Persian mythology): after 47 years of sanctions, being the target of every trick in the book, and ultimately a war aimed at finishing them off, Iran is coming out the other end stronger than at any point in modern history. Above all, though, the most dramatic consequence of this war is what it means about U.S. power. As I argued in my previous article (open.substack.com/pub/arnaudbert…), this war is qualitatively different from other U.S. wars in the past few decades, such as Vietnam, Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Serbia, etc. (the list is unfortunately very long). In those wars the pattern was roughly always the same, with an immense power differential between aggressor and victim. These were imperial wars, the empire attempting to crush a much weaker people whose only realistic recourse was guerrilla resistance. As I wrote, as spectators of these wars, if you had any moral sense, the dominant emotion was a kind of helpless disgust: you were watching a giant stomp through someone else’s house. This war wasn’t at all like that: stunningly, Iran managed to hold its own symmetrically and tactically against the United States and Israel. This is an absolutely crucial difference because it changes what losing means. When the U.S. lost in Vietnam or Afghanistan, it was embarrassing but ultimately manageable - the giant walked away with a bruised ego, and the world shrugged. Empires lose to guerrillas sometimes, it doesn’t say much about the empire's ability to fight a real war. But losing symmetrically - losing when your most advanced stealth fighters get shot down from the sky, your military bases are neutered across an entire theater (x.com/RnaudBertrand/…), your most advanced missile defense systems get destroyed, your enemy seizes control of the world’s most strategic waterway, your navy can’t reopen it, and your “allies” get bombed unforgivingly despite your “protection” - that's a different kind of losing entirely. That tells the world the giant isn't such a giant anymore. This is the topic of my latest article: what the war revealed, what it destroyed, and what may come next. I titled the article "Don't bluff someone who can't fold." You'll understand why when you read the article here: open.substack.com/pub/arnaudbert…

The Art of the Deal?

🚨 | Join @ChathamHouse’s prestigious 10-month, in-person fellowship programme starting in October 2026. The @Mo_IbrahimFdn Academy Fellowship is open to citizens/dual citizens of any African country. Apply by 5pm BST on 7 April 2026: careers.chathamhouse.org/jobs/7401384-2…

Countries are opening their eyes. Those that make themselves pawns in the game of geopolitics (Ukraine) get used & dumped, while those that hold their own (India & Iran) will eventually be left alone to pursue their legitimate sovereign interests. African countries, take note!

Shazam doesn't directly recognize the song you're listening to.😱😱

How Colonial Racism Fueled The Genocide Against The Tutsi In Rwanda On 7 April 1994, the Genocide against the Tutsi started. In just 100 days, over one million Tutsi men, women, and children were systematically murdered, often by neighbors, friends, or even relatives, with machetes and clubs. The killings were organized and supported by extremist Hutu leaders, state institutions, and local officials, while the international community stood by and did nothing. The roots of this genocide stretch back decades. Before colonization, Rwandans shared a common identity with flexible social categories of Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. European powers, first Germany, then Belgium, imposed rigid racial divisions, introducing identity cards and dismantling systems that promoted unity. Independence only deepened these divisions, as political leaders manipulated ethnic identities, excluded Tutsi from power, and spread propaganda that dehumanized them. The genocide also exposes the failure and complicity of the global community. Warnings of mass extermination were ignored, United Nations forces were withdrawn, and major powers avoided calling the atrocities “genocide” to evade legal responsibility. Evidence shows that France even provided military support to the genocidal regime. The tragedy that happened in 1994 is a lesson on how colonial legacies and manipulation can fuel hatred and why Africans must now confront these inherited divisions to build unity, justice, and self-determination.

There is no military objective that justifies the wholesale destruction of a society's infrastructure or the deliberate infliction of suffering on civilian populations. Conflicts end when leaders choose dialogue over destruction, @antonioguterres says. news.un.org/en/story/2026/…

Here’s the 10 point peace plan found “acceptable” by Trump now circulating. Huge strategic defeat for the US, biggest loss since Vietnam. Shows the surge of Iran as the emerging 4th center of world power.

With the greatest humility, I am pleased to announce that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, along with their allies, have agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere including Lebanon and elsewhere, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. I warmly welcome the sagacious gesture and extend deepest gratitude to the leadership of both the countries and invite their delegations to Islamabad on Friday, 10th April 2026, to further negotiate for a conclusive agreement to settle all disputes. Both parties have displayed remarkable wisdom and understanding and have remained constructively engaged in furthering the cause of peace and stability. We earnestly hope, that the ‘Islamabad Talks’ succeed in achieving sustainable peace and wish to share more good news in coming days! @realDonaldTrump @JDVance @SecRubio @SteveWitkoff @SEPeaceMissions @drpezeshkian @mb_ghalibaf @araghchi

'There has never been a political DISASTER like this in our entire history — Israel was not even at negotiating table' — Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid