Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Africa Brief.
The highlights this week: A hospital bombing raises fears that South Sudan has returned to civil war, Morocco tries to woo its junta-led neighbors to gain influence against Algeria, and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s son abducts the bodyguard of an opposition leader.
Civilian Killings Rise in South Sudan
A hospital bombing in South Sudan killed at least seven people and injured 20 on Saturday, raising fears of a return to civil war as the country’s military, led by President Salva Kiir, clashes with forces loyal to First Vice President Riek Machar.
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan said on Tuesday that the bombing was a “deliberate” attack that could amount to a war crime. No one has claimed responsibility for the strike, which led to “significant damage” to the only hospital in the area, Doctors Without Borders said in a statement.
The attack took place in Old Fangak, a town in the northeastern Greater Upper Nile region—a key hot spot in the recent political infighting. A 2018 power-sharing arrangement between the two leaders, which ended South Sudan’s five-year civil war, broke down in March, when Kiir’s government arrested Machar on charges of attempting to stir a rebellion.
Kiir accuses Machar’s party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-In Opposition (SPLM-IO), and its military wing of colluding with the White Army, an armed youth group that Kiir’s army has been fighting since February in Upper Nile state, which borders Sudan.
“The regime in Juba is increasingly unstable—threatening the president’s grip on power and prompting attempts to restore control,” Clémence Pinaud wrote in Foreign Policy in April.
There are fears that South Sudan’s conflict is merging with the two-year civil war in Sudan, from which the former gained independence in 2011. In February, Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) formed a rival Sudanese government with the SPLM-North—an offshoot of Kiir’s party, the SPLM, which spearheaded South Sudan’s independence push.
Sudan’s army, which believes that Kiir is quietly backing the new RSF alliance, has reportedly reignited its historical ties to militias in the Upper Nile.
On April 30, the U.N. Security Council extended the mandate for the U.N. Mission in South Sudan by just nine days to give it more time to assess the escalating conflict. Last month, the United States withdrew its military personnel from the U.N. mission—a move that critics warned sent a “dangerous message.”
The decision came a day after the Trump administration revoked visas for all South Sudanese nationals in response to Juba’s refusal to accept a Congolese man deported from the United States. South Sudan later agreed to receive the man “in the spirit of friendly relations,” but the United States has yet to reverse its decision.
Amid the violence, the World Food Program has warned that South Sudan is at a “critical tipping point” as nearly 7.7 million people—more than half the country’s population—face hunger as fighting has displaced more than 100,000 people and disrupted food deliveries.
The Week Ahead
Wednesday, May 7: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi meets with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens.
Thursday, May 8: The U.N. Security Council discusses its mission in South Sudan.
Saturday, May 10: Rwanda releases its inflation data for April.
What We’re Watching
Congo peace plan? The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda have submitted a draft proposal to end armed conflict in eastern Congo, Massad Boulos, U.S. President Donald Trump’s Africa advisor, said on Monday.
The two nations agreed last month to draft a peace plan by May 2. But since then, Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have continued to clash with Congolese forces in eastern Congo. Over the weekend, the M23 seized Lunyasenge, a strategic fishing town on Lake Edward near the Ugandan border. The battle killed at least 17 people, including seven Congolese soldiers.
Meanwhile, Kigali is in talks with Washington over receiving deported migrants, Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe told state broadcaster Rwanda TV on Sunday. “It has not yet reached a stage where we can say exactly how things will proceed, but the talks are ongoing,” he said.
Sudan genocide case. On Monday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) dismissed Sudan’s case accusing the United Arab Emirates of enabling genocide of non-Arab communities by supporting the paramilitary RSF in Sudan’s civil war.
The top court said it “manifestly” lacked the authority to hear the case due to the fact that the UAE had opted out of Article 9 of the Genocide Convention, which allows nations to sue one another for alleged genocide at the ICJ.
Sudan cut diplomatic ties with the UAE on Tuesday following three days of drone strikes on the city of Port Sudan, which the Sudanese army has blamed on the RSF.
Moroccan port access. The landlocked junta-led nations of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have supported a Moroccan trade initiative that would give them access to Atlantic ports, including one under construction in the disputed territory of Western Sahara.
Morocco’s offer is part of its plan to gain influence against its rival Algeria, which backs the pro-independence Polisario Front in Western Sahara. Tensions flared between the two nations after Trump recognized Morocco’s claim over Western Sahara in 2020.
Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have sought to forge new economic ties since they withdrew from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) last year and formed a rival Alliance of Sahel States.
But it is unclear how the plan would work in practice because the nations would need a route through Mauritania to reach Morocco without passing through Algeria—and Mauritania is unlikely to want to strike a deal, especially after recent tensions with Mali.
Algeria had been a mediator in the three nations’ rift with ECOWAS, but Algiers’s relationship with the Sahel’s junta-led governments began to deteriorate last year over their use of Russian mercenaries. In April, Algeria shot down a Malian drone that it said had crossed into its air space, leading to all sides recalling their ambassadors.
Abduction in Uganda. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the son of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and the head of the army, confirmed in a series of posts on X the detainment of opposition leader Bobi Wine’s chief bodyguard on Thursday, four days after he was declared missing. “He is in my basement. … You are next!” Kainerugaba wrote in response to a post from Wine.
Edward Sebuufu, known as Eddie Mutwe, was abducted on April 27 near the capital of Kampala, according to Wine’s National Unity Platform party. On Monday, Mutwe was charged in a Ugandan court with aggravated robbery. His lawyers say he was tortured while detained. The case has sparked public outrage, with the hashtag #FreeEddieMutwe trending online.
Kainerugaba is known for posting provocative statements online. In February, he wrote on X that another opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, who had been abducted in Kenya and charged with treason, would only leave prison “in his coffin … or on his knees.”
Opposition politicians say Kainerugaba’s father, Museveni, has been prosecuting political candidates ahead of the 2026 election. Museveni has been in power since 1986—before most Ugandans were born.
Troops leave Congo. South Africa, Malawi, and Tanzania have begun a phased withdrawal of their peacekeeping troops from eastern Congo amid an escalation of violence.
The troops arrived two years ago to help the Congolese army fight the M23. At least 19 soldiers from the three nations were killed when the M23 seized the eastern Congolese city of Goma in January.
This Week in Culture
This year, France’s long-term allies Senegal and Ivory Coast have started to replace colonial-era street names. Both countries have said the old names serve as a reminder of slavery and French colonialism.
In the Senegalese capital of Dakar, Boulevard General-de-Gaulle is now Boulevard Mamadou Dia, named after Senegal’s first prime minister after independence in 1960. In Abidjan, the capital of Ivory Coast, Marseille Boulevard, named after the French port city, was recently rebranded Philippe Yace Boulevard after the country’s first parliamentary speaker.
The symbolic move is part of a wider loss of French soft power in Africa. Last month, Algeria’s higher education ministry announced that the country’s universities would be conducted in English rather than French starting in September. France-Algeria tensions have intensified since France recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara last year.
FP’s Most Read This Week
What We’re Reading
Meta’s new backlash in Ghana. As Facebook’s parent company, Meta, faces lawsuits in Kenya over amplifying hate speech and poor labor conditions, Meta has quietly moved its African hub for content moderation from Nairobi to Accra, Ghana, according to a Bureau of Investigative Journalism report in partnership with the Guardian.
The report alleges that working conditions for moderators—who are employed by French multinational Teleperformance, a Meta subcontractor—“are said to be worse in almost every way.” Teleperformance denies the allegations.
Africa’s AI race. Around 2,400 African companies apply artificial intelligence solutions in sectors such as agriculture and medicine, but low connectivity hinders many African nations’ ability to implement AI, Daniel Ekonde writes in the Elephant.
This highlights the need for structural reforms in order for AI to make an impact. In the Central African Republic, for instance, only 14.3 percent of the population has access to grid electricity.
Lesotho’s woes continue. Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is shuttering the Millennium Challenge Corp., a U.S foreign aid agency established more than two decades ago by President George W. Bush.
This jeopardizes a $300 million fund to support HIV/AIDS treatment, food security, and small businesses in Lesotho, Sechaba Mokhethi reports in South African outlet GroundUp. The project was expected to create more than 90,000 direct and indirect jobs between 2024 and 2029.
