Meetings discuss Africa’s economic problems as D-Day for ANC looms

Delegates of South Africa's ruling African National Congress arrive at the NASREC Expo Centre to attend the 54th ANC National Conference in Johannesburg, on December 16, 2017. PHOTO | GULSHAN KHAN | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Among the agenda of the Luanda meeting was the election of a leader to replace the retiring Isaías Samakuva.

  • Among the most important was a December 13 summit in Paris to discuss continental and global security in the era of extremist violence.

The long-awaited African National Congress conference finally opened in Johannesburg on Saturday and it is expected to end on Wednesday.

The ANC event follows an earlier one in Luanda, Angola’s capital, on December 14, where the main opposition party Unita held its third Political Commission ordinary meeting.

Among the agenda of the Luanda meeting was the election of a leader to replace the retiring Isaías Samakuva.

In October, Samakuva said he wanted to retire as party boss, having led Unita from 2003. He replaced party founder Jonas Savimbi during the party’s ninth congress.

Last month, Rafael Massanga Savimbi, the son of Jonas Savimbi, expressed his desire to run for Unita’s presidency and is viewed as a likely successor to Samakuva.

POLITICS

The two gatherings in southern Africa are the latest in a long series of riveting electoral events, whether party or national, that have become the hallmark of the ending year.

Poll activities have in recent times practically upstaged major non-political African developments.

However, political activities have not sidelined other continental and global events aimed at resolving Africa’s most daunting problems.

In fact, as the developments in South Africa and Angola unfolded, other African concerns were being addressed in a flurry of end-of-year meetings.

A number of important forums have been held in the past few weeks, from Addis Ababa to Paris and Brussels, to address African security and socio-economic issues.

Among the most important was a December 13 summit in Paris to discuss continental and global security in the era of extremist violence.

The well-attended summit was aimed at discussing security in the volatile Sahel.

INSECURITY

Considered a hotbed of lawlessness, insecurity and impoverishment for years, the region has virtually come under the control of such groups as Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

Because of the terrorist groups, the region has been in a state of permanent neglect. 

The Sahel crisis has in recent times been compounded by drought.

The Paris summit was to discuss the strengthening of the G5 Sahel force, meant to fight armed groups and transnational crime.

The force, made up of soldiers from  Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Mauritania was formed in February at the instigation of French President Emmanuel Macron.

The summit came just over a week after the 12th edition of the African Economic Conference in Addis Ababa. It began on December 4 and ended two days later and focused on the importance of good governance in Africa.

LOBBYING

In South Africa, the ongoing ANC conference is replete with intrigues as lobbying reaches fever pitch.

Over the weekend, as the conference picks up pace, party president Jacob Zuma is expected to formally step down, although he will remain the country’s president until elections are held in 2019 if all goes well.

Top contenders

The delegates at the conference are therefore expected to elect Zuma’s replacement as ANC boss before the event closes.

Among the top contenders is Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, who will be battling for the party’s top job with, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and others.

The latter, a veteran female politician and former African Union Commission chief, is President Zuma’s former wife and the mother of four of his many children.

Ramaphosa has reportedly surged ahead of his main challenger, but the party leadership race is still considered too close to call.

Meanwhile, supporters of the two top candidates have pulled out all the stops as D-day approaches.