The U.S. Department of Labor announced the award of a $4.5 million cooperative agreement with Pact Inc., an international nonprofit organization, to combat child labor in mica-producing communities in Madagascar.

In the Anôsy region where mica mining occurs – where the poverty rate is 96.7 percent – an ongoing drought has contributed to a near famine. The coronavirus pandemic and the drought have devastated the region’s agricultural harvests and increased the cost of staple foods. The price of mica and the incomes of the families who mine it have also decreased as a result of the pandemic. Amid these dire conditions, Malagasy families feel that they have no choice but to send their children to work in and around the mines to buy food and fulfill basic needs.

An estimated 10,000 children endure unsafe working conditions currently in Madagascar’s informal mica industry. Typically, boys work underground digging to extract mica ore; some have suffocated to death in poorly ventilated mines. Above ground, girls haul and process mica and face frequent pressure from mica collectors to engage in sex for money. These children often develop respiratory illnesses from mica dust particles. All of this happens in a country where inadequate labor laws are poorly enforced.

Companies in China buy Madagascar’s mica for use in manufacturing a variety of products, including automobiles, cosmetics and electronics, many of which find their way to U.S. consumers.

Administered by the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Pact Inc.’s Madagascar Shines project will:

• Improve resiliency of mining families in mica-producing communities by providing approximately 1,800 children with educational services and 2,200 adults with livelihood services.
• Increase the capacity of government officials to coordinate the child protection measures in the mica supply chain, including establishing a code of conduct for mica mining.
• Support the efforts of civil society organizations and the media to improve public awareness around the issue of child labor in the mica supply chain.
• Promote the formalization of the mica sector and design a traceability system, fostering a sustainable mining industry that does not use child labor.

As China spreads its backwards culture into Africa, the market for African versions of traditional Chinese medicines has exploded. With that has come the mass killing of native African species for their body parts.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is an odd part of the Chinese economic invasion of the world. It brings with it beliefs in medical treatments which originated in some cases millennia ago, long before understanding even of basic anatomy and how to treat illnesses even of the simplest kinds were well understood. While there are some aspects to it that are valid and highly useful, there are also aspects that are based on erroneous beliefs and are highly destructive.

In Africa, relying on traditional medicines created by their own ancestors is a fundamental part of the culture of some nations. They are also made from a variety of animal parts to gain their supposed medicinal power, just as TCM are.

So, it is an easy sell to bring TCM into the continent, as well as to market it in a similar way, arguing for the long-term historical relevance of old knowledge, even if what the Chinese are peddling in these medicines has no real healing power.

Bringing in the medicines also involves, for the companies China is establishing on the continent to make and sell them, locally sourcing ingredients like those in the traditional medicines fabricated in Asia. As it turns out, these “authentic” reconstructions of CTMs – now being sold to yet another massive potential market of the uneducated in Africa – serve also to include many unproven ingredients which are either toxic, include parts from endangered species, or both. By doing so, they are endangering the lives of those species on an even broader scale than ever before while also putting the lives of those who take the medicine at risk.

That is the conclusion of Lethal Remedy, a just published report by the United Kingdom-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).

The spread of Chinese Traditional Medicine manufacture, use, and sale is embedded in China’s global Belt and Road business initiative, a strategic venture under which China is attempting to integrated much of the global business market within just a few days’ shipping time of the PRC (People’s Republic of China).

As the report notes, “Major TCM companies and countless clinics of already been established across Africa, with further plans to construct full supply chains for sourcing to sales.”

The invasion of Africa which this involves has been managed carefully on multiple levels, including:

• Signing official agreements between African nations and the PRC to develop TCM products and sales.
• Working to get individual countries to pass local laws endorsing the making and use of TCM products in the countries there. Namibia and South Africa are noted as key examples.
• Taking advantage of the pandemic panic among the peoples of Africa to create an effective marketing campaign for these non-medicines as something to take while potentially dying of the coronavirus. These campaigns also include treatments to be taken despite having no evidence of the presence of the coronavirus.

In terms of statistics, currently it is known that some 21,000 medical professionals and at least 2,000 people now claiming to be trained practitioners of TCM are present on the continent. 45 countries provide the bases of operation for these people, in countries such as Cameroon, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

These have been established over decades in some locations, with a boom period in recent years. It is part of China’s explicit marketing plan for the region.

Though the so-called medicines have mostly no ability to ease pain, slow the spread of disease, or cure anything, the poor and uneducated are an easy target for the Chinese marketing assault which has made TCM sales so successful.

According to the EIA report, the TCM makers have pulled multiple pages out of their use of ingredients such as body parts and bodily fluids from species ranging from Chinese tigers to the Asian pangolin, transplanting them into the local market by replacing them with similar elements from lions and the scales of the African variant of the pangolin.

Common to both traditional African medicine (TAfM) and TCM are parts of species such as the rhino, hedgehog, tortoise, and pangolin.

The elephant, in its Asian form at least, may not be listed among the ingredients lists in the global Pharmacopeia, but the EIA notes that there are at least four registered patent medicines which use elephant ivory as shavings or powder, to treat everything from sore throats, seizures, and boils. Elephant skin is also used by traditional Chinese medical practitioners to help heal routine wounds, ulcers, and even hemorrhoids. Some of the Chinese manufacturers even source these parts all the way from endangered African elephants, in the form of ivory, elephant skin, and hair. That is also all happening legally – except for the ivory – as written into the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), with Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe all noted as legally authorized to export such materials.

For the TCM makers setting up shop in Africa, direct access to those elephant parts plus availability of ingredients from the other common parts, whether endangered or not, makes the African market appealing as a new source of mass exploitation of animals even if it pushes many of them close to extinction in the process.

Among other creatures being taken in the wild and sometimes bred just for body parts and bodily fluids for the African form of TCMs are seahorses, the tokay gecko, leopards, African rhinos (for their horn), saiga (for their horn), local endangered versions of tortoise, hedgehog, and porcupine.

For African nations which are in dire need of hard currency, inviting the Chinese in to take advantage of their people and to make and sell products which can kill off animals while posing a genuine danger to those taking the medicines is taken by many countries as a fair exchange, despite the damage it does to all. South Africa and Namibia, just as two examples, have gone so far as to formally recognize traditional Chinese medicines as legitimate treatments within those countries’ treatment protocols. Other countries, such as South Africa, have now legalized captive breeding of wild large cat species such as lions or leopards, for the purpose of harvesting their parts for TCMs.

In South Africa, a November 2019 memorandum from the Northern Cape government uncovered by the Environmental Investigation Agency authorizes the sale of Rhino horn “in order to expedite the process of legalizing commercialization …for medicinal purposes.”

Besides the obvious evils of potentially wiping out endangered species, marketing useless medicines made of those species, and encouraging the public to take these medicines at a high risk to themselves, there is yet another reason the EIA warns that theses medicines should be blocked from manufacture and banned for sale. That is the potential risk of spreading zoonotic diseases, illnesses such as the coronavirus which likely was derived from similar viruses found in Chinese bats and crossed species to infect humans, broadly across Africa.

None of this will stop without the African governments themselves stepping up and demanding the end of foisting these dangerous and exploitative concoctions known as traditional Chinese medicines on the people. With those governments more than happy to be bribed with money and more from Beijing to allow this to happen, no one should count on those governments doing anything about this anytime soon.

With total sales of traditional Chinese medicine in 2021 estimated to hit 75.3 billion Chinese yuan (US $11.81 billion) by the end of 2021, with an estimated annual compound sales growth rate of about 5 percent just in China’s core home market, and with high gross margins, no one should look to the PRC to do anything on their end to stop this abuse of nature and the public who happily consume these fake medicines.

One of the factors that is allowing TCM to flourish in Africa is the predatory nature and failure of western medicine and its forced vaccination program. Many Africans simply don’t trust western medicine or the evil billionaires behind it. At the same time, practitioners skilled in TCM can often more accurately diagnose ailments, even if they can’t prescribe an effective treatment.

KONE Corporation has won an order to deliver and install 60 custom-made elevators and escalators for a building known as Iconic Tower. Situated in Egypt’s New Administrative Capital, the tower is set to become the tallest building in the entire African continent.    

Egypt’s new administrative and financial capital is under construction just outside Cairo and is being designed with smart technologies as a focal point. Scheduled to be opened by the end of this year, it will cater for over 6 million people. Iconic Tower will be located within the city’s Central Business District (CBD), which is planned to include a total of 20 skyscrapers.

The 80-storey tower will rise to a height of 385 meters, including office, hotel and residential amenities. The main contractor for the building – and several other projects in the new capital city – is China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), one of the world’s leading construction groups.   KONE’s delivery includes 36 KONE MiniSpace™ elevators, 13 KONE MonoSpace® elevators, seven KONE TranSys™ freight elevators and four KONE TransitMaster™ 120 escalators, all with finishes specially designed for this building. In addition, the KONE Destination Control System will help reduce waiting and traveling times and the KONE E-Link™ service will enable monitoring equipment performance in real time, from a single location onsite. The contract also includes maintenance services.    “Iconic Tower will become a significant landmark not only in the New Administrative Capital, but across Egypt and Africa. We are truly honored to provide our high-rise expertise and our people flow solutions for this development and together with our customers help the city set new standards for smart and sustainable buildings,” says Thomas Hinnerskov, Executive Vice President for KONE South Europe, Middle East and Africa.    The building is expected to be completed in February 2023 and it is being developed by New Urban Communities Authority. The main architect is Dar Al-Handasah.

Yesterday the senior military leadership in Sudan arrested the prime minister and seized control of the country in what is already — for the citizens at least — a bloody takeover coup.

It represents the end of a power-sharing relationship between civilian and the military in the African nation which has lasted for over two years.

It will also mean the return to authoritarian rule – for a while at least — after the people forced out the former dictator Omar Hassan al-Bashir in 2019.

Though the news came as a shock for the world, the overthrow looked more likely last month, after a previous coup attempt failed.

Since that time both the civilian as well as military sides were shoring up their alliances. Last week several cabinet ministers led protests in Khartoum and other major metropolitan areas, against even the prospect of a coup. In parallel, the army strengthened its hand by bringing together an odd alliance of leaders consisting of local warlords, heads of militia, those who still backed previous dictator al-Bashir, and the current military establishment.

The coup took place relatively swiftly and reportedly relatively quietly. The military, headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan arrested Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, industry minister Ibrahim al-Sheikh, several other ministers, Governor Ayman Khalid of the state which includes the capital of Khartoum, and other officials within the government. No one seriously injured or killed as those officials were taken, according to current reports.

In doing so, the military dissolved the “sovereign council” which managed a power-sharing arrangement between the civilian leadership represented by Hamdok and the general’s senior team. That council was formed in 2019 after former military officer Omar Hassan al-Bashir himself had led the country for three decades.

Al-Bashir himself took power in 1989 when, as a brigadier general in the Sudanese army, he also led a military coup. In a disturbing replay of history, al-Bashir seized power by kicking out the democratically elected government headed up by then prime Minster Sadiq al-Mahd.

News of the coup spread quickly in the nation. Fearing a return to a dictator state run by a military team, protesters came out by the thousands in the country’s capital city of Khartoum to demand the return of Prime Minister Hamdok to power.

Those protesters were also aware that the sovereign council was supposed to have turned the full reigns of leadership of the country to a civilian within just a few months. The coup was broadly seen as an attempt to keep that from ever happening.

The military leadership responded in force, with shots fired by security forces deployed to attempt to restore calm. As of late yesterday, reports from the health ministry said at least seven protesters had been killed in the skirmishes. An estimated 140 protesters were wounded.

The government also shut off the internet to the country, as a means to keep protesters from coordinating their efforts.

In statements released yesterday, General Abdel Fatttah al-Burhan said the takeover of the government was unavoidable. He described the sovereign council as unworkable, with the civilian and military representatives constantly arguing over governance decisions.

In a public statement, he attempted to reassure those who felt the military would keep control of what it had seized.

“The armed forces will continue completing the democratic transition and the handover of the country’s leadership to a civilian, elected government,” he said.

The statement also said the constitution would be rewritten to address changes his group felt were needed. Those changes are to include creating a new governmental entity responsible for writing and passing laws.

Rather than achieving its purpose, the general’s statements only served to intensify the protests. Citizens against the coup spread out within both the capital of Khartoum and its sister city of Omdurman. They blocked streets to keep the security forces out, even as those forces tried to de-escalate matters by using tear gas this time rather than guns to get people to leave.

“The people are stronger, stronger,” the protesters chanted back at them in defiance. “Retreat is not an option!”

As the tear gas appeared to be failing to stop the protests, the security forces apparently once again returned to firing into the protesters.

Protests are reportedly intensifying close to the military headquarters where the ruling junta is situated.

The coup has been greeted with condemnation from the United Nations, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The return to instability in a country which under al-Bashir was ravaged and ransacked by its leadership is considered a threat once again to peace extending well beyond the borders of Sudan.

Josep Borrell, foreign affairs head for the EU, said the European bloc had “utmost concern” about what had happened.

Speaking for the Biden-Harris administration, Jerry Feltman, U.S. special envoy for the Horn of Africa, said the White House was “deeply alarmed at reports of a military takeover of the transitional government.”

Soon after Feltman’s remarks, Karine Jean-Pierre, a spokeswoman for Joe Biden, issued a more explicit message about the seizure of the government.

“We reject the actions by the military and call for the immediate release of the prime minister and others who have been placed under house arrest,” she said in a meeting with reporters.

The U.S. has also responded to the military coup by suspending the $700 million it was planning to send to Sudan. It was at least in part intended to support the transition to a full democratic state.

An open election for the new government was also originally intended to happen in 2023. Even though the new military in its statement says that will still happen, most experts on the situation say the current situation is far too volatile to be certain of what will happen.

Meanwhile the largest party in the country, Umma, said there was little choice but to take the streets and continue protests.

The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), the largest of the nation’s pro-democratic political groups, also made a strong call to the people to rise up to reject the military takeover.

“We urge the masses to go out on the streets and occupy them, close all roads with barricades, stage a general labor strike, and not to cooperate with the putschists and use civil disobedience to confront them,” the SPA said in a social media post yesterday.

According to a new study conducted by the University of Southern California, rapid filling of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam along the Blue Nile River could reduce water supplies to downstream Egypt by more than one-third. The situation, if not addressed will cause unemployment rates to reach from 14 to 25% and will cause agricultural sector losses of up to 51 billion dollars.

“Our study forecasts dire water supply impacts downstream, causing what would be the largest water stress dispute in modern human history,” said Essam Heggy, a research scientist at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and lead author of the study. “Averaging losses from all of the announced filling scenarios, these water shortages could nearly double Egypt’s present water supply deficit and will have dire consequences for Egypt’s economy, employment, migration and food supply.”

Despite the risks, the study offers policy solutions for sustainability that could potentially minimize the downstream impacts and reduce tensions in the Nile River region. For example, the impacts could be partially offset by adjusting operations at the Aswan Dam downstream in southern Egypt, pumping more groundwater, cultivating different kinds of crops and improving irrigation systems.

So far, despite international negotiations, there’s been little progress in the decade-long dispute.

The crux of the controversy is Ethiopia’s $5 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam nearing completion at the Nile headwaters. Now in the second phase of filling, it will be the largest hydropower project in Africa and would create a reservoir containing 74 billion cubic meters of water — more than twice the operational capacity of Lake Mead on the Colorado River.

It’s so vast that it will take years to fill, and depending on how long it takes, the water diversions could have devastating impacts downstream. Egypt and Sudan have water rights to the Nile, while Ethiopia was not allocated a quantifiable share. But as water and energy demand grows in the Nile River basin, Ethiopia is asserting its needs for hydropower and irrigated agriculture to promote development.

Some 280 million people in 11 countries in the basin depend on the waterway — a primary source of irrigation for more than 5,000 years. Egypt relies on the Nile for more than 90% of its water. The region’s population could increase by 25% in 30 years, increasing demand at a time when Egypt would expect less water from the Nile. Water rights along the Nile have been in dispute since 1959; today, the conflict threatens to escalate into a war.

The USC study examined various dam filling scenarios and water shortage impacts for Egypt. Based on the short-term filling strategies of 3 to 5 years, presently favored by Ethiopia, the water deficit downstream in Egypt could almost double; 83% of the additional water loss would be due to dam restraining flow and evaporation and 17% lost due to seepage into rocks and sand.

The study helps fill a gap in the dispute by reducing ambiguities about how dam filling scenarios would impact the water budget deficit in Egypt, as well as offering a feasibility index to the different potential solutions. As global warming and aridification accelerates, it underscores the need for more water research in arid lands, which is the core mission of the Arid Climates and Water Research Center at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

The study comes amidst a 10-year dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia over water supply on the Nile River. The parties seek an international solution, yet talks led by the U.S. State Department — and joined by the European Union and the United Nations — have resulted in little agreement after four years.

Meanwhile, tensions run high as negotiators try to avert armed conflict. Egypt has vowed not to allow the dam to impede its water supply, and it held joint military maneuvers with Sudan in May. Sudan has since petitioned the United Nations Security Council to hold an emergency session as soon as possible.

The dispute is emblematic of wider disputes over water scarcity as climate change affects developing countries experiencing rapid growth. Disputes along the Mekong, Zambezi and Euphrates-Tigris rivers, among others, show the potential for political instability and conflict.