Sierra Leone hosted the 2026 ECOWAS Mid-Year Summit’s statutory meetings, beginning with the 39th Administration and Finance Committee session, chaired by President Julius Maada Bio. Delegates reviewed the bloc’s budget, institutional performance, and preparations for a leadership transition, with recommendations advancing to the Council of Ministers. The meetings, running through July 19, also addressed peace and security and come as ECOWAS adjusts its finances following the exit of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, which reduced its community levy revenue base.
In commemorating Nelson Mandela International Day on July 18, President Cyril Ramaphosa called on South Africans to dedicate 67 minutes to community service — honouring Mandela’s 67 years of public life. He urged citizens to feed the hungry, comfort the lonely, and support the elderly, framing these acts as part of a broader push against poverty and inequality rather than symbolic gestures. Ramaphosa also announced his readiness to join the Mandela Day Walk and Run in Johannesburg, continuing his weekly newsletter appeal for sustained civic action alongside institutional reform.
Former Senegalese President Macky Sall returned to Dakar for the first time since leaving office in 2024, seeking his government’s backing for his bid to become UN secretary-general. He met successor Bassirou Diomaye Faye before departing. Sall remains polarising after his failed attempt to postpone the 2024 election sparked deadly protests that killed over 67 people. Rights groups and victims’ families criticised the visit, arguing his record should disqualify him. The African Union has not formally endorsed his candidature, with 20 member states objecting or abstaining.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu launched the HOPE-EDU programme, a $552 million basic education initiative co-financed by the World Bank and Global Partnership for Education. The programme aims to benefit roughly 29 million children, train over 500,000 teachers, and support 65,000 public schools and 10,000 non-formal learning centres nationwide. It’s one of five coordinated national initiatives targeting poverty reduction and human capital development. Tinubu, seeking re-election in the upcoming elections in 2027, has pursued major economic reforms since 2023, including scrapping fuel and electricity subsidies.
Amazon announced it will launch its satellite internet service, Amazon Leo, in South Africa in 2027, partnering with local provider Herotel — its first such deal on the continent. The move comes as Elon Musk’s Starlink remains blocked from operating there, with Musk accusing South Africa of racial discrimination over Black-ownership rules he has refused to follow. Amazon says it will comply with those regulations. Amazon Leo (formerly Project Kuiper) already has deals in countries like Thailand, Australia and Brazil, though it trails far behind Starlink’s over 160-country footprint and 10,000-plus satellites, compared to Amazon’s roughly 390.
Confirmed Ebola cases in Congo have reached 2,011, including 754 deaths, making it the fastest-growing outbreak on record, according to government data. Health workers at Bunia General Hospital went on strike over unpaid wages, marking the latest walkout amid the crisis. The WHO says over 80% of new cases stem from untraceable transmission chains, and no vaccine exists yet for the rare Bundibugyo strain involved. Response efforts face a funding gap, regional conflict, and community mistrust, though a study of potential treatments has begun in Ituri province.
Uganda released its final Ebola patient, a Congolese national, from Mulago National Referral Hospital on July 16, triggering the WHO-mandated 42-day observation period before the outbreak can be declared over. Uganda recorded 20 confirmed cases and two deaths, mostly imported from the neighbouring DRC outbreak. Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi cited a low 10% case fatality rate as evidence of early treatment success. Neighbouring Congo’s outbreak remains severe, with over 2,000 cases and 754 deaths reported as of mid-July.
Ghana and Nigeria have agreed to push for Afrophobia to be added to the African Union’s next summit agenda, following talks between their foreign ministers on the sidelines of the ECOWAS Mid-Year Summit in Freetown. The ministers condemned recent attacks on African nationals in South Africa, calling them a threat to Pan-Africanism and free movement under the African Continental Free Trade Area. They called for stronger AU mechanisms, including monitoring and early-warning systems, while stressing that criminals among migrants should face lawful justice rather than mob violence.
Guy Scott, who briefly served as Zambia’s acting president in 2014-15, died at his farm near Lusaka this week. His three-month tenure after President Michael Sata’s death made him Africa’s first white head of state since apartheid-era South Africa’s F.W. de Klerk. Scott, of Scottish and English descent, was Zambia’s vice president from 2011 to 2014 and was constitutionally barred from running for president himself since neither parent was Zambian-born. President Hakainde Hichilema has granted him a state funeral, though a date hasn’t been set.
