Africa is at the centre of the world's most urgent geopolitical battles in 2026, and mainstream media keeps getting the story wrong. This week on African News Review, Adesoji Iginla is joined, as usual, by Comrade Milton Allimadi and Aya Fubara Eneli Esq., as we go deep into FOUR major stories reshaping the continent, reframing each from an Afrocentric point of view.

🔴 STORY 1 — SUDAN'S WAR ENTERS YEAR FOUR
Sudan's civil war between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed 150,000 people and displaced 13 million. But the real story the Financial Times missed? The gold economy fuelling the RSF, the UAE's documented role, why Berlin — not Addis Ababa — keeps hosting peace conferences, and what Kwame Nkrumah warned us about, exactly this kind of external interference.

🟡 STORY 2 — KEMI SEBA ARRESTED IN SOUTH AFRICA
Pan-Africanist activist Kemi Seba was arrested in a Pretoria shopping centre, wanted in Benin for "inciting rebellion" after a failed December coup. But is this about justice — or about silencing one of francophone Africa's loudest anti-colonial voices? We examine Françafrique, the CFA franc, and why calling someone a "Russian propagandist" has become the West's favourite way to dismiss African political agency.

🟠 STORY 3 — ZAMBIA'S HIV TREATMENT FOR COPPER DEAL
Over 1.3 million Zambians living with HIV are being used as leverage. The Trump administration reportedly wants Zambia's copper and cobalt — and is threatening to cut PEPFAR funding to get it. We connect PEPFAR's untold history, the 25-year biological data demand, the Tuskegee legacy, and Walter Rodney's framework to what is happening right now.

🟢 STORY 4 — SOUTH AFRICA SENDS AN APARTHEID-ERA MINISTER TO WASHINGTON
President Ramaphosa has appointed Roelf Meyer — a white Afrikaner who served in the last apartheid government — as South Africa's new ambassador to Trump's America. Is this diplomatic genius or the exhaustion of Mandela's reconciliation politics?

Takeaways

*African sovereignty and leadership
*Sudan conflict and regional implications
*South Africa's political landscape and diplomacy
*External influence and resource control in Africa
*Solutions for African unity and independence

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to African News Review
01:02 Tragedy in the Community: The Fairfax Case
06:28 Mental Health and Violence Against Women
12:25 The Sudan Conflict: Regional Implications
16:40 Geopolitical Dynamics in Sudan
25:54 South Africa's Political Landscape: A Controversial Appointment
33:33 Economic Liberation vs. Status Quo
35:24 Political Dynamics in South Africa
37:34 Kemi Sabah: Arrest and Implications
43:56 Zambia's Dilemma: Health Aid vs. Resource Extraction

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Africa is not a story of victims. It is a story of resistance, resilience and reclamation. That is the story we tell here — every single week.

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In this episode of African News Review, Adesoji Iginla is joined by Comrade Milton Allimadi and Aya Fubara Eneli Esq to break down four major stories reshaping Africa's relationship with the world in 2026 and exposing the single thread connecting all of them: who controls African wealth, African land, and African sovereignty.

🔴 STORY 1 — REPARATIONS VS. REFORM UK
Reform UK has threatened to ban visas for nations demanding reparations from Britain for slavery. Commonwealth leaders are pushing back. We ask: Is this a policy — or a punishment? And what does the UK's own slave Compensation history reveal who really owes whom?

🟡 STORY 2 — BURKINA FASO: "FORGET DEMOCRACY"
Ibrahim Traore has dissolved all political parties and told the world democracy is "not for us." We go beyond the headline to ask the harder question: when Western-backed democracy failed to protect Burkinabé civilians from jihadist violence, what alternative did the world offer? And what does the tripling of civilian deaths under Traore's rule tell us about the cost of this experiment?

🟢 STORY 3 — KENYA'S $62 BILLION RARE EARTH BID
Kenya has opened competitive bidding for the Mrima Hill rare earths deposit — one of the most valuable mineral sites in Africa. The US, China, and Australia are circling. Kenya says it wants in-country processing. We examine whether "beneficiation" is enforceable — or just another promise — and ask why nobody is talking about the Digo community whose sacred forest sits on the deposit.

🔵 STORY 4 — THE EU WANTS BACK INTO THE SAHEL
After being expelled from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger alongside France, the EU is rebranding its Africa strategy — calling itself a "non-transactional partner" that doesn't abuse resources. We interrogate that claim against the EU's own Economic Partnership Agreements, CFA franc history, and the revelation that France is internally blocking EU Sahel funding to protect its own comeback chances.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to African News Review
01:14 Local News and Community Engagement
03:45 Recognition and Responsibility in Activism
04:24 International Relations and Peace Negotiations
07:55 The Role of African Leaders in Global Politics
09:14 Uganda's Political Landscape and Leadership
10:59 Reparations and Historical Accountability
11:30 The Impact of Colonialism on Democracy
21:07 Burkina Faso's Shift Away from Democracy
25:44 Defining Democracy in the African Context
33:08 Strategic Responses to Jihadist Threats
33:37 Historical Context of African Governance
34:16 Colonial Legacies and Modern Governance Challenges
36:05 Kenya's Rare Earth Resource Race
38:07 Environmental and Economic Considerations in Mining
40:54 The Scramble for Africa: A Modern Perspective
47:12 Geopolitical Dynamics in the Sahel Region
50:57 Security and Sovereignty in Africa
55:34 Reimagining African Futures Through Unity
57:33 The Importance of Sovereignty and Leverage

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Support the show

Africa is not a story of victims. It is a story of resistance, resilience and reclamation. That is the story we tell here — every single week.

African News Review Subscribe. Share. Stay informed. Stay sovereign.

In the week's episode of African News Review, Adesoji Iginla is again joined by Milton Allimadi and Aya Fubara Eneli Esq. as they break down the stories behind the week's headlines related to Africa and expose what the mainstream media is missing, distorting, or deliberately ignoring.

🔴 UGANDA | Bobi Wine forced into exile after Museveni's fraudulent seventh election victory. Over 2,000 arrested. His wife was hospitalised at gunpoint. His bodyguard was tortured. We ask: who does Western democracy promotion actually serve?

🟡 FRANCE | Bally Bagayoko — the first Black mayor of a major French city, son of Malian immigrants — is compared to a monkey on national television within days of his election. We connect the dots between his attacker's media owner Vincent Bolloré, and his empire of African port concessions.

🟢 KENYA | Queen ants worth $220 each are being smuggled out of the Rift Valley by networks linking Belgium, Vietnam, and China. And who is profiting while Kenya's ecosystems collapse?

🔵 SOUTH AFRICA | A town called Graaff-Reinet is being renamed Robert Sobukwe — after the Pan Africanist icon born and buried there. Over 80% of residents oppose it.

Takeaways

*The significance of local elections and civic engagement in shaping community life, particularly in North America
*The reckless political rhetoric of global leaders like Trump and its historical parallels with Cyrus the Great's human rights legislations
*The ecological and economic ramifications of the illegal ant trade in Kenya, emphasising the ecosystem engineering roles of ants
*Racial dynamics and colonial legacies in France, especially around the new mayor of Saint-Denis and the symbolism of renaming towns
*The significance of honouring anti-apartheid heroes like Robert Sobukwe through local renaming initiatives as a form of decolonisation
*The ongoing political repression in Uganda, highlighting Bobby Wine’s exile, resistance, and the role of military and Western influence
*Reflection on international complicity, resource exploitation, and the cultural resilience amid ongoing struggles

Timestamps:
(00:00) Introduction and Easter greetings
(02:00) Local elections and voter turnout concerns
(03:30) Trump’s provocative remarks and historical parallels with Cyrus the Great’s human rights efforts
(06:00) Ecological impact of the illegal queen ant trade in Kenya
(12:00) The racialised discourse around the renaming of South African towns and colonial legacies
(24:00) France’s denial of racism and the symbolism of honours for Sobukwe
(28:00) The political awakening reflected in the election of African-derived leaders across European cities
(34:00) Exile and resistance of Ugandan opposition leader Bobby Wine
(41:00) Reflection on the continuing struggle and the significance of black leadership
(50:00) The importance of reclaiming African identity through place names and cultural sovereignty
(60:00) The reaction to Uganda’s political repression, exile of Bobby Wine, and possibilities of resistance
(66:00) Documentary recommendations and stories of resilience
(73:00) Critical perspectives on African leadership, colonial legacies, and the importance of conscious activism
(74:00) The ecological and geopolitical ripple effects of war, resource control, and food security
(76:00) The US’s double standards in foreign policy and international law
(77:00) The call for proactive self-defence

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Africa is not a story of victims. It is a story of resistance, resilience and reclamation. That is the story we tell here — every single week.

African News Review Subscribe. Share. Stay informed. Stay sovereign.