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By Ken Stibler, Noah Berman and Nojan Rostami. Executive editor: Dan Keeler

Africa

Demands intensify for Rwanda to pull soldiers out of DRC

International pressure is growing on Rwanda to pull its troops out of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where they are supporting M23 rebels in their escalating conflict with government forces, the BBC reports. Members of the European Parliament this week accused Rwanda of committing war crimes in DRC and demanded the bloc impose economic sanctions, including suspending an agreement to buy minerals.

Despite the fact that the DRC government forces and the M23 had agreed to a ceasefire, intense fighting has continued and the rebels have said they plan to push on toward the country’s capital Kinshasa. According to the Guardian, Rwanda’s forces, which a UN report last year said effectively control M23 troops in some areas, have been suffering heavy casualties, although Rwanda continues to deny its soldiers are active in DRC.  

• DRC war fallout raises risks for heavily indebted Rwanda (Bloomberg)

Evariste Ndayishimiye, the president of Burundi, which borders both DRC and Rwanda and has deployed troops to support DRC government forces, has warned that the conflict could spark a regional war. This week he visited a border town to reassure locals that Burundi would protect them if attacked.

USAID shakeup threatens to upend Ghana’s finances

Ghana is facing a $156m hole in its budget if the Trump administration goes ahead with freezing foreign aid, Business Insider reports. The country’s president, John Dramani Mahama, this week told finance minister Cassiel Ato Forson to find ways to bridge the gap, which will affect a broad range of sectors across the country.

Around half the money is earmarked for healthcare, and according to GhanaWeb, a leaked letter addressed to the director-general of Ghana’s health service indicated that the halt in the operation of USAID has already disrupted medical supplies in some parts of the country.

• Ghana’s ex-finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, declared a fugitive (BBC) 

Of the remaining US funding, the majority is spent on education, agriculture, tackling climate change and supporting the national budget.

Mahama warned the US this week that the funding cuts will prompt countries such as Ghana to seek support from other global players—a clear reference to Russia and China, which are already actively courting African leaders with financial and military support. “As bridges are burning, new bridges are being formed,” he reportedly told attendees at a conference in Munich. 

Asia

Vietnam ready to talk tariffs with US

Vietnam wants to discuss tariffs with the US, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday. The announcement came days after the US imposed tariffs on steel imports that will hit Vietnam, which recorded a $123 billion surplus with the US last year.

The US could soon also target Vietnam with reciprocal tariffs, since it imposes an average levy of around 9.4% on imports, according to the World Trade Organization. A White House official said that the US will look at countries with the largest trade surpluses first, Reuters reports.

Exports to the US have enhanced Vietnam’s economic growth in recent years, so further duties could be a major drag on the country’s economy. To head those off, the Southeast Asian country offered on Friday to buy more US agricultural products, which made up a quarter of American exports last year.

Monkey blamed for nationwide blackout in Sri Lanka

When power went out across Sri Lanka this week, the country’s energy minister blamed an unlikely culprit: a primate. “A monkey has come in contact with our grid transformer, causing an imbalance in the system,” Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody said.

The incident, which caused a national blackout, highlighted the vulnerability of the island nation’s power grid as it moves toward renewable sources of energy. 

Electricity outages have long been a problem in Sri Lanka, but the country has made some recent attempts to upgrade its grid. In November it received a $200 million loan from the Asian Development Bank to improve its power infrastructure and integrate renewables. Last May, the country set a goal to generate 70% of its energy from renewables by 2030.

Turkey looks to Asia for trade boost

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan this week continued a push to develop deeper trading relationships in Asia, with a three-nation tour in the region, Daily Sabah reports. In Malaysia on Monday, Erdoğan and the country’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim oversaw a signing ceremony for 11 deals that will increase cooperation on energy, defense and trade, Anadolu reports. One of the deals is a contract to sell Turkish coast guard boats to Malaysia.

In Indonesia two days later, Turkey signed 13 agreements including a pledge to quadruple trade to some $10 billion, according to a joint statement by Erdoğan and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. Turkish construction companies also agreed to help build three million homes in the new Indonesian capital of Nusantara.

Erdoğan ended his trip in Pakistan, where the two sides signed 24 documents, Voice of America reports. They agreed to boost trade from $1.5 billion to $5 billion, and Pakistan agreed to create a special economic zone for Turkish companies to produce goods in the country.

Middle East

Trump attack on USAID sends ripples through Middle East

Efforts by the Trump Administration to dismantle USAID—and an executive order imposing a 90-day freeze on US foreign aid disbursements—threaten to heighten instability in the Middle East, NBC reports. Aid disbursements to Gaza have been halted, obstructing the opportunity afforded by the recent ceasefire with Israel to rebuild critical humanitarian infrastructure and reestablish stability.

The $7.6 billion earmarked by the US last year for the Middle East has been frozen, although $5.28 billion in security assistance for Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon via the Pentagon has since been granted an exemption from the executive order.

Jordan is especially vulnerable, according to ratings firm Fitch, because the US has committed to providing it with $1.2 billion a year in security and economic assistance for seven years.

Oman and UK to diversify economic ties

Oman has enlisted its biggest foreign investor, the UK, to help it diversify its economy, Zawya reports. In an interview, Michael Eyley, Director of Trade and Investment at the British Embassy in Muscat, said that the UK’s investments—which topped $35 billion in 2024—are meant to grow the relationship beyond legacy oil and gas investments, prioritizing collaboration on Oman’s Vision 2040 economic diversification program.

• Iran and Oman military chiefs meet in Tehran for defense talks (Bloomberg) 

The growing FDI trend reflects Oman’s push to attract sizable multinational companies and investors. To help encourage that, this week the sultanate moved to raise foreign ownership caps on the Muscat Stock Exchange to increase liquidity and broaden the range of sectors available for investors.

In line with Vision 2040 goals, Muscat is looking to begin producing and exporting liquid hydrogen, partnering with EU countries and companies to create a “green energy corridor” linking the Gulf to Europe backed by foreign investors.

Syrian foreign minister joins Paris summit on political transition

The foreign minister in Syria’s transitional government joined Arab and Western counterparts this week at a summit in Paris discussing the country’s political transition, Al Jazeera reports. Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani and other participants also discussed sanctions relief to help the nation recover following the collapse of the Assad regime last December.

According to the French foreign ministry, participants agreed to support a Syrian-led transition process free of foreign interference, preserving Syria’s territorial integrity, increasing multilateral humanitarian efforts, rebuilding domestic security institutions, and destroying chemical weapons and captagon stockpiles and production facilities.

• Russia’s Putin and Syria’s Sharaa hold first call since Assad fall (Al Monitor)

The statement did not include an explicit pledge to remove sanctions, but merely “highlighted the need to work towards the lifting, as soon as possible, of the economic sanctions.”

Europe

Moscow’s growing influence prompts uptick in protests 

A wave of sustained protests is growing across Eastern Europe, with significant demonstrations occurring simultaneously in Georgia, Slovakia and Serbia, Radio Free Europe reports. While the triggers vary—from disputed elections in Georgia to a fatal infrastructure collapse in Serbia and concerns over pro-Russian policies in Slovakia—the movements share core concerns about governmental drift toward Moscow’s sphere of influence.

The movements also share a unique durability and broad social composition, although their approaches to organization vary significantly. Georgia’s protests feature strong opposition party involvement, while Serbia’s student-led demonstrators explicitly distance themselves from political parties and even EU symbols.

Slovakia’s “Peace for Ukraine“ initiative represents a middle ground, combining civic leadership with opposition participation.

The governmental responses have followed similar patterns across all three nations, with authorities attempting to discredit protesters by alleging foreign interference and coup attempts. The protests have achieved varying degrees of success—with Serbian and Slovak leaders not ruling out new elections while Georgia’s government remains resistant to changing its course.

Latin America

Tight first round pushes Ecuador’s presidential election to runoff

Ecuador’s incumbent President Daniel Noboa secured a razor-thin lead of 44.31% over opposition challenger Luisa González’s 43.83% in the first round of the country’s presidential election last weekend, the FT reports. The unexpectedly close margin sets the stage for a tight April runoff, with both candidates courting support from smaller parties and undecided voters. 

The close result highlights deep divisions across Ecuador, with Noboa dominating the Andean provinces while González claimed victory in coastal and Amazonian regions. The political fragmentation extends to the National Assembly, where Noboa’s ADN party and González’s Revolución Ciudadana have 66 and 64 seats respectively, falling short of the 76-vote majority needed to advance legislation independently. This distribution ensures that the next president will face significant legislative hurdles similar to those with which neighboring Colombia has been wrestling. 

Analysts at consultancy FrontierView currently favor Noboa with a 60% chance of victory, predicting he could benefit from endorsements from smaller right-wing candidates and the potential abstention of third-place finisher Leonidas Iza. However, González retains a viable path to victory if she can successfully unite the fractured left, including securing support from Iza’s indigenous movement.

Colombian government shaken by televised cabinet fight

A wave of high-profile resignations has rocked Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s administration following a contentious televised cabinet meeting that exposed deep rifts within the government, Foreign Policy reports. Environment minister Susana Muhamad led the exodus, followed by the labor and interior ministers, after they publicly opposed the appointment of Armando Benedetti as chief of staff and the promotion of Laura Sarabia to foreign minister, both of whom were previously implicated in the “nannygate“ scandal.

The six-hour cabinet meeting, broadcast live as part of Petro’s transparency initiative, devolved into a heated confrontation over the appointments, with Petro defending Benedetti’s “necessary craziness” while dismissing the internal strife as political positioning ahead of next year’s election. The crisis has been exacerbated by Petro’s controversial statements during the meeting, including remarks likening cocaine to whisky and suggesting its potential legalization.

• Amid tariff crossfire, China set to widen trade with Colombia (Nikkei)

The infighting comes at a bad time for the government as it grapples with a rapidly growing humanitarian crisis in the northeast, where a conflict between armed rebel groups has displaced an estimated 80,000 people in the past month. The political upheaval is also likely to further weaken Petro’s reform agenda and his government’s ability to address pressing national challenges.

What We’re Reading

Senegal’s bonds slump after court confirms government misreported debt levels (VoA)

Mauritania-Senegal LNG project set to start exports this quarter (Rigzone)

Huge data price hike sparks anger in Nigeria (BBC)

Central African Republic’s memecoin crashes after launch (FT)

Sudan says it has agreed deal for Russian naval base (FT)

Islamic State regroups in Somalia, but with global ambitions (Washington Post)

Ethiopian Airlines to launch a passenger service to Hyderabad (Times Aerospace)

Kenya Power invests KSh 1Bn to boost power supply in western Kenya (Energy News Africa)

Angola ramps up vaccination campaign as cholera outbreak spreads (All Africa)

Africa Energy Bank to launch in first quarter (Reuters)

‘The Opec of nickel’: Indonesia’s control of a critical metal (FT)

Indonesia makes $1bn health care bet to keep rich patients at home (Nikkei)

Indonesia’s $19bn austerity drive targets travel and air conditioning (FT)

Malaysia partners with Google to bring AI to 445,000 civil servants (Nikkei)

Cook Islands’ ‘strategic’ deal with China angers New Zealand (FT)

Saudi Arabia confirms no alcohol will be served at the 2034 World Cup (BBC)

Iran sanctions threaten to scupper Iraq-Turkmenistan gas deal (AGBI)

Public anger rises as Iran’s economy worsens (Radio Free Europe)

US to rescind sanctions waivers for Iran-India Chabahar Port (The Loadstar)

Saudi Arabia launches ferocious state media attack on Israel’s Netanyahu (FT)

Turkey’s Erdogan urges Israel to bear full cost of rebuilding Gaza (Nikkei)

Breakaway Moldovan region says it has agreed gas supplies backed by Russian loan (Reuters)

Hungary’s government derides corruption survey showing country in 82nd spot (BalkanInsight)

Trump demands $500B in rare earths from Ukraine for continued support (Politico)

Bolivia’s lithium company says deal with Chinese partners is risk-free (Mercopress)

Fitch downgrades Bolivia to CCC (Fitch) 

Despite strong green energy, Uruguay opens up to oil exploration (Mercopress)

Chile faces continuing fiscal challenges (Fitch Ratings)

Argentines want US trade deal despite competition, tariff fears (Buenos Aires Times)

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