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Two years into Sudan’s civil war, the fighting has entered a new phase. 

Explosions ripped through oil depots and warehouses storing fuel in Port Sudan on the Red Sea this week, and the airport and main harbor came under attack. The Coral Port Sudan Hotel, frequented by foreigners and near army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s home, was also targeted. 

Destroyed military vehicles in front of a hospital in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital.  Photographer: AFP/Getty Images

The army blamed its rival, the Rapid Support Forces, of using drones to strike at targets in the city — although the paramilitary group hasn’t claimed responsibility. No casualties have been reported so far. 

The raids are the latest upheaval on the Red Sea, where Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been attacking international shipping to pile pressure on Israel as it fights Hamas in Gaza.

Port Sudan is of major strategic importance.

Senior government officials, civil servants and military officers relocated there from the capital, Khartoum, after the war erupted, and it serves as the country’ main conduit for trade. Hundreds of United Nations staff and foreign diplomats are based in the city, which had previously been spared from the fighting. 

Backed by Iran and Russia, Sudan’s army appeared to have been gaining the upper hand, retaking control of Khartoum in recent weeks, but the assault on its de-facto capital suggests the RSF isn’t a spent force.

The group controls most of western Darfur, where the civilian population is subjected to wanton violence and famine is widespread. 

Efforts led by Saudi Arabia and the US to broker an end to the hostilities, which have claimed the lives of at least 150,000 people and uprooted millions more, have been fruitless.

The likelihood of either side securing a swift victory also appears slim — the opening up of a new fighting arena is set to curb the army’s ability to resupply its troops and retake territory.

That means even more misery for the North African nation’s long-suffering people. — Simon Marks

Key stories and opinion:
Drone Strikes Rock Sudan’s Key Port, Intensifying Civil War 
UN Top Court Throws Out Sudan’s Genocide Case Targeting UAE 
Sudan Army Retakes Capital From Rebels in Major Turn for War 
A Sudanese Militia Controls a Key Ingredient in Coke and Pepsi 
Sudan Ravaged by a Civil War the World Has Overlooked: QuickTake

Kenya’s economy grew at its slowest pace last year since the coronavirus pandemic as deadly protests and floods curbed output. Gross domestic product expanded 4.7%, according to the national statistics agency. Demonstrations erupted after the government tried to impose new taxes and the ensuing violence claimed at least 60 lives. Meanwhile, several hundred people died and nearly 300,000 were displaced in floods that destroyed crops and livestock.

A barricade erected during a demonstration in Nairobi in August. Photographer: Kang-Chun Cheng/Bloomberg

Nigeria’s central bank incurred a $9 billion loss last year when it settled overdue derivatives contracts to try and reduce foreign-currency liabilities and restore investor confidence. The loss more than doubled from 2023. Nigeria has removed capital controls and let the naira trade more freely since President Bola Tinubu took office in 2023 — measures aimed at steadying the state’s finances, luring capital inflows and ending acute dollar shortages.

South Africa’s state power utility expects improved plant reliability to reduce the risk of outages when usage increases this winter. Eskom has made “a continuous improvement from where we started off,” Chief Executive Officer Dan Marokane said in an interview. South Africans were subjected to years of rolling blackouts, known locally as loadshedding, because Eskom couldn’t meet demand for electricity. Blackouts were halted for 10 months as maintenance improved and new generation capacity came online, but have returned intermittently this year.

Eskom’s Kusile power plant.  Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg

The Democratic Republic of Congo will allow Elon Musk’s Starlink to operate in the country amid talks with the US about a minerals-for-security partnership. Starlink DRC will begin providing services to the nation of 115 million people in coming days, the Congolese Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority said. The central African nation, which is fighting a Rwanda-backed rebel insurgency, had previously blocked the firm from doing business in its territory.

Gabon will hold parliamentary elections in late September, President Brice Oligui Nguema said in his inaugural address on Saturday that marked the return to constitutional order following a 2023 coup. Nguema, an army general, first came to power after toppling Ali Bongo, who had ruled the OPEC member since 2009. Gabon’s top court last month confirmed Nguema as the winner of April presidential elections with 95% of the vote. He has appointed two deputies to help him run the country. 

Brice Oligui Nguema at his swearing-in ceremony in Libreville. Photographer: Nao Mukadi/AFP/Getty Images

Gold Fields will buy its Australian joint-venture partner Gold Road Resources in a transaction valued at $2.4 billion. The deal will consolidate the Johannesburg-based company’s 50% ownership of the Gruyere mine it operates in Western Australia, a project that produced 287,000 ounces of gold last year. Bullion’s record-breaking rally over the past three years has renewed interest in deal-making across the sector after years of overspending and operational setbacks curbed appetite for assets. 

Thank you for your responses to our weekly Next Africa Quiz and congratulations to Altan Ari, who was first to identify Rwanda as the African nation that signed a partnership with Spanish football club Atletico Madrid to promote tourism. 

Zambia and Zimbabwe are trying to secure funding for the $5 billion Batoka Gorge hydropower project, reviving a controversial plan to potentially source water from Democratic Republic of Congo. The Zambezi River Authority — a joint venture between the southern African nations — formed a team to lure investors in the proposed 2,400-megawatt facility near Victoria Falls. Work on the Batoka Gorge project was scheduled to start in 2020, but was delayed by Covid-19 and difficulties in securing financing.

Thanks for reading. We’ll be back in your inbox with the next edition on Friday. Send any feedback to mcohen21@bloomberg.net