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Liberian leader George Weah hailed for his sportsmanship after accepting defeat

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Culled from the BBC – Liberian President George Weah has been hailed for his sportsmanship for conceding to his rival in the presidential race – from across the political divide and the region.

“This is a time for graciousness in defeat, a time to place our country above party, and patriotism above personal interest,” the former football star, who has served as Liberia’s president since 2018, said.

The 57-year-old’s phone call to congratulate Joseph Boakai on Friday night has saved the country, which has a history of brutal civil conflict, from a weekend of tension.

“These are great times in Liberia and in Africa because such action on the part of a sitting president is very, very, very rare,” Liberian human rights advocate Hassan Bility told the BBC.

He is the director of the Global Justice and Research Project (GJRP), which has been documenting evidence of war crimes committed during two civil wars, in which an estimated 250,000 died.

For him, Mr Weah’s concession in the second round – three days before the official results are due to be announced – was not only the action of a great sportsman but “a high mark of statesmanship and peace”.

The former Fifa World Player of the Year has 49.11% of the vote so far from the results of 99.58% of polling stations.

Mr Weah’s special aide, Sekou Kalasco Jomanday, said his move did not come as a surprise.

“That is the kind of person he is, he’s a man of peace – he’s a man who believes the will of the people should always be respected and he will continue to do that,” he told the BBC.

“The president doesn’t believe that one person should lose their life because of any political struggle or one man’s quest to be president by all costs.”

Liberian political analyst Abdullah Kiatamba said Mr Weah had looked at the figures and realised his pathway to victory was “almost impossible”.

“I think this is a victory for Liberian democracy… for an incumbent to concede is a testament to the maturity of our democracy,” he told the BBC.

The elections are the first since the exit of UN peacekeepers who were deployed after the official end of the civil wars in 2003.

Samora Wolokollie, the country’s deputy finance minister, told the BBC the president had been determined to ensure the polls were conducted with the “utmost integrity”.

“He will forever be remembered for this patriotic move,” he said.

The regional bloc Ecowas has also come out with a gushing statement of thanks to Mr Weah.

“Your gracious acceptance of the results of the elections is indicative of your statesmanship and commitment to the consolidation of peace and security in Liberia,” said Omar Alieu Touray, president of the Ecowas Commission, who also commended the free, fair and autonomously organised poll.

Ecowas has been at the forefront of efforts to bring stability to Liberia – at one stage sending up to 12,000 soldiers to the country in the 1990s, with Nigeria troops forming the backbone of a peacekeeping force known as Ecomog.

George Weah’s name has been trending on social media across much of Africa, including in Nigeria where people have been saying that, while his concession is a positive move, it is not unique.

“People are saying that the ‘Jonathan effect’ is catching on – former president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, wanted to get another term in 2015, was defeated and he called up then-opposition leader Muhammadu Buhari to congratulate him,” Mannir Dan Ali, former editor-in-chief of Nigeria’s Daily Trust newspaper, told the BBC.

“It was unprecedented because usually presidents sitting tight will never concede – that is why George Weah has also shown a lot of grace by accepting the will of Liberians and congratulating his opponent.”

Dan Ali says he has noted a certain amount of pride in Nigeria that Liberia is following its example.

“Nigerians are like big brothers to Liberia – remember Nigerians shed their own blood to keep Liberia together, to help them get them out of the civil war. More than $4bn [£3.2bn] of Nigeria’s money was spent on Ecomog. Nigerians, who always like to claim to be the giants of Africa, will be happy to say that in this particular case they showed the way.”

Most analysts agree Mr Weah has shown a red card to those flouting democracy in West Africa, where there has been a recent upsurge in military coups and disputed elections.

“George Weah has set the stage for other countries to follow,” Loretta Pope Kai, chair of the National Civil Society Council of Liberia, told the BBC, adding that it showed “the power of the people mattered”.

Mr Bility agreed: “Liberia represents, in my opinion, a beacon of hope for Africa.”

Looking back at Mr Weah’s presidency, he said that the footballer-turned-politician should also be remembered for tolerance and some infrastructural development – his supporters nicknamed him “Bad Road Medicine” after he once said he was the medicine needed to treat bad roads.

“It’s amazing to see that there aren’t any political prisoners in jail, there aren’t journalists in jail, free speech was at its highest,” Mr Bility said.

Supporters of opposition Unity party (UP), of president-elect, Joseph Boakai, celebrate victory in Monrovia, Liberia - 18 November 2023

Officials results will be announced on Monday afternoon but, after President Weah’s concession, Joseph Boakai’s supporters are celebrating

Both Mr Weah and Mr Boakai attended crowded church services in the capital, Monrovia, on Sunday, where they addressed their supporters.

“We would not have been in church today if I had done what others wanted me to do,” said the president, who will step down in January.

“We cannot also blame ourselves for not getting victory, it is a learning curve.”

During his concession speech, he warned his successor that “the closeness of the results reveals a deep division within our country”.

“As we transition to a new administration, we must be vigilant to the dangers of division, and must work together to find common ground.”

Social media has been full of comments reflecting this split, with Liberians documenting his successes (like increasing doctors’ salaries and improving education) and his failures (corruption scandals and poor funding for football).

Indeed the fact that the national team has failed to reach any continental finals over the last five years prompted Cyrus Yeanay, an executive committee member of the Liberia Football Association, to post on Facebook: “George Weah, you were voted [out] for failing football too.”

Meanwhile, at a packed Baptist service, the 78-year-old president-elect told the congregation he was taking his endorsement seriously: “I know what the Liberian people need and deserve.”

His focus on the campaign trial has been on fighting corruption and boosting agricultural production.

But with such high expectations in a divided nation, Mr Bility has two pieces of advice for him: “One, maintain the peace; two, pursue justice.

“Because no matter what, no specific president is going to be able to satisfy the desires and needs of a 176-year-old under-developed country.”

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Trump’s sudden suspension of foreign aid puts millions of lives in Africa at risk

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  • The United States government funds HIV prevention, treatment and research programmes across the world but especially in sub-Saharan Africa.

  • US President Donald Trump issued an executive order on 20 January that halts foreign aid for 90 days.

  • The order, which is not clearly worded, has left in doubt the future of many life-saving HIV programmes in Africa.

The sudden decision by United States President Donald Trump to halt and review all foreign aid for 90 days could be devastating for HIV programmes in African countries. After Trump’s inauguration on 20 January, he signed numerous executive orders. One of these suspends aid to “foreign countries and implementing non-governmental organisations, international organisations, and contractors” pending review for whether it aligns with “American interests and … values”.

The order said, “no further [US] foreign assistance shall be disbursed in a manner that is not fully aligned with the foreign policy of the President of the United States”.

Foreign aid includes the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR. PEPFAR has saved millions of lives since it was launched by former president George W. Bush in 2003.

PEPFAR statistics show that at the end of 2024, it was providing life-saving antiretroviral treatment to nearly 21-million people across 55 countries, many of them in sub-Saharan Africa. PEPFAR is also delivering pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) — which stops people from contracting HIV — to about 2.5 million people. In 2024, PEPFAR provided HIV testing to about 84-million people. It funds HIV treatment and intervention in Uganda, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and many others.

South Africa has about 5.6-million people on antiretroviral treatment. The medicines themselves are paid for by the South African government, but PEPFAR funds some of the staff at some ARV programmes. It also funds much of the prevention and information effort, including ARV user clubs, medical circumcision and public messaging.

South Africa does leading research on HIV and TB. Much of this is funded by the US National Institutes of Health. It’s unclear what the future status of this funding is.

It’s also unclear what the status is of money that has been committed. For example, some programmes get monthly tranches based on contracts that have already been signed. At least one project manager we spoke to said he wasn’t sure if commitments for February onwards would be arriving, and US government representatives who he deals with are themselves unsure.

This uncertainty is due to this phrase in the executive order, “shall immediately pause new obligations and disbursements”. It’s unclear if already-committed disbursements are affected.

Professor Linda-Gail Bekker, an infectious disease scientist at the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at UCT, said that it’s unclear whether the PEPFAR funding will be reduced or stopped but that the outcome in African countries could be “disastrous”.

Bekker said that HIV treatment “doesn’t stand still” and that treatment, PrEP, and quality healthcare have to keep on getting to people.

Bekker also said that other countries in Africa are far more dependent on PEPFAR funding than South Africa. For example, Malawi, which has a minimal health budget.

“There is no doubt our own national governments need to step up. We know there needs to be more self-reliance,” she said, but added that the sudden stop of donor funding can be “disastrous”.

study from 2024 looking at the rate of mortality amongst South African adults who experienced interruption in antiretroviral treatment, shows that interrupting antiretroviral treatment leads to much greater risk of death.

Over the years, Bekker says, PEPFAR funding has also gradually transitioned from where there was an emergency situation, at the height of the AIDS epidemic in the early 2000s, to helping countries’ health systems cope.

PEPFAR allocations in Malawi for 2024 and 2025 are $180-million and $178-million respectively. It is one of two of the biggest funders of HIV interventions in Malawi, along with the Global Fund, according to the National Aids Commission (NAC) of Malawi. In a recent strategic plan, the NAC noted that, “There is an urgent need to sustain and accelerate the national response between 2020 and 2025 in order to put Malawi on the path towards ending AIDS as a public health threat in Malawi by 2030.”

It is unclear how Trump’s order to pause and review foreign aid will affect PEPFAR in the future. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) media office did not respond to questions by the time of publication.

Trump also issued an executive order withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organisation (WHO). According to Reuters there is a 12-month notice period for the US, the WHO’s largest funder, to leave the organisation and stop all financial contributions to its work.

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South African president signs controversial land seizure law

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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law a bill allowing land seizures by the state without compensation – a move that has put him at odds with some members of his government.

Black people only own a small fraction of farmland nationwide more than 30 years after the end of the racist system of apartheid – the majority remains with the white minority.

This has led to frustration and anger over the slow pace of reform.

While Ramaphosa’s ANC party hailed the law as a “significant milestone” in the country’s transformation, some members of the coalition government say they may challenge it in court.

The law “outlines how expropriation can be done and on what basis” by the state, the government says.

It replaces the pre-democratic Expropriation Act of 1975, which placed an obligation on the state to pay owners it wanted to take land from, under the principle of “willing seller, willing buyer”.

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Nigeria’s female cricket team is from West Africa to qualify for a World Cup

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Nigeria’s women’s under-19 cricket team, the Junior Yellow Greens , made history by qualifying for the ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup, which is being held in Malaysia . The Junior Yellow Greens’ qualification made it the first female cricket team from Nigeria and West Africa as a whole to qualify for a World Cup.

The team’s outstanding performance in the regional qualifiers won them a spot. Despite a rain-soaked final match, they beat Zimbabwe on points earned during the group stages.

With this victory, Nigeria secured their place in Malaysia and made their second-ever appearance in a cricket World Cup. The male U-19 team competed in the 2020 edition in South Africa.

Victory Igbinedion, Naomi Memeh, Anointed Akhigbe, Amusa Kehinde, Omosigho Eguakun, Umoh Inyene, Beauty Oguai, Jessica Bieni, Usen Peace, Adeshola Adekunle, Deborah Bassey, Christabel Chukwuonye, Peculiar Agboya, Lilian Ude, and Lucky Piety are among the 15 players on the female team.

They now hope to make it to the semi-finals.

Brila reports that despite Nigeria’s 41-run (DLS method) loss to South Africa on Wednesday, their thrilling two-run victory over New Zealand earlier in the tournament and a shared point with Samoa guaranteed them a place as the second-best team in Group C.

The team will now face England on January 25 and Ireland on January 29, as they continue their quest for a historic semi-final appearance.

The 2025 ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup, which runs from January 18 to February 2, started with 16 teams exhibiting some of the best young talents in women’s cricket .

This year’s tournament, the second edition of this worldwide event, features the top four teams from 2023—India, England, Australia, and New Zealand—along with four debutants: hosts Malaysia, Nepal, Samoa, and Nigeria.

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