Press Freedom Index: 10 African Countries Score Better than US

 Reporters without Borders posted recently its "RSF World Press Freedom Index 2025: Economic Fragility a Leading Threat to Press Freedom."

RSF ranked 180 countries for the 2025 index.  Ten African countries, led by South Africa, Namibia, and Cabo Verde scored better than the United States, ranked number 57, although Sub-Saharan Africa generally experienced a decline in press freedom.  The five lowest ranking countries were Eritrea, North Korea, China, Syria, and Iran.  

The 2025 RSF index shows that today's news media are caught between preserving their editorial independence and ensuring their economic survival.  

Components of Fragility in South Sudan

 The International Organization for Migration published on 22 November 2023 a paper titled "Understanding Multidimensional Fragility in South Sudan: A Baseline Study of Kajo-Keji, Yei, Bor, and Wau Counties."

The study provides a comprehensive assessment of the multiple dimensions of fragility in South Sudan at the subnational level: political and legal, social, economic, security, and environmental.  The research was conducted through a face-to-face household survey involving 1,595 adult respondents (51 per cent female and 49 per cent male), with approximately 400 participants in each of the four counties.  

The Pluses and Minuses of China's Railway Construction in Africa

 The Wilson Center in Washington posted on 19 October 2023 a commentary titled "Chinese Rail Export's Environmental Dilemma: Economic Gains or Green?" by Kenen Zhu.  

While Chinese-built railways bring positive benefits to Africa, they also pose social and environmental risks.  The use of combustion train engines in Kenya contributes to pollution.  The Mombasa to Nairobi train has also siphoned commerce away from the parallel highway and displaced local economies.  

Eritreans Continue to Flee to Ethiopia and Sudan

African Arguments published on 15 January 2019 an article titled "With Ethiopia's Border Now Open, Why Are Eritreans Still Fleeing to Sudan?" by Michael Emile Kynaston Jones, Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies.

The border between Ethiopia and Eritrea reopened in September 2018. Between 12 September and 2 October 2018 more than 10,000 Eritreans entered UNHCR reception camps in Ethiopia. There have also been steady movements of Eritreans into Sudan, although numbers are elusive. Continued Eritrean National Service conscription and economic hardship account for most of the departures. The durability of Sudan's smuggling networks also play an important role.

Sub-Saharan Africa and Democratization Through 2022

The National Intelligence Council published in February 2018 an analysis titled "Sub-Saharan Africa: Pitched Contests for Democratization Through 2022."

The analysis concludes that standing in contrast to what academics have noted as a global drift toward authoritarianism, democracy remains a potent ideal in Africa. This tug of war between leaders and their constituents will become more intense through 2022, as stagnating economies, urbanization, and access to technology upset many longstanding balances of power. The resulting volatility will pose challenges and create opportunities for the international community as it pursues its strategic interests in this rapidly changing landscape.

Chinese Port Projects in Walvis Bay, Namibia (in French)

The China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) is building a container terminal and an oil terminal at Walvis Bay in Namibia. A Chinese paper published a long interview in Chinese with Feng Yuanfei, CHEC director in Namibia and chief of project. The Chine-Afrique website recently posted a translation in French of the interview titled "Apprentissage, internationalisation, indigenisation" courtesy of Thierry Pairault, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales.