🎬Standard diplomatic procedure

February 26, 2025

Good morning. If it’s of any consolation, today is Wednesday; which means tomorrow is pre-Friday, which means the next day is Friday, so it’s basically Friday.

This mental framework means so much to us that we don’t believe we’ll never have plans of sending you a newsletter on a Saturday.

— Chu Chu Sulley, Obafemi Ayomide.

CURRENCIES

Currency exchange rates against the US Dollar as of market close. Here’s what these numbers mean

GEOPOLITICS
UK and US are taking turns to sanction Rwanda

Tom Nicholson/Reuters

It’s starting to look like Christmas standard diplomatic procedure. In very Trump-esque fashion, Britain on Tuesday said it would pause some bilateral aid to Rwanda and impose a horde of other sanctions over its role in the escalating conflict in neighboring Congo.

While calling the measures ‘punitive’, Rwanda has denied backing the M23 rebels responsible for the conflict but insists instead that its own troops are acting in self-defense against more hostile elements in DR Congo.

But nobody believes them

UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres was the first to sound the international alarm over Rwanda’s suspected involvement in the crisis, calling for peace and insisting that military activity in the region should cease immediately. Since then, there has been only more proof suggesting Rwanda’s involvement with Rwandan Defence Force personnel sighted repeatedly alongside identified M23 rebels. As a result;

  • Congolese authorities have been on air repeatedly, requesting international sanctions to be leveled on Rwanda.

  • DR Congo President, Felix Tshisekedi, urged the EU nations to blacklist Rwandan officials, during a congress in Munich two weeks ago.

  • Only last week, the US sanctioned Rwanda’s deputy foreign minister for his reported role in the crisis.

A bit punitive, no? Well, perhaps. Especially as the UK’s sanctions involve ending high-level attendance at events hosted by the government of Rwanda; limiting trade promotion activity with Rwanda, and pausing direct bilateral financial aid to the Rwandan government. A British government spokesperson said the UK “would coordinate with other EU partners on more sanctions for Rwanda” according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, the preliminary round of sanctions seem not to have much of an effect on Rwanda. The annual Tour du Rwanda cycling competition kicked off this past weekend amidst calls for its cancellation, and Rwanda's Formula 1 bid is alive and well after it hosted the FIA’s award ceremony in December. -OA.

TRENDING
A new insta?

Noella Fraguela

Yope, an app where users share photos to private groups, has wrangled 2.2m monthly active users, 40% of whom were reportedly still using the app seven days after downloading it. Several similar apps have petered out, including Instagram’s Flipside and the once-hot BeReal, but these stats have renewed VC interest. A recent $4.65m seed round brought Yope’s valuation to $50m, per TechCrunch. Is Yope the app to finally become the “new Instagram,” as so many have claimed before? We’re dubious, but always curious.

SHOWER THOUGHTS

“When we get sick with a cold, you'd think we would take medicine that improves our immune system or attacks the virus, but mostly we only take medicine to reduce our body's immune response because it doesn't feel good.”

NEWS
Round the continent

Mevlut Ozkan

  • Floods from record rainfall in Botswana killed 9 people earlier this week. Over 5,000 people have been displaced.

  • Senegal has signed a peace accord with separatists from Casamance, a region in the south of Senegal, known for its lush vegetation.

  • A Nigerian court ordered the final forfeiture of more than $5 million in assets from former Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele.

  • British International Investment is providing $100 million to KCB Bank in Kenya to help it lend to climate-related and women-led businesses.

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