EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 18/5/2026

 

Senior IS leader killed in joint operation, US and Nigeria say

By Makuochi Okafor, ABUJA Nigeria 

Nigeria and the United States say they have killed a senior Islamic State (IS) leader in a joint-operation.

Abu-Bilal al-Minuki was described by US President Donald Trump as the "second in command of ISIS globally" and "the most active terrorist in the world".

IS has radically shifted in recent years, with around 90% of its attacks now taking place in sub-Saharan Africa. Its Nigeria-based branch is by far the most active.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said the two countries had carried out a "daring joint operation that dealt a heavy blow" to IS.

Al‑Minuki was declared a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by Washington in 2023.

He was killed along with "several of his lieutenants" during a strike on his compound in the Lake Chad Basin, a huge region of waterways and swampland shared by Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

A military spokesman said intelligence had established Minuki had established a fortified base in the area - in Metele, Borno state.

The Lake Chad basin has long been a stronghold for Boko Haram and its rival faction, Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap).

The Nigerian military said the operation began shortly after midnight on Saturday, after months of intelligence gathering and reconnaissance. 

It said "zero casualties or loss of assets" were recorded, describing the operation as evidence of growing cooperation between Nigerian and US forces.

It said that al-Minuki had been promoted to "Head of General Directorate of States", making him one of the most senior figures within the global IS hierarchy.

He previously oversaw IS-linked operations across the Sahel and West Africa, including attacks targeting civilians and minority communities.

The military also linked al-Minuki to the 2018 Dapchi schoolgirls kidnapping when more than 100 girls from a boarding school in north-eastern Nigeria were taken by militant group Boko Haram.

Before pledging allegiance to IS in 2015, he was described as a senior Boko Haram commander.

Boko Haram began its military campaign to impose Islamic rule in northern Nigeria in 2009.

The group pledged its allegiance to IS after what was believed to be the then-leader Abubakar Shekau posted an audio statement on Boko Haram's X account in 2015.

Its aim has been to establish a "caliphate", a state ruled by a single political and religious leader according to Islamic law, or Sharia.

Abu-Bilal al-Manuki is believed to have hailed from Borno State in north-eastern Nigeria. Analysts say his nickname likely came from Mainok, a town in the state, following a common regional tradition where people are identified by their hometowns or family names.

The Nigerian military previously claimed they had killed him in 2024. It has also made similar claims about other jihadists in the Lake Chad basin, including claiming on around five different occasions it had killed former Boko Haram leader Abu Bakar Shekau before his death was confirmed in May 2021.

Trump described al-Minuki's death as a major blow to IS's African and global networks, disrupting funding channels and command structures.

The US president thanked the Nigerian government for their "partnership", adding that Minuki "will no longer terrorize the people of Africa or help plan operations to target Americans".

Nigeria and the US have increased military cooperation as the country ramps up efforts to fight the extremist insurgency that has plagued Nigeria for more than a decade.

The move follows earlier comments by President Trump that Nigeria was not doing enough to protect vulnerable groups, including Christian communities - claims repeatedly denied by Nigerian authorities, who say violence in the country affects people regardless of religion or faith.

In April, IS claimed responsibility after gunmen killed at least 29 people at a football pitch in Nigeria's north-eastern Adamawa state.

Last Christmas, US and Nigeria carried out a joint airstrike in Nigeria's Sokoto state targeting IS-linked groups.

Speaking recently at the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, Tinubu defended Nigeria's growing security cooperation with international partners.

"Security challenges will always be there, those are things you cannot do alone, you cannot operate the world in isolation," he said.

"Even Trump as bold as he is, he's in China, he's talking about Taiwan, so who I am in Nigeria to say I will do it alone? I must embrace my neighbours. I must pursue pragmatic cooperation and partnerships, which is necessary to enhance the security of lives and property of our people."

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 16/5/2026

 

Mali's army carries out overnight strikes on rebel-held city of Kidal

BAMAKO, Mali 

Mali’s army reportedly carried out several strikes overnight Wednesday to Thursday on the town of Kidal in the desert region in the north of the country.

It has been under the control of Tuareg rebels and their allies from the JNIM jihadist group since their large-scale coordinated attacks across the country in late April.

Their rare alliance enabled a rapid campaign that saw several strategic military bases overrun across northern Mali.

Residents have told our Correspondent they heard at least four explosions in Kidal on Wednesday night which caused material damage.

One strike reportedly hit a house near a former market, destroying it, while another struck the governor’s compound.

A Malian army officer says the armed forces are targeting specific objectives and warned the strikes will be intensifying in the coming days.

Witnesses say Kidal was unusually calm on Thursday morning with very little traffic on the roads.

The strategic town served as an unofficial headquarters of the Tuareg Azawad Liberation Front coalition for more than a decade

It was captured by Mali's army in late 2023 with the help of Russian mercenaries.

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 15/5/2026

 

How China changed Rubio name to let him join Trump summit despite sanctions

BEIJING, China 

How did United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio enter China despite being under sanctions by Beijing?

Well, this became possible thanks to a linguistic workaround and diplomatic protocol by China, which had sanctioned Rubio twice when he was still a senator.

Rubio accompanied US President Donald Trump on his first trip to China after Beijing changed the transliteration of Rubio’s name.

“China has done that using a sleight of hand: His name is spelled different."

The Chinese government appeared to have used a diplomatic workaround to let the secretary of state in, transliterating the first syllable of his surname with a different Chinese character for “lu”.

The name change to “Marco Lu” enabled Beijing to welcome Rubio without lifting the sanctions, which could be enforced on another occasion.

The Chinese government and official media began transliterating Rubio’s surname with a different Chinese character shortly before he took office as secretary of state in January 2025.

In March, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated it was willing to relax those sanctions against Rubio if he were to travel with Trump for a summit in Beijing.

“China’s sanctions were aimed at Mr Rubio’s words and deeds concerning China during his tenure in the United States Senate,” Lin Jian, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said on March 16.

The sanctions date back to when Rubio served as a US senator in Florida, from 2019 up to his nomination to join Trump’s administration.

The Chinese government sanctioned him twice in 2020 for speaking out against Beijing’s crackdown in Hong Kong, a former British colony that is demanding greater autonomy from China’s grip.

Rubio, a Cuban American and a stark critic of communism, also slammed China’s alleged abuse of the mostly Muslim Uighur minority in Xinjiang, an autonomous territory in northwest China.

As senator, Rubio was also one of the proponents of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, a congressional bill approved in 2021 that required companies to prove that goods imported from China’s Xinjiang region were not produced with forced labour.

“Many companies have already taken steps to clean up their supply chains,” Rubio said at the time. “For those who have not done that, they’ll no longer be able to continue to make Americans – every one of us, frankly – unwitting accomplices in the atrocities, in the genocide.”

"Differences over Taiwan could bring US and China to conflict more" - Xi warns Trump

By Will Weissert, BEIJING China 

Chinese leader Xi Jinping offered stark warnings about avoiding possible clashes between his nation and the U.S. on Thursday, and even cautioned visiting President Donald Trump that Washington’s handling of its relations with Taiwan could lead to “conflicts.”

His tone was a sharp contrast to Trump, who opened the highly anticipated summit with Xi by praising his Chinese counterpart and declaring that “it’s an honor to be your friend.”

It underscored just how far apart the leaders remain on thorny issues including the war in Iran, trade disputes and Taiwan — and suggested that Trump’s three-day visit to China is likely to be longer on pageantry and symbolism than major bilateral breakthroughs.

The pair met for about two hours behind closed doors at the Great Hall of the People and discussed trade and other issues. 

According to a readout posted on X by Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, Xi told Trump that “the Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-U.S. relations.”

“If it is handled properly, the bilateral relationship will enjoy overall stability. Otherwise, the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy,” she wrote.

That came after a brief public exchange before the meeting began in which Trump offered platitudes, telling Xi: “You’re a great leader. Sometimes people don’t like me saying it, but I say it anyway, because it’s true.”

“It’s an honor to be with you. It’s an honor to be your friend,” Trump said before promising that “the relationship between China and the USA is going to be better than ever before.”

Xi was darker in his opening remarks, expressing hope that the U.S. and China could avoid conflict and asking “whether the two countries can transcend the ‘Thucydides Trap’ and forge a new model for relations between major powers.”

He used a term popular in foreign policy studies, referring to the idea that when a rising power threatens to displace an established power, the result is often war.

“Cooperation benefits both sides, while confrontation harms both,” Xi said. “The two countries should be partners rather than rivals.”

Xi has mentioned “Thucydides Trap” before with regards to U.S.-China relations, dating back to as early as 2014.

France to host conference on financing AU peace efforts, says Macron

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia 

A conference on financing the African Union's peace efforts will be held in Paris by the end of this year, French President Emmanuel Macron said while on a visit to Ethiopia.

Macron has been in Africa on a five-day visit this week, including for a two-day economic summit in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

On Wednesday, he held informal talks with AU chairman Mahamoud Ali Youssouf and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

"An international conference to raise additional funds and mobilise new public and private partners" for the African Union Peace Fund will be organised "in the last quarter of this year in Paris", he added.

The fund, set up in 1993 by the AU's predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity, is reliant on contributions from AU member states, the private sector and individuals.

It was blocked for two decades until 2018 and some $400 million was raised in 2024.

Macron also called for the effective implementation of UN Resolution 2719, which was adopted in 2023 and provides for mandatory contributions from United Nations member states to finance AU peace operations.

During his Africa tour, the French head of state said he wanted the AU to have "more capacity" for peacekeeping operations and to "build its own mediation efforts".

Macron, who reaffirmed his support for permanent seats for Africa on the UN Security Council, said he planned to raise mediation efforts in the conflict-hit eastern Democratic Republic of Congo with the UN and AU.

Kenya's President William Ruto has been invited to represent Africa at next month's G7 meeting in France, he said, adding that Paris would also assist Africa in the fallout from the US-Israeli war against Iran and closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

"The entire global economy is obviously affected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, but the African continent particularly so," Macron said, without elaborating on the initiative.

East Africa richest man takes on Coca Cola with Sh6.5bn Kenya plant

By Our Correspondent, NAIROBI Kenya 

In a move that could reshape Kenya’s fiercely competitive beverage sector, East Africa’s richest man, Mohammed “Mo” Dewji, is preparing to challenge Coca-Cola and Pepsi head-on. 

The Tanzanian billionaire, whose net worth Forbes pegs at $2.1 billion (Sh271 billion), is investing Sh6.5 billion ($50 million) in a new soft-drinks plant in Mombasa through his conglomerate, Mohammed Enterprises Tanzania Limited (MeTL Group). 

The facility will produce MeTL’s signature affordable brands — Mo Cola, Mo Xtra, and Mo Malto — targeting price-sensitive consumers long overlooked by multinational giants.

Dewji, speaking on the sidelines of the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi this week, confirmed the project is at the “drawing table” stage. 

“We cannot afford to ignore Kenya because it is the largest economy in our region,” he told Business Daily. “Yes, Kenya is more advanced, more competitive, but if you’re taking a long-term tenure, then it is definitely a country that you cannot ignore.” 

Construction could break ground within 12 months, with the company weighing a full greenfield build or possible acquisitions and mergers.

The strategy mirrors MeTL’s runaway success in Tanzania, where its low-cost beverages overtook Coca-Cola sales within a decade by offering 300ml bottles of Mo Cola for roughly Sh15 — less than half the industry average of Sh40 in Kenya. 

In a market where Coca-Cola and Pepsi dominate, local challengers have struggled. Kevian Kenya (Pick n Peel) holds just 4.8 percent share, while smaller players like Excel Chemicals and Highlands trail far behind. 

Analysts note that past entrants, including the once-promising Softa Bottling Company, collapsed under the weight of distribution battles and marketing muscle from the giants.

Stephen Mutoro, secretary-general of the Consumers Federation of Kenya, sees opportunity in the gap. “What is needed is a beverage product that focuses on poor consumers,” he said. 

“Most of the brands available do not cater for that consumer group. But also, fair trade practices will help a newcomer survive.”

MeTL’s entry is the latest in a wave of Tanzanian big-ticket investments in Kenya, including the acquisition of Bamburi Cement and expansions in LPG and energy. 

Dewji is also eyeing independent power production and hotel developments, capitalising on President William Ruto’s push to lease land for hospitality projects.

For Kenya, the plant promises jobs, technology transfer, and intensified competition that could lower prices. 

For East Africa’s business landscape, it underscores growing intra-regional capital flows and the rising clout of Tanzanian tycoons in Nairobi’s economy. Yet challenges remain: building deep distribution networks, sustaining marketing spend, and navigating regulatory hurdles in a market long accustomed to duopoly dominance.

Dewji, who built MeTL into one of Tanzania’s largest conglomerates serving everyday needs from sugar to fuel, is no stranger to disruption. 

His low-price model has already democratised soft drinks for millions of low-income Tanzanians. 

If the Mombasa plant delivers similar results, Kenya’s beverage aisles may soon look very different — and Coca-Cola’s regional supremacy could face its stiffest test yet.

The announcement comes as East African economies seek greater self-reliance and intra-African investment under the African Continental Free Trade Area. 

Dewji’s bet signals confidence in Kenya’s long-term growth despite short-term competitive pressures. 

Whether Mo Cola becomes a household name in Kenya remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: East Africa’s richest man is playing to win.