“NO ELECTRICITY, NO VOTE,” SOUTH AFRICANS THREATEN TO SHUN RULING PARTY ANC. (PHOTO)

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 “No electricity, no vote,” South Africans threaten to shun ruling party ANC Residents in Katlehong, a township outside Johannesburg, have resolved to boycott South Africa's upcoming local elections on November 4 due to long-standing failures by authorities to provide basic services like electricity. For over 20 years, around 180 households in the community have relied on illegal electrical connections pulled from neighboring areas to power their homes. Angry over the lack of formal grid infrastructure, residents are directing their frustration at the ruling African National Congress (ANC). "We have made a collective decision: no electricity, no vote," said community leader Lesiba Rankapole, 59. "We know it is illegal, but we had no choice because we cannot live without electricity. Our children cannot progress without electricity." "I was born ANC, but today I do not want anyone to tell me about the ANC because I am suffering," added 57-year-old resid...

US FIRMS PLEDGE TRADE DEALS AT AFRICA SUMMIT AFTER TRUMP'S AID CUTS. (PHOTO).


 US firms pledge trade deals at Africa summit after Trump's aid cuts


US companies pledged investments in Africa ranging from power lines to digital infrastructure at a business summit that underscored Washington's push for growth through trade not aid, US authorities said Thursday, AFP reported.


The deals were agreed at the US-Africa Business Summit of African leaders and representatives of the US government and private sector that wrapped up in Luanda Wednesday, the US embassy in Angola said in a statement.


Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has announced major cuts in US foreign aid including for projects in Africa.


Angola is the key US partner in one of its most ambitious projects on the continent focused on a railway line transporting critical minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia to Angola's Atlantic Ocean port of Lobito from where they can be exported.


It is seen as a US counterpoint to China's expanding economic influence in Africa.


Lobito corridor


The Lobito Corridor - also funded by the European Union and African multilateral institutions - aims to set up logistics and agricultural production zones along the railway line through private investment.


One of the deals from the meeting was for a US consortium to work with an Angolan group to construct and operate 22 grain silo terminals along the Lobito Corridor, the statement said.


Another was a memorandum of understanding on the construction of a 1,150-kilometre (720-mile) electricity transmission line between Angola and the DRC, it said.


Other planned collaborations included for boosting digital infrastructure and cybersecurity in Angola, to develop West Africa's first terminal for US-sourced LNG in Sierra Leone, and for a US stake in a hydropower project spanning Rwanda and the DRC.


‘Deepen engagement’


"The Trump administration views this moment as an opportunity to deepen our engagement across Africa's economic landscape," the president's senior advisor for Africa, Massad Boulos, was quoted as telling the meeting.


"We believe that business and trade, not aid, are the engines of long-term, sustainable growth," he said.

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