Nigeria says US pressuring Africa to accept Venezuelan deportees
Yusuf Tuggar, the Nigerian foreign minister, told local Channels TV late on Thursday that Nigeria could not accept that.
'You have to also bear in mind that the U.S. is mounting considerable pressure on African countries to accept Venezuelans to be deported from the U.S., some straight out of prison,' he said from Brazil where he was at a BRICS summit.
'It will be difficult for a country like Nigeria to accept Venezuelan prisoners into Nigeria. We have enough problems of our own,' noting his nation's 230 million strong population.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has been pressing to speed up deportations, including by sending migrants to third countries when there are problems or delays over sending them to their home nations.
This week, he hosted the presidents of Liberia, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania and Gabon at the White House. According to a U.S. and a Liberian official, he presented the plan for African countries to take in migrants from other countries when they are deported by the U.S.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that an internal State Department document sent to the African governments before the meeting called on them to agree to the 'dignified, safe, and timely transfer from the United States' of third country nationals.
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IOL News
7 hours ago
- IOL News
India's bold economic play: Adapt or lose!
Director of the National Gandhi Libray from New Delhi,India Professor Annamalai Alagan addresses guests at the 132nd anniversary of Mohandas Gandhi forcibly ejected at the Pietermaritburg railway station. New Delhi has chosen a different path: swift recalibration, strategic diversification, and an unflinching focus on long-term resilience. Image: Rajesh Jantilal / File IN THE grand theatre of global economics, protectionism and Trump's Economic Nationalism, which have reshaped global trade, India has once again demonstrated why it remains one of the most adaptive players in the Global South and BRICS+ nations. The recent tariff shocks unleashed by the Trump administration, which have been boisterous, sudden, and strategically disruptive, have sent weaker economies into a spiral of retaliatory rhetoric or defensive stagnation. But India, true to form, responded with the quiet pragmatism of a nation that understands the oldest rule of economic survival: adapt or perish. As the Greek philosopher Heraclitus once declared: 'The only constant in life is change.' India, a cornerstone of the BRICS Plus bloc, seems to have internalised this wisdom better than most. While Washington's nationalist and protectionist trade policies have forced many nations into reactive posturing, New Delhi has chosen a different path: swift recalibration, strategic diversification, and an unflinching focus on long-term resilience. For Africa, a continent still wrestling with the ghosts of colonial era resource dependency and sluggish industrialisation, India's playbook offers not just inspiration, but an urgent blueprint. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ When the US government under Donald Trump announced aggressive tariffs on Indian exports, the immediate reaction in some quarters was one of outrage. After all, India and the US have enjoyed a steadily deepening trade relationship, with bilateral exchanges exceeding $100 billion (about R18 trillion) in recent years. 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South Africa, once the continent's undisputed industrial powerhouse, has seen its manufacturing base erode over decades, leaving it overly reliant on mineral exports even as global demand patterns shift, while still beholden to Cold War slogans. The lesson? Economic resilience is not about the absence of shocks, but the capacity to diversification as an end and not a means to an end. India's agility in the face of US trade pressures is not happening in a vacuum. As a key member of BRICS+, New Delhi has not only diversified its trade partnerships but has also made strategic inroads into Africa's critical industries. Indian firms now dominate the continent's steel sector, control vast iron ore mining operations, and have positioned themselves as leading suppliers of lab-grown diamonds. This shift has sent shockwaves through traditional diamond producers like Botswana, which failed to anticipate the global consumer shift away from organic diamonds. While Botswana struggles to adjust to the reality that 'diamonds are not forever', India's lab-grown diamond exports are booming, proving once again that foresight and adaptability define economic survival. This is not just about circumventing tariffs; it's about rewriting the rules of engagement in a world where economic power is no longer monopolised by a handful of Western capitals. For Africa, the implications are profound. The continent remains the world's last great frontier of consumer market growth, yet too many of its economies remain trapped in the colonial era role of raw material suppliers. If India, a fellow developing economy, can reposition itself as a global manufacturing and services hub while navigating US protectionism, why can't Africa's industrial bases do the same? Africa's struggle with diversification is not for lack of opportunity. The African Continental Free Trade Area promises to be the world's largest single market, yet progress remains frustratingly slow. South Africa, despite its historical industrial advantages, has seen its manufacturing sector shrink from 20% of GDP in the 1990s to just 12% today. Instead of leveraging its early lead into sustained value-added production, the economy remains tethered to mining exports, a vulnerability starkly exposed whenever commodity prices fluctuate. India, meanwhile, has spent decades building economic shock absorbers. When the 1991 balance of payments crisis struck, it responded with sweeping reforms that unleashed its private sector. When the 2008 financial meltdown hit, it doubled down on domestic consumption. Now, faced with Trump's tariffs, it is accelerating its shift toward alternative markets and high-value exports. The difference is not just policy, but mindset. India operates with the understanding that global economic conditions are perpetually in flux, and survival belongs to the agile. Africa, by contrast, has often treated diversification as an academic ideal rather than an immediate imperative. The result? While India's GDP has multiplied fivefold since 2000, too many African economies remain hostage to the same commodity cycles that have dictated their fortunes for a century. The message for Africa is clear: The time for passive reliance on raw material exports is over. India's response to US tariffs proves that economic sovereignty is not about defiance, as we have seen with Advanced Economies such as Japan and Singapore, but about diversification, options and adaptability. If New Delhi can cultivate new trade alliances, incentivise value-added production, and navigate geopolitical headwinds without losing momentum, so too can Africa if it chooses to. As the world moves toward multipolar trade blocs and competing spheres of influence, India's example offers a masterclass in strategic adaptation. Trump's tariffs may have been designed to force concessions, but New Delhi's response has been something far more powerful: a demonstration of resilience that Africa would do well to emulate. In the end, Heraclitus was right: change is the only constant. But the real question is: In the Global South, who will change or perish? India, it seems, already has its answer. Africa must now find its own. * Phapano Phasha is the chairperson of The Centre for Alternative Political and Economic Thought. ** The views expressed here do not reflect those of the Sunday Independent, IOL, or Independent Media. Get the real story on the go: Follow the Sunday Independent on WhatsApp.
The Herald
21 hours ago
- The Herald
US weighs refugee cap of 40,000 with most spots for Afrikaners
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TimesLIVE
a day ago
- TimesLIVE
US weighs refugee cap of 40,000 with most spots for Afrikaners
US President Donald Trump's administration is discussing a refugee admissions cap of about 40,000 for the coming year with most allocated to white South Africans, according to two US officials briefed on the matter and an internal refugee programme email, reflecting a major shift in the US approach to refugees. Angie Salazar, the top refugee programme official at the US health and human services department (HHS), told state-level refugee workers she expected the cap to be 40,000, according to an email summary of an August 1 meeting reviewed by Reuters. The two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said about 30,000 of the 40,000 spaces would be reserved for Afrikaners. The 40,000-person cap would be a sharp drop from the 100,000 refugees brought in by former president Joe Biden in 2024 fiscal year, but higher than the record-low 15,000 person ceiling Trump set for fiscal 2021 before ending his first term. A separate person familiar with the matter said that in addition to the 40,000 figure a cap as low as 12,000 had also been discussed. There are 37-million refugees worldwide, according to a UN estimate. Trump immediately froze refugee admissions after taking office in January, but weeks later launched a programme for Afrikaners, saying the white minority group suffered racial discrimination and violence in majority-black South Africa, claims rejected by South Africa's government. The Trump administration also expects to bring in some Afghans who aided the US government during the conflict in Afghanistan and is weighing whether to resettle Ukrainians, the email said. Some spaces would remain unallocated to potentially be filled by other nationalities, the email and officials said. White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly stressed that no decisions were final until Trump issued his determination for the 2026 fiscal year, which begins on October 1. 'President Trump has a humanitarian heart, which is why he has welcomed these courageous individuals to the US,' Kelly said. 'Refugee admission caps will be determined next month and any numbers discussed now are pure speculation.' A senior state department official pointed to the department's recent human rights report, which raised concerns about 'inflammatory racial rhetoric against Afrikaners and other racial minorities' in South Africa. The HHS referred questions related to the refugee cap to the White House. Salazar did not respond to requests for comment. The first group of 59 South Africans arrived in May, but only 34 more had arrived by early August, a White House official said. The state department laid off many refugee programme staffers in major workforce reductions in July. To compensate for the fired staff, workers from the HHS who normally deal with domestic refugee assistance have been reassigned to the South Africa programme, one of the officials said. Thirteen HHS staffers were dispatched to Pretoria on Monday though most had no direct experience screening refugees, the official said. An HHS spokesperson said trained staff had been detailed to support refugee resettlement but that they were not conducting interviews to determine whether a refugee had experienced persecution. Some South Africans now in the US with refugee status have reached out to the HHS to raise concerns about a lack of benefits to support them, one of the US officials said. Trump slashed refugee benefits after taking office, including reducing cash assistance and healthcare benefits that normally last a year to four months. One of the initial group of 59 South Africans brought into the US in mid-May sent an email to the HHS' refugee office two weeks later pleading for help getting a social security number (SSN) and access to a work permit. The person, who went to Missoula, Montana, said their family had spent thousands of dollars to cover expenses. 'We have applied for jobs like crazy but to no avail because we found people here are not keen on hiring refugees without an SSN,' one of the family members wrote in a May 27 email to the HHS refugee programme reviewed by Reuters. 'We have spent about $4,000 [R70,307] on Uber, food, cellphone SIM cards which don't work.' The person was concerned the family would not be able to find housing after a government-funded hotel stay ended in early June. Reuters could not reach the family. The HHS spokesperson said the agency takes complaints seriously and refugees placed in temporary housing receive support for essential needs, including food. A person familiar with the matter said some South Africans arrived in the US expecting standard refugee benefits that had been paused or reduced by Trump.
