MTN backs BEE plan that could open door for Starlink - but only on equal terms
MTN has said it welcomes the proposed policy direction that could alter BEE ownership rules to allow multinational communications operators such as Starlink to operate in South Africa, as long as the same rules apply to everyone.
The South African telecommunications giant also said a legislative amendment may be required in Parliament to bring the proposal into effect, which would likely take a long time.
MTN made these inputs in its submission on the proposed policy direction on the recognition of equity equivalent investment programmes in the ICT sector.
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Washington Post
2 hours ago
- Washington Post
3 African nations have agreed to take deportees from the US. What we know about the secretive deals
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Rwanda has become the third African nation to enter into a deal with the Trump administration to accept migrants deported by the United States. The Rwandan government said Tuesday it has agreed to accept up to 250 deportees from the U.S. for resettlement but didn't immediately give any more details, including when they would arrive or what Rwanda got, if anything, out of the deal. The U.S. has already deported eight men it said were dangerous criminals who were in the U.S. illegally to South Sudan and another five to Eswatini. Here's what we know, and still don't know, about U.S. President Donald Trump's expanding third-country deportation program in Africa and the largely secretive deals the U.S. is striking. The U.S. State Department and the Department of Homeland Security haven't responded to requests seeking more details on the deals in Africa. The U.S. sent eight men from South Sudan, Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar and Vietnam to South Sudan in East Africa in early July after their deportations were held up by a legal challenge. That led to them being kept for weeks in a converted shipping container at an American military base in nearby Djibouti. U.S. officials said the men had been convicted of violent crimes in the U.S. When it took custody of them a month ago, the South Sudan government said it would ensure their 'safety and wellbeing' but has declined to give other details, including where the men are being held and what their fate might be. South Sudan has been wracked by conflict since it gained independence from Sudan in 2011 and is teetering on the edge of civil war again. Two weeks after the South Sudan deportations, the U.S. announced that it had sent another five men — citizens of Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen and Laos — to the small kingdom of Eswatini in southern Africa. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said they were also violent criminals whose home countries had refused to take them back. Eswatini's government said the men would be held in solitary confinement until their repatriation, and later said that might take up to a year. A human rights lawyer in Eswatini has taken authorities to court alleging the men are being denied legal representation while being held in a maximum-security prison, and questioning the legality of detaining them indefinitely when they have served their criminal sentences in the U.S. U.S. authorities didn't name the men or say if they had been deported straight from prison or detained in another way. Eswatini, which borders South Africa, is one of the world's last absolute monarchies. King Mswati III has ruled since he turned 18 in 1986. Authorities under him are accused of violently subduing pro-democracy movements in a country where political parties are effectively banned. Rwanda's deal with the U.S. comes after a contentious migrant agreement it reached with the U.K. in 2022 collapsed and was ruled unlawful by Britain's Supreme Court. That deal was meant to see people seeking asylum in the U.K. sent to Rwanda, where they would stay if their asylum applications were approved. The failed deal ultimately cost the U.K. nearly a billion dollars in public money, including around $300 million that it gave to Rwanda and didn't get back. Rwanda said that the deportees it will take from the U.S. will be resettled there and given work training, healthcare and help with accommodation. Analysts say that African nations might be seeking a range of benefits from the Trump administration in return for taking deportees, including more favorable tariff rates, aid and other financial assistance, and even the easing of sanctions against some of their officials. AP news on the Trump administration:
Associated Press
2 hours ago
- Associated Press
3 African nations have agreed to take deportees from the US. What we know about the secretive deals
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Rwanda has become the third African nation to enter into a deal with the Trump administration to accept migrants deported by the United States. The Rwandan government said Tuesday it has agreed to accept up to 250 deportees from the U.S. for resettlement but didn't immediately give any more details, including when they would arrive or what Rwanda got, if anything, out of the deal. The U.S. has already deported eight men it said were dangerous criminals who were in the U.S. illegally to South Sudan and another five to Eswatini. Here's what we know, and still don't know, about U.S. President Donald Trump's expanding third-country deportation program in Africa and the largely secretive deals the U.S. is striking. The U.S. State Department and the Department of Homeland Security haven't responded to requests seeking more details on the deals in Africa. South Sudan The U.S. sent eight men from South Sudan, Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar and Vietnam to South Sudan in East Africa in early July after their deportations were held up by a legal challenge. That led to them being kept for weeks in a converted shipping container at an American military base in nearby Djibouti. U.S. officials said the men had been convicted of violent crimes in the U.S. When it took custody of them a month ago, the South Sudan government said it would ensure their 'safety and wellbeing' but has declined to give other details, including where the men are being held and what their fate might be. South Sudan has been wracked by conflict since it gained independence from Sudan in 2011 and is teetering on the edge of civil war again. Eswatini Two weeks after the South Sudan deportations, the U.S. announced that it had sent another five men — citizens of Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen and Laos — to the small kingdom of Eswatini in southern Africa. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said they were also violent criminals whose home countries had refused to take them back. Eswatini's government said the men would be held in solitary confinement until their repatriation, and later said that might take up to a year. A human rights lawyer in Eswatini has taken authorities to court alleging the men are being denied legal representation while being held in a maximum-security prison, and questioning the legality of detaining them indefinitely when they have served their criminal sentences in the U.S. U.S. authorities didn't name the men or say if they had been deported straight from prison or detained in another way. Eswatini, which borders South Africa, is one of the world's last absolute monarchies. King Mswati III has ruled since he turned 18 in 1986. Authorities under him are accused of violently subduing pro-democracy movements in a country where political parties are effectively banned. Rwanda Rwanda's deal with the U.S. comes after a contentious migrant agreement it reached with the U.K. in 2022 collapsed and was ruled unlawful by Britain's Supreme Court. That deal was meant to see people seeking asylum in the U.K. sent to Rwanda, where they would stay if their asylum applications were approved. The failed deal ultimately cost the U.K. nearly a billion dollars in public money, including around $300 million that it gave to Rwanda and didn't get back. Rwanda said that the deportees it will take from the U.S. will be resettled there and given work training, healthcare and help with accommodation. Analysts say that African nations might be seeking a range of benefits from the Trump administration in return for taking deportees, including more favorable tariff rates, aid and other financial assistance, and even the easing of sanctions against some of their officials.___ AP news on the Trump administration:
CNN
3 hours ago
- CNN
Rwanda agrees to take in up to 250 migrants deported from the US
FacebookTweetLink Rwanda has reached a deal with the Trump administration to take in migrants deported from the United States, becoming the third African nation to do so, amid complaints that governments on the continent are being pressured by the White House to receive them. Foreign US deportees, originally from other nations, had earlier been sent to South Sudan and Eswatini; a US Department of Homeland Security spokesperson described both groups as 'barbaric' criminals. Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo confirmed to CNN on Tuesday that the East African nation had 'agreed with the United States to accept up to 250 migrants,' in a deal that allows the government 'to approve each individual proposed for resettlement.' When approved, the migrants, she said, 'will be provided with workforce training, health care, and accommodation support to jump start their lives in Rwanda,' allowing them to 'contribute to one of the fastest growing economies in the world over the last decade.' Rwanda, a nation of less than 15 million people, is not new to discussions around third-country deportations to its territory. It has previously partnered with the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) to temporarily host asylum seekers and refugees evacuated from North African nation Libya, with nearly 3000 arrivals recorded between 2019 and 2025, according to the UN organization. In 2022, it reached a controversial migrant deal with the United Kingdom to receive deported asylum seekers who arrived illegally in the UK. The deal did not materialize due to legal disputes and was subsequently scrapped after Keir Starmer became prime minister last July. Rwanda suggested at the time that it had no plans to reimburse the more than $300 million it received from the UK for the deportations. Makolo did not tell CNN how Rwanda stands to benefit from housing US deportees. She also did not disclose whether the US migrants would be kept in the same accommodation that Rwanda had planned to house deported UK asylum seekers. 'We will provide more details once these have been worked out,' Makolo said. Rwanda revealed in May that the nation was in the early stages of talks to receive immigrants deported from the US, according to Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe. The Trump administration has persevered in its attempts to strike agreements with several African countries to accept its unwanted deportees despite outrage from Africans who insist that their continent should not be treated as a 'dumping ground' for individuals considered unfit to live in the US. In early July, the US Supreme Court paved the way for the Trump administration to deport certain migrants to countries other than their homeland with little notice. One major hurdle for previous administrations had been dealing with countries who refuse to accept returns of their own nationals, and US President Donald Trump had directed top officials in a January executive order to facilitate international agreements to send migrants elsewhere. 'The United States is constantly engaged in diplomatic conversations with foreign nations who are willing to assist us in removing the illegal aliens that (former US President) Joe Biden allowed to infiltrate American communities,' a White House official told CNN Tuesday. The US has also faced criticism for allegedly pressuring some of Africa's powerhouses, such as Nigeria and South Africa, to take in its foreign deportees. In the case of Rwanda, concerns linger over the safety of refugees given the nation's human rights record. During the heated debate over Rwanda's deal with the UK, the UNHCR commended Rwanda for 'generously hosting thousands of refugees…on a temporary basis,' but warned there were 'serious risks' that 'externalization poses to refugees, including refoulement (sending refugees to a country where they could face persecution).' At the time, Rwanda pushed back against the UNHCR, insisting it 'does not refoule asylum seekers.' CNN's Kit Maher contributed to this report.
