Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and US President Donald Trump discussed mediation efforts to restore regional calm that would have a positive impact on Red Sea navigation and end economic losses for all parties, said the Egyptian presidency on Tuesday.
South African legislators on a key parliamentary committee backed further changes to the national Budget on Tuesday, casting greater uncertainty over the government’s fiscal plans and the future of the ruling coalition.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels aimed to hold direct talks on 9 April, said sources from both camps on Tuesday, a potential boost to Qatar’s efforts to end the central African country’s worst fighting in decades.
Egypt’s Sisi, Trump discuss regional mediation efforts
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and US President Donald Trump discussed mediation efforts to restore regional calm that would have a positive impact on Red Sea navigation and end economic losses for all parties, said the Egyptian presidency on Tuesday.
The Iran-aligned Houthis have carried out more than 100 attacks on shipping since Israel’s war with Hamas began in late 2023, saying they were acting in solidarity with Gaza’s Palestinians.
The attacks have disrupted global commerce and set the US military off on a costly campaign to intercept missiles.
Trump said earlier on Tuesday that he had discussed with Sisi the progress made against the Houthis, as the White House continued its biggest military attacks against the Yemeni group under Trump’s administration since 15 March.
Trump said the strikes were a response to the group’s attacks on Red Sea shipping, and he warned Iran, the Houthis’ main backer, that it needed to immediately halt support for the group.
In messages mistakenly shared with a journalist at The Atlantic magazine in March disclosing US war plans against the Houthis, one of the US officials quoted in the chat relayed by The Atlantic said that Trump approved the Yemen plans but “we soon make clear to Egypt and Europe what we expect in return”.
The Egyptian statement made no mention of the messages or Washington’s strikes against Houthis.
Egypt has been affected by the Houthis’ attacks on the Red Sea area since November 2023, which forced vessels to avoid the nearby Suez Canal and reroute trade around Africa, raising shipping costs.
Sisi said in December the disruption cost Egypt around $7-billion in lost revenue from the Suez Canal in 2024.
SA’s Budget path still unclear after legislators back more changes
South African legislators on a key parliamentary committee backed further changes to the national Budget on Tuesday, casting greater uncertainty over the government’s fiscal plans and the future of the ruling coalition.
The Budget has been the biggest test yet for the Government of National Unity formed last year after the African National Congress (ANC) lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since apartheid ended in 1994.
The ANC and its main coalition partner, the Democratic Alliance (DA), have negotiated for weeks but failed to reach a deal to pass the Budget.
The DA has sought to secure a bigger say in economic policymaking, while the ANC has resisted and held talks with a broad swathe of political parties.
On Tuesday, the ANC backed a proposal from a small party outside the coalition, ActionSA, to recommend scrapping the Budget’s most contentious element, a proposal to increase value-added tax (VAT) by one percentage point spread over two years, as well as adjusting personal income tax brackets for inflation.
The National Treasury was given 30 days to come up with alternative revenue measures and expenditure savings.
By making those concessions, the ANC got the Budget through the first hurdle in Parliament, the Standing Committee on Finance, but it is not yet clear how it will progress further.
The lower House of Parliament was due to consider the Standing Committee on Finance’s recommendations on Wednesday, but this might be postponed given Tuesday’s late deliberations.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has yet to respond to the recommendations and give his view on the way forward.
DRC and M23 rebels plan to hold first direct talks next week
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) government and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels aimed to hold direct talks on 9 April, said sources from both camps on Tuesday, a potential boost to Qatar’s efforts to end the central African country’s worst fighting in decades.
The meeting in Doha would be the two sides’ first direct negotiations since M23 fighters captured eastern DRC’s two largest cities in a rapid offensive that has left thousands dead and forced hundreds of thousands more from their homes.
A DRC official said that talks were scheduled for 9 April “unless the other side misbehaves”. A source inside M23 confirmed the date and said it would present Kinshasa with its demands. Both sides have agreed not to publicly discuss the substance of the talks, the sources said.
DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, held a surprise meeting in Doha on 18 March.
Qatar hosted a second round of talks between the two countries beginning on Friday and met separately with M23 representatives. DRC officials and M23 had not yet met, said sources.
Rwanda denies supporting M23 and says its military has been acting in self-defence against DRC’s army and militias hostile to Kigali.
The conflict, which has raged on DRC’s eastern border with Rwanda and Uganda, is rooted in the fallout from Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and regional competition for mineral riches.
M23 has long demanded direct negotiations with Kinshasa, but Tshisekedi had refused, arguing that M23 was merely a front for Rwanda. He reversed his position last month amid mounting battlefield defeats, and agreed to send a delegation to Luanda, the Angolan capital.
Those talks were cancelled at the last minute when M23 pulled out after being hit by European Union sanctions.
Mali, Burkina, Niger foreign ministers to visit Moscow this week
The foreign ministers of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger would visit Moscow this week as the Sahel nations and Russia seek to strengthen ties, said the three African countries’ foreign ministries in a joint statement on Tuesday.
The West African nations, run by juntas that have taken power in coups in recent years, have formed an alliance known as the Confederation of Sahel States (AES). The grouping kicked out French and other Western forces and turned towards Russia for military support.
Their foreign ministers would visit Moscow on 3 and 4 April and hold meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at his invitation, according to the statement.
“The Moscow meeting represents an important step in establishing strategic, pragmatic, dynamic and supportive cooperation and partnership relations in areas of common interest between the AES and Russia,” said the ministries.
It referred to this week’s visit as the first session of “AES-Russia consultations”.
The three countries’ armies are fighting a jihadist insurgency that has spread across the region south of the Sahara since it first took root in Mali 13 years ago.
South Africa plans US meeting on looming vehicle tariffs
South Africa would seek a meeting with US authorities on vehicle tariffs, said Trade Minister Parks Tau on Tuesday, noting the levies were a concern as the country has preferential trade status with the US.
South Africa, whose exports of vehicles and parts into the US are estimated at more than $2-billion, could be hard hit by a planned tariff of 25% on automobile imports that Trump made public last week.
Tau said the US Section 232 tariffs were expected to apply to imports of cars and car parts from countries, including South Africa, that benefit from the US African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa).
Agoa provides duty-free access to the US market for most agricultural and manufactured products, such as cars and parts exported by eligible African countries.
“Automobile exports from South Africa accounted for 64% of South Africa’s exports under Agoa in 2024 and are therefore a significant component of products currently benefiting under the preferential programme,” said Tau.
While South Africa’s car exports to the US are duty-free under Agoa, US imports into South Africa also receive rebates under the country’s Automotive Production Development Programme.
South Africa’s exports of automobiles account for only 0.99% of US total vehicle imports and 0.27% of auto parts “and thus do not constitute a threat to US industry”, said Tau.
“South Africa will seek a meeting with the United States authorities to discuss these developments, given the potential negative effect on the South African economy,” he said.
The representative body of South Africa’s automotive industry, Naamsa, has said that it was actively assessing the potential impact of these tariffs and was engaging with its members and other stakeholders.
Algerian army says it shot down ‘armed surveillance drone’
The Algerian army shot down an “armed surveillance drone” that violated the country’s airspace, said the defence ministry on Tuesday.
The drone was downed early on Tuesday near the border town of Tin Zaouatine, it said in a statement, without providing further details.
Kenyan police in Haiti suffer more casualties in clashes with gangs
Two Kenyan police officers in Haiti have been seriously injured in clashes with gangs over the past week, three officers told Reuters, adding to the mission’s growing list of casualties as it comes under increasingly frequent attack.
Kenya first deployed officers last June to the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, which currently has around 1,000 security personnel, about three-quarters of them from Kenya.
The mission, aimed at restoring enough security for Haiti to hold elections by February 2026, has faced morale issues almost from the start and uncertainty about its possible expansion amid escalating gang violence.
It suffered its first fatality in February, and the MSS reported another Kenyan officer missing last week. The three officers, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal, said he was believed to be dead.
They said the two injuries came during routine patrols in and around the capital, Port-au-Prince, which is mostly controlled by heavily armed gangs blamed for thousands of deaths since 2021.
MSS spokesperson Jack Ombaka confirmed that two officers had been evacuated to the Dominican Republic for medical care.
“As in any mission, casualties are sometimes unavoidable,” he said.
The three officers said the gangs were attacking them on an increasingly regular basis and complained that their equipment was inadequate.
They said one of the officers was shot in the head after a bullet pierced his helmet, and the other was hit in the ear when a gunshot penetrated the walls of an armoured vehicle.
Twenty armoured vehicles have been grounded since this weekend after officers refused to use them, complaining that this was the second time a vehicle had failed to stop a bullet, said the three officers.
An MSS delegation plans to travel to Washington this week to present concerns over the quality of protective gear to US officials, two senior MSS officers told Reuters.
The US has provided most of the funding and equipment for the mission, which has struggled to secure significant contributions from other countries.
Kenya’s government has cited humanitarian reasons for its intervention in Haiti, though analysts say the deployment is also motivated by a desire to boost the country’s international profile and win favour with the US.
Asked about concerns about the equipment, Ombaka said: “MSS continues to receive increased logistical support from partners and stakeholders, with assurances that all equipment meets international standards.” DM