| Welcome to Next Africa, a twice-weekly newsletter on where the continent stands now — and where it’s headed. Sign up here to have it delivered to your email. Running battles between mostly youths and police on Kenyan streets are invariably turning deadly. At least 50 people were killed during marches against William Ruto’s government over the past two weeks, largely from being shot by the police, according to human-right organizations. More than 60 people died in demonstrations a year ago. “Shoot them in the legs,” the president said at an event at a housing project for security forces this week. “They can be taken to court via the hospital.”  A protest on the outskirts of Nairobi on July 7. Photographer: Michel Lunanga/Getty Images The comment follows his interior secretary’s line for the police to use lethal force against violent demonstrators. It comes weeks after hundreds of hooded motorcylists clubbed protesting youths while chanting pro-government slogans. Interior Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, police spokesman Michael Muchiri and Ruto’s spokesman, Hussein Mohamed, didn’t respond to requests for comment. Police in Kenya routinely use live ammunition and military-grade weapons, even on largely peaceful demonstrations, according to the Geneva-based World Organisation Against Torture, known as OMCT. Last month, an officer shot a street hawker at close range in full view of a group of reporters. Claims of police brutality aren’t new in the East African nation and date back to the colonial era. But the challenge to stamp it out has come sharply into focus after growing civil unrest that’s included the torching of more than 10 police stations.  Police officers during a protests in Nairobi in August 2024. Photographer: Kang-Chun Cheng/Bloomberg Tax increases, a struggling economy and corruption have fueled social anger, stoked more recently by the killing in custody of an online activist. The authorities initially said Albert Ojwang died from suicide, but rowed that back after a postmortem showed the victim had been beaten. The state’s policing watchdog says it had received reports of more than a dozen detention deaths over one week that were registered as suicides. These aren’t “an isolated occurrence but part of a larger, deeply ingrained issue of police brutality and impunity,” said Isidore Ngueuleu, the OMCT’s head for Africa. Protests in Kenya are becoming more frequent and often turn violent, increasingly ending in fatalities. Heavy-handed security responses risk fueling a dangerous cycle of escalating unrest. — David Herbling and Helen Nyambura Key stories and opinion:
UN Criticizes Lethal Force in Kenya That Killed 31 People
IMF Says Monitoring Kenya After Recent Protest Deaths
Clashes Between Kenya Police, Protesters Leave Eight Dead
State Capture, Graft Holding Back Kenya’s Economy, AfDB Says
Why Kenya Has Been Rocked by Mass Protests Again: QuickTake South Africa’s Democratic Alliance, the second-biggest party in the coalition government, laid criminal charges against the police minister following accusations from a provincial commissioner that he interfered in a probe into political assassinations. The crisis and the DA’s demands that he respond add to tensions within President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration that’s come close to collapsing before. Also, read our deep dive into the tough-talking cop who made the explosive allegations.  A illustration of the press conference at which Kwazulu-Natal commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi accused Police Minister Senzo Mchunu of wrongdoing. Africa’s biggest refinery, owned by Aliko Dangote, plans to rely totally on Nigerian crude by the end of the year, a move that would replace hundreds of thousands of barrels a day of imported oil. The gradual ramp-up of the refinery has already made Nigeria a net exporter of petroleum products, but the effort required large quantities of overseas crude after domestic traders failed to meet demand. Meanwhile, the Dangote plans to more than double the output capacity of its fertilizer plant. US President Donald Trump hosted the leaders of five West African nations for a summit this week, hailing the continent’s economic potential as his administration seeks access to critical minerals. “We’re shifting from aid to trade,” Trump said. While Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal rank among Africa’s smaller economies, they’re rich in natural resources. The meeting shows a new sense of urgency in the US competing for scarce resources with China. Click here to read an opinion piece from Justice Malala on what Trump really wants from African nations.  WATCH: Ondiro Oganga reports on the start of the three-day summit in Washington for Bloomberg TV. South Sudan took in eight deportees from the US in a bid to normalize relations, the African nation’s foreign affairs ministry said. The men had been held at a military base in Djibouti before the US Supreme Court ruled that the administration could send migrants to countries other than those of their origin. Only one of the men — who had been convicted of serious crimes, including murder, robbery and sexual assault — is from South Sudan. Separately, Trump asked the five African leaders at the Washington summit to also accept deported migrants. Mauritius is planning tax breaks and fewer bureaucratic hurdles to lure wealth managers from Switzerland and tap rich Indians looking to keep part of their assets outside the country. The island nation will also seek to attract professionals from Hong Kong, woo 10 overseas banks and set up 15 development financial institutions by 2030. Despite having a favorable tax regime and being home to pristine beaches and signature golf courses, Mauritius has struggled to attract family offices and wealth managers.  A beach at a resort in Le Morne Peninsula, Mauritius. Source: EyesWideOpen/Getty Images Malian government helicopters landed unexpectedly at Barrick’s mine and seized more than a metric ton of gold, days after the West African nation’s junta leader signed a law granting himself a mandate to rule, renewable forever. The seized bullion is worth about $117 million and adds to three tons the state took in January. The Toronto-based company had shuttered its giant Loulo-Gounkoto mining complex after Malian authorities blocked bullion exports and detained senior employees. Next Africa Quiz — In which West African nation did lawmakers reject a change to the constitution this week that would have allowed its president to stand for two more terms? Send your answers to gbell16@bloomberg.net.  In this week’s special episode of the Next Africa podcast, Jennifer Zabasajja heads to Ivory Coast to find out how the founder of Cafe Continent in planning to bring home-roasted coffee to the African market. Reporter Mumbi Gitau also gives her analysis of the state of the global coffee market and Africa’s place in it. Data Watch - For the first time in a decade, no African country has a sovereign debt-risk premium in distress territory.
- Four years after terrorist attacks halted a massive liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique, momentum behind $57 billion in facilities that will export the fuel is picking up.
- South Africa’s anemic economic growth since 2010 has left its population significantly poorer than the global average.
- Egypt’s central bank left interest rates on hold on caution over tariffs, snapping two rounds of monetary easing, even though the inflation rate fell in June.
- Gold and foreign-currency reserves backing Zimbabwe’s bullion-linked ZiG rose to a record last month.
Coming Up - July 13 Ramaphosa will give a televised speech following allegations made against the police minister
- July 15 Democratic Republic of Congo interest-rate decision, June inflation data for Nigeria, Botswana, Eswatini and Cape Verde, South Africa mining-production data for May
- July 16 South Africa retail sales for May
- July 17 South Africa hosts a tw0-day meeting of G-20 finance ministers & central bank governors
- July 18 Angola interest-rate decision
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