The United States could soon radically change its diplomatic presence in Africa, according to a leaked memo from the US State Department.

As part of large overhaul plans for the State Department budget, Washington could close down as many as six of its embassies and two consulates in Africa.

The diplomatic representations marked for potential closure are the embassies of the Central African Republic, Eritrea, the Gambia, Lesotho, the Republic of Congo, and South Sudan. The consulates that could be closed are in Douala, Cameroon, and Durban, South Africa.

But according to some analysts, the news of the potential diplomatic cuts may be part of a wider attempt by Washington to change the relationship between the US and the African continent.

According to reports by Politico, the new relationship sought by Washington would be based on more business ties but scale back on foreign aid and its diplomatic – and also military – presence on the ground.

While the plans need to be approved by the US Congress, they have already given rise to fears that China could take advantage of a reduced American presence on the continent and further expand its own influence.

Congolese authorities said Saturday they had suspended the party of former President Joseph Kabila.

An Interior ministry statement justifying the ban on the People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) accused Kabila of of ‘overt’ activism.

It said the 53-year-old had been reluctant to condemn M23, the rebel group controlling North and South KIvu provinces.

Kinshasa has accused Kabila, in self-imposed exile since 2023 until Friday, of supporting separatist armed rebellion in the country’s east.

Kabila who ruled Congo until 2019 made a low key return to the country Friday.

He arrived in the rebel-held city of Goma through Rwanda.

Weeks before his return, Kabila said he wanted to make a contribution to peace in Congo without elaborating how.

Days ago, Congolese security forces raided two properties belonging to Kabila – a farm east of Kinshasa and a compound in the capital. The raids were confirmed by the Kabila family spokesperson.

There has been no word from the party on its suspension.

Separately, the justice ministry said that a prosecutor had started legal action against Kabila for his ties with M23, the rebel group that Kinshasa says is backed by Rwanda.

“The Herds” continued its long journey from Central Africa to the Arctic Circle Saturday, passing through Nigeria’s Makoko community, largely built on stilts in the Lagos Lagoon.

The Herds is a moving theatre performance made up of cardboard puppet animals that flee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Arctic Circle in a bid to bring attention to the climate crisis.

The story goes that the animals will be forced out of their natural habitats due to global warming and displaced north, stopping in cities along the way and being joined by more animals. The team works with local artists in each city.

Mihlali Bele is a puppeteer travelling with The Herds, and said that the training the team does with artists in the communities they visit is one of the most important parts of the performance. “We’re not just teaching and facilitating how to manipulate these puppets, but also we get to have encounters and build community in each and every space that we are in,” she said.

The Herds comes from the team that was behind The Walk in 2021, where a 12-foot tall puppet of a refugee girl called Little Amal drew attention to the refugee crisis by traveling to 15 countries – from Turkey to the U.K., Ukraine, Mexico and the U.S. Amir Nizar Zuabi was on that team and is now the artistic director of The Herds.

He was also a part of The Walk. “This occurrence of animals invading into cities is a metaphor. It’s a metaphor for things that are not normal, that are becoming normal. And hopefully this becomes a way to talk about what we’re about to lose if we continue blindfolded-ly running forward after fossil fuel,” he said.

The Herds will stay in Lagos until Monday, before moving on to Dakar, Senegal, its last stop in Africa.