Africa
Trump tariffs put 35,000 South African citrus jobs at risk, farmers warn
The new 30% tariffs set to be imposed on South Africa by the Trump administration will threaten 35,000 jobs in the country’s citrus-growing sector and the economies of entire towns, a farmers group said Tuesday.
The Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa said the impending reciprocal tariffs, due to come into effect on Wednesday, will be deeply damaging to South Africa’s largest agricultural export.
The group said the tariffs would likely make South African citrus fruits cost $4.25 more per carton for American consumers. South Africa provides citrus to the U.S. market when it is out of season there.
South Africa is the second-biggest exporter of oranges behind Spain and the world’s fourth-largest exporter of soft citrus fruits, according to the World Citrus Organization.
South Africa sends around 5%-6% of its citrus exports to the United States, which is more than 6.5 million cartons per year, the growers’ association said, but some rural towns were specifically geared to and heavily dependent on the U.S. market.
The farmers’ group cited the case of the town of Citrusdal, near Cape Town, and said it faced major job losses and “maybe even total economic collapse” because it was built on exporting citrus to the U.S. It said there were other rural towns like it.
“There is immense anxiety in our communities,” said Gerrit van der Merwe, the chairman of the Citrus Growers’ Association and a citrus farmer near Citrusdal.
The group said the tariffs were due to come into effect the same week the first citrus fruit of the South African season was being packed to be exported to the U.S. It said it was urgently calling on the South African government to prioritize negotiations with the U.S. on tariff reductions or exemptions on citrus.
“Citrus is not produced in a factory,” Citrus Growers’ Association CEO Boitshoko Ntshabele said. “(South African) citrus growers do not compete with U.S. citrus growers. Quite the opposite. Our high-quality produce sustains consumer interest when U.S. local citrus is out of season, eventually benefitting U.S. growers when we hand over at the end of our season.”
South Africa, the most diverse economy in Africa, has been especially hard-hit by the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump’s cuts to U.S. foreign aid removed significant funding from South Africa’s AIDS program, which is the largest in the world and treats around 5.5 million people. Trump has also issued an executive order stopping other federal funding to South Africa over what he said was the South African government’s mistreatment of white minority farmers, many of whom could now be negatively impacted by his new tariffs.
The electoral process for Gabon’s local and legislative elections is officially underway.
The timetable for the September 27 vote has been announced and members of the national election commission have been sworn in by the Constitutional Court.
The revision of electoral rolls across the country begins on July 14 and continues until August 12. This will ensure new voters are added and deceased or ineligible voters removed from the rolls. It will also register any changes of voting centre and update personal data.
People aged 18 and over with a Personal Identification Number (PIN) are automatically registered and need only choose their polling center.
Local electoral commissions will be set up by July 26 and deployed across the country and abroad.
Nominations for the legislative and local elections are open from July 27 to August 7.
Fifth Republic
The Ministry of the Interior and national election commission reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring “credible, transparent and peaceful” elections, and called on citizens to play an active part in building the Fifth Republic.
Last week, two years after seizing power in a coup, President Brice Oligui Nguema unveiled a new political party, the Democratic Union of Builders, or UDB. Oligui secured nearly 95 percent of the vote in April’s presidential election.
The launch of the UDB appears to signal Oligui’s intent to transition from military leader to long-term political figure. While he initially presented himself as a reformer leading a transitional government, the creation of a political party gives structure to his leadership and a platform for future governance.
Scheduled to take place for the first time in almost forty years, local and municipal elections in the Central African Republic have been once again postponed.
Initially planned for the end of August, officials say the vote will now be held in December, in conjunction with the legislative and presidential elections.
President Touadéra, who has been in office since 2016, launched a biometric voter registration exercise last year to update the electoral roll.
Authorities say the postponement is due to a delay in mobilizing funds as well as technical and organizational hiccups.
Members of the opposition BRDC are calling for an overhaul of the electoral authority and a dialogue with President Touadéra.
CAR has been battling conflict since 2013 when predominantly Muslim rebels seized power and forced the then-president from office. The United Nations has said the elections represent a ”crucial opportunity” to strengthen democratic governance, promote reconciliation and consolidate stability.
The landlocked country is one of the poorest in the world, despite having significant natural resources, including uranium, oil, gold and diamonds.
After 10 days of negotiations, including a final overnight marathon, France has reached an agreement with New Caledonia. The deal grants the South Pacific territory more autonomy — but stops short of the independence sought by many indigenous Kanaks.
President Macron hailed the deal as historic but it still needs final approval in New Caledonia. If passed, it would create a state of Caledonia within the French Republic incscribed in the French constitution and a Caledonian nationality alongside French nationality.
The talks stemmed from deadly rioting last year prompted by proposed changes to electoral rules that pro-independence groups said would marginalize Indigenous voters.
The territory has held three referenda on the question of independence, with voters each time opting to remain with France.
A special congress will be held to finalize next steps. Media reports say they could include more sovereignty for New Caledonia over international affairs, security and justice.
The accord could also eventually allow New Caledonians to change the territory’s name, flag and hymn.
Negotiators stressed the importance of rehabilitating and diversifying New Caledonia’s indebted economy, which depends heavily on nickel mining, and making it less reliant on the French mainland.
France colonized the Pacific archipelago in the 1850s, and it became an overseas territory after World War II, with French citizenship granted to all Kanaks in 1957.
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