Lomé hosted Friday the opening of an extraordinary summit of the African Political Alliance (APA), bringing together ten African member states and representatives from Gulf countries - notably Kuwait and Qatar - to discuss the continent's response to the Middle East crisis and its far-reaching consequences for African economies.
At the heart of the discussions lies a concrete and immediate concern: the Strait of Hormuz © Mena Today
Lomé hosted Friday the opening of an extraordinary summit of the African Political Alliance (APA), bringing together ten African member states and representatives from Gulf countries - notably Kuwait and Qatar - to discuss the continent's response to the Middle East crisis and its far-reaching consequences for African economies.
The session was opened by Togo's President of the Council Faure Gnassingbé, who set the tone with a frank assessment of Africa's vulnerability to global disruptions it has no hand in creating.
At the heart of the discussions lies a concrete and immediate concern: the Strait of Hormuz.
The blockade has disrupted the flow of oil, gas and fertilisers, commodities on which African economies depend heavily. While the signing of a preliminary US-Iran agreement has improved maritime traffic, the situation remains far from resolved, and African countries are watching closely.
Africa's Broader Vulnerability
Gnassingbé went further, expressing concern that future global crises - not just this one - will continue to penalise African economies as long as the continent lacks genuine diplomatic weight on the world stage. It is a recurring and uncomfortable truth: Africa suffers the consequences of conflicts it did not start, in regions it does not control, through mechanisms it has no power to influence.
That is precisely why the African Political Alliance was created. Founded at Togo's initiative in May 2023 and grouping Angola, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Guinea, Libya, Mali, Namibia, the Central African Republic, Tanzania and Togo, the APA was built around a single conviction: Africa must stop being a spectator of global events and start becoming an actor.
Friday's summit - with Gulf states at the table - is a step in that direction. Whether it translates into real influence remains the harder question.
By Nabil Al Blooshi
Iran warned on Sunday against any big new attack by the United States and its allies, saying it had information such a move was being prepared, adding to the anxiety in a region already on edge after drone and missile strikes on Saudi Arabia.
The United States has warned it fears a "rapid escalation" of hostilities in the Middle East, following Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia that struck the kingdom's capital for the first time in months.
The Saudi-led military coalition announced Sunday that it had intercepted a missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels toward Riyadh, where explosions were heard at dawn, the first such incident since hostilities resumed between the kingdom and the Iran-backed fighters.
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