MEDI1TV Afrique : LE GRAND JOURNAL MIDI - 14/10/2024
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00:00It's time for the big news of the afternoon, welcome to you right away the titles of your
00:20newspaper.
00:21Following the open war that Israel is waging against the Hezbollah, the Lebanese movement
00:26threatens Israel.
00:27Other attacks in pursuit of the Israeli offensive in the country of Cedre, at least
00:32four Israeli soldiers have been killed in recent hours in the south of Haifa.
00:39An operation that arouses concern in Washington, Beijing is carrying out military maneuvers
00:48around Taiwan, China is speaking seriously, warning the separatists on the island.
00:55And then in the United States, a driver was arrested on Saturday near a Donald Trump
01:02meeting in Coachella, California.
01:04He had several weapons on him illegally detained, he was released on bail that same evening.
01:11I was telling you, following the open war that Israel is waging against the Hezbollah
01:20in the south of Haifa, the Lebanese party threatened, as well as other attacks in pursuit
01:26of the Israeli offensive in the country of Cedre, rather a drone strike targeting a
01:31military position in the south of Haifa, killed four Israeli soldiers and injured more than
01:3760 people.
01:38In a statement, Hezbollah promised that the attack in the south of Haifa was only a foretaste
01:45of what awaited Israel.
01:47And the Finul announces that two Israeli tanks have entered force in one of its positions,
01:59the United Nations Interim Force, deployed in the south of Lebanon, which also accused
02:03yesterday the Israeli army of having blocked one of its movements, claiming explanations
02:09for the shocking violations.
02:12Suhail Jalil explains to us on this subject.
02:39I would like to make a direct appeal to the UN Secretary General, it is time for you to
02:58withdraw the Finul of the Hezbollah bastions and combat zones.
03:01The Israeli army has asked for it several times, and it has come to repeated refusals.
03:06Your refusal to evacuate the Finul soldiers in celebration of the hostages of Hezbollah,
03:18we regret the injuries suffered by the Finul soldiers, and we are doing everything in our
03:23power to avoid these accidents.
03:25We are urging the parties not only to use maximum, but also to stop the fire.
03:53It is a conflict that has caused more than 2,000 deaths in the last two weeks.
03:59More than 1,000 people have been killed.
04:01It is therefore extremely serious.
04:06We encourage not only the parties, but also the international community to stop the war
04:12and force the hand of the belligerents to find a political and diplomatic solution.
04:17It is something very bad what Israel has done.
04:22And I hope that it will awaken the world's attention to what Israel is doing.
04:30It is not the first time they target the forces of the UN.
04:36Plenty of war crimes have been committed by Israel.
04:41In several places they have killed many civilians.
04:44And the last one was just two days ago.
05:14In 1978, the Finul has the mission to monitor the security situation and protect the civilians
05:21in the area between Lebanon and Israel.
05:24So how do you explain these successive attacks of the Israelis against the positions of the
05:30forces of the United Nations in Lebanon?
05:32We asked the question to Hasnir Abidi, political scientist, director of the Center for Studies
05:36and Research on the Arab and Mediterranean World.
05:40Let's listen.
05:41These attacks against the Finul are part of a plan deliberated by the Israeli army.
05:48It is to take over a part of Lebanon, to go beyond this blue line, knowing that the positions
05:56of the Finul are known, they are also sent by Israeli forces.
06:03Since their installation, there has been a collaboration on both sides of the border.
06:08The Israeli army does not want the presence of the Finul, because this presence serves
06:13as an observation force.
06:15It is a direct witness of a great overstep in terms of Lebanese sovereignty, but also
06:22as the UN Secretary-General said, it is a violation of international law.
06:28In a way, we are facing an Israeli will not to allow any counter-power in the Lebanese territory.
06:37No, it is not an accident, you know that in the manual for the use of international forces
06:42and even international organizations, all the GPS positions, the geographical positions
06:47are transmitted to the Israeli forces.
06:49That is to say, the Israeli army knows perfectly well what the positions of all the forces are,
06:56which are still a fairly important force.
06:59The second element is that this force is there following a mandate from the Security Council,
07:05which does not belong to Israel, to ask that it change its position.
07:10So, we are not at all in an accident register, insofar as the Israeli government chief himself
07:17who asks the Finul forces, the UN forces in the south of Lebanon, to take shelter.
07:26In a way, we have a warning, a warning from the Israeli government chief
07:32against the forces of the United Nations.
07:34And in this context of regionalized war, the United States, for their part, deployed in Israel
07:40an anti-missile system against Iran.
07:42This is what the Pentagon announced yesterday.
07:44It is a high-altitude anti-missile defense system, a TAHAD battery
07:50and a team of American soldiers in Israel will thus come in support of the Israeli air defense
07:59following the attacks of Iran against Israel on April 13 and October 1 last year.
08:04There is no more matter to talk about live with the United States declaration of the head of Iranian diplomacy
08:13Abbas Haggashi evokes the indirect talks with the United States via Oman
08:21for the Iranian Foreign Minister.
08:24First of all, it is a priority to overcome the current crisis.
08:29He was speaking in Tamaskat in front of journalists,
08:31emphasizing that the process was stopped due to specific conditions of the region.
08:43In the rest of the news, China is deploying aircraft and ships to encircle Taiwan
08:50In the context of a military operation intended to send a serious warning to the separatists of the island
08:57this operation arouses the concern of Washington.
09:01The United States had on Friday warned against any provocation from Beijing towards Taipei
09:07after exchanges between the two neighbors.
09:10The latter denounces unjustified operations that represent a risk of escalation.
09:16But for Beijing, this operation is legitimate and necessary
09:19to safeguard the sovereignty of the state and national unity.
09:27It is now the turn of the American presidential campaign.
09:32The United States is now heading where a driver was arrested on Saturday
09:48after a meeting of Donald Trump in Coachella, California.
09:52Vam Miller, 49, was arrested for possession of several weapons illegally detained.
09:57He had on him a gun, a loaded pistol, a high-capacity magazine.
10:02The latter was released on bail of $ 5,000.
10:06In the same evening, he will appear on January 2
10:09in front of a local court for the crimes of possession of weapons,
10:14loaded possession of high-capacity magazines.
10:16The announcement comes after two attempted murders,
10:20I remind you, at the meeting of the former Republican president in the last two months.
10:28To approve a 10% raise, I haven't had one in a long time, for all ages.
10:36And three weeks after the American presidential campaign,
10:39Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are neck and neck.
10:42The two candidates faced each other at a distance yesterday in two very disputed states.
10:48But if the polls show close scores,
10:52some investigations reveal the difficulties of Kamala Harris
10:56to fill the void among black and Latino American voters.
10:59Yesterday, the vice president chose North Carolina,
11:02in a region with a strong black American population,
11:05of this state that has just been ravaged by Hurricane Helen.
11:09The last time this state had been won by a Democrat was in 2008.
11:14At a meeting in Greenville, she attacked her rival
11:18by reproaching him for a lack of transparency on his health status,
11:21but also for refusing to have a second debate with her.
11:24As for Donald Trump, he was in Arizona and he accused the Biden government,
11:30I quote, of importing an army of illegal migrants.
11:34End of quote.
11:52Tunisian parents or independent experts have denounced
11:55a threat to migrants and refugees during operations
12:00of sea rescue or transfer to the border areas.
12:04Information related in a report commissioned by the Council on Human Rights of the UN.
12:08Experts conduct dangerous maneuvers during interception operations
12:13of migrants, refugees or asylum seekers at sea,
12:16citing shocking methods such as blows or shipwrecks.
12:22Between January and July, it is learned that 189 people
12:26would have lost their lives during these crossings
12:28and 265 during interception operations at sea.
12:32Children are among the victims.
12:3595 people were taken and disappeared.
12:39According to experts appointed by the Council on Human Rights of the UN,
12:44for those who are saved by coast guards,
12:47the situation would only worsen at the time of landing in the ports.
12:51They are indeed in a state of arbitrary transfer allegations,
12:54forced to the borders with Algeria and Libya, without humanitarian aid.
13:04In Morocco, the city of Marrakech was the scene of heavy thunderstorms last night,
13:11flooding several neighborhoods of the city of Acre.
13:15You can see it on these images.
13:17Even if they only lasted a short time,
13:20the storms caused several material damage due to their intensity.
13:27Stormy, locally strong, but also hail and gusts of wind
13:33are also and always expected this Monday in several provinces of the kingdom.
13:38The DGM has indeed published a warning bulletin of the level of orange vigilance.
13:43Stormy thunderstorms are expected in the provinces of Middelt, Tenerife and Rachidia in particular.
13:49The same phenomenon is expected in the provinces of Taounet, Taza, Tetouan,
13:54Beniminelel, Ifrane, Gnifra, Boulemène, Sefrou and Azilel, among others.
14:08Rains that can be beneficial for dams and the agricultural sector in Morocco.
14:15How does the Moroccan agricultural campaign look like this year,
14:19after six consecutive years of drought?
14:23Listen to Rachid Ben Ali's answer.
14:26He is president of the Moroccan Confederation of Agriculture and Rural Development.
14:31He was the guest of the DGM.
14:33We can't say for sure, we're just at the beginning,
14:39we don't know how it's going to be.
14:41What we hope is to have water, to have rain,
14:45especially rain to succeed in our crops, especially in autumn, because it's the most important.
14:51And to have a pasture also for our farmers, it's as important as cereals.
14:57On the other hand, we are confident for irrigation water for certain areas.
15:04For example, we have milk, we can say that the Meluia, the Ziz, the Rarb,
15:10these are production basins, so we're going to have enough water to start a good campaign.
15:16An important thing, and we salute the decision of His Majesty the King,
15:22who gave instructions to have this water transfer.
15:26And every time there was a water transfer, for the Great Casablanca,
15:30it allowed us to avoid this water that starts from the region of Tetza to the city of Kazan.
15:36And of course, it's the water that will stay in the region of Tetza,
15:39it will be largely reserved for irrigation.
15:43So we are confident on that side.
15:46Let's go straight to the guest of the Grand Journal,
15:50the debt of African countries has almost doubled in 10 years.
15:54The average debt ratio in sub-Saharan Africa has gone from 30% of GDP in 2013 to a little less than 60% in 2022.
16:03So how to explain this massive debt recourse?
16:07What impact on African economies as well?
16:10I propose to speak with our guest, Mohamed Dajkoundi,
16:14academic, researcher, economist and specialist in governance in Africa.
16:18Hello to you, Professor, we are delighted to have you here.
16:23Hello, thank you for the invitation.
16:25So why this massive recourse of African countries to international debt?
16:32Yes, this massive recourse, it can first be explained by the double effect,
16:37first of all by the increase in prices, a global phenomenon, what we call inflation.
16:42Since 2022, we have seen a surge in prices,
16:48and so African countries are paying their taxes to this inflation,
16:52imported, let's say, and then we also have the impact of the successive crises
16:57that African countries have engulfed in recent years.
17:00And where it hurts is that when we see that most African countries,
17:05there are African countries that are in debt to develop, to finance development,
17:10but most African countries are in debt to face the debt service,
17:15to be able to honor their commitment to the preparation of the international community,
17:20to private creditors.
17:22So there is a kind of vicious circle that settles in several African countries
17:27from the moment they have to borrow to repay a part of the debt that has come to maturity,
17:34what is called the principal, and also to face everything that is the debt service.
17:39And so we have time to do that, yes.
17:43We will go there gradually, Professor, if you want,
17:46before talking about this vicious circle, we will talk about this debt.
17:49Is this debt generally used to finance investments or just current expenses,
17:56first of all, for these African countries?
17:59We would have liked to say that this debt is used to finance development,
18:04because Africa needs development, given the numerous challenges it is called upon to face.
18:09But 80, more than 80% of African countries at the moment,
18:13at the moment we are talking about it, are in debt to be able to face the debt service,
18:19to be able to pay the debt service.
18:22It is enough to tell you in passing that just for this year,
18:25African countries must pay more than $169 billion to face the debt service,
18:33and also to repay the principal, that is, a debt that has come to maturity.
18:38So all this debt service, which continues to weigh more and more heavily on the budget of African countries,
18:46obviously prevents them from investing in strategic sectors such as health and education.
18:54So I am afraid to tell you that most African countries are currently in debt
19:01to face the debt service and to repay debts that come to maturity.
19:05And also, I would like to add an important point,
19:08which is that at the international debt market, especially at the level of private creditors,
19:15the debt to which African countries have acted, that is, the loans to which they have acted,
19:21are short-term loans.
19:23Whereas in order to be able to answer your question about financing development,
19:27we need loans that come to maturity in the long term.
19:32And unfortunately, this is not the case.
19:34Okay. So in this context, the figures that you have just denounced are staggering.
19:42How do you explain that such rich African countries in mining have access to international markets?
19:49I imagine this is not the first time that this question has been asked to economic experts in Africa and in African governments.
19:57But what is the answer that we can give today to this question?
20:00Quite simply, it is because it brings us back to the problem of African oil exporters
20:07who are victims of what is sometimes called the curse of natural resources
20:12and at the same time who are victims of an economy that remains extroverted,
20:16that is, an economy that is very outward-looking.
20:19And so the raw materials that some African countries export to the rest of the world,
20:24they are subjected to a movement of yoyos to the grid of crises that I have just told you about.
20:29So in the first place, we can explain this by the conjunctural reversal,
20:34that is, African countries are in debt during the period of lean cows when the prices of raw materials fall.
20:43And so after, during the period of fat cows, they begin to repay the debt in the first instance.
20:50The second instance is the problems of governance.
20:53Where there are natural resources in Africa, there are conflicts,
20:56and this governance, this sometimes parasitic governance of development,
21:00makes sure that the revenues generated by the export of raw materials are less.
21:07So there is not a significant impact on oil reserves.
21:11The third element of explanation is that Africa,
21:15most African countries are sometimes victims of an exploitation system
21:19or a mining governance emanating from some multinationals.
21:24There is a mining governance.
21:25From the moment when this mining governance, the governance of natural resources,
21:30has no significant impact on local communities or on the territories in which these multinationals invest.
21:38And a last element, these are elements that send us problems related to transparency, related to governance.
21:44So the first, we said that there is a multilevel problem.
21:49It is a multilevel problem, indeed, and you are mainly talking about mal-governance.
21:55So, and these are private creditors today,
21:58who hold 44% of the foreign debt of African countries against 30% in 2010.
22:05Why turn to foreign investment companies for these African countries?
22:13This is another problem that aggravates the problems that arise here.
22:18In recent years, we have witnessed a radical change in the basic credit structure of African countries.
22:27From the moment before, it was the multilateral system,
22:31or the fund-bearers, we will say bilateral and multilateral, which were very present.
22:35If I take the example of the year 2000, it was 52% of the fund-bearers.
22:41I am talking in terms of African debt holdings.
22:45Today, more than 60% of this African debt is held by private creditors.
22:51How can we explain this mutation?
22:53This mutation can be explained by several reasons, first of all, the crisis of globalization.
22:57The crisis of globalization that immediately leads to a crisis of multilateralism.
23:03The second element is that it can be explained by the closing of public aid to development.
23:08There is a closure of public aid to development.
23:11International agencies are not less and less engaged,
23:17but perhaps the guarantee systems that are provided to them do not allow them to get involved.
23:22This leaves the door wide open to private creditors,
23:27who take advantage of this multidimensional vulnerability of some African countries
23:33from the moment they apply exorbitant interest rates.
23:37This also allows me to return to your first question.
23:41These exorbitant interest rates lock African debtors in a vicious circle,
23:47where they are in debt to repay the debt,
23:50and then the more they are in debt, the more their margin of manoeuvre in terms of debt
23:56becomes more and more narrow, and therefore the interest rate increases.
24:00So, roughly speaking, yes.
24:04And you have just addressed it, but perhaps we will finish on this.
24:09Professor Eshkoundi, can we say, can we confirm that the global debt system
24:15is truly suffocating these African countries,
24:17especially in terms of growth and development?
24:21Absolutely. That is why most African countries
24:24call for a resumption of international financial architecture.
24:29We cannot continue like this.
24:31We cannot continue to let the private sector, perhaps the private creditors,
24:37with their logic of immediate profitability,
24:40continue to dominate the structure of African debt.
24:43It is time to reform international financial architecture
24:47so that African debtors can have facilities
24:50in terms of debt renegotiation and in terms of financing.
24:54For example, there is the framework,
24:58the rescheduling of African debt,
25:00the renegotiation of African debt was done as part of the Paris Club
25:05when we were dealing with a multilateral debt system.
25:08But with this fragmentation of the client base of African debt,
25:14there is a framework that is flawed,
25:19and that is the renegotiation of African debt.
25:23And so the proof is that there was the framework of G20,
25:27there is the framework of G20,
25:28but until now we have the impression
25:32that G20, as a framework for negotiation
25:37and rescheduling of African debt,
25:40does not yet have this culture of management,
25:44that is, of debt,
25:46and so it translates into delays
25:48in the treatment of African debt.
25:52The proof is that several African countries
25:54have filed a request to renegotiate their debt with G20.
25:59Only one country has seen this request,
26:02that is, to lend, it is Zambia and the other countries,
26:04and are waiting.
26:05So we must reform international financial architecture,
26:09we must reform international financial governance
26:12to allow African debtors to have much more access
26:16to financing at affordable prices.
26:19Because the fact that African countries...
26:21Yes.
26:22Thank you very much, Professor Eshkondi.
26:25It is an endless theme
26:28that is nerve-wracking for the African continent.
26:31Thank you for answering our questions.
26:34And in this context of this reform
26:36of the financial architecture of Africa,
26:40we will recall that Zambia, Ghana and Ethiopia
26:42have not yet repaid their obligatory interests
26:45after the economic shocks
26:46and that have undermined their growth.
26:49It is a theme that deserves development.
26:52Thank you for answering our questions.
26:56And thank you, this is the end of the news.