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Table of contents:

• What everyone is talking about
  • A spying scandal rocks two continents
• What we are talking about
  • Protests resume in Zimbabwe…and crackdowns too
• Conflict focus
  • Rwanda to resettle migrants trapped in Libya
• Continental health corner
  • UNAIDS has a new leader
• WTF of the week 
  • Nigerian ‘businessman’ arraigned for wire fraud
• If you’ve got time, read these! 

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Free segment: What everyone is talking about

A spying scandal rocks two continents

The essentials: The Wall Street Journal published an explosive investigation last week alleging that technicians from Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications giant, helped officials in two African governments spy on their political opponents.

The background: The WSJ reporters detail unconnected incidents in Zambia and Uganda. In Lusaka, they allege that Huawei officials helped Zambian security officers access social media accounts run by regime opponents. In Kampala, company technicians allegedly helped the government crack encrypted chat groups organised by opposition politician Bobi Wine.

Everyone alleged to have been involved — officials in Zambia, Uganda and from Huawei — deny the charges.

But they have still gained traction, especially given that the Ugandan regime has been accused of spying on its political opponents in the past. The possible involvement of the Chinese megafirm is even more disturbing and it could add to mounting backlash in some parts of the continent against China’s involvement in Africa.

The good: In the sense that sunlight is the best disinfectant, perhaps raising the allegations will prevent something like this from happening in the future. And from a reporting perspective, it’s a pretty impressive feat of investigative work.

The bad: This just raises more concerns about privacy on the continent, particularly if administrations are able to rely on or compel multinationals to participate in efforts to subvert democratic norms.

The future: Most likely? Everyone involved denies it and then things go back to normal.

• Must read: Huawei technicians helped African governments spy on political opponents (WSJ)
• Huawei denies helping governments of Uganda and Zambia spy on political opponents (South China Morning Post)
• Uganda and Zambia deny Huawei spying allegations (BBC)

Discuss with @_andrew_green on Twitter

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The Africa Insiders’ Newsletter is a collaboration between AfricanArguments.org and @PeterDoerrie, with contributions from @_andrew_green, @shollytupe, and assistance from Stella Nantongo. Part of the subscription revenue is funding in-depth and freely accessible reporting and analysis on African Arguments.