Africa Weekly Roundup: Sudan, Ethiopia, Congo, Ebola

This Africa weekly roundup covers the seven Africa daily reports Peter’s World published from Oct. 26 to Nov. 1, 2026. It pulls the week’s main threads together, then adds our analysis. Each fact appears once, with its source, and the full daily list is at the end.

The week in brief

Sudan: the drone war moved to the power grid

Drones from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) hit five power substations in four states, cutting power across Sudan’s southeastern grid, the national power company said, as Anadolu Agency reported. By Oct. 28 the strikes had reached a third straight day and knocked out the main power station in Managil, in Gezira state, Anadolu reported. Sudan then accused Ethiopia of letting the drones launch from Ethiopian territory, a charge Ethiopia denied, according to Anadolu. Sudan’s Foreign Ministry repeated the accusation on Nov. 1, Sudan Tribune reported.

The United States and 30 other governments warned that Sudan faces famine, with an estimated 19.5 million people acutely food insecure, in a joint statement published by the State Department. UN investigators said foreign weapons and fighters are sustaining the war and backed extending the arms embargo from Darfur to the whole country, Anadolu reported. The UN migration agency said 119,782 people had fled their homes in Blue Nile state since January, per Anadolu.

Ethiopia: new jets and more killing

Ethiopia’s prime minister said the country received 12 Russian Su-35 fighter jets a year ahead of schedule and plans to buy four S-400 air defense systems, Anadolu reported. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church said at least 60 of its followers were killed in two attacks in Oromia region, Al Jazeera reported. A drone strike killed at least 16 civilians at a displacement camp in Amhara region on Oct. 29, local media and conflict monitors said, according to Anadolu. Kenya’s human rights commission said nearly 40,000 Ethiopians had sought refuge in the Kenyan border town of Moyale, per Anadolu.

Congo, Rwanda and Ebola

Treasury sanctioned Rwanda’s Defence Ministry and a military-linked savings bank on Oct. 28, accusing them of backing M23 rebels in eastern Congo, in a Treasury press release. Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi asked Russia, in Moscow, to back a UN demand that Rwanda pull its troops out of eastern Congo, Anadolu reported. The United States, the European Union and nine other Western governments urged Congo’s warring parties to honor a ceasefire, warning that drones were harming civilians, in a statement from the International Contact Group for the Great Lakes. In Boston, a jury convicted an Ohio man of lying about his role in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, the Justice Department said.

Government data show more than 5,000 deaths in Congo’s Ebola outbreak, and Nigeria is testing two suspected cases, the BBC reported. Attackers killed a nurse responding to an Ebola alert in eastern Congo, the World Health Organization said, Al Jazeera reported.

Russia’s summit and two UN exits

Putin told the Russia-Africa summit in Moscow that Russia has opened eight embassies in Africa since 2023, bringing its total to 48, Anadolu reported. Kenyan President William Ruto said Russia confirmed it would stop enlisting Kenyans into its military after his talks with Putin, according to Anadolu.

The United Nations closed its political mission in Somalia on Oct. 31, ending more than three decades of UN political work there, Al Jazeera reported. A day later the UN began closing its Western Sahara peacekeeping mission, after the Security Council failed to adopt two texts to extend it, according to the UN’s meeting summary. The US Mission to the UN said Russia vetoed its draft, in a statement on usun.usmission.gov.

Sahel, Somalia and Nigeria

Algeria’s president ordered troops to Niger, which would be Algeria’s first deployment abroad since 1973, Al Jazeera reported. Somalia’s Defense Ministry said troops killed more than 75 al-Shabaab fighters after an attack on an army supply convoy in Bay region, per Anadolu. In Nigeria, a federal inquiry found that detained mining suspects died preventable deaths in custody, Anadolu reported, and police arrested 11 suspects after an attack on presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore, Punch reported.

What changed this week

Analysis (Peter’s World’s view): Sudan’s war became a war on infrastructure, with repeated drone strikes on substations in states far from the front. Russia also stepped forward as a direct player across the region: it hosted the summit, delivered fighter jets to Ethiopia, and its veto, noted above, ended a UN mission. Two UN missions closed in two days.

Why it matters

Analysis (Peter’s World’s view): Knocking out power in Sudan hits water pumping, hospitals and food storage at the moment 31 governments are warning of famine. If Sudan’s claim about launches from Ethiopia is ever substantiated, it would widen a civil war into an interstate dispute, and Ethiopia’s new jets and its own internal fighting make that border more dangerous. The UN’s exits leave gaps that regional powers, Russia among them, are positioned to fill.

What to watch next week

The pace of the UN’s withdrawal from Western Sahara, and any incidents along the berm.
Ethiopia’s formal reply to Sudan’s drone accusation.
Test results for Nigeria’s two suspected Ebola cases.
Any Security Council action on extending the Sudan arms embargo nationwide.
Whether Rwanda responds to the US sanctions on its Defence Ministry.

This week’s daily reports

For every report in this theater, see the Africa news hub or the War Room dashboard.

Sources

Additional sources

Nigeria Centre for Disease Control: Update on Nigeria’s Ebola disease response, Oct. 25
Kenya News Agency: Some 35,000 Ethiopians seek refuge in Moyale
BBC News: More than 60 Orthodox Christians killed in Oromia
Anadolu Agency: Algerian parliament approves deployment of army unit to Niger
Al Jazeera: US, EU and 30 countries warn of famine risk in Sudan

Africa Weekly Roundup: Sudan Grid War, Ethiopia, Congo and Ebola

The week in brief