Simon Marks

A Private Equity Giant Took Over African Hospitals. Then the Complaints Rolled In TPG told investors — including the World Bank, the Gates Foundation and Bono — that it would expand access to health care. Whistleblowers say it put profit ahead of patient safety.

🧵We investigated how TPG, one of the world’s biggest private equity funds, told investors — including the World Bank, the Gates Foundation and Bono — it would expand access to healthcare in Africa only to put profit ahead of patient safety.
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3: 3: Rwanda said that unlike eastern DRC, Rwanda “operates a regulated and formalized mining sector, with investment in mineral processing and other infrastructure that allows for commercial refining of minerals and appropriate certification.”

2: 2: UN experts said Rwanda’s goal is to “control the territory of the DRC and its natural resources.” Rwandan authorities also inflated domestic production figures of tin, tungsten and tantalum in order to disguise its exporting of smuggled minerals from Congo.

🧵Mineral smuggling from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo into neighboring Rwanda has reached “unprecedented levels” amid the occupation of a large swath of the region by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, according to a United Nations experts report. t.co/YdmQk0xVES

UN Experts Say Looted Gum Arabic, Gold Fueling Sudan’s Civil War The proceeds of looted and smuggled gum arabic and gold helped the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Sudan sustain access to sophisticated weapons in its fight against Sudan’s army during the count...

Proceeds of looted and smuggled gum arabic and gold helped the RSF in Sudan sustain access to sophisticated weapons, according to an unpublished report by UN investigators. RSF commanders in Darfur “condoned” the looting to ensure support from fighters.
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Somali Terror Group Consolidates Power, Builds Ties to Houthis Terrorist group al-Shabaab is expanding territory across Somalia and increasingly working with Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen to disrupt Red Sea trade, in a stunning revival of an insurgency th...

“Almost all of the government’s territorial gains since 2018 have been reversed, including the loss of three strategic bridges across the Shebelle River southwest of Mogadishu.” How Al-Shabaab is consolidating power and forming close ties with the Houthis. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Sudan’s Gold Output Spikes Amid Civil War as New Mining Deals Signed Sudan’s gold industry rebounded last year as the government took steps to bolster revenue amid a civil war, including signing mining deals with companies from China, Russia and Qatar.

Sudan produced a massive 64 tons of gold last year, giving the army a robust platform on which to finance the war against the Rapid Support Forces whose soldiers have been implicated in a recent massacre in the White Nile region. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

A growing international consensus is emerging in favor of sanctions against Rwanda’s government over its role in the conflict in eastern Congo, the Belgian government said ahead of a key meeting of European foreign ministers next week. t.co/OJJeWVWPe8

The Battle Over USAID Is Heating Up Podcast Episode · Big Take · 13/02/2025 · 17m

President Trump’s attacks on a key international aid agency, USAID, has left its work frozen and kicked off a fierce legal battle between his administration and US courts over its future. podcasts.apple.com/be/podcast/b...

Iran and Sudan agreed to cooperate in the fields of mining, banking and livestock production, the Sudanese Foreign Ministry said, stoking concerns the Islamic Republic is widening its influence on the fringes of the Middle East. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
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USAID Cuts in Kenya Reveal Risks to Lives and American Influence Worldwide Freezing aid funds jeopardizes critical healthcare programs and security cooperation with important US allies around the world

On Monday, patients rushed to the Mathare North Health Center in Nairobi hoping to stockpile the antiretroviral drugs they need to combat HIV, but there was no one at the clinic to dispense medication.
USAID cuts in Kenya reveal risks to lives Worldwide.
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