Africa Business

The African Union on Sunday called for an unconditional ceasefire in northern Ethiopia and urged the warring parties to “recommit” to peace talks, as violence intensifies in the Tigray region.

The city of Shire in northwest Tigray has been bombarded for days in a joint offensive by Ethiopian and Eritrean troops, with civilian casualties reported in the push against rebels from the war-torn region.

UN chief Antonio Guterres has joined the United States and other Western powers in voicing alarm over the worsening violence and its toll on civilians, and calling for both sides to settle “this catastrophic conflict”.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government, and the Tigrayan authorities, have accepted an AU invitation to talk, but negotiations scheduled to start last weekend in South Africa failed to materialise and no new date has been announced.

AU Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat expressed “grave concern” about the upsurge in violence and called for “an immediate, unconditional ceasefire and the resumption of humanitarian services” into areas cut off by the fighting.

“The Chairperson urges the Parties to recommit to dialogue as per their agreement to direct talks to be convened in South Africa by a high-level team led by the AU High Representative for the Horn of Africa, and supported by the international community,” he said in a statement issued Sunday, but dated Saturday.

A government spokesman did not respond to a request for comment when contacted by AFP.

Getachew Reda, a spokesman for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), welcomed the AU statement “in light of the extremely alarming humanitarian crisis unfolding as a result of the campaign by the Eritrean army and its Ethiopian allies”.  

Talks were to be mediated by the bloc’s Horn of Africa envoy Olusegun Obasanjo, South Africa’s former deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta. 

Diplomats suggested logistical issues were partly to blame for the much-anticipated meeting not going ahead.

– Aid worker killed –

International alarm over the latest fighting came as US special envoy Mike Hammer arrived in Addis Ababa to push for a peaceful resolution to nearly two years of war. 

Fighting resumed in August after a five-month lull, dimming hopes of settling a conflict that has killed untold numbers of civilians, and been marked by atrocities by all sides.

“Intensively working with the African Union and other partners to launch an AU-led peace process in the coming days with the priority of achieving an immediate cessation of hostilities,” the US State Department’s Africa Bureau posted on Twitter on Sunday. 

The return to war halted desperately-needed aid into Tigray, where the UN says millions have fled their homes, and hundreds of thousands are close to famine.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC), an aid organisation delivering relief to Tigray, announced on Saturday that one of its staff was among three civilians killed in an attack in Shire, a city of 100,000 inhabitants.

The World Food Programme (WFP) on Sunday said it received reports of Friday’s attack near where the IRC was distributing food “to WFP beneficiaries, including vulnerable mothers and children”.

“WFP condemns any deliberate targeting of humanitarian activities and strongly calls on all parties to the conflict to respect and protect humanitarian relief operations and personnel, in line with their obligations under international humanitarian law,” a WFP spokesperson in Ethiopia told AFP in a statement.

Shire had been “subjected to continuous heavy artillery and air strikes all this week” and civilians have been fleeing, a humanitarian worker in the city told AFP on condition of anonymity.

– ‘Indiscriminate attacks’ –

US aid chief Samantha Power on Sunday said “the risk of additional atrocities & loss of life is intensifying, particularly around Shire”.

“Recent indiscriminate attacks by the Ethiopian National Defense Forces and Eritrean Defense Forces in Shire, and reports that Eritrean forces may soon take control of civilian population centers, are gravely concerning,” Power wrote on Twitter.

Eritrea sided with Ethiopia when war began in November 2020 after Abiy accused the TPLF of attacks on army camps.

Eritrea is a historic enemy of the TPLF, which dominated Ethiopia’s ruling coalition until Abiy took power in 2018, and its forces have been accused of mass rape and murder in Tigray.

The re-entry of Eritrea into the conflict has “made matters significantly worse” and they must leave Ethiopia, said Hammer.

Eritrea says it is being “scapegoated” and has accused the US and others of turning a blind eye to TPLF atrocities.

The African Union on Sunday called on the warring parties in the nearly two-year conflict in northern Ethiopia to “recommit” to peace talks, as violence intensifies in the Tigray region. 

The city of Shire in northwest Tigray has been bombarded for several days in a joint offensive by Ethiopian and Eritrean troops, with civilian casualties reported in the push against rebels from the war-torn region.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC), an aid organisation delivering relief to embattled Tigray, announced on Saturday that one of its staff was among three civilians killed in an attack in Shire, a city of 100,000 inhabitants.

UN chief Antonio Guterres has joined the United States and other Western powers in expressing grave concern over the worsening violence and its impact on civilians, and called on both sides to peacefully settle “this catastrophic conflict”.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government, and the Tigrayan authorities, have accepted an AU invitation to talk, but negotiations scheduled to start last weekend in South Africa failed to take place.

“The Chairperson urges the Parties to recommit to dialogue as per their agreement to direct talks to be convened in South Africa by a high-level team led by the AU High Representative for the Horn of Africa, and supported by the international community,” AU Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat said in a statement issued on Sunday, but dated Saturday.

Talks were to be mediated by the bloc’s Horn of Africa envoy Olusegun Obasanjo, South Africa’s former deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta. 

Diplomats suggested logistical issues were partly to blame for the much-anticipated meeting not going ahead.

– Aid worker killed –

International alarm over the intense fighting near Shire came as US special envoy Mike Hammer arrived in Addis Ababa to push for peace between Ethiopia and its allies, and rebels led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

Fighting resumed in August after a five-month lull, dimming hopes of settling a conflict that has killed untold numbers of civilians, and been marked by atrocities by all sides.

The return to war halted desperately-needed aid into Tigray, where the UN says millions of people have been forced from their homes, and hundreds of thousands are close to famine.

The IRC said one staffer was killed and another injured in an attack on Friday that left two other civilians dead in Shire, which lies about 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of Ethiopia’s border with Eritrea.

The World Food Programme (WFP) on Sunday said it had received reports of the attack near where the IRC was distributing food “to WFP beneficiaries, including vulnerable mothers and children”.

“WFP condemns any deliberate targeting of humanitarian activities and strongly calls on all parties to the conflict to respect and protect humanitarian relief operations and personnel, in line with their obligations under international humanitarian law,” a WFP spokesperson in Ethiopia told AFP in a statement.

Shire had been “subjected to continuous heavy artillery and air strikes all this week” which has caused casualties and property damage, a humanitarian worker in the city told AFP.

Civilians have been fleeing the city, the source added on condition of anonymity.

– ‘Indiscriminate attacks’ –

US aid chief Samantha Power on Sunday said that “the risk of additional atrocities & loss of life is intensifying, particularly around Shire”.

“Recent indiscriminate attacks by the Ethiopian National Defense Forces and Eritrean Defense Forces in Shire, and reports that Eritrean forces may soon take control of civilian population centers, are gravely concerning,” Power wrote on Twitter.

Eritrea sided with Ethiopia in the early stages of the war, which began in November 2020 when Abiy sent troops into Tigray after accusing the TPLF of orchestrating attacks on army camps.

Eritrea is a historic enemy of the TPLF, which dominated Ethiopia’s ruling coalition until Abiy took power in 2018, and its forces have been accused of mass rape and murder in Tigray.

The re-entry of Eritrea into this latest phase of the conflict has “made matters significantly worse” and they must leave Ethiopia, said Hammer.

Eritrea says it is being “scapegoated” and has accused the US and others of turning a blind eye to TPLF atrocities.

The African Union on Sunday called on the warring parties in Ethiopia’s conflict to “recommit” to peace talks, as violence intensifies in the embattled Tigray region. 

The city of Shire in northwest Tigray has been bombarded for several days in a joint offensive by Ethiopian and Eritrean troops, with civilian casualties reported in the push against rebels from the war-torn region.

The International Rescue Committee, an aid organisation delivering relief to stricken Tigray, announced on Saturday that one of its staff was among three civilians killed in an attack in Shire.

UN chief Antonio Guterres has joined the United States and other Western powers in expressing grave concern over the worsening violence and its impact on civilians, and called on both sides to negotiate peace.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government, and the Tigrayan authorities, have accepted an AU invitation to talk, but negotiations scheduled to start last weekend in South Africa failed to take place.

AU Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat said the escalating violence was of “grave concern”.

“The Chairperson urges the Parties to recommit to dialogue as per their agreement to direct talks to be convened in South Africa by a high-level team led by the AU High Representative for the Horn of Africa, and supported by the international community,” he said in a statement issued on Sunday, but dated Saturday.

Talks were to be mediated by the bloc’s Horn of Africa envoy Olusegun Obasanjo, South Africa’s former deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta. 

Diplomats suggested logistical issues were partly to blame for the much-anticipated meeting not going ahead.

The latest fighting came as US special envoy Mike Hammer arrived in Addis Ababa to push for an end to nearly two years of war between Ethiopia, its allies, and rebels led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

Fighting resumed in August after a five-month lull, dimming hopes of settling a conflict that has killed untold numbers of civilians, and been marked by atrocities by all sides.

The return to war also halted desperately-needed aid into Tigray, where the UN says millions of people have been forced from their homes, and hundreds of thousands are close to famine.

The conflict erupted in November 2020 when Abiy — a Nobel Peace Prize winner — sent troops to topple the TPLF, the ruling party in Tigray he accused of staging attacks on army camps.

The TPLF dominated Ethiopia’s ruling coalition for decades before Abiy came to power in 2018.

Thousands of Tunisians demonstrated Saturday in the capital Tunis, denouncing a power grab by President Kais Saied and demanding accountability for the country’s long-running economic crisis, AFP correspondents said.

Saied staged a dramatic power grab in July last year and later pushed through a constitution enshrining his one-man rule, in what critics have called a return to autocracy in the only democracy to have emerged from the Arab Spring.

Protesters in central Tunis chanted, “Down, down”, “Revolution against dictator Kais” and “The coup will fall.”

The march was organised by the National Salvation Front, a coalition of opposition parties including the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha that had dominated Tunisia’s parliament before its dissolution by Saied.

Ali Laarayedh, Tunisia’s former prime minister and a senior Ennahdha official, told AFP that the protest was an expression of “anger at the state of affairs under Kais Saied”.

“We are telling him to leave.”

Saied’s power grab was welcomed by some Tunisians tired of what they saw as a fractious and corrupt system established after the 2011 revolution that ousted late dictator Zine El Abidine Ali.

But a worsening economic situation, compounded by supply shortages in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, has agitated many in the North African country of 12 million.

If Saied stays, “Tunisia will have no future,” said Laarayedh, citing growing despair, poverty and unemployment.

The National Salvation Front has announced it will boycott a December vote to elect a new parliament with limited powers.

Ennahdha’s deep ideological rival, the secular Free Destourian Party (PDL), also organised a protest in the capital on Saturday.

Saied “is doing nothing, and things are only getting worse”, said Souad, a pensioner in her 60s at the secular party’s demonstration.

Some of the protesters carried empty containers to symbolise the rising cost of water due to inflation, which hit 9.1 percent in September.

Around 1,500 people joined the Ennahdha-led demonstration, while nearly 1,000 attended the PDL protest, the interior ministry told AFP.

In public remarks, Saied has argued he was working to “correct” economic troubles he had inherited from Tunisia’s post-Ben Ali leadership.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced on Saturday it had reached a tentative agreement with the Tunisian government to unblock a $1.9 billion loan to alleviate the economic crisis.

Under the four-year accord, which still requires the approval of the IMF board, Tunisia has committed to undertake a “comprehensive economic reform program” as it gets access to the money, according to an IMF statement.

NBA Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo, one of the best defenders in the league’s history, is undergoing treatment for a brain tumor, the league announced Saturday.

Mutombo, 56, hails from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and has been a global ambassador for the National Basketball Association for years. 

He played for several teams throughout his long career, including the Denver Nuggets, the Philadelphia 76ers, the Atlanta Hawks and the then New Jersey Nets.

“Dikembe Mutombo is currently undergoing treatment for a brain tumor,” the NBA said in a statement issued on behalf of Mutombo’s family.

“He is receiving the best care possible from a collaborative team of specialists in Atlanta and is in great spirits as he begins treatment,” the statement said.

“Dikembe and his family ask for privacy during this time so they can focus on his care. They are grateful for your prayers and good wishes.”

NBA commissioner Adam Silver sent a message of support, saying: “Our thoughts and prayers are with Dikembe, one of the world’s great humanitarians.”

Mutombo, an eight-time NBA All-Star, is second all-time in the league for blocked shots with 3,289, behind Nigeria’s Hakeem Olajuwon. He was the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year four times.

Mutombo and Olajuwon were the first major basketball talents from Africa to make a name in the NBA, opening the door for others such as Luol Dieng and Joel Embiid.

His signature move was a finger wag, which he used to let opponents know he was not to be taken lightly.

Mutombo was drafted by the Nuggets in the first round in 1991, before heading to Atlanta and Philadelphia. He played in the NBA Finals twice, though both were losing efforts.

He wrapped up his pro career in 2009 after 18 seasons.

He started the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation in 1997 to improve the quality of life for people in his home country.

Before his time in the NBA, Mutombo was a standout for the Georgetown University Hoyas, only joining the basketball team as a sophomore and graduating with a linguistics degree. His son Ryan now plays at Georgetown.

“Please keep Dikembe and the Mutombo family in your prayers. Hoya Nation is behind you, Dikembe,” said current Georgetown coach and fellow NBA Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing.

Jockeys from the southern African kingdom of Lesotho Saturday gathered with their mounts in the mountain village of Semonkong to compete on one of the continent’s highest racetracks. 

Horse racing is a major social occasion in the poor mountainous nation of about two million people nestled inside South Africa. 

“I can go fast, very fast,” 17-year-old Tsaeng Masotsa said before heading to the starting line. 

At more than 2,200 metres (7,200 feet) above sea level, the high plateaus of Semonkong in central Lesotho play host to a nationally famous racetrack. 

Races are held here throughout the dry season from May to September with the most prestigious one marking King Letsi III’s birthday in July. 

A few hundred people, mostly wrapped in bright traditional shepherd’s blankets, gathered Saturday to watch dozens of riders square off under the pale sun.

“The news spread like wildfire from village to village,” said Jonathan Halse 52, who runs a lodge in the area and is among the race’s sponsors. 

Many things are still organised by word of mouth here.

The horse came to Lesotho with European settlers in the 19th century and the local Basuto pony is the result of crossbreeding over time. They are mid-sized and known for their endurance.

Locals use them to herd sheep and goats or for everyday transport. Some villages are accessible only on horseback.  

“It’s an absolute necessity in everyday life. There are places where you can’t go otherwise,” said Motlatsi Manaka, a 45-year-old herder. 

Before the races, the animals are brushed, their manes braided or trimmed. 

They have undergone months, or sometimes years of training.

Winning prizes can reach $130 dollars — about the same amount as the average monthly salary. 

Gambling is rife with bundles of cash being passed among spectators seated on large stones.

– ‘My horse will win’ –

Most horse owners are shepherds who make a living selling wool. The annual shearing season has just begun and shepherds receive about $3 per kilogram of the fibre.

Jockeys get just a little more to ride and most of them are under 20. 

The race is divided into several events, based on the age of the horses taking part. 

“My horse will be victorious, no adversary can resist him,” some riders chant, before launching their horses at breakneck speed on the curved course. 

The dirt track, about one kilometre long, is enveloped in mist from the nearby Maletsunyane Falls, among the largest in Africa. 

Its finish line is marked by a pile of stones. 

Thousands of Tunisians demonstrated Saturday in the capital Tunis, denouncing a power grab by President Kais Saied and demanding accountability for the country’s long-running economic crisis, AFP correspondents said.

Saied staged a dramatic power grab in July last year and later pushed through a constitution enshrining his one-man rule, in what critics have called a return to autocracy in the only democracy to have emerged from the Arab Spring.

Protesters in central Tunis chanted, “Down, down”, “Revolution against dictator Kais” and “The coup will fall.”

The march was organised by the National Salvation Front, a coalition of opposition parties including the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha that had dominated Tunisia’s parliament before its dissolution by Saied.

Ali Laarayedh, Tunisia’s former prime minister and a senior Ennahdha official, told AFP that the protest was an expression of “anger at the state of affairs under Kais Saied”.

“We are telling him to leave.”

Saied’s power grab was welcomed by some Tunisians tired of what they saw as a fractious and corrupt system established after the 2011 revolution that ousted late dictator Zine El Abidine Ali.

But a worsening economic situation, compounded by supply shortages in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, has agitated many in the North African country of 12 million.

If Saied stays, “Tunisia will have no future,” said Laarayedh, citing growing despair, poverty and unemployment.

The National Salvation Front has announced it will boycott a December vote to elect a new parliament with limited powers.

Ennahdha’s deep ideological rival, the secular Free Destourian Party (PDL), also organised a protest in the capital on Saturday.

Saied “is doing nothing, and things are only getting worse”, said Souad, a pensioner in her 60s at the secular party’s demonstration.

Some of the protesters carried empty containers to symbolise the rising cost of water due to inflation, which hit 9.1 percent in September.

Around 1,500 people joined the Ennahdha-led demonstration, while nearly 1,000 attended the PDL protest, the interior ministry told AFP.

In public remarks, Saied has argued he was working to “correct” economic troubles he had inherited from Tunisia’s post-Ben Ali leadership.

Cash-strapped Tunisia is in talks with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout loan of about $2 billion.

Thousands of Tunisians demonstrated Saturday in the capital Tunis, denouncing a power grab by President Kais Saied and demanding accountability for the country’s long-running economic crisis.

Saied staged a dramatic power grab in July last year and later pushed through a constitution enshrining his one-man rule, in what critics have called a return to autocracy in the only democracy to have emerged from the Arab Spring.

Protesters in central Tunis chanted, “Down, down”, “Revolution against dictator Kais” and “The coup will fall.”

The march was organised by the National Salvation Front, a coalition of opposition parties including the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha that had dominated Tunisia’s parliament before its dissolution by Saied.

Ali Laarayedh, Tunisia’s former prime minister and a senior Ennahdha official, told AFP that the protest was an expression of “anger at the state of affairs under Kais Saied”.

“We are telling him to leave.”

Saied’s power grab was welcomed by some Tunisians tired of what they saw as a fractious and corrupt system established after the 2011 revolution that ousted late dictator Zine El Abidine Ali.

But a worsening economic situation, compounded by supply shortages in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, has agitated many in the North African country of 12 million.

If Saied stays, “Tunisia will have no future,” said Laarayedh, citing growing despair, poverty and unemployment.

The National Salvation Front has announced it will boycott a December vote to elect a new parliament with limited powers.

Ennahdha’s deep ideological rival, the secular Free Destourian Party, also organised a protest in the capital on Saturday.

Some of its protesters carried empty containers to symbolise the rising cost of water due to inflation, which hit 9.1 percent in September.

Saied “is doing nothing, and things are only getting worse”, said Souad, a pensioner in her 60s at the secular party’s demonstration.

In public remarks, Saied has argued he was working to “correct” economic troubles he had inherited from Tunisia’s post-Ben Ali leadership.

Cash-stapped Tunisia is in talks with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout loan of about $2 billion.

Guided by the broad beam of a torch light, four beekeepers softly tread towards a wooden hive atop a mango tree in Bossangoa, a town in northwestern Central African Republic.

The area boasts lush and varied vegetation which helps account for the prized fragrance of its renowned honey.

Relying on the darkness to calm down the bees, the team dislodges the buzzing hive to extract some of the precious nectar.

The Central African Republic was Africa’s fourth biggest honey-producing nation in 2020 and ranked 20th in the world, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

But nine years of dwindling resources and civil war that left producers cut off and isolated have hampered the sector.

“Before the crisis, we sold our honey to neighbouring countries and to (the capital) Bangui,” says Philippe Mobompte, secretary general of CAPICO, the regional beekeepers’ cooperative.

“It’s difficult now.”

As one of the team frantically pumps metal bellows, the smell of burnt, dry grass wafts through the air. Using smoke is an age-old technique to reduce the bees’ aggressiveness.

“In Bossangoa, there are many shea trees, mango trees, papaya trees, grapefruit trees, banana trees… This is what lets us have high-quality honey,” Mobompte says.

The cooperative is supported by the international non-profit organisation Action Against Hunger, which provides modern hives and equipment such as honey extractors and protective clothing for harvesting.

In his beige overalls, 64-year-old Mobompte — who has 20 modern and 25 traditional hives — reaches for the first batch of the glistening honeycomb cells.

– ‘Consumption is low’ –

One of the poorest countries in the world, the former French colony was plunged into civil war in 2013.

A Muslim-dominated rebellion overthrew president Francois Bozize, sparking reprisals from predominantly Christian and animist self-defence militias.

The fighting peaked in 2018 and rebel groups controlled two-thirds of the country’s territory until early 2021. 

Rebels tried to oust President Faustin-Archange Touadera in late 2020 by launching an offensive on Bangui, but the army — with purported help from Russian mercenaries — managed to repel it.

But the state still struggles to establish its authority in many remote areas of the vast nation.

Although the security situation has improved slightly in recent years, conflict still affects communities as you move away from Bangui, with sporadic fighting breaking out.

For Bossangoa’s beekeepers, the danger and upheaval has left its mark.

“I remember a period when Chadians, Cameroonians and Sudanese came to buy their honey here, but today consumption is low,” says Francine Webouna, 42, a honey trader in the Bossangoa market.

In February 2021, Bossangoa, in the Ouham region, was recaptured from rebels by the army.

Although calm has returned, the few hundred CAPICO beekeepers cannot venture far into the bush to further their operations. 

“They might run into rebels who are still on the prowl,” Mobompte says.

He himself says that while “the armed groups never touched my hives, they looted and destroyed my house twice.”

– ‘Thugs and taxes’ –

“Taking the road to sell your honey is also dangerous, and expensive, because you can run into thugs and the taxes at the various checkpoints are high,” Mobompte adds.

He is still marked by a recent assault on beekeepers from his cooperative as they headed to an agricultural fair.

Like the people he trains, Mobompte cannot live on the proceeds from honey. 

“There are no outlets elsewhere and, locally, people do not consume enough of it, I am currently storing 200 litres of honey while waiting to find a buyer,” he explains.

“A litre and a half sells here between 2,000 and 2,500 CFA francs (three to 3.81 euros, $3.00 to $3.71),” the beekeeper says.

“In the Central African Republic, it’s not a luxury product.”

Convinced of its quality however, the cooperative’s members hope to branch out by processing their honey to manufacture derivative products.

But in the current circumstances, that could prove a tall order.

“We could make food supplements, shoe polish, cosmetics and be recognised for this,” Mobompte says.

“But the lack of equipment, funds and knowledge do not facilitate this development,” he concedes, mechanically wafting away the bees around him.

Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa trounced La Passe of the Seychelles 8-1 on Friday, but just missed equalling the record overall winning margin for a CAF Champions League qualifier.

Sundowns won the last 32 tie 15-1 on aggregate having beaten the Indian Ocean part-timers 7-0 last weekend in the first leg.

Both matches were staged in Pretoria because La Passe lack an international-standard stadium and conceded home advantage in the first encounter.

The record 16-1 margin for a Champions League qualifier was achieved by Sundowns in the 2020 edition when they thrashed another Seychellois club, Cote d’Or 11-1 at home and 5-0 away.

Cassius Mailula and Gift Motupa scored twice each for the South African outfit, Thapelo Morena, Hashim Domingo and Neo Maema once and Passe goalkeeper Dave Mussard conceded an own goal.  

Malagasy Florent Rajaoniasy netted for Passe, whose line-up included a chef, a fireman, an accountant and a father and son, Dave Mussard, 35, and teenage defender Derold Mussard.

Having conceded a goal inside a minute last weekend, Passe initially fared better in the second leg and recovered from falling behind to equalise through a Rajaoniasy header.

Sundowns regained the initiative to go 3-1 up by half-time and the floodgates opened in the final 20 minutes when they added five goals.

The former African champions were joined in the group stage by five-time title-holders Zamalek of Egypt, Petro Luanda of Angola and Chabab Belouizdad of Algeria.

– ‘Zizo’ hat-trick –

Ahmed ‘Zizo’ Sayed scored a hat-trick as Zamalek followed up a solitary-goal away win over Flambeau Centre of Burundi with a 5-1 victory in Alexandria.  

‘Zizo’ scored twice in the previous round and his overall tally places him second in the Golden Boot race behind seven-goal Fiston Mayele from Young Africans of Tanzania.  

After falling behind in the second minute, Flambeau levelled through Leonard Gakwaya, raising hopes of a shock outcome. 

But Senegalese Ibrahima Ndiaye and ‘Zizo’ netted before half-time and the latter completed his treble and Youssef Nabih also scored in the closing stages.

Virtually assured of progressing after a 3-0 away win, Petro found Cape Town City of South Africa harder to break down in Luanda, with Cabibi delivering a 1-0 win via an 87th-minute goal.

Petro were the surprise packets of the last edition, reaching the semi-finals before losing to eventual champions Wydad Casablanca of Morocco.

Belouizdad secured a third straight mini-league appearance thanks to a 2-0 win over Malian visitors Djoliba, who took a one-goal lead into the return match.

Another six second legs are scheduled for Saturday and five for Sunday, when Wydad will attempt to overcome a 2-1 deficit when they host Rivers United of Nigeria.