News | Africa Confidential | Reporting Africa since 1960

Time 2021-01-01 18:05:15

Web Name: News | Africa Confidential | Reporting Africa since 1960

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Facing a coalition of rebel militias opposed to his government and the elections, President Touadéra has called for help from Moscow and Kigali, sidelining the UN Presidential and parliamentary elections due on 27 December are in the balance as a coalition of militias tries to oust President Faustin Archange Touadéra, replacing him with ex-President François Bozizé, who mobilised the fighters after he was barred from standing in the polls. President Touadéra is favoured to win the elections, facing 16 other candidates, but few expect them to be free or fair. After making big gains in parliament, the opposition rejects the presidential results – the lawyers on all sides will be busy It was all running like clockwork. The verdict in the national elections on 7 December was set to be free and clear of dispute more or less a repeat of the seamless process... 9 December 2020: António Guterres (1st right, rear) and Moussa Faki Mahamat (on screen) attend joint press conference at UN HQ, New York. Pic: Xie E/Xinhua News Agency/PA Images The government says it's mopping up the last pockets of resistance in Tigray as evidence of Eritrean involvement emerges Two weeks after he declared the completion of his 'law and order operation' on 28 November with the capture of Mekelle, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visited the Tigray regional capita... 23 October 2020: Donald Trump speaks on a conference call with leaders of Israel and Sudan and to members of the media about a Sudan-Israel peace agreement. L-R: Brian Hook, Avraham Berkowitz, Steven Mnuchin, Donald Trump, Mike Pompeo, Jared Kushner, Robert C. O'Brien, unidentified, unidentified. Pic: Leigh Vogel – Pool via CNP/DPA/PA Images Splits over US pressure to normalise ties with Israel point to a fall-out between civilian politicians and the generals The removal of Sudan from the United States's list of state sponsors of terrorism, confirmed on 14 December, could prove a lifeline to a country in the grip of severe economic cris... Magashule supporters outside Luthuli House, October 2020. Pic: RealTime Images/ABACA/ABACA/PA Images The balance in the ANC’s factional war has turned decisively in the President’s favour, leaving the Secretary-General few options President Cyril Ramaphosa has scored in the ongoing battle against the faction bent on unseating him with this week's decision by the African National Congress's Integrity Commissi... Promises of grand economic growth have been torpedoed by the Covid-19 pandemic and crashing oil prices This time last year President Muhammadu Buhari and his numerous economic policymakers were optimistic that 2020 could see growth acceleration, job creation, significant infrastruct... Having won a controversial third term, President Alpha Condé is eyeing growing mineral riches The long-delayed development of Guinea's headline-grabbing Simandou iron ore project has once again climbed to the top of President Alpha Cond 's agenda, as he settles into ... Parliamentary victory for Tshisekedi encourages him to press ahead in his bid to wrest the state from former president Kabila Former president Joseph Kabila's political coalition, the Front Commun pour le Congo (FCC), which ordinarily has a comfortable majority in the National Assembly, scored a spectacul... Rabat has secured a big diplomatic win by restoring relations with Israel, but also faces new risks This summer, King Mohammed VI (M6) told United States presidential son-in-law and Middle East envoy Jared Kushner that Morocco would need a very big reward for restoring diplomatic... The finance minister forecasts a turnaround but the central bank’s illicit borrowing could trigger another monetary meltdown Despite the pandemic and global recession, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube is predicting a strong economic bounce-back next year – but he is silent about a phenomenal borrowing spree... Zambia's chances of a bailout from the International Monetary Fund following its default on its Eurobond coupon payments are looking bleak, in spite of conciliatory words from a hi... By expelling the Kenyan ambassador and then doubling down by severing all diplomatic ties with its southern neighbour, President Mohamed Abdullah Mohamed 'Farmajo' appears to be ho... After two years of negotiations the white smoke of a successor to the Cotonou Agreement – which governs trade and political relations between the European Union and the African, Ca... John le Carré in Stockholm to receive the Olof Palme Award, January 2020. Pic: Claudio Bresciani/TT/TT News Agency/PA Images Although he wrote only two novels specifically on Africa, David Cornwell, pen name John Le Carr , who died on 12 December, was a colleague of and friend to many of those in ... With the main challenger excluded, the opposition will have a tough job preventing the election of Issoufou's designated successor With the 27 December first round of the presidential election approaching fast, Mohamed Bazoum – who spent 10 years as President Mahamadou Issoufou's right-hand man – is in full ca... Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (R) and Mohamed Abdullah Mohamed 'Farmajo' (L), February 2017. Pic: Faisal Isse/Xinhua/SIPA USA/PA Images The opposition is furious with the dual role of the secret police chief as Farmajo's campaign manager and monitor of election candidates After months of haggling and bitter verbal conflict, parliamentary elections should take place next month, followed by the presidential election in February. Yet it is becoming inc... Tigray leaders vow guerrilla war against the Federal government as they withdraw to the hills Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed may have declared success for his 'law and order operation' with the fall of Mekelle, the Tigrayan capital, on 28 November, but it is far from clear that ... The Federal government’s war with Tigray upsets geopolitics throughout the Horn, and puts Eritrea centre-stage Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's refusal to consider a ceasefire or even mediation continues to attract widespread condemnation. His unflinching stance was underlined when he met an Afr... The President is more popular than the governing NPP, which could still lose its majority in parliament With jobs and education topping the list of voter concerns the incumbent, Nana Addo Akufo-Addo, goes into the presidential elections on 7 December with a clear margin over his main... Official denials over the Lekki shootings fail to stand up against the mounting evidence, while activists are targeted in a clampdown Nigerian government officials continue to downplay the army shootings at youth-led protests against the rogue Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) police unit in October, and are doub... Roch Marc Christian Kaboré. Pic: Simone Kuhlmey/Pacific Press/SIPA USA/PA Images President Kaboré has secured another term but many doubt the security forces’ ability to contain the jihadist insurgents On 26 November, shouts of 'Un coup, KO!', started ringing around the capital, Ouagadougou. The Commission électorale nationale indépendante (CENI), led by former journalist Newton ... The EU and the AU are pressing ahead with plans for a 'strategic partnership' but the rhetoric masks serious disagreements Closer agreement on development assistance and its goals between the European Union and Africa was one of the first foreign policy initiatives to come out of President Ursula von d... The President seems to have run out of subtle tactics for dealing with Bobi Wine’s electoral threat and is resorting to brute force The dozens of killings by security forces in recent opposition protests indicate the Ugandan authorities intend to rely on brutal repression to cow the population, intimidate voter... What lies behind the arrival of Paul Gicheru at the ICC after years defying an arrest warrant for alleged witness-tampering? Weeks after Kenyan lawyer Paul Gicheru handed himself in to the International Criminal Court to face witness-tampering charges, the speed with which he has been processed through t... The President faces a fork in the road, after national consultations aimed at breaking a tense impasse with his predecessor fizzle out President F lix Tshisekedi faces an expectant nation. He has split up the coalition with former President Joseph Kabila's Front Commun pour le Congo (FCC) and finished a mon... Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is known for tolerating little dissent in his cabinet, but less well known for being able to decide the fate of ministers in other countries' cabinets. Th... The funeral of Maryse, the late wife of Jean-Serge Bokassa, son of the former Central African Republic 'Emperor' Jean-Bedel Bokassa, witnessed a serious incident which disrupted th... São Tomé's government-controlled Constitutional Court has denied recognition of veteran politician Patrice Trovoada's unopposed election in absentia as leader of the opposition Acç... The electorate dealt a stunning blow to the ruling SWAPO Party in the 25 November municipal elections, costing it its majority in four of the country's 14 regions. Disaffection amo... The president's re-election has revived some of the deadly rivalries of the civil war era. His opponents say that his gestures towards reconciliation lack conviction It was only hours after the Constitutional Court confirmed President Alassane Ouattara's overwhelming win at the 31 October presidential elections on 9 November that the victor ext... Tumbling oil revenues have severely dented government finances, as debts mount and donors baulk at picking up the bill South Sudan's economy is dead on its feet. Falling oil prices have squeezed government revenues, sending hard currency reserves tumbling and inflation soaring. Political stability ... After the default, the bondholders and Chinese creditors are jostling for priority but secrecy and local politics are blocking a credible solution Issue archive Looking for a specific issue? Search our online archive of over two decades of Africa Confidential Not yet ready to subscribe to Africa Confidential? Then why not register for our free email alerts.Every two weeks you get a concise snapshot of the latest issue so you're made aware of which issues we cover each fortnight.

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