Behind Lesotho’s current political crisis, security cluster ructions and infighting are the real threats to stability. As Prime Minister Thomas Thabane’s allegations of a coup disintegrated, the fractious nature of the relationship between […]
Zambia’s President Michael Sata (77 years old) is playing succession politics from his sickbed. He has sacked Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba – the clear favourite to take over in 2016 if the ailing […]
Factions are forming for and against the opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord)’s plan to force a referendum. The main fault line, unsurprisingly, is between Cord and the ruling Jubilee coalition of […]
Rauf Aregbesola of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) has won re-election as governor of Osun State in the south-west. Mr Aregbesola won over 56% of the almost 700,000 votes cast in the […]
The conviction and sentencing of two Swazi activists was a done deal before they walked into court on charges of contempt. However worrying the conviction of journalist Bheki Makhubu and human rights lawyer […]
The US agenda driving this week’s Africa Summit in Washington, where some 50 African states will be represented, remains something of a mystery. Africa’s agenda, by contrast, should be clear – economic ties […]
The first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting led by the new governor, Godwin Emefiele, was held on July 22. As at the May MPC meeting of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), all […]
Negotiations between Mali’s government and northern separatists kicked off on in Algiers on Wednesday, July 16. There has been no sign that a rapid resolution of the Malian issue can be expected. The […]
President Michael Sata returned home over the past week after apparently receiving treatment for an unknown health issue in Israel. While the debate over his actual state of health continues to rage unabated […]
The Zuma administration cannot shake off the pull of the left President Jacob Zuma elevated the floundering South African economy to centre stage at his State of the Nation speech on June 17 […]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported on June 23 that it has concluded annual Article IV consultations with Zimbabwe. The multilateral organisation indicated that Harare has expressed a commitment towards implementing the policies […]
After a two-week delay, Malawi’s new president, Peter Mutharika, has finally named half of a proposed 20-member cabinet. In the process, the new president has raised a few eyebrows over his commitment to […]
The Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) released its latest monthly Trade Statistics Bulletin on June 12. The NSA recorded a trade deficit of N$2.179bn for the month of April, reflecting a decrease of 46.8% […]
The Central Bank of Swaziland’s (CBS) Monetary Policy Consultative Committee (MPCC) held its latest bi-monthly meeting on May 23. Policymakers indicated that the short-term outlook for inflation includes notable upside pressures after the […]
Zimbabwe’s decision to review its controversial indigenisation policy could stimulate the economy and change the fortunes of the country. So far, all we have is words, but we also have some real sense […]
Yet another presumed Boko Haram terror attack took place on Tuesday, May 20, killing at least 188 people in Jos. The attack took the form of a double car bomb attack at Terminus […]
Swaziland is set to lose its preferential access to US markets via the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). This is because the impoverished country has failed to meet a US deadline to […]
