UNITED NATIONSAFRICAN UNIONHEALTH Gavi vaccine summit seeks a shot in the arm 20th June 2025 Pic: weyo / stock.adobe.com A pledging conference in Brussels will test rich countries’ willingness to plug the gaps left after the USAID shut down Public health systems in Africa and Asia could face more pressure on their budgets on 25 June when Gavi, the global vaccine alliance, holds its five-year donor pledging summit in Brussels. Governments across Africa have been searching for alternative funding for critical health programmes after the shuttering of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in February.
SENEGAL Pressure mounts on President Faye over political reforms and anti-corruption drive 18th June 2025 Bassirou Diomaye Faye. Pic: @PR_Diomaye The trial of five ex-ministers for misuse of public funds will test government’s pledge of an independent judiciary The youngish government of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, 45, and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, 50, is at a crossroads seven months after winning a super-majority in the parliament....
AFRICAUNITED NATIONS As Trump turns off the tap, Guterres wields the knife 13th June 2025 United Nations HQ, New York. Pic: vacant / stock.adobe.com The UN Secretary-General hopes radical restructuring and austerity can rescue the organisation as multilateralism starts to split at the seams Instead of celebrating its 80th birthday, there is a serious chance that the UN headquarters will have to declare a form of institutional bankruptcy at its General Assembly... READ FOR FREE
UNITED NATIONS Amid the turmoil, some room at the top 13th June 2025 António Guterres. Pic: un.org Questions about the UN Secretary-General’s future are intensifying as debate rages over his reform and restructuring plans For over two years, the UN Secretariat in New York has been buzzing with rumours about the mooted early departure of Secretary-General António Guterres. Part of the reason...
UGANDA Muhoozi attacks regime insiders 13th June 2025 Muhoozi Kainerugaba. Pic: @mkainerugaba As the president seeks to build bridges ahead of 2026 elections, his son is throwing online bombs at powerful figures Social media attacks on rivals by General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the president’s son and head of Uganda’s military, are widening divisions in the ruling family. Over the past few...
MALI Jihadists hit harder as junta loses focus 13th June 2025 MALI AT WAR: General Assimi Goïta's junta is © africa-confidential.com 2025 400 km losing to the insurgents. Copyright © Africa Confidential 2025 A surge in attacks on army bases leaves security forces overstretched and civilians more vulnerable Grim casualty figures from recent insurgent attacks on army garrisons across central and northern Mali have exposed the cost of junta leader, General Assimi Goïta’s decision to reject...
MALAWI Chakwera in trouble as election looms 13th June 2025 Lazarus Chakwera. Pic: @LAZARUSCHAKWERA The IMF cancelled its programme in May, topping a bad news week for the president as the opposition looks confidently at September’s poll The breach between the International Monetary Fund and the government over the ending of the US$175 million Extended Credit Facility (ECF) halfway through its economic reform programme could...
AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK Ould Tah faces brutal realities 13th June 2025 Akinwumi Adesina and Sidi Ould Tah. Pic: @akin_adesina The Bank’s new leader will have to bridge the widening gap between the continent’s ambitious goals and international economic turbulence Mauritanian Sidi Ould Tah’s strongest qualification for the African Development Bank (AfDB) presidency was not his nationality – though that may have helped secure votes from North African...
ZIMBABWEWORLD BANKINTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND Talks on $21 billion debt could inch ahead if IMF backs Ncube’s plan 11th June 2025 Mthuli Ncube. Pic: zimtreasury.co.zw Fund officials are due to rule on programme this month opening the prospect of serious negotiations with creditors Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube may be about to notch up the first tangible success for six years in his quest to restructure Zimbabwe’s US$21 billion debt – persuading...
MALAWIUNITED KINGDOM $50m corruption trial rocks Lilongwe 6th June 2025 Southwark Crown Court. Pic: pxl.store / stock.adobe.com Zuneth Sattar goes to court in London accused of bribing Malawi’s top officials and politicians but neither they nor he face prosecution back home Preliminary hearings have begun in the trial for bribery of Malawian/British business owner and Malawi government contractor Zuneth Sattar, 44, who is charged with 18 counts of bribing...
KENYATRIBUTE Ngugi wa Thiong’o – The pan-Africanist bard 13th June 2025 A champion of African literature and the rejection of colonial languages as a means to convey it, Kenya’s Ngugi wa Thiong’o, who died on 28 May, was often...
AFRICAMIGRATION Access denied 13th June 2025 Pic: ma8 / stock.adobe.com Africans lost an estimated €60 million (US$67.5m) in 2024 alone due to rejected applications for Schengen visas to visit the European Union, according to data published by the...
ZAMBIA After death, still bitterness 13th June 2025 Edgar Chagwa Lungu President Hakainde Hichilema is under fire for his laggardly response to ex-President Edgar Lungu’s death, following claims by the opposition that he prevented his predecessor from travelling abroad...
SUDAN How Hemeti’s drone attacks reshaped the war 30th May 2025 RSF targets facilities near Port Sudan airport, 4 May 2025. Pic: (still) @TurtleYusuf After the latest strikes on Port Sudan, the rival factions may have to choose between total war or negotiations When the Rapid Support Forces launched a fusillade of drones against Port Sudan on 4 May, they once again changed the terms of engagement in the devastating two-year...
SOMALIASUDANTURKEYSAUDI ARABIAUNITED ARAB EMIRATES Stormy weather in the Red Sea 30th May 2025 THE RED SEA ARENA: How regional geopolitics are unfolding. Copyright © Africa Confidential 2025 Shifting affiliations and military manoeuvres across the Horn and the Gulf are fuelling tensions Regional players are adjusting their strategies as conflicts in the Horn of Africa intensify. United States President Donald Trump’s three-country trip to the Gulf from 16 to 19... READ FOR FREE
ETHIOPIA Abiy bans Tigray party, risking new war 30th May 2025 Abiy Ahmed. Pic: @AbiyAhmedAli After a devastating two-year war with Addis Ababa, the TPLF faces bureaucratic extinction
ZAMBIA HH tries to take Lungu out of the game 30th May 2025 Pic: @HHichilema The President is so fearful for his re-election prospects that he is using threats and inducements to persuade his former foe to leave politics
SOUTH AFRICAUNITED STATES Why Musk and Rupert hold key to the Ramaphosa-Trump summit 20th May 2025 Johann Rupert. Pic: ©Richemont. All rights reserved Two South African billionaires have cleared the path for a business accord to unfreeze the diplomacy
FRANCEAFRICA Paris all at sea over Africa reset 30th May 2025 Andry Rajoelina and Emmanuel Macron, Antananarivo April 2025. Pic: @EmmanuelMacron President Macron’s new policy ideas keep foundering on the domestic priorities of African leaders
NIGERIA Tinubu wants to borrow $24 billion ahead of 2027 elections 30th May 2025 NIGERIA: FALLING OIL PRICES TO HIT NATIONAL FINANCES After two years of harsh reforms, the government aims to win back support with the country’s biggest ever public spending programme
AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK Capital dominates the race to run Africa’s biggest bank 28th May 2025 Candidates for the AfDB Presidency debate at the Brookings Institution, Washington, April 2025. Pic:@BrookingsInst (still) Shrinking funds will force the new president to be more creative, tapping into Asia and the Gulf States
LIBYA Dubaiba is set to lose his militia gamble 22nd May 2025 Abdel Hamid Dubaiba The worst fighting in Tripoli for 80 years has sparked protests demanding the prime minister’s exit
SOUTH SUDAN Salva’s man to overturn US visa ban 30th May 2025 Salva Kiir Mayardit. Pic: @SouthSudanGov