Vol 61 No 7 | TUNISIACOVID-19 The spring unsprung 2nd April 2020 The fifth most infected country in Africa, Tunisia is also the only relative success story of the 2011 Arab Spring, but there are fears that the coronavirus could...
Vol 61 No 7 | LIBYACOVID-19 No coronavirus ceasefire 2nd April 2020 Unlike its neighbours, Libya reported no coronavirus cases before 24 March, a beneficial effect of the civil war restricting the movement of people and businesses in and out...
Vol 61 No 7 | MOROCCOCOVID-19 King takes charge 2nd April 2020 In the first week of Morocco's lockdown, King Mohammed VI ordered a show of force his late father King Hassan II would have approved, calling troops and tanks...
Vol 61 No 6 | EGYPTETHIOPIASUDAN Cairo and Addis split over dam 19th March 2020 Ethiopia has pulled out of US-hosted talks on the Blue Nile project as bitterness and mistrust grow Ethiopia is courting regional states and the African Union to bolster its diplomatic position after pulling out of United States-mediated talks on the filling and operations of the...
Vol 61 No 6 | MAURITANIA All is forgiven 19th March 2020 Nouakchott is abuzz with reports that ex-President Maaouiya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, deposed in a 2005 coup but now in poor health in exile in Qatar, may be on...
Vol 61 No 6 | LIBYA In search of an envoy 19th March 2020 The signs point to an African being appointed UN special envoy to Libya after the surprise resignation of Lebanese Ghassan Salamé on 2 March. On 10 March, the...
Vol 61 No 5 | TUNISIA Relief today, trouble ahead 5th March 2020 On his second attempt, President Saïed secured his chosen prime minister. But the new man’s tenuous coalition will be sorely tested Nearly five months after the 6 October general elections delivered a highly fractured parliament, Tunisia has a new coalition government. On 26 February, parliament approved Elyes Fakhfakh to...
Vol 61 No 5 | EGYPTETHIOPIAUNITED STATES That dam problem 5th March 2020 The tortuous negotiations between Addis Ababa and Cairo over the building and filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam have lurched into an acrimonious finale. Ethiopia's Foreign Minister...
Vol 61 No 4 | MOROCCOWESTERN SAHARA Territorial armies 20th February 2020 An unresolved but dormant decolonisation dispute risks flaring up into renewed violence, threatening a 29-year-old ceasefire Forty-five years into the conflict over Western Sahara, Morocco remains implacable in its determination to retain what it argues is its historical sovereignty over the disputed former Spanish...
Vol 61 No 3 | LIBYAEUROPEAN UNION A game of many nations 6th February 2020 Turkey's agreement to support the UN-recognised government has upsets the geopolitics of the eastern Mediterranean The political backing of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey for the UN-recognised regime in Tripoli is well-known, but less so are the subsidiary clauses in the pact...