Vol 53 No 25 | SUDAN Sadig calls for regime change 14th December 2012 As pressure builds in Khartoum, the grand old man of the Umma Party tries to win back power The Prime Minister that the National Islamic Front (NIF) overthrew in 1989, El Sadig el Sideeg el Mahdi, sees a chance to win back power as conflict deepens...
Vol 53 No 25 | TANZANIA Mengi beaned in court 14th December 2012 Reginald Mengi, a Tanzanian media tycoon who is a friend and backer of President Jakaya Kikwete, has been ordered to pay £1.2 million (US$1.94 mn.) towards the legal...
Vol 6 (AAC) No 2 | SUDAN Awad Ahmed el Jaz 4th December 2012 Petroleum Minister, Sudan Awad Ahmed el Jaz is a stalwart of the National Congress Party (formerly National Islamic Front, NIF), Sudan’s ruling party since 1989. He has played a critical role...
Vol 53 No 24 | SUDANANALYSIS The new gold rush 30th November 2012 Khartoum’s new gold mining operations may alleviate its worsening foreign exchange crisis but they will increase financial instability in the medium term. As the world gold price moves steadily upward, old workings are coming back to life. In Sudan, gold has been mined since the time of the Pharaohs, who shifted from silver and set the first international gold standard Sudan’s economy is in a bad way since it lost 75% of its oil revenue in its quarrel with South Sudan. This week, it refused to implement September’s...
Vol 53 No 24 | EGYPTSUDAN Egyptians return in search of gold 30th November 2012 Last August, Egyptian billionaire Naguib Onsi Sawiris, 58, bought La Mancha Resources, owner of 40% of Sudan’s Ariab Mining Company. Naguib is a Coptic Christian and telecommunications captain...
Vol 53 No 24 | TANZANIA New strains on the Union 30th November 2012 Islamist-inspired violence is accelerating, alongside growing separatist sentiment as a crucial deal on oil exploration is reached Riots, killings and crackdowns have shaken Zanzibar for most of 2012, as Islamist forces mobilise growing support. At the same time, an agreement for Zanzibar to manage its...
Vol 53 No 24 | TANZANIA Licence to secede 30th November 2012 Zanzibar’s President Ali Mohamed Shein and national President Jakaya Kikwete reached ‘agreement in principle’ on 25 October that Zanzibar could manage its own oil and gas industry, said...
Vol 53 No 24 | SOMALIA Floating arsenals in legal fog 30th November 2012 Indian Ocean piracy is down, thanks to naval patrols, armed guards and ‘panic rooms’, but the law governing ship protection is murky The hijacking of merchant ships off the coast of Somalia has decreased dramatically in the last year. Yet the private military security companies whose armed guards are largely...
Vol 53 No 24 | SUDAN The plot thickens 30th November 2012 The former security boss, Lieutenant General Salah Abdullah Mohamed ‘Gosh’, a regular interlocutor with British and United States’ spies, was the best known person arrested for coup plotting...
Vol 53 No 23 | SOUTH SUDAN Juba runs out of patience 16th November 2012 The governing party cracks down on critics at home as its negotiations with Khartoum continue to frustrate The prospect of oil exports resuming in the next few weeks and the economic boost that brings should have cheered President Salva Kiir Mayardit’s government. However, long-term improvements...