Vol 65 No 25 | CAMEROON Chantal Biya gains ground as an old ally falls 11th December 2024 After a heated argument with the First Lady, Rear-Admiral Joseph Fouda was drummed out of the presidency accused of fraud He headed no unit of the Cameroonian armed forces, nor did he even grace its highest ranks, let alone did he earn President Paul Biya’s eternal gratitude by...
Vol 65 No 25 | GABON General Oligui Nguema shows how to run a coup 5th December 2024 The putschist general may stay in power after a constitutional change allows him to stand in next year’s elections Having secured a 91.8% ‘Yes’ vote in the 16 November referendum on the new constitution, transitional head of state General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema is set to run...
Vol 65 No 24 | CONGO-KINSHASABELGIUM The price of sainthood 28th November 2024 Pope Francis’s plan to beatify Belgium’s late King Baudouin risks re-opening the wounds of Congo-Kinshasa’s brutal colonial past.
Vol 65 No 23 | CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLICRUSSIA Touadéra’s balancing act 11th November 2024 The President walks a fine line, relying on military support from Moscow as he shores up ties with the EU and France The regime of President Faustin-Archange Touadéra may have staved off the threat of a coup d’état – unlike neighbouring Gabon and three Sahelian states – but citizens complain...
Vol 65 No 22 | CHADUNITED ARAB EMIRATES From Abu Dhabi with Dirham 31st October 2024 UAE leader Mohamed bin Zayed will want political and other favours in return for his hefty investment in Mahamat Kaka After meeting France’s President Emmanuel Macron at the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) in Villers-Cotterêts on 4-5 October, Chad’s President Mahamat Déby Itno ‘Kaka’ rushed to Abu...
Vol 65 No 21 | CHADSUDAN Mahamat Kaka’s Darfur policy starts blowing back 15th October 2024 The Zaghawa are turning against the President’s arms shipment deals with the UAE and backing for Hemeti’s RSF militia Two raging urban battles – in Khartoum and El Fasher in North Darfur – could determine the next stage in Sudan’s devastating war: the de facto partition of...
Vol 65 No 20 | CAMEROON Biya missing in action 3rd October 2024 At a moment of unusual diplomatic glory and with another term in sight, Cameroon’s 91-year-old ruler has disappeared from public view Paul Biya has not been seen in public since leaving Beijing on 8 September after attending the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (FOCAC). Government sources say Cameroon’s 91-year-old ruler,...
Vol 65 No 20 | CONGO-KINSHASA The presidential circle shrinks 3rd October 2024 Paranoia is growing as Tshisekedi uses the coup fiasco to send a clear message to his opponents The botched coup attempt in May bordered on the farcical with bands of ill-trained recruits charging around the empty presidential offices claiming to have usurped power. But its...
Vol 65 No 20 | GABON Nguema’s expensive balancing act 3rd October 2024 The country’s foreign policy allows it to maintain dynamic partnerships with the US, China, France, Russia and regional powers in the Middle East Gabon’s President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema has extolled his country’s partnership with Beijing, hailing China’s role in bolstering Gabon’s digital economy – which made it the first Central...
Vol 65 No 20 | RWANDACONGO-KINSHASA Goma under siege 3rd October 2024 Massive human rights abuses, including the murder and rape of refugees and blockades of humanitarian aid, have been committed by the Rwandan army and the M23 militia group...