There is not much sign of peace. The Lusaka peace deal, signed in July and August, has survived, just. Implementation is moving painfully slowly, with only a handful...

Zimbabwe's war in the Congo gets costlier by the day. As the bill rises, the failure of President Robert Mugabe's government to budget accurately for its intervention has...

A massive hole in Gabon's public finances - some say of more than US$350 million - is at the heart of its growing financial and political crisis. By...

In their ekonga initiation dance, young warriors from northern Congo chant 'Boma !', meaning 'Kill!' The 'Cobra' militiamen who follow General Denis Sassou-Nguesso have often used the word...

As protests grow against the US$3.5 billion Chad-Cameroon pipeline (AC Vol 39 No 13), Africa Confidential has obtained two confidential memoranda showing the World Bank's efforts to orchestrate...

In Lusaka, African diplomats and army commanders have produced a fair and far-reaching plan to end the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (AC Vol 40 No...

To judge by the increasing desperation of the contestants, the power struggle in Brazzaville is entering a new phase. President Denis Sassou-Nguesso, who overthrew the elected President,...

Whoever wins the presidential election starting on 29 August faces a huge task in keeping order. Incumbent President Ange-Félix Patassé is the favourite, though probably not in...

Congo-Kinshasa's combatants are fighting on two fronts. One is the looming battle for Mbuji-Mayi, the diamond capital in Kasaï Occidental, and the other is getting the best terms...

President Denis Sassou Nguesso, who is too broke to pay his own army, has been secretly trying to make a deal with his main rivals. These are the...