Vol 55 No 1 | ANGOLA The MPLA sticks to its course 10th January 2014 Secretive and fearful of change, the ruling circle sees no reason to rock the boat with reforms. New major projects are likely to suffer delay Whether or not the speculation about President José Eduardo dos Santos being in poor health turns out to be correct, 2014 could be the year that his successor...
Vol 55 No 1 | ZIMBABWE Success needs succession 10th January 2014 Mugabe may be approaching his 90th birthday but that does not make the naming of a successor more likely The only certainty for Zimbabwe in 2014 is that the succession issue will not be resolved so long as President Robert Mugabe is still in control. It is...
Vol 55 No 1 | ZAMBIA The politics of health 10th January 2014 President Sata’s physical condition is the factor on which all else hangs, especially the sharpening divisions in his party Age and ill health will restrict President Michael Chilufya Sata’s public appearances this year, fuelling speculation that he will not be fit enough to contest the 2016 general...
Vol 55 No 1 | ZIMBABWE Ruling party conference ignores crisis 18th December 2013 ZANU-PF ducked the succession issue at its conference but the drift is damaging the confidence of businesses and people alike The Mashonaland West provincial capital, Chinoyi, got all dressed up for the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front conference on 13-14 December but the deliberations produced no breakthroughs –...
Vol 54 No 25 | SOUTH AFRICA When the clouds cried 12th December 2013 The nation’s grief at the loss of its founding father was brusquely interrupted by the next struggle for power It was a day of the sharpest political contrasts when South Africans and the wider world celebrated the life of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela on 10 December at the... READ FOR FREE
Vol 54 No 25 | MOZAMBIQUE Obrigado Graça 12th December 2013 Calls are growing for Graça Machel to stand for president. To many of her fellow Mozambicans, the idea is both appealing and logical. Her husband, Nelson Mandela, has...
Vol 54 No 25 | SOUTH AFRICA The time of Mandela 6th December 2013 People are together on the streets as they were in the 1994 liberation elections but this time, to celebrate the life of their globally venerated leader Nelson Mandela's face appeared magisterially on a tableau draped over the front of the Elysée Palace as African leaders and European bureaucrats walked across the courtyard for the...
Vol 54 No 25 | ZIMBABWE Arms-for-minerals trades exposed 4th December 2013 Zimbabwe has parcelled out choice mining concessions to Russia and China in exchange for arms – but they may have sold them too cheaply Deals to trade mining concessions for arms from Russia and China were arranged privately during the period of the coalition government by Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front leaders,...
Vol 7 (AAC) No 2 | SOUTH AFRICA Mamphela Ramphele 30th November 2013 Leader, Agang South Africa According the party’s website, ‘Agang, which means “build” in Sesotho, stands for clean government to restore the promise of freedom to all South Africans: equality, dignity and hope...
Vol 7 (AAC) No 2 | ZAMBIA Mixed messages 29th November 2013 President Michael Sata laid the first stone for the expansion and upgrading of Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in Lusaka on 7 November. The China-financed US$360 million project is...