For once, local government elections could change national politics. The municipal polls next month will be a critical test for President Jacob Zuma and the African National Congress....

The inner circle, allies inside government, and chief personal enemies

The Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front’s attempt to get Simon Khaya Moyo elected as Speaker of Parliament failed on 30 March when the former Speaker, Lovemore Moyo of...

The Angolan government detained the United States-flagged Maersk Constellation container ship at the port of Lobito between 28 February and 17 March. This was in retaliation for the...

South Africa formally enters the informal club of BRIC nations – Brazil, Russian, India and China – in April in Beijing. On 24 to 26 March, ten key...

Japan and China both want to get their hands on Malawi’s transport infrastructure. The Chinese are building roads, while the Japanese announced in February their US$18 million rehabilitation...

Veteran oppositionist Michael ‘King Cobra’ Sata often accuses President Rupiah Banda and the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy of being too cosy with China. Now Sata stands accused...

The opposition’s attempts to bring the spirit of North Africa’s democracy wave failed to bring the masses on to the streets of Luanda but still worried a government...

Some US$66 million in tax revenue owed to the Treasury are missing, according to the mid-February report on Zambia published under the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). The...

Members of Parliament are due to vote for a new Speaker in a contest that could determine the next president should 87-year-old President Robert Mugabe be declared medically unfit for...