China may be popular amongst some politicians, but support on the ground can be much thinner. In spite of increased trade and warmer relations, there has been a rise in...

Japanese and Indian interest in Mozambican coal is growing and export prices are rising again. In a deal in March between the BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance and Japan's Nippon Steel with...

A year after Malaysian company Ramatex abandoned its US$100 million textile factory in Windhoek, the authorities are at last tackling the environmental impact of the operations of the...

There remains one main unanswered question about the elections due on 22 April : the size of the African National Congress’s vote. Most estimates put it at 55-65%...

Born-frees: This is the generation that has grown up in the 19 years since Nelson Mandela walked out of gaol and the African National Congress was unbanned –...

Western Cape: The opposition parties – probably in a coalition of the Democratic Alliance, Independent Democrats and Congress of the People – will win. Northern...

In London for the G-20 summit on 2 April, African Development Bank President Donald Kaberuka told Africa Confidential that Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Tendai Biti was making headway: ‘Since...

The Malawi Electoral Commission’s barring of former President Bakili Muluzi from May’s presidential election has sparked a crisis after the dissolution of Parliament and the start of campaigning...

The opening of a national conference in Antananarivo on 2 April, led by Andry Rajoelina, head of the Haute Autorité de la Transition, is likely to worsen political...

Some of the businessmen targeted for sanctions by the European Union and United States are fighting back. John Bredenkamp, named as a collaborator of President Robert Mugabe’s regime...