Pomp, ceremony, fashion parades and backslapping are the usual accompaniments to the state-of-the-nation address with which President Thabo Mbeki opens a session of South Africa's parliament. This time,...

Simba Makoni's decision to challenge President Robert Mugabe has surprised those who suspected he lacked the courage to see it through. The odds could hardly be higher for...

This may prove to be the week that Simba Makoni and his backers started to turn the tide in Zimbabwe's politics. On 13 February, Makoni launched his independent...

Simon Mann, former Special Air Service officer and mercenary, was extradited on 1 February from Zimbabwe to Equatorial Guinea, where he is to face charges of coup plotting...

Zambia's first lady, Maureen Kakubo Mwanawasa, is seen as the power behind the throne of President Levy Mwanawasa, and many believe that he wants a third term in...

The electricity shortage is the immediate issue that makes South Africans question their government's competence. The energy utility Eskom says that underinvestment has left it with inadequate generating...

Only former Finance Minister Simba Makoni can resolve the issue of whether he is going to challenge President Robert Mugabe for the Presidency in the elections now set...

A diplomatic storm is brewing as Mozambican police crack down on West Africans they accuse of being illegal miners. The formal tone of a letter from the Mozambican...

The establishment of an Angolan sovereign wealth fund is generating huge interest, not least because its operations and objectives have so far been shrouded in secrecy. We...

Plots abound ahead of Zimbabwe's election season. The leading plotter is President Robert Gabriel Mugabe, who is determined to win by pressing ahead ­ regardless of the breakdown...