GHANA Jobs and corruption dominate election agenda 2nd December 2016 Ghanaians wait their turn to vote at outdoor polling stations in Accra on 7 December 2012. Picture: Gabriela Barnuevo AP/Press Association Images Ghanaians wait their turn to vote at outdoor polling stations in Accra on 7 December 2012. Picture: A late surge in campaigning has improved the opposition's chances of victory as the economy stutters A succession of bad elections this year in Africa – in Uganda, Gabon and Zambia – make the 7 December presidential and parliamentary elections in Ghana an important political marker for the region. In one of Africa's longest-established multi-party systems, where the electoral commission enjoys relatively high levels of trust, another set of successful elections in Ghana will send a positive signal. READ FOR FREE
NIGERIA Grandees test the water 2nd December 2016 The Ondo gubernatorial election was a proving ground for political rivals within the APC camp The victory of Rotimi Akeredolu, candidate of the governing All Progressives' Congress (APC) in the Ondo State governorship election on 26 November, has strong national resonance in the...
ETHIOPIA New faces, old tactics 2nd December 2016 The government's response to a year of protest and calls for reform is unlikely to satisfy the opposition or lead to meaningful dialogue After a year of deep political crisis, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn has reshuffled his cabinet. Yet just a year since the last such moves, these signify no major...
The funeral of Fidel Castro on 4 December is stirring up fiercely partisan reactions. But in Africa there is almost universal praise for the Cuban leader, especially his support for anti-colonial struggles and his despatch of some 50,000 doctors across the continent. Castro told the South African Parliament in 1998 that at least 380,000 Cuban troops had fought 'hand-... The funeral of Fidel Castro on 4 December is stirring up fiercely partisan reactions. But in Africa there is almost universal praise for the Cuban leader, especially his support for anti-colonial struggles and his despatch of some 50,000 doctors across the continent. Castro told the South African Parliament in 1998 that at least 380,000 Cuban troops had fought 'hand-in-hand with African soldiers for national independence and against foreign aggression'. Cuba’s casualty rate in its Africa wars was proportionately much higher than that of United States forces in Vietnam. The difference was that Cuba's intervention worked in Angola. After Cuban troops helped their Angolan counterparts win the battle of Cuito Cuanavale in 1987-88 against Jonas Savimbi's rebels and South African special forces, the apartheid regime pulled back from its regional military ambitions almost immediately. Angola negotiated a peace deal, Namibia secured Independence and South Africa started negotiations for free elections. Cuba's backing for the national liberation struggles in Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau in the 1970s is also celebrated, as is its support for Algeria's Front de libération nationale against France. It was in its interventions in the Horn of Africa that Cuba's policy went badly wrong. In Ethiopia and Somalia, Cuba was seen as the Soviet catspaw changing sides in the war between those two countries on Moscow's orders and then unsuccessfully trying to prop up Mengistu's brutal regime. Read more
CONGO-KINSHASA Kabila ducks and dives 2nd December 2016 The President is staying in the ring by combining intransigence with deviousness to outmanoeuvre the divided opposition Although Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo Mapon resigned on 14 November and announced the dissolution of his government, President Joseph Kabila Kabange surprised everyone three days later by...
MINING Timis's seam of woe 2nd December 2016 The spotlight falls once more on the mining magnate as controversy dogs his business activities in West Africa Three legal and political disputes mark the end of a rare spell out of the limelight for Vasile Frank Timis since the collapse of African Minerals Limited (AML),...
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT 'Afrexit' on hold 2nd December 2016 Member states rallied round at the Hague to defend the Court against political attacks What did not happen at the International Criminal Court's Assembly of State Parties meeting in the Hague on 16-24 November was as important as what did. No new...
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC Pledges lack promise 2nd December 2016 Only a fraction of the funds pledged at the recent donor conference are likely to be spent. Funding is highly conditional After months of preparation, the Central African Republic donor conference of 17 November was a resounding success – seemingly. Jointly chaired in Brussels by President Faustin-Archange Touadéra and...
SOUTH AFRICA Clinging to the wreckage 2nd December 2016 The ANC leadership fired a shot across the President's bows. He is weaker than ever but no less determined to stay on The African National Congress looked more deeply divided than ever as fault lines over the presidency of Jacob Zuma deepened early this week. A three-day meeting of the...
SOUTH AFRICA Gordhan in ratings war 2nd December 2016 President Jacob Zuma and his allies are hoping rating agencies will downgrade South Africa's credit status to 'junk', sources among his supporters have told Africa Confidential. This, they...
NIGERIA Army's 'Biafra' overreaction 2nd December 2016 Five years ago, the movement for a separate Igbo nation, Biafra, seemed dead in the water of the Niger Delta. Fighting between leaders of the secessionist Movement for...
CAMEROON Old man trouble 2nd December 2016 Since President Paul Biya will be 85 at the time of the presidential election scheduled for 2018 and he has named no successor, the opposition believes it has...
MALI Sanogo finally on trial 2nd December 2016 The general who seized power in 2012 as Mali's army crumbled before advancing jihadists and Tuareg independence fighters, Amadou Haya Sanogo, goes on trial this week for the...