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Published 22nd June 2023

Vol 64 No 13

Nigeria

Tinubu's team looks for shock absorbers

Pic: @officialABAT
Pic: @officialABAT

Having chosen to push through radical reforms in the government's first weeks, officials are scrambling to address the political consequences

After the policy advisors around President Bola Ahmed Tinubu backed a shock therapy approach to ending fuel subsidies and floating the naira, their next priority is to cushion the political and socio-economic fallout.

Kyiv and Moscow give peace mission short shrift

Pic: @EmbassyofRussia
Pic: @EmbassyofRussia

After days of awkward and unproductive diplomacy, the economic consequences of the war will worsen for Africa – starting with the collapse of the grain deal

The African peace mission to Ukraine and Russia has exposed the chasm between the two countries – with Kyiv insisting on Russian withdrawal from its territory and Moscow...

The new age of austerity

Copyright © Africa Confidential 2023
Copyright © Africa Confidential 2023

Higher taxes will finance any extra spending as the region's finance ministers rein in borrowing and try to cut back the public sector

The headline figures that government spending in Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and Rwanda, is set to increase by 10%, 7%, 6.5% and 5.65% respectively, suggested that little had changed...

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THE INSIDE VIEW

About 3.4 million Sierra Leoneans are expected to vote in a general election on 24 June in which incumbent President Julius Maada Bio is seeking a second and final term. Although 13 candidates will be on the ballot paper, the poll is widely expected to be a re-run of the 2018 election, where Bio narrowly defeated Samura Kamara of the All People's Congress (APC) party.

Bio made a positive start back in 2018, setting up a judicial inquiry into the unexplained wealth of his predecessor E...

About 3.4 million Sierra Leoneans are expected to vote in a general election on 24 June in which incumbent President Julius Maada Bio is seeking a second and final term. Although 13 candidates will be on the ballot paper, the poll is widely expected to be a re-run of the 2018 election, where Bio narrowly defeated Samura Kamara of the All People's Congress (APC) party.

Bio made a positive start back in 2018, setting up a judicial inquiry into the unexplained wealth of his predecessor Ernest Bai Koroma. But his government failed to reboot the ailing economy. Nearly 60% of Sierra Leone's 7 million people are poor, with unemployment one of the highest in West Africa. Last August, economic hardship prompted anti-government protests which turned violent. That, combined with soaring prices and currency devaluation, has given Kamara his main lines of attack.

More concerning, in the country's fifth general election since the official end of the civil war in 2002, have been disputes between the APC and Bio's Sierra Leone People's Party over the administration of the polls. Kamara has called for the electoral commission to resign.

But Bio remains the clear favourite. He will hope that having the endorsement of the third-placed candidate in 2018, the technocratic Kandeh Yumkella, will be decisive, though Bio is unlikely to win the 55% needed in the first round to avoid a runoff.

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Windhoek gets tough on green resources

The government wants free stakes in lithium and other mines producing vital inputs for electric vehicles

President Hage Geingob and his close ally, mines minister Tom Alweendo, have signalled their seriousness about obtaining the maximum benefit of minerals used in electric vehicle (EV) batteries...

Can Tigray's factions hold together?

The region's foes in Eritrea, Addis Ababa and Asmara are trying to exploit post-war political differences as the old ruling party reorganises

Eight months after signing a peace accord with the federal government, Tigray's leaders face a new set of economic and political tests, not least whether their political organisations...

As economic polycrisis deepens, business lends a hand

Corporate chiefs are going public on their fears about the economic slide and social chaos

After months of intense preparation, the two leading business umbrella groups – Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) and Business for South Africa (B4SA) – launched a major initiative...

Hassan Sheikh promises direct elections

Hassan Sheikh has pledged one-person one-vote elections despite insufficient infrastructure and security, and he is placing great store on joining the EAC

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has announced several bold political changes and promised to succeed in his bid to join the East African Community. He has promised one-person, one-vote...

How Brussels's green tax will hit Africa

Europe's carbon levy has become law with African states in line to suffer collateral damage

After two years of debate, the European Parliament has passed a carbon pricing mechanism which will apply to all countries trading with member states of the European Union...

Tshisekedi gives away gold rights to UAE

Kinshasa stands to lose revenues worth tens of millions of dollars in opaque deal with company linked to Abu Dhabi's national security advisor

In one of the most egregious mining contracts signed so far by President Félix Tshisekedi's government, he has endorsed the award of 'exclusive rights' over the country's entire...

Hassan Sheikh's offensive against Al Shabaab is  faltering

The militia has struck back hard against Mogadishu's forces as the government fails to consolidate after last year's battlefield successes

When Al Shabaab attacked an African Union Transitional Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) base on 26 May and killed up to 100 Ugandan soldiers and taking prisoners it struck...

Pointers

G20 slows reform ideas

Global leaders may publicly agree that an overhaul of the international financial system is overdue but don't expect a breakthrough at the Summit for a New Global Financial...

Political divide deepens

Justice minister Sidiki Kaba – a former head of the International Human Rights Federation – has dismissed critics of the tough crackdown on the protests that followed the...

Swapo faces more poll losses

Growing anger over government corruption and surging unemployment look set to give opposition parties their best chance yet of loosening the ruling SWAPO Party's grip on the country....

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