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Published 1st November 2024

Vol 65 No 22

Zimbabwe

Outgoing Commonwealth chief is pushing for Zimbabwe’s readmission

Emmerson Mnangagwa. Pic: @edmnangagwa/State House of Zimbabwe
Emmerson Mnangagwa. Pic: @edmnangagwa/State House of Zimbabwe

Top Commonwealth officials and senior British diplomats favour bringing Harare back into the fold – despite a damning report on last year’s elections

The Commonwealth Secretariat is working to support Zimbabwe’s application to be readmitted to the mainly Anglophone, ex-British colonial group of nations, Africa Confidential has learned. The outgoing Secretary-General, Baroness Patricia Scotland, has written to member states seeking their views but making it clear she supports Harare’s candidacy. Many African members are also in favour.

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No policy shifts as Tinubu reshuffles

Bola Tinubu. Pic: @NGRPresident/State House/Ella Eduozor
Bola Tinubu. Pic: @NGRPresident/State House/Ella Eduozor

Economic hardship and political frustration are worsening but the president endorses most of his cabinet

Five months after receiving a performance report on his 45 ministers, President Bola Tinubu finally reshuffled his cabinet, sacking five ministers and making seven new ones, raising the...

Fears mount as election row escalates

Venâncio Mondlane. Pic: venancio.mondlanevm7
Venâncio Mondlane. Pic: venancio.mondlanevm7

Presidential contender Mondlane’s supporters are preparing to confront Frelimo on the streets

The call by Lúcia da Luz Ribeiro, President of the Constitutional Council, for the Comissão Nacional de Eleições (CNE) to produce the results sheets (editais) from every polling...

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THE INSIDE VIEW

France and Morocco completed the relaunch of their diplomatic relations after the state visit by Emmanuel Macron on 28-30 October featuring an open-top motorcade through the streets of Rabat with King Mohammed VI. The visit saw the signing of more than 20 investment contracts, including Alstom’s contract to supply 18 high-speed train carriages and a renewables partnership worth €3.5 billion between France’s Engie and the Office Chérifien des Phosphates.

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France and Morocco completed the relaunch of their diplomatic relations after the state visit by Emmanuel Macron on 28-30 October featuring an open-top motorcade through the streets of Rabat with King Mohammed VI. The visit saw the signing of more than 20 investment contracts, including Alstom’s contract to supply 18 high-speed train carriages and a renewables partnership worth €3.5 billion between France’s Engie and the Office Chérifien des Phosphates.

But the most politically important move was Macron’s confirmation that Western Sahara should be under Moroccan control. ‘For France, this territory’s present and future fall under Morocco’s sovereignty,’ he told lawmakers in Rabat. He received a standing ovation.

Renewed relations have been achieved at the expense of diplomatic rancour with Algeria. After Macron’s change of heart on Western Sahara in July, Algiers withdrew its ambassador.

It is a remarkable turnaround just three years after a visa dispute led Morocco to suspend consular relations, while Rabat was revealed to have used Pegasus surveillance software to spy on Macron.

A series of other European states released public statements emphasising their support for Morocco after the European Court of Justice ruled that the EU-Morocco trade accords could not apply to Western Sahara. Mohamed VI’s diplomatic grand slam in Europe is almost complete.

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From Abu Dhabi with Dirham

UAE leader Mohamed bin Zayed will want political and other favours in return for his hefty investment in Mahamat Kaka

After meeting France’s President Emmanuel Macron at the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) in Villers-Cotterêts on 4-5 October, Chad’s President Mahamat Déby Itno ‘Kaka’ rushed to Abu...

Accra jumps through more debt hoops

Bondholders have accepted a Eurobond workout, but big financing difficulties remain

With just over a month until the elections, Ghana’s government is struggling with domestic protests, strikes, and the challenge of convincing a sceptical inflation-hit electorate that the economy...

Why Mnangagwa’s gold-backed currency keeps falling

Corruption, over-spending and government borrowing from the central bank  are undermining the sixth attempt at a local currency

Mass scepticism greeted Reserve Bank Governor John Mushayavanhu’s assertion on 11 October that last month’s 43% devaluation of the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency was a 'once-off' event and...

Mixed progress on Putin’s agenda

While the BRICS summit made limited headway, the US and EU should not underestimate the strength of antipathy to the multilateral institutions

Hosting last week’s BRICS summit in Kazan was a welcome break from two years of international isolation for President Vladimir Putin and a golden opportunity to increase Russia’s...

In power for six decades, the ruling BDP promises change

Running for a second term, President Masisi is helped by opposition splits but his economic plans lack credibility

Against a backdrop of rising youth unemployment and tumbling diamond revenues, Botswana’s elections on 30 October are set to be among its most closely fought since independence in...

Kigali tightens its security grip as Nyusi bows out

The furore over Mozambique’s national elections this month may complicate Rwanda’s military role in the northern Cabo Delgado province

Rwanda’s military, invited by President Filipe Nyusi to push back insurgents and guard the gas export plant in Cabo Delgado, is expanding its security operations and business interests...

Pointers

Divided they stand

The Parti démocratique de Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI), which ruled the country unopposed between independence in 1960 and the country’s first coup in 1999, wants back in. But the...

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