Vol 57 No 5 | SOUTH AFRICA Trial of strength at the top 4th March 2016 The President asserts himself over Gordhan but the Finance Minister pushes back. An epic contest is shaping the country's future Beleaguered President Jacob Zuma has just lost another round in his battle with a growing coalition of forces seeking his early exit. He is under attack from within and without the...
Vol 57 No 5 | ZAMBIA Lungu schemes to survive 4th March 2016 In an unpredictable political landscape, the President is pulling out the stops to win the next elections Elected by a narrow margin in January 2015 and presiding over an economy in free fall, President Edgar Lungu is trying to strengthen his position through constitutional amendments ...
Vol 57 No 5 | SOUTH AFRICA Guptas 'to leave SA' 4th March 2016 The Gupta brothers, Ajay, Atul and Rajesh, are in the process of moving to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, say sources in the governing African National Congress. Several of the famil...
Vol 57 No 4 | SOUTH AFRICA ANC heads for the hills 19th February 2016 The party is leaching urban support as the polls approach and hopes to compensate for it in the countryside Under pressure from party leaders and supporters, and from a variety of bad decisions and a stagnating economy, President Jacob Zuma appears to have abandoned formerly key African ...
Vol 57 No 4 | SOUTH AFRICA Zupta Inc. 19th February 2016 The Gupta business family – brothers Ajay, Atul and Rajesh – has been catapulted on to South Africa's front pages since their friend President Jacob Zuma sacked Finance...
Vol 57 No 4 | SOUTH AFRICA Zuma bows to business 12th February 2016 A beleaguered president, facing charges of violating the constitution and under pressure on the economy, has grasped a lifeline thrown by business leaders Delivering the State of the Nation address yesterday at the opening of what promises to be the South African Parliament's most turbulent year, President Jacob Zuma announced a seri...
Vol 57 No 3 | ZIMBABWE Mujuru goes for glory 5th February 2016 The former Vice-President launches a new party which promises to be as much a challenge to Mugabe as to the opposition A new political era beckons for Zimbabwe with the emergence of People First (PF). At least, that's the hope of its founder, former Vice-President Joice Mujuru. Another big name is ...
Vol 57 No 3 | SOUTH AFRICA Gordhan's short leash 5th February 2016 The contract of the new South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan runs only until this year's local government elections, Africa Confidential hears from Treasury sources. The d...
Vol 57 No 2 | ZIMBABWE Blow to yuan plan 22nd January 2016 China declines to circulate its currency in Zimbabwe and experts say that would do little to revive the economy anyway President Robert Mugabe has come unstuck in his plans to circulate the Chinese currency, the yuan, in Zimbabwe. His government had hoped that such a project would ease a growing li...
Vol 57 No 2 | MALAWI Banda on the run 22nd January 2016 Ex-President Joyce Banda is being investigated after she was repeatedly named in connection with the Cashgate affair in court, the Anti-Corruption Bureau has announced. It has not ...