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Frelimo falters as a people’s uprising gathers steam

Albino José Sibia ‘Mano Shottas’
Albino José Sibia ‘Mano Shottas’

Anger is rising as civic activists say police have killed over 130 protestors and the Constitutional Council prepares to rule on disputed election

Mozambique’s police crossed a previously unthinkable line on 14 December when they opened fire on mourners after the funeral of 30-year-old Albino José Sibia, known as ‘Mano Shottas’....

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The Sahel-exit splits open Ecowas

Ecowas sixty-sixth ordinary session, 15 December 2024, Abuja, Nigeria. Pic: @ecowas_cedeao
Ecowas sixty-sixth ordinary session, 15 December 2024, Abuja, Nigeria. Pic: @ecowas_cedeao

Nigeria’s Tinubu presides over the regional bloc’s worst ever crisis

The break up of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) into two rival blocs is now irreversible. At an emergency summit in Abuja on 15 December,...


Mahama lacks time to turn his promised reset into reality

President-elect Mahama meets President Akufo-Addo to discuss the transition process, 11 December 2024. Pic: @JDMahama
President-elect Mahama meets President Akufo-Addo to discuss the transition process, 11 December 2024. Pic: @JDMahama

Pledging a lean and accountable government, the new President says he will end nuisance taxes but keep the IMF reform programme on track

Following his victory in the 7 December presidential elections and securing a two-thirds majority in parliament, President-elect John Dramani Mahama has the executive power and the parliamentary support...


Mahama leads a decisive NDC comeback

Ghana presidential election held on 7 December, 2024. Copyright © Africa Confidential 2024
Ghana presidential election held on 7 December, 2024. Copyright © Africa Confidential 2024

Vice-President Bawumia concedes early to ‘preserve the peace of our country’ amid sharpening polarisation

Former President John Dramani Mahama won the 7 December presidential election decisively – defeating Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and leading the opposition National...


Tinubu prepares to present 2025 budget

Nigeria: Naira weakens, subsidies fall, revenues improve. Copyright © Africa Confidential 2024
Nigeria: Naira weakens, subsidies fall, revenues improve. Copyright © Africa Confidential 2024

Foreign exchange and tax reforms are praised by international banks but most Nigerians are yet to see the benefits

For the multilateral financial institutions and investment banks, President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms are stabilising the country’s finances and staunching the loss of billions of dollars in revenues...

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Reforms spark a national tax revolt

Pic: @officialABAT
Pic: @officialABAT

State governors and federal lawmakers oppose plans to centralise revenue collection in a new agency in Abuja

President Bola Tinubu’s alliance with northern Nigeria, which helped him get into power last year, risks falling apart as he attempts to re-engineer the country’s revenue structure. Tinubu’s...


Chantal Biya gains ground as an old ally falls

The Biyas. Pic: @ChantalBIYA_Cmr
The Biyas. Pic: @ChantalBIYA_Cmr

After a heated argument with the First Lady, Rear-Admiral Joseph Fouda was drummed out of the presidency accused of fraud

He headed no unit of the Cameroonian armed forces, nor did he even grace its highest ranks, let alone did he earn President Paul Biya’s eternal gratitude by...


New alliances on shaky ground

Hassan Joho and William Ruto at State House Nairobi. Pic: @HassanAliJoho
Hassan Joho and William Ruto at State House Nairobi. Pic: @HassanAliJoho

The putative opposition is enjoying its five seats in government but is hedging its bets before committing to a formal coalition with Ruto

Even by the standards of Kenyan politics, where the bitterest political enemies in one election can become close allies at the next, the five members of Raila Odinga’s...


SWAPO bucks the regional trend

Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. Pic: @VPSWAPO
Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. Pic: @VPSWAPO

Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, the ruling party’s first female presidential candidate, now has to deliver on her jobs promise

SWAPO retained power in the presidential and legislative elections last month although on a smaller vote share than in 2019 amid claims by the opposition of skulduggery in...


Macron tilts to Anglophone Africa after Sahelian exits

President Bola Tinubu’s state visit to Paris, 28-29 November. Pic: @officialABAT
President Bola Tinubu’s state visit to Paris, 28-29 November. Pic: @officialABAT

After a spate of reverses in the region, the French President is boosting ties with Ghana and Nigeria

One data point sums up the commercial stakes: there are more French companies in Nigeria than there are in the rest of West Africa. It also painted the...


In the news: Didier Reynders and Belge-Afrique

Didier Reynders. Pic: @dreynders
Didier Reynders. Pic: @dreynders

The investigation into former EU Justice Commissioner and pillar of the Belgian establishment, Didier Reynders, linked to a wider probe of money laundering via state-owned institutions, has triggered...


Brussels gets a new Africa corps

Kaja Kallas. Pic: @kajakallas
Kaja Kallas. Pic: @kajakallas

The European Commission has used one problem to solve another after strategically appointing Portuguese diplomat Salvador Pinto da França as the Africa advisor to Kaja Kallas, the EU’s...


London vetoes Harare

Lord Collins. Pic: @Lord_Collins
Lord Collins. Pic: @Lord_Collins

The British government has vetoed the re-admission of Zimbabwe to the Commonwealth, Africa Minister Lord Ray Collins confirmed in a written answer to a question about Zimbabwe’s readmission...


Tinubu looks to his military home boys

President Bola Tinubu at the funeral of Lt Gen Taoreed Lagbaja. Pic: @officialABAT
President Bola Tinubu at the funeral of Lt Gen Taoreed Lagbaja. Pic: @officialABAT

After a spate of coups swept West Africa, the President has stacked key positions with officers from his home region


Zimbabwe readmission ‘is off’

Baroness Patricia Scotland welcomes Emmerson Mnangagwa to Marlborough House, May 2023. Pic: @PScotlandCSG
Baroness Patricia Scotland welcomes Emmerson Mnangagwa to Marlborough House, May 2023. Pic: @PScotlandCSG

The UK won’t support Zimbabwe’s readmission to the Commonwealth, we hear, although it could threaten its charm offensive on the continent