Vol 58 No 25 | MOROCCO Courtship and crackdowns 15th December 2017 Many Moroccans are proud to see their king bestriding the global stage but are less keen on the autocratic side of royalty Moroccans are now used to King Mohammed VI (M6) leading the kingdom's drive to become a political and economic heavyweight in Africa. For decades North African leaders tended...
Vol 58 No 21 | ALGERIAMOROCCORUSSIA Guns, gas and nukes 20th October 2017 Guns, gas and nuclear cooperation were among the goodies offered by Russian Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev in a 72-hour tour of Algiers and Rabat between 9 and 11...
Vol 58 No 21 | MOROCCO M6's apprentices 20th October 2017 The appointment of Nizar Baraka to head Istiqlal (Independence), after months of angry wrangling among the historic nationalist party's political bosses, reflects a wider move back towards managerial...
Vol 58 No 21 | LIBYAITALY Risorgimento Africano 20th October 2017 Forced to focus on its southern flank by Libya's collapse and the Mediterranean migrant crisis, Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni's government is getting ever more involved in African politics...
Vol 58 No 20 | MOROCCOWESTERN SAHARAEUROPEAN UNION Game of names 6th October 2017 African leaders meet their European Union counterparts in Abidjan in late November with migration and increased European investment certain to dominate the agenda. However, an unlikely sideshow has...
Vol 58 No 19 | EGYPT El Sisi marshals his allies 22nd September 2017 The President is calming the nerves of supporters in parliament who fear a new election is too risky The approach of Egypt's presidential elections, which are scheduled for April 2018, revealed a split among supporters of President Abdel Fattah el Sisi in the House of Representatives,...
Vol 58 No 17 | ALGERIA The state stays captured 25th August 2017 The end of Tebboune's short premiership underlines who holds real influence in Algiers and could mark a deeper shift in the power structure A respected senior technocrat who dared to take on the 'oligarchs' making huge fortunes in alliance with the head of state and his family has met his political...
Vol 58 No 17 | MAURITANIA Abdel Aziz way 25th August 2017 President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz has secured a 'Yes' vote in a referendum on abolishing the upper chamber of the country's parliament and changing the national flag. It...
Vol 58 No 17 | LIBYAITALYEUROPEAN UNION All at sea over migration 9th August 2017 A row over a deal between Rome and Tripoli to police the Mediterranean points to deepening divisions on migration in Africa and Europe An Italian operation backing efforts by the Libyan coastguard to intercept ships carrying migrants across the Mediterranean risks widening the political fight between the country's rival factions in...
Vol 58 No 12 | LIBYA States of failure 9th June 2017 Foreign supporters of the factions locked in civil war are falling out as the fighting intensifies and solutions are as distant as ever Fighting between General Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) and its rivals has been increasing, while Da'ish (Islamic State) proves that it remains a potent force, despite suffering...