Vol 66 No 25 | ETHIOPIA All that glisters in Addis 19th December 2025 The central bank’s eyebrow-raising gold export figures are raising questions about the precious metal’s provenance Ethiopia has posted a staggering rise in gold exports, earning US$3.5 billion from 37 tonnes in the fiscal year ending 7 July, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told the...
Vol 66 No 25 | BURUNDIWHO'S WHO Profile: Ndayishimiye – dragged to the frontline 19th December 2025 Burundian President Évariste Ndayishimiye’s stock had risen after he and Kenya’s President William Ruto were invited to the signing of the peace deal in Washington. Less than two...
Vol 66 No 25 | UGANDAUNITED NATIONSENVIRONMENT Hands off our minerals 19th December 2025 Uganda was the unlikely blocker of a draft resolution proposed by Colombia and Oman on the environmentally sound management of minerals and metals at the United Nations Environment...
Vol 66 No 25 | SOMALIA Mogadishu’s strategy in limbo as rumour mills whirr 17th December 2025 Trial balloons, rumours and back-channel traffic offer pointers to the strategic future of the country as foreign allies take up their own positions The air is thick with contradictory indicators about Somalia’s future, from online warnings that Mogadishu is about to be overrun by Al Shabaab through to media articles saying...
Vol 66 No 25 | RWANDACONGO-KINSHASAUNITED STATES Trump’s peace deal unravels as M23 seizes strategic eastern city 11th December 2025 Hopes for an historic reset linking security to a US-backed minerals and infrastructure deal have been overshadowed by fresh fighting displacing 200,000 people It has taken less than a week for a brutal reality to intrude on the brash hopes for the peace accord signed between Congo-Kinshasa and Rwanda in Washington...
Vol 66 No 24 | KENYA Ruto holds the parties together 5th December 2025 The president’s party and its allies won most of the seats on ‘Super Thursday’ – yet numbers show a coalition fraying at the edges President William Ruto and his semi-official allies in the late Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) enjoyed a bumper by-election day on 27 November, winning 16 of the...
Vol 66 No 24 | RWANDABRITAIN No more logo 5th December 2025 The days of London’s biggest football club, Arsenal, proclaiming ‘Visit Rwanda’ on its players’ sleeves are over after the club confirmed that its eight-year sponsorship deal with Rwanda’s...
Vol 66 No 24 | SOMALIAUNITED STATESUNITED ARAB EMIRATES Funding woes dog anti-Islamic State war as Washington joins in 2nd December 2025 Puntland’s war on Da’ish drags on and piracy revives as President Said Deni prioritises electioneering above paying for troops Puntland’s bitter campaign against Islamic State (IS or Da’ish), backed by United States special forces, shows no sign of let-up despite 11 months of fighting and the capture...
Vol 66 No 24 | TANZANIA Hassan faces foreign anger and braces for more unrest 1st December 2025 The government risks losing aid funds and billions in investment in reaction to the election violence as it prepares for Independence Day protests As the scale of bloodshed during the 29 October general election hits home, President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s government has triggered the country’s deepest crisis for decades, threatening the...
Vol 66 No 24 | SOMALIA Hassan Sheikh takes poll position 27th November 2025 The President hopes he can remain in power by winning a ‘one person one vote’ election next year, or get his term extended if delays persist President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has strengthened his position in the run-up to the presidential election next year by skilfully dividing the opposition. He is sticking with his call...