Vol 65 No 9 | CHAD President Mahamat considers the Russian bear hug 24th April 2024 A letter to Washington has put relations in the cooler, as overtures to the Kremlin increase and the president ponders a change of allegiance On 4 April the Chadian government threatened to cancel the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the United States, the law that regulates the conditions under which the 100 or so... READ FOR FREE
Vol 65 No 8 | CAMEROON Biya's government blocks bids to unite opposition 5th April 2024 Ahead of key elections in 2025 – in which 91-year-old Paul Biya is seeking re-election – his ministers are cracking down on political foes The government has pressed the panic button in response to plans for two opposition alliances to fight next year's elections. Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji...
Vol 65 No 7 | CONGO-KINSHASA Mobutu-style economic nationalism returns 20th March 2024 State officials led by Kashal Katemb are bent on restructuring company ownership in favour of Congolese business people Foreign companies in Congo-Kinshasa are increasingly alarmed at what they see as a wave of economic nationalism that revives the politics of 'Zaïreanisation' under the three-d...
Vol 65 No 6 | CHAD Kaka paves a hard road to sham poll 13th March 2024 The killing of opposition leader Yaya Dillo consolidates the President's control of the elite and confirms his autocratic path The shooting dead of opposition politician Yaya Dillo Djérou on 28 February by security forces in Ndjamena proves that Chadian elite politics are as bloody as they are inter...
Vol 65 No 6 | CAMEROON Contenders spar in the waiting room 11th March 2024 As the post-Biya era looms, internal rivalries are dominating governance and politics in Cameroon to the exclusion of all else With every birthday – 13 February was his 91st – the succession to President Paul Biya draws nearer, as does the intensity of the rivalry of the factions aiming to repl...
Vol 65 No 6 | RWANDACONGO-KINSHASAEUROPEAN UNION How Brussels was caught out by the Kivu war 5th March 2024 The proxy war between Kinshasa and Kigali is derailing the European Union's plan to secure critical minerals Three days after an angry meeting between Congo-Kinshasa's President Félix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame on 16 February in Addis Ababa over the escalati...
Vol 65 No 6 | RWANDACONGO-KINSHASAEUROPEAN UNION Kigali pushes back against the African Union 5th March 2024 President Kagame's strategic position is facing growing regional pressure Rwanda has warned the Africa Union that it would see any support for the South African-led regional intervention force against the M-23 militia in eastern Congo-Kinshasa as a threa...
Vol 65 No 4 | CAMEROON Biya's belt-tightening has risks 15th February 2024 With pressure from the IMF mounting, the government has embarked on austerity measures which could impact political stability Cameroon has had a worrying start to the year with President Paul Biya's four-decade-long dictatorship facing economic challenges that could turn political at a moment's notice. Th...
Vol 65 No 4 | GABON China's base desires 15th February 2024 Washington sees the possibility of China building a military base on the coast of Gabon, as well as other port investments by China on the African Atlantic coast, as a strategic th...
Vol 65 No 2 | CONGO-KINSHASA Harsh realities face Tshisekedi after vote 18th January 2024 Its abundance of critical minerals encouraged outsiders to ignore election abuses but Congo's governance crisis holds up everything Félix Tshisekedi's second presidential mandate is assured, and he has politically vanquished his domestic opposition after the 20 December elections. But his rhetoric on the...
