The state of the national electricity grid is reaching breaking point, that is the risk of a total power shut down caused by a systemic failure of generating...

The rains are late in Madagascar – again. While over 750,000 people in the south of the island face severe hunger after three consecutive years of drought, the...

Sixteen months after garnering an impressive electoral mandate, President Lazarus Chakwera is on the back foot, anxiously deflecting accusations that his administration is incompetent and corrupt. Complaints about...

When Finance Ministry budget director Paul Mphwiyo unexpectedly survived being shot in the head and left for dead eight years ago, blowing apart the heist of US$32 million...

South Africa cannot make up its mind what to do with former Mozambican Finance Minister Manuel Chang, in jail for nearly three years since his arrest in December...

Intra-party rivalries will reach new heights in the run-up to the African National Congress's (ANC) elective conference in December next year as the allies of former President Jacob...

One of President Hakainde Hichilema's toughest challenges is the raft of complex and costly legal battles over mining assets bequeathed by the Patriotic Front (PF) government, which was...

As it launched its heavily choreographed Annual National People's Conference on 29-30 October in Bindura, the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) was trying to dampen down...

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) has entered uncharted territory after losing its majority in 70 councils across the country including the five metropolitan councils in major cities....

What started as a student protest against police brutality has morphed into a full-scale crisis with King Mswati III's army killing between 80-100 civilians in clashes with demonstrators....

Five years after Mozambique's economy sank into a quagmire of bad debt, Credit Suisse faces at least US$747 million of penalties for its part in the country's $2...

Cyril Ramaphosa has called on developed economies to help fund the energy transition in developing economies, as South Africa's struggle to wean itself off coal sets him against...

The African National Congress's (ANC) share of the national vote fell to 46% in the local elections with almost all the ballots counted by the evening of 3...

Security agents raided the homes of former President Ian Khama on 23-25 October in search of unlicensed weapons and arrested his ally, former spy chief Isaac Kgosi, as...

For President Cyril Ramaphosa, the local elections on 1 November will be a referendum on his reforms and a sign of his party support a year before he...

The country's rarely seen Deputy President, David Mabuza, was sharply reprimanded by the governing African National Congress when he casually threw his hat into the ring for re-election...

President Hakainde Hichilema's record of early appointments and dismissals shows he is making good on his promise of a new start for governance and the economy, Lusaka pundits...

A landmark High Court ruling curtailing ministerial powers on mine ownership is set to end three years of policy uncertainty. Looking at growing production across the continent, South...

Botswana has formally registered an inquest through the courts to investigate the shootings of three Namibians and a Zambian by its army along a river border with Namibia...

The Western Cape is the only province in the country on which the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) has secured a solid grip – one that the African National...

The trial of 19 state officials and ruling party members accused of corruptly benefiting from the US$2 billion hidden loans scandal continues to grip the country and embarrass...

The assassination of the exiled Rwandan businessman Revocant Karemangingo in a hail of bullets in Maputo on 13 September has shocked the country and prompted strong international protests....

President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned the African National Congress that a judicial commission headed by Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo – which enjoys the support of the President...

The criminal trial in Maputo of many of the state and ruling party officials accused of involvement in the creation and theft of part of the US$2 billion...

A charitable foundation linked to ex-President Ian Khama claimed on 9 August it had secured 4 million doses of the Pfizer and Astra-Zeneca Covid-19 vaccines and was offering...

Although it is the neighbouring country most affected by the Islamist insurgency in Mozambique's northern province of Cabo Delgado, Tanzania's response to the conflict is the most misunderstood....

President Lazarus Chakwera has had a torrid month. He sacked Chikosa Silungwe, the Attorney-General, on 2 August, and two of his most senior aides were arrested by the...

President Hakainde Hichilema's inauguration on 24 August ended the tense period that followed polling day on 12 August, when it looked as though his predecessor, Edgar Lungu, might...

How to supply electricity in the long and short term is possibly the most pressing of all South Africa's economic problems and a locus of conflict between statist...

It was no ordinary cabinet reshuffle that South Africa's President pulled off on 5 August in the wake of seven fateful days of rioting that left over 300...

The long–awaited trial of 19 defendants on charges including abuse of public office, embezzlement and money laundering related to the US$2 billion hidden loans scandal has finally begun....

The ruling Patriotic Front is making a final push for votes ahead of the 12 August general election although many of the party's loyalists fear a surge in...

The government is taking a hard look at its own intelligence and security leaders in the aftermath of the orchestrated campaign of sabotage and protests which morphed into...

Gauteng is South Africa's smallest but most densely populated and richest province, covering 1.5% of the country's land mass, with an estimated population in excess of 15 million...

Two Zambian-flagged merchant ships suspected of shipping weapons to Libya have been stopped in the Mediterranean by European Union naval vessels enforcing the United Nations arms embargo, according...

Against a backdrop of falling support for President Edgar Lungu and a sliding economy, the Patriotic Front government is showering farmers and civil servants with handouts and good...

The African National Congress is dominant in KwaZulu-Natal, with 44 seats in the 80-seat provincial legislature, while its nearest rival, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) has just 13....

A confluence of widespread economic despair, hunger and protest sparked by the jailing of former South African President Jacob Zuma, began with a deliberate act of sabotage. On...

Opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema is investing hope and major resources, including a phone app and satellite systems, to mobilise over 20,000 election agents from his United Party for...

While 1,000 Rwandan police and troops, widely admired for their military qualities, have arrived on the Afungi peninsula to defend the liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure against Cabo...

At the stroke of midnight and after hours of negotiating with senior officers, ex-President Jacob Zuma handed himself over to police on 7 July. He now starts a...

As reports and videos circulate showing dozens of pro-democracy protestors being shot and killed by security forces, regional and international pressure on King Mswati III is mounting. Veteran...

Exceptional levels of violence – by ruling Patriotic Front thugs and police – are raising questions about the credibility of the parliamentary, municipal and presidential elections due on...

With two quick-fire announcements on 11 and 12 June, President Cyril Ramaphosa broke with ruling party orthodoxy and threw a lifeline to the ailing power industry and state...

Zimbabwe's most controversial businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei has shut down his fuel company, Sakunda Holdings, which was put under United States sanctions in August last year for having 'harmed...

A fight over another round of farm confiscations is heading for the courts; but this time prominent black dissident is the target. Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) co-deputy Director-General...

A company registered in the United Kingdom with strong South African links has signed an agreement that could give it dominance over Zimbabwe's more than US$1 billion fuel...

Germany has finally acknowledged that its colonial forces committed genocide against the Ovaherero and Nama and agreed to pay compensation, but these communities of central-eastern and southern Namibia...

Just before the start of the three-month election campaign on 12 May, the Patriotic Front (PF) government rushed through at least US$145 million of new loans to fund...

Few countries have had more thoroughgoing probes of their business and political classes but a bigger test is coming next. Can the governing African National Congress shut...

Canada's Reconnaissance Energy Africa (ReconAfrica) is convinced it has hit paydirt in the Kavango basin of north-eastern Namibia/north-western Botswana, which extends under part of the watershed of the...

Two months after Islamist militants mounted their spectacular invasion of the town of Palma in Cabo Delgado province, President Filipe Nyusi still does not know where to turn....

After bludgeoning his opponents for the past three years, President Emmerson Mnangagwa is stepping up laws against all dissent and erasing the last vestiges of judicial independence. Seizing...

Political support for the fightback against President Cyril Ramaphosa and his allies in the African National Congress is eroding day by day. The last act of the drama...

As befits a devout evangelist and former pastor, President Lazarus Chakwera promised to lead Malawians 'to Canaan' after winning last year's dramatic election, a re-run of the previous...

There was no hint of triumphalism in Cyril Ramaphosa's measured speech on 10 May at the end of a dramatic three-day National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting that saw...

French oil giant Total has been forced to follow through on its recent declaration of force majeure, and begin demobilising millions of dollars' worth of equipment from its...

President Filipe Nyusi is under heavy pressure to finally accept foreign military intervention to quash the escalating insurgency in the northern province of Cabo Delgado.

It has taken 13 years for the Judicial Conduct Tribunal of the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) to recommend the impeachment of Western Cape Judge President, Justice John Hlophe,...

The beneficiaries of what could be over 100 billion rand (US$6.8bn) of 'irregular spending' in the country's rickety state-owned companies over the past three years are pushing back...

Although government forces claimed definitive victory on 27 March over the Ahlu Sunna Wal Jammah (ASWJ) fighters who had seized control of Palma, on the northern tip of...

The death of King Goodwill Zwelithini, 72, from Covid-19 complications on 12 March, without agreement on how the succession should be managed will complicate the kingdom's already stormy...

Contrary to some optimistic reports, Zambia is 'very far' from securing a bail-out deal from the International Monetary Fund, banking and official sources have told Africa Confidential. It...

The expulsion of six MPs from Zimbabwe's parliament after a strange ruling that they no longer belonged to their own party deals a harsh blow to the opposition,...

The rival factions of the governing African National Congress are edging towards a final showdown after its National Executive Committee meeting on 27-29 March decided that the party's...

Former President Jacob Zuma and the African National Congress Secretary-General Ace Magashule, who are both facing multiple corruption charges, have launched an open, brazen campaign to unseat President...

Mozambique's prospects for victory in its law suits over US$2 billion in hidden loans are dimming, according to legal sources. Maputo has been suing Lebanese businessman Iskandar Safa's...

With more spending cuts and a slew of tax rises Finance Minister Tito Mboweni's budget today will make enemies across the board. Even after this, he may not...

President Cyril Ramaphosa's attempt to fight grand corruption in state agencies and the ruling party faces critical tests over the next month, on two parallel tracks. At the...

General Eugenio Mussa's death on 8 February from Covid-19, just three weeks after his appointment as Chief of the Armed Forces, is a major blow to President Filipe...

Business kingpin Kudakwashe Tagwirei, under United States sanctions since August, aims to expand his commanding stake in Zimbabwe's gold industry – and could end up taking control of...

A politically charged fight between the Treasury and the Health Department has derailed the government's bid to buy vaccines cheaply and quickly. Doctors and scientists criticise officials for...

President Filipe Nyusi has reshuffled the military command while troops retrain and re-equip with new supplies to help meet the rebel threat in Cabo Delgado, according to local...

African National Congress Secretary General Ace Magashule heads to the Bloemfontein Magistrate Court on 19 February to face 21 charges of corruption and fraud dating from his time...

The fortunes of the ruling African National Congress, and Cyril Ramaphosa's own survival as party and South African president, are dependent on the outcome of municipal elections scheduled...

President Emmerson Mnangagwa's regime looks secure, in spite of what is widely viewed as Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front's complete political bankruptcy and the persistence of a deep-seated...

Aware that it looked odd that it did not have a plan to restore the nation’s economic fortunes, the government quickly rushed out its Economic Recovery Programme on...

President João Lourenço promised an end to the corruption that characterised the rule of his predecessor, José Eduardo dos Santos, to the impunity of the ruling Movimento...

The chief concern of President Filipe Nyusi in the year ahead is the same that will take up most of the rest of his final term of office...