Lithium was the break-out commodity of 2022, with the price of this key ingredient in electric vehicle batteries soaring by 1,000% since 2020 to US$82,000 per tonne in...

The African National Congress's long-awaited 55th elective conference kicks off on 16 December after a week of political turmoil and crippling rolling blackouts. Cyril Ramaphosa will be encouraged...

Despite calls for party unity the re-election of SWAPO Vice-President and Namibian president in waiting Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah continues to widen divisions with the previously dominant faction supporting current...

South Africa has just ended a government subsidy set up by President Jacob Zuma for Central African Republic to run an embassy in Pretoria. Until November, South Africa...

Until the afternoon of 30 November, President Cyril Ramaphosa had all but ensured a second five-year term as African National Congress leader and as presidential candidate in the...

SWAPO Vice-President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has retained her party post and is lined up to become its first-ever female presidential candidate in November 2024. She won re-election at the...

Seven hundred delegates attend the seventh elective congress of the SWAPO Party in Windhoek on 25-27 November to elect the party's next vice-president and successor to President Hage...

Nobody was surprised to see President Lazarus Chakwera's motorcade loudly booed as it swooped past motorists languishing in long queues for scarce petrol on the weekend of 3-4...

In front of the cameras the comrades beamed. Yet several senior African National Congress officials say that President Cyril Ramaphosa's position is weakening and don't rule out 'a...

It is symbolically and politically important to Britain that South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa is the first leader to be hosted by King Charles III for a state...

Finalising a US$1.3 billion loan with the International Monetary Fund in September was the easy part of Zambia's bid to avoid insolvency, according to analysts and officials from...

After five years in power, 80-year-old President Emmerson Mnangagwa exerts a wrestler's grip on the ruling party, sidelining his main rival. His biggest problems are the continuing weak...

Officials applaud operations by the Rwandan Defence Force (RDF) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) troops to clear roads and transport hubs in troubled Cabo Delgado province, but...

Discontent over the multiple powerful positions accumulated by African National Congress Secretary-General Paul Mashatile was behind President Cyril Ramaphosa's decision not to make him his running mate, and...

In the early hours of 27 October, Matshela Koko, former chief executive of the ailing state power utility Eskom, and 16 senior officials were arrested on fraud charges...

The independence of Botswana's judiciary is in the spotlight following accusations by a tribal chief that President Mokgweetsi Masisi told her he would direct judges on how to...

The United States and Mozambican governments have been fighting for the right to extradite former finance minister Manuel Chang from South Africa to face money-laundering and fraud charges,...

Dysfunction at the cash-strapped transport behemoth Transnet has forced importers and exporters to bypass the country's ports and trains and resort increasingly to trucking goods. Cargoes, including coal...

President Filipe Nyusi hopes to yoke the ruling Frente de Libertação de Moçambique to his bid to change the constitution so he can have a third term of...

Business mogul Sam Matekane is switching his corporate suit for political office as he takes over as Lesotho's new Prime Minister, and is promising populist changes. But he...

The global energy crisis has gifted Botswana a window to diversify its narrow export base – 75% of its export earnings coming from diamonds – as the country...

The British and South African governments are both struggling to resolve serial political and economic crises. Against this backdrop, planning a state visit for President Cyril Ramaphosa to...

The decision by the African National Congress in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa's second biggest province and its largest reservoir of party members, to choose former health minister Zweli...

The Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front's seventh party congress will preach empowerment and a '2030' vision of shared wealth when it opens on 26 October, but such optimism...

Activists are building a broad-based movement to take on the country's three main parties ahead of the widely forecast realignment should the ruling African National Congress lose its...

In mid-September, at a five-star hotel overlooking the majestic Indian Ocean on KwaZulu-Natal's north coast, a group of African National Congress members wearing party caps and tee-shirts were...

Polling in the general election will open on 7 October without the expected constitutional reforms designed to rid the country of its notorious political instability, disappointing many in...

Pundits and public alike are waking up to the economic sacrifices entailed in the US$1.3 billion IMF rescue package agreed at the beginning of the month amid concern...

As the end of President Hage Geingob's second and final five-year term of office nears, the SWAPO Party is set to pick his successor for the 2024 elections...

Namibian President Hage Geingob is the latest leader assigned by the Southern African Development Community to wade into Eswatini's political quagmire. Before Geingob, President Cyril Ramaphosa was the...

Surrounded by hundreds of soldiers, João Lourenço was sworn in for a second presidential term at Praça da República in Luanda on 15 September. The first session of...

The 24 August general elections produced the victory that President João Lourenço expected, but not by a margin that the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA) is...

From fixing potholes, going to church, firing up the comrades at imbizos (community meetings) to speaking at memorials for African National Congress stalwarts, party activists who want to...

Josep Borrell, the European Union's High Representative, will become the first western leader to congratulate Kenya's President-elect William Ruto in person when he visits on 10 September. United...

It was months in the making, but Zambia's $1.3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund has made an instant impact. The kwacha currency gained more than 3%...

Britain's three-year ban on public sector contracts with Bain & Co, the world's biggest management consultancy, for its 'grave professional misconduct' in South Africa may be part of...

The opposition to the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA) government is enjoying its strongest popular support ever, posing an unprecedented challenge in the 24 August general...

Three decades since Angola's first multiparty elections, the country has undergone significant demographic changes. The electorate is now made up of many young people who never experienced the...

President João Lourenço and the ruling Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA) approached the 24 August general election still favoured to win. If it does win it...

In his closing address to the African National Congress’s 6th policy conference in Johannesburg on 31 July, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the gathering was overwhelmingly in favour of...

A plan to strengthen the private sector, import technical skills and remove the 100-megawatt licensing threshold for independent power producers could end crippling power cuts within two years,...

President Filipe Nyusi is believed to be using delaying tactics to minimise disclosure of his role in Mozambique’s $2 billion hidden loans scheme as the ruling Frente de...

Anyone who thought ex-President Jacob Zuma was a spent force within the ruling African National Congress had a rude awakening at the ninth KwaZulu-Natal elective conference on 22-24...

The legal and reputational battle after the news on 8 July that President José Eduardo dos Santos had died in Barcelona following a stroke is damaging the ruling...

President Cyril Ramaphosa vigorously defended his probity in a speech to the South African Communist Party (SACP) on 15 July, insisting he would not be railroaded or intimidated,...

Chief Justice Raymond Zondo's epic state capture report is proving disastrous for President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ruling African National Congress (ANC). Few give Ramaphosa much credit for...

John Steenhuisen and The Democratic Alliance (DA) are preparing for an era of coalition politics after the 2024 elections when they predict the African National Congress's share of...

Although President Cyril Ramaphosa has got his favoured candidate elected as leader of the African National Congress in Gauteng, the country's richest province, the party remains chronically split...

Once the powerhouse of the African National Congress (ANC) under former President Jacob Zuma, his home province of KwaZulu-Natal has become a seething hotbed of economic sabotage, political...

A transparency law on political party funding has embarrassed the ruling African National Congress by revealing its links to Viktor Vekselberg, a Russian oligarch under global sanctions. This...

President Lazarus Chakwera has reacted to the Anti-Corruption Bureau report that he demanded to be produced within three weeks by sacking key officials, but also by attacking the...

Once a key associate of President Jacob Zuma in the state security and intelligence apparatus, Arthur Fraser has leapt onto the front pages with his claims about the...

On a wintry day on 13 June in Johannesburg Carl Niehaus, the chief spokesperson of the African National Congress's so-called Radical Economic Transformation (RET) faction, led a delegation...

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates and South Africa have been negotiating the extradition of Atul and Rajesh Gupta since their arrest on 6 June by Dubai police...

Arthur Fraser, the former head of the country's State Security Agency, has called for a criminal investigation against Cyril Ramaphosa, which will badly damage the ruling African National...

With general elections now set for 24 August, President João Lourenço will face an uphill battle to fend off an opposition candidate widely popular among a younger generation...

President Filipe Nyusi has been handing out rewards, ahead of the ruling Frente de Libertaçao de Moçambique (Frelimo) party congress in September, to proven loyalists from his home...

President Lazarus Chakwera has responded to the crisis caused by the British government's naming of officials in his administration as suspected of corruption by demanding action within 21...

As Russia seeks to evade western sanctions on oil and gas exports, mystery surrounds the fate of two super-tankers loaded with 4.2 million barrels of Russian crude oil...

The case of businessman Zuneth Sattar, who is being jointly investigated by Malawi's Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) for alleged bribery over 10 years,...

President Lazarus Chakwera is attracting widespread public criticism for excessive international travel while the economy festers – as does public opinion of the government – and the gap...

The international argument over how to respond Moscow's invasion of Ukraine played out, with some diplomatic grace, when Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited President Cyril Ramaphosa in Pretoria...

The first four reports of the epic State Capture Commission headed by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo are a clear indication that the ruling African National Congress is in...

After a week in which the Zimbabwe dollar lost over 40% of its value against its United States' counterpart and President Emmerson Mnangagwa banned banks from lending, the...

Two of South Africa's leading mining companies – Anglo American and African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) – are scrambling for mining rights in Congo-Kinshasa. They are concentrating efforts on...

After successful talks in Washington DC last month, Zambia's treasury officials hope to finalise a US$1.4 billion Extended Credit facility with the International Monetary Fund by the end...

Falling living standards, mass unemployment and hunger mean the ruling Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA) and its leader, President João Lourenço, face the first realistic chance...

President Hakainde Hichilema gave a long and emotional press conference on 25 April further cataloguing his persecution by the previous government – which many critics believe irrelevant to...

Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and western sanctions complicate strategy for some South African mining companies but other African companies are benefiting as Europe scrambles for alternative sources of...

The diplomatic rift between Botswana and South Africa is set to deepen after Gaborone charged its former President Ian Khama with illegally possessing arms with a messy extradition...

For the first time in its 160-year history, the national rail freight system, operated by state-owned Transnet Freight Rail, will open Its network to private operators. The news...

As the ruling African National Congress prepares for its elective conference in December, the focus is now on the contested slot of Deputy President, as rival factions fail...

Now the proceedings against those charged with beggaring Mozambique's future by covertly borrowing US$2 billion are over, the main question is how far the public airing of the...

After surviving a no-confidence vote in Parliament on 20 March, Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro can accelerate the sweeping political reforms demanded by the Southern African Development Community (SADC)....

With just three months left for Botswana and De Beers to agree on a new long-term deal for billions of dollars in diamond mining, cutting and sales, President...

Two conclusions emerge from the results of the by-elections for 28 parliamentary seats and 122 council seats on 26 March: that the ruling party's strategy of dividing the...

Pfimbi means storage in Shona, but it also implies a secret place known by you alone, where you stash something for safekeeping. It's an apt name for a...

At the fourth annual international investment conference in Johannesburg on 24 March, South Africa hauled in another 332 billion rand (US$22.7bn) for new projects which, added to previous...

On the scale of economic gains and losses, a quick end to the Russian war on Ukraine would be in South Africa's, and much of Africa's best interest....

In appointing Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo as the new Chief Justice, President Cyril Ramaphosa used his constitutional powers to trump a populist cabal in the 23-person Judicial...

Russia's full-blown war against Ukraine has opened a crack in the BRICS alliance – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – the political and economic grouping that...

The prosecution in the trial of 19 people accused of profiting from the $2 billion in hidden loans closed on 18 February with testimony from its most illustrious...

Allies of former leader Thomas Thabane in the ruling All Basotho Convention (ABC) party are trying to take over the government in Maseru by organising a no-confidence vote...

The writing is on the wall for National Police Commissioner Khehla Sitole and Police Minister Bheki Cele after President Cyril Ramaphosa's State of the Nation address in which...

The fighting between a regional alliance and Islamist rebels in the northernmost Cabo Delgado region of Mozambique looks far from over. In January, heads of state from the...

Icelandic fishing company Samherji plotted dirty tricks against a senior employee in Namibia, before he went on to blow the whistle on corruption, leaked documents seen by Africa...

A 'spy bill' giving investigators the right to intercept phone calls has been diluted following a public outcry, but the government remains intent on stepping up surveillance on...

As he was preparing his state of the nation address in Cape Town City Hall on 10 February, President Cyril Ramaphosa was deluged with contradictory advice about the...

When South African President Cyril Ramaphosa takes the podium on 10 February in Cape Town's City Hall – which will substitute for the colonial-era parliamentary buildings gutted by...

On 24 January, President Emmerson Mnangagwa's main opponent in the last general elections, Nelson Chamisa, launched a new political party, hoping to close the chapter of rivalries and...

A long-delayed bribery trial, in which 10 highly connected businessmen and politicians stand accused of siphoning money from Namibia's fishing industry, risks turning voters away from the party...

President Lazarus Chakwera's reshuffled cabinet pointedly snubs his Tonse Alliance coalition partners, the United Transformation Movement (UTM) of Vice-President Saulosi Chilima and the People's Party (PP) of former...

The row between President Cyril Ramaphosa and Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu over her criticism of the country's judges and constitution has opened the race for the top posts...

Accusations of procurement corruption, fraud and bribery are gripping the public and damaging the image of President Lazarus Chakwera, a strong critic of his predecessors over graft. Chakwera...

A startling attack on the constitution and the judiciary by a senior minister in President Cyril Ramaphosa's cabinet is the opening shot in a bid to replace the...

The dismissal this month of security minister Owen Ncube, who earned notoriety for his ties to a militia as well as for a bloody crackdown on protestors, has...

Anger about the May 2021 genocide 'reconciliation' with Germany – under which Berlin is due to pay Namibia just €1.1 billion (US$1.3bn) over 30 years for its colonial...

The sight of flames blazing from the 147-year-old parliament building in Cape Town in the early hours of 2 January was a discouraging start to what is set...

Another troubled year is in store for President Filipe Nyusi as his unpopularity in the ruling Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (Frelimo) grows due to his deep involvement...

The big questions for President Hakainde Hichilema's new government are whether it will succeed in restructuring the country's US$14.71 billion foreign debt and live up to its pledge...

Bringing together the biggest opposition parties, a new coalition will contest national elections in August on a combined ticket presenting the most serious threat to the 47-year rule...

As world attention focussed on the requiem mass for Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu in Cape Town on new year's day, activists were hailing his work for the anti-apartheid...