Blue Lines
After the opening of the International Monetary Fund's spring meetings on 5 April, its leading shareholders look set to fire a big bazooka: a US$650 billion issuance of new 'Special Drawing Rights', the IMF's reserve currency. In quantitative terms, this ...
Blue Lines
The Integrated Review of Britain's Foreign and Defence policy, announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 16 March, carries mixed messages for Africa. Beyond its tilt towards south-east Asia, Britain wants to boost relations with a narrow band of Africa...
Blue Lines
After a month in which the Gulf monarchies saw the new United States administration in action, with sanctions against top security officials in Saudi Arabia, airstrikes on Iranian-backed militia in Iraq and pressure on United Arab Emirates' expansionism i...
Blue Lines
Clashes between Yoruba and Fulani youths in Ibadan, one of the biggest cities in west Africa, escalated over the weekend of 13-14 February amid local reports that some 20 people had been killed and thousands driven from their homes. Seyi Makinde, governor...
Blue Lines
Do sanctions ever stop grand corruption and human rights abuses? The question is worth asking as Britain slaps asset freezes and travel bans on Zimbabwe's top securocrats – a spy chief and a police chief, and commander of the presidential guard – all of w...
Blue Lines
Alongside the gargantuan domestic policy agenda awaiting United States President Joe Biden and strategic challenges in Russia and China, his arrival at the White House has stirred hopes of a new start in Africa. These include more support for the internat...
Blue Lines
After a year of global health emergency and economic destruction, our correspondents look forward to how governments are reacting to popular demands for reconstruction and a new political orderAlthough so much reporting over the past year has been on the ...
Blue Lines
'Warning lights – for our societies and the planet – are flashing red' thunders the UNDP's latest report, which introduces a new variable – a country's emissions of carbon dioxide and its material footprint – into its Human Development Index.The big idea ...
Blue Lines
For a government so desperate to boost foreign currency reserves, Zimbabwe's gold industry should be a cash cow, especially with spot prices up to around US$2,000 an ounce, boosted by the uncertainty of Covid-19.Official gold exports fell 23% to less than...
Blue Lines
Zambia ran out of road on 13 November when its debt negotiations hit an impasse and it became the first African country to default since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the continent's economies. The crisis could also force a more coordinated response from the ...
