Blue Lines
The verdict from the Tahrir Square generation that took to the streets in January 2011 to such dramatic effect was clear and concise. 'Mubarakis on the asphalt, the youths are in prison,' an activist known as 'Mohamed 303' tweeted on hearing the news that...
Patrick Smith
We start in Pretoria, from where South Africa's Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has just been summoned to return from London, sparking more speculation that President Jacob Zuma is about to sack him. And then to Zimbabwewhich is, despite the political ruc...
Patrick Smith
This week we start in the spa town of Baden-Baden, Germany, where the finance ministers of the world's 20 richest countries have been meeting. They spent part of their time discussing a set of investment deals in Africa. Then to Pretoria, the political ca...
Blue Lines
The announcement this week by the United Nations that over 13 million people in Africa face starvation in what it calls the biggest humanitarian crisis since the Second World War is a reminder of continuing failures in food production across the continent...
Patrick Smith
This week has more than its fair share of policy announcements as governments do battle with the effects of the sluggish global economy. We start with the homecoming of President Muhammadu Buhari to Abuja via Kaduna air base and expectations that he will...
Patrick Smith
This week we start with a 60th birthday party – its Ghana's – just a few days after a sobering state of the nation address and budget in parliament in Accra. Then across the continent in Kenya, opposition protests about the credibility of preparations for...
Blue Lines
A vote by the United States House of Representatives to end the legal requirement that compels oil and mining companies to disclose all payments to foreign governments is a tactical defeat for anti-corruption campaigners. That's partly because of highly e...
Patrick Smith
This week, we start with the fraying relations between Africa's two biggest economies, Nigeria and South Africa. Then to Matebeleland in Zimbabwe, where President Robert Mugabe has been celebrating his 93rd birthday. We have a series of tough economic rep...
Patrick Smith
This week we start in Cape Town with renewed speculation about a cabinet reshuffle as Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan prepares to read his budget and then to Somalia where the IMF has promised the new government it will back a debt relief scheme. In Gambi...
Blue Lines
A distinguished political analyst in Nigeria lamented last month that the country had probably invented the Fake News phenomenon, closely linked to Donald Trump's presidential election campaign in the United States and a lucrative business model. As if to...
