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...
Patrick Smith
This week we start in Nigeria, where anti-corruption investigators can finally claim some success. Then we go on to Washington where President Donald Trump's top advisor on African security issues has just been blocked by the Central Intelligence Agency. ...
Patrick Smith
This week we start in Cape Town, which has temporarily become the
crucible for South Africa's political fights as well
as host to an international mining conference. Then we look at the
warnings about Africa's growing indebtedness, the jitters in Nigeria ...
Blue Lines
'C'est un grand jour pour le Maroc,'
Rabat's Foreign Minister Salaheddine
Mezouar told journalists in Addis Ababa after his country was
readmitted to the African Union on 31 January. He was speaking just
minutes after Morocco's King Mohammed
VI had made h...
Patrick Smith
Again, we start the week in the United States where the Donald Trump administration’s first week of frenetic activity has major implications
for Africa and diplomatic deal-making. Then to Addis Ababa where
delegates to the African Union summit are set to ...
Patrick Smith
All eyes are on Addis Ababa this week where the African Union
summit elects a new chair for the AU Commission while there is some
relief and mutual congratulation over the peaceful resolution of
the post-election crisis in the Gambia. Ahead of
national el...
Blue Lines
In the new edition of Africa
Confidential, our correspondents complete their tour d'horizon of the developments
and people who will shape 2017 on the continent. Throughout the edition, we trace the effects of the changing international backdrop,
particula...
Patrick Smith
This week we have two presidential inaugurations to follow, both idiosyncratic in their own way: that of Adama Barrow in Banjul and of Donald J. Trump in Washington DC. United States policy is also under scrutiny on relations with Sudan, as is Nigeria's p...
Patrick Smith
We start in Accra, where regional leaders attending the inauguration of Ghana's new President, Nana Akufo-Addo, also found time to discuss ways to make the Gambia's defiant Yahya Jammeh leave the stage. Starting work with an inspection of the presidential...
