Patrick Smith
This week we start with Nigeria's
governorship elections and South Africa's President Jacob Zuma facing yet another vote of confidence. Elections in
Gambia and Somalia are also
due conclude this week as the United States signals
greater interest in milita...
Patrick Smith
We start in Nigeria where the
central bank is holding critical meetings on interest rates and foreign
exchange policy. After its budget last week, Zambian officials
continue talks with the International Monetary Fund and political
tensions rise in neighbo...
Blue Lines
African treasuries, cash-strapped after the commodity price crash, are
trying to recoup their losses by launching law suits against
multinational companies. The most sensational is a court ruling in Chad on 5 October that a consortium
led by Exxon Mobil s...
Patrick Smith
This week we start again in the United States in search of the implications, direct and indirect, of Donald Trump's shock victory in the presidential election. In South Africa the African National Congress starts its run-up this week to picking its presid...
Patrick Smith
We start off with a look at the increasingly bizarre United States elections tomorrow (8 November), quickly followed by a report on President Jacob Zuma's tough week ahead in South Africa. Then there are fresh doubts about the strategy and money for the A...
Blue Lines
It was hardly a meeting of minds but President Muhammadu Buhari's
discussions with Niger Delta state governors and community leaders in
Abuja on 1 November marks a clear change of strategy. It was Buhari's
first meeting with regional leaders since militan...
Patrick Smith
This week we start in the South
African courts to watch the latest
round of the proxy political battle between Finance Minister Pravin
Gordhan and President Jacob
Zuma; the Kenyan
economy gets a vote of
confidence from the World Bank; results in Côte d'Iv...
Patrick Smith
This week, top officials at the International Criminal Court are in
urgent talks with the governments of South
Africa, Burundi and Kenya
about plans for a mass withdrawal from the Court. Reeling from targeted
assassinations and a weakening economy, Egypti...
Blue Lines
With average economic growth rates in African economies sinking to
around 1.6% next year and conflict worsening, European Union officials
are holding a summit on migration in Brussels on 20 October (see
Pointer, Shifting borders south).
They want African...
Patrick Smith
Some local difficulties have broken out in Abuja ahead of
another investment roadshow by Nigeria and there is
new and dramatic twist in the trial of strength between South
Africa's President Jacob Zuma and his
Finance Minister, Pravin Gordhan. The crisis ...
