Blue Lines
The crash of a plane on 23 August with Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of Russia's mercenary Wagner Group, said to be on board will do little to resolve the questions surrounding the company since its thwarted march on Moscow. Prigozhin and his deputy, Dmit...
Blue Lines
Niger's putsch of 26 July ousted the last but one elected president in the Sahel region. Only Mauritania retains an elected leader, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani. All the other countries are run by military governments and are at war. The junta in Mali has lost ...
Blue Lines
The political costs of the financial crisis in developing economies are emerging centre stage but not in predictable places. Debt-laden Ghana and Zambia are nearing the end of their tortuous debt restructuring negotiations while citizens take the brunt of...
Blue Lines
The deal to restructure over US$6 billion of Zambia's foreign debt is a triumph for President Hakainde Hichilema, under whose government the country will save billions in repayments if, as is now much more likely, he secures a second term.
Much kudos shou...
Blue Lines
About 3.4 million Sierra Leoneans are expected to vote in a general election on 24 June in which incumbent President Julius Maada Bio is seeking a second and final term. Although 13 candidates will be on the ballot paper, the poll is widely expected to be...
Blue Lines
When Ajay Banga went on his campaign tour, government and financial leaders were keen to meet the former Mastercard chief executive and tout his credentials as the reformist needed to shake up a sclerotic World Bank. Now installed as President, Banga will...
Blue Lines
The launch of the African Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI) following last November's UN COP27 summit in Egypt was a major milestone towards making climate finance available and expanding clean energy across the continent. Governments are now setting out t...
Blue Lines
Reports that the negotiations between representatives of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Jeddah are in the final stages of reaching agreement to allow humanitarian aid to reach Khartoum and cities in Darfur offer a shard...
Blue Lines
Facing the prospect of Russia's President Vladimir Putin, indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court, landing in Cape Town to attend a BRICS summit in August, Cyril Ramaphosa has backed himself into a corner. South Africa's membership of ...
Blue Lines
The expectation that China will drop its longstanding demand for multilateral lenders, including the World Bank and IMF, to share losses alongside other creditors in sovereign debt restructurings for poor countries, is one of the main breakthroughs of the...