Blue Lines
A badly timed Eurobond issuance, interest rates chasing roaring fuel and food inflation and a treasured national carrier split in two then sold for three US dollars. Those are the alarming developments in three of Africa's most important economies.
Kenya'...
Blue Lines
With bizarre timing, a report forecasting that private wealth in Africa will balloon by 38% to over US$3 trillion by 2031 has emerged as the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank warned that tens of millions would be thrown into poverty by roaring foo...
Blue Lines
Foreign aid from rose to an all-time high of US$179 billion in 2021, up 4.4% in real terms from 2020, according to preliminary data collected by the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann ...
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The axis of authoritarians, fuelled by geopolitical tensions, was on parade in Cairo on 30 March when Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el Sisi received Sudan's military leader General Abdel Fattah al Burhan. Aside from a mutual distrust of democracy, these ...
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European states are competing to offer the most generosity to the more than 3 million refugees who have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion. But it has prompted some activists and officials to look more closely at the plight of the thousands of Africans ...
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The biggest war in Europe for seven decades is destroying lives and weakening economies with its effects rippling well beyond the continent. An unexpected effect is the consensus among European states to back consequential sanctions against Russia, just a...
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Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has waded into the African Union's dispute over the status of Western Sahara, incurring Moroccan displeasure by putting the conflict on the agenda of the Peace and Security Council (PSC), which Kenya chairs, on 16 February...
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In the early afternoon of 1 February in Bissau, President Umaro Sissoco Embaló and his cabinet came under armed attack at a government compound. After four hours of shooting, forces loyal to Embaló regained control. Who and what was behind the attack is y...
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Close to 300 million people are reliant on humanitarian aid as a consequence of the 55 civil conflicts raging across the world, a handful of them in Africa. The UN and other international agencies complain about donors' being reluctant to fund the necessa...
Blue Lines
In this special edition of Africa Confidential our correspondents take an in-depth look at the year ahead, surveying elections, conflicts, economic trends, and the next twists in the Covid-19 pandemic.
The continent's two biggest economies, Nigeria and So...