DISPATCHES Vol 65 No 17 | KENYA Ratings downgrade adds to pressure on new Treasury minister Mbadi 7th August 2024 Risks to public finances multiply after the government’s u-turn on revenue measures in the Finance Bill The decision by ratings agency Fitch to downgrade Kenya’s foreign currency sovereign rating, is the latest reminder that President William Ruto’s government will face international pressure to balance... READ FOR FREE
DISPATCHES Vol 65 No 17 | SOUTH AFRICA Chastened ANC pins the blame on Jacob Zuma 7th August 2024 The former President has been expelled from the ANC - the party he once led - after campaigning for a rival party in the 2024 election The African National Congress’s (ANC) move to pin the blame for its worst results in three decades on ex-President Jacob Zuma risks whitewashing the failures of President Cyril... READ FOR FREE
DISPATCHES Vol 65 No 16 | ETHIOPIA Abiy agrees $3.4bn IMF deal 30th July 2024 Ethiopia’s move to a market-based foreign exchange regime, a requirement of the new financing programme, saw the birr drop 30% against the dollar Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government has reached an agreement with the IMF on a four-year US$3.4 billion loan – part of a $10.7bn financing programme from the Fund... READ FOR FREE
DISPATCHES Vol 65 No 16 | CONGO-KINSHASA President confirms deep freeze with Kenya 30th July 2024 Tshisekedi says the peace process for eastern Congo is ‘almost dead’ and has accused Ruto of taking up Rwanda’s cause in the ongoing conflict There was no mistaking the icy chill when Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi accused his Kenyan counterpart William Ruto of being a Rwandan stooge who had ‘mismanaged’ the peace... READ FOR FREE
DISPATCHES Vol 65 No 16 | GUINEA Protesters mobilise over fate of democracy activists 30th July 2024 Conakry governor hints at security crackdown if demonstrators defy ban on political gatherings Civil society groups are mobilising citizens to defy a ban on political protests and take part in a three-day protest starting on 30 July to demand the release... READ FOR FREE
DISPATCHES Vol 65 No 16 | AFRICAFINANCE Ratings plan gets serious 23rd July 2024 An AU official says a credit agency catering to the needs of the continent’s sovereign borrowers will be ready by next year An Africa credit rating agency will start work in 2025, a senior African Union official has told reporters. READ FOR FREE
DISPATCHES Vol 65 No 16 | KENYA Ruto battens down the hatches ahead of protests 23rd July 2024 After announcing the return of six senior ministers and threatening broadcasters, the President has taken a harder line President William Ruto’s decision last week to bring back six of the senior ministers he had fired, particularly Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki, who many hold as culpable... READ FOR FREE
DISPATCHES Vol 65 No 16 | UGANDA Opposition targeted as Museveni regime fears protests 23rd July 2024 Bobi Wine says security forces besieged his party’s headquarters ahead of anti-government demonstrations The decision by the Ugandan state to seal off the headquarters of Bobi Wine’s National Unity Party (NUP) on 22 July, ahead of a major planned anti-corruption demonstration,... READ FOR FREE
DISPATCHES Vol 65 No 15 | SOUTH AFRICAENERGY Ramaphosa changes tack, urging African states to decarbonise economies 16th July 2024 The President has gone from rejecting the carbon border tax outright to negotiations to ease the effects of this new green tax South Africa and other African states need to move away quickly from their high carbon emitting economic models, President Cyril Ramaphosa told a climate change conference in Pretoria... READ FOR FREE
DISPATCHES Vol 65 No 15 | TUNISIA Saïed clears the field of challengers 16th July 2024 Authorities intimidate presidential candidates as the election day nears President Kaïs Saïed has not announced his intention to stand but the field of candidates ahead of presidential elections scheduled for 6 October is quickly thinning out. READ FOR FREE