Jump to navigation

Published 20th March 2026

Vol 67 No 6

Another war, another bill for Africa

AFRICA: IRAN WAR HITS OIL IMPORTERS, DOMESTIC CURRENCIES. Copyright © Africa Confidential 2026
AFRICA: IRAN WAR HITS OIL IMPORTERS, DOMESTIC CURRENCIES. Copyright © Africa Confidential 2026

The US-Israel strikes on Iran have sent energy prices soaring and upended global supply chains in a multi-front crisis

After the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on 28 February, triggering a cascade of retaliatory attacks across the Gulf, the economic toll on Africa is emerging in overlapping waves. The most immediate is oil: prices have broken US$100 a barrel – already roughly 50% above February levels – with industry sources predicting over $120 if the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global petroleum flows, persists.

READ FOR FREE

A vulnerable recovery under pressure

Abdel Fattah el Sisi meets with PM Mostafa Madbouly and the Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority Osama Rabie to discuss the impact of the ongoing war in the Middle East on the Suez Canal, 15 March 2026. Pic: presidency.eg
Abdel Fattah el Sisi meets with PM Mostafa Madbouly and the Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority Osama Rabie to discuss the impact of the ongoing war in the Middle East on the Suez Canal, 15 March 2026. Pic: presidency.eg

The Iran war is battering an already fragile economy, though Egypt could still reap some gains from the crisis

Whenever Egypt is hit by external shocks or domestic turmoil, one of the first economic reactions is a flight of short-term capital. The current crisis has been no...

Tinubu hollows out the opposition

Bola Ahmed Tinubu and King Charles III, Windsor Castle, 18 January 2026. Pic: officialasiwajubat
Bola Ahmed Tinubu and King Charles III, Windsor Castle, 18 January 2026. Pic: officialasiwajubat

With rivals co-opted, detained or outmanoeuvred, and a new electoral law, the President has engineered near-total political dominance

When they meet Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on his 18-19 March state visit hosted by Britain’s King Charles III at Windsor Castle, some politicians in the ruling...

BLUE LINES
THE INSIDE VIEW

Dozens of African farm workers die each year from exposure to hazardous chemicals that are banned in the EU but used to make products that are then sold into Europe. That was the picture presented to a European Parliament committee on 18 March by a South African panel led by Judge Navi Pillay, a former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Around 100,000 tonnes of chemicals and pesticides banned in the EU are exported to Africa each year and are used to produce wine from South Afri...

Dozens of African farm workers die each year from exposure to hazardous chemicals that are banned in the EU but used to make products that are then sold into Europe. That was the picture presented to a European Parliament committee on 18 March by a South African panel led by Judge Navi Pillay, a former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Around 100,000 tonnes of chemicals and pesticides banned in the EU are exported to Africa each year and are used to produce wine from South Africa and fruit and vegetables from countries such as Kenya, Egypt and Angola, which are then sold to Europe. It’s not as though the EU is unaware of the problem. Officials in Nairobi reported this week that earnings from Kenyan produce sold in Europe collapsed by 68% last year, largely because of a spike in seizures by EU customs officials.

In truth, both the EU and African governments are at fault. Most African states have lax rules on chemicals. South Africa’s outdated legislation dates back to 1947. Kenya, meanwhile, banned around 60 hazardous pesticides and chemicals last year, but hundreds of others are still imported. But there is nothing to stop the EU from imposing a blanket ban on such exports, say civil society activists, and the European Commission has been working on an impact assessment of a ban for five years. Officials say that the German chemicals lobby is blocking the way.

Read more

Aziz takes a run at the Nation

A Tanzanian business mogul with close ties to regional presidents could reshape East Africa’s largest media group

Rostam Aziz’s takeover of Kenya-based Nation Media Group (NMG) is more than a business deal: it hands East Africa’s most influential media conglomerate to one of Tanzanian President...

Madlanga tests presidential power

Eighty days in, the commission of inquiry has exposed corruption, destroyed careers and trapped Ramaphosa between legal process and political survival

On 18 March, the Madlanga Commission entered its 80th day of hearings in Pretoria, with Gauteng Organised Crime Unit Sergeant Fannie Nkosi — formerly known as ‘Witness F’...

The one-party state and its discontents

The ODM’s oligarchs are determined to build a coalition with President Ruto – but the party’s rebels are gathering support

On 10 March, President William Ruto fired the starter’s gun on coalition talks with the Orange Democratic Movement in the traditional Kenyan way – by setting up a...

How Abiy’s march north could ignite the Horn

As the federal government masses troops along Tigray’s borders, the prime minister is weighing his most perilous gamble yet

As much of the world focused on the United States-Israeli war with Iran this month, Ethiopian army convoys carrying heavy weapons were filmed moving north in broad daylight....

Pointers

Detentions embarrass leaders

Over two weeks, São Tomé’s police detained two foreign special advisors appointed by Prime Minister Américo Ramos and President Carlos Vila Nova. The scandals are an unexpected boost...

Stories by country

Footer Map