Jump to navigation

Published 15th May 2026

Vol 67 No 10

Kenya

Ruto strengthens hand as Nairobi summit marks Macron’s African swansong

Africa Forward. Pic: @ForeignOfficeKE
Africa Forward. Pic: @ForeignOfficeKE

Part investment forum and part military realignment, summit co-hosts France and Kenya brought in 30 African leaders and some 1,500-2,000 business leaders

There was enough mutual self-interest, measured in €23 billion (US$27bn) of commercial deals and diplomatic positioning ahead of the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains in June, to make the grandiose Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi on 11-12 May worthwhile for co-hosts Kenya’s President William Samoei Ruto and France’s Emmanuel Macron. It was not an entirely convincing rebranding of the old, almost exclusively francophone France-Africa conferences.

Pathogenically, not yours

The United States signs an MOU with Nigeria to advance the America First Global Health Strategy, December 2025. Pic: @USinNigeria
The United States signs an MOU with Nigeria to advance the America First Global Health Strategy, December 2025. Pic: @USinNigeria

Ghana joins the pushback against America First health data agreements as Africa’s negotiators try to steer policy back towards pandemic equity

Two international pandemic initiatives are in trouble due to disputes over access to vaccines and medicines in Africa. One, led by the World Health Organization (WHO), is trying...

Damang is only the beginning

GHANA'S LEADING GOLD MINES: How resource nationalism
GHANA'S LEADING GOLD MINES: How resource nationalism could change the map. Copyright © Africa Confidential 2026

The transfer of a gold mine to the President’s brother is a blip on the radar as the country sprints towards resource nationalism

The takeover of the Damang mine by Engineers & Planners (E&P) from South African-registered Gold Fields last month underscores the government’s resource nationalism drive but raises tricky legal...

BLUE LINES
THE INSIDE VIEW

South Africa’s Constitutional Court has stripped away the procedural cover that had protected President Cyril Ramaphosa and resurrected the scandal over US$4 million in cash hidden under a sofa in his Phala Phala farmhouse. The court ruled that Parliament acted unlawfully in 2022 when it dismissed a panel report by retired judges accusing Ramaphosa of wrongdoing and calling for his impeachment. Ramaphosa says he will not resign, insisting the panel report is gravely flawed, and plans an e...

South Africa’s Constitutional Court has stripped away the procedural cover that had protected President Cyril Ramaphosa and resurrected the scandal over US$4 million in cash hidden under a sofa in his Phala Phala farmhouse. The court ruled that Parliament acted unlawfully in 2022 when it dismissed a panel report by retired judges accusing Ramaphosa of wrongdoing and calling for his impeachment.

Ramaphosa says he will not resign, insisting the panel report is gravely flawed, and plans an expedited review application. His national address on 11 May pointed to a genuine grievance. The independent panel’s finding that he may have breached the constitution rested partly on hearsay, and several regulatory bodies subsequently cleared him.

Ramaphosa has to weigh more than his chances of surviving an impeachment vote. On current numbers, he probably can. The ANC holds about 40% of National Assembly seats; his removal would require a two-thirds majority. The bigger problem is credibility. A president elected on a platform of political reform and institutional renewal seems to be relying on technical defences and corralling MPs to avoid accountability.

Without an effective response, Ramaphosa could face prolonged challenges on multiple fronts: in the courts, in Parliament, and among his opponents in the ANC. With local elections in November, the party’s fortunes could take another hit, made worse by its leader’s legal travails.

Read more

Chemical imbalance

European firms are selling pesticides banned in the EU to African countries, nearly six years after Brussels promised a blanket ban

The European Union’s agricultural trade relationship with Africa has long been unequal but its double standards have sunk to absurd depths. Brussels allows European-based companies to export more...

After the battlefield charge, rebels press for a political opening

Tuareg separatists say they will honour self-determination in Azawad, but the military balance will be key to northern Mali’s future

Having seized key towns across the arid north in alliance with jihadists, the Front de libération de l’Azawad (FLA) claims that rather than ramming through secession it will...

Pointers

Stories by country

Footer Map