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Former ANC business brain may take over Moonshot Pact

Roger Jardine. Pic: firstrand.co.za
Roger Jardine. Pic: firstrand.co.za

A new contender has entered the crowded opposition field with a plan to take on the ruling party in next year's elections

Outgoing chairman of FirstRand Bank, Roger Jardine, has surfaced as the latest contender to lead an alliance of opposition parties against the ruling African National Congress (ANC...


Parliament in chaos over anti-Israel law

Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar and President Kaïs Saïed. Pic: @TunisieDiplo
Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar and President Kaïs Saïed. Pic: @TunisieDiplo

The President's inconsistency has dashed his hopes of bolstering his popularity by backing the Palestinian cause

Tunisians of all political stripes have united in their thousands in protest at Israel's retaliatory war against Hamas in Gaza. Demonstrations have continued over much of the last ...


Tracking the missing billions

Copyright © Africa Confidential 2023
Copyright © Africa Confidential 2023

African, Asian and Latin American states have won a vote on tax reform at the UN – it could boost revenues and help them catch stolen cash

Ahead of the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly, African states were focusing on the need to claw back the billions of dollars lost in illicit financial flows (IFFs) as thei...

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The global south wins a big money battle

Pic: @UNDGACM_EN
Pic: @UNDGACM_EN

A decade-long campaign for global tax rules to be set by a UN authority could finally come to fruition

Years of campaigning to coordinate support from middle-income and developing countries saw the UN General Assembly vote decisively on 22 November to establish a UN tax authority, e...


Central bankers hunt for foreign exchange

Pic: RODWORKS / stock.adobe.com
Pic: RODWORKS / stock.adobe.com

From negative-equity Ghana to South Africa with its sizeable gold holdings, emerging markets are scrambling for liquidity

What happens when your central bank starts losing money? Less than you might think, in practical term at least. Ghanaians were horrified to hear their central bank – the Bank...


Tinubu struggles to rebalance the budget

Copyright © Africa Confidential 2023
Copyright © Africa Confidential 2023

Based on ultra-optimistic data on oil exports and tax, the President insists his market reform policies are on track

The Central Bank of Nigeria's second successive postponement of a bi-monthly meeting of its influential monetary policy committee (MPC), in November, points to dissension behind t...


Central bank’s Cardoso faces policy fight

Yemi Cardoso. Pic: @cenbank
Yemi Cardoso. Pic: @cenbank

The radio silence from President Tinubu's economic reform team is unsettling financial bigwigs

Mystery surrounds the failure of the Central Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to meet since its new governor Yemi Cardoso was appointed in late September. Bankers don't like ...


Advisors abandon ship amid poll storm

Cyril Ramaphosa. Pic: GovernmentZA (CC BY-ND 2.0 DEED)
Cyril Ramaphosa. Pic: GovernmentZA (CC BY-ND 2.0 DEED)

The presidency has been hit by a wave of resignations as doubts grow about his political survival

Key advisors to President Cyril Ramaphosa have been quitting as signs grow that support for the African National Congress (ANC) will below 50% of the vote in the 2024 national and ...


Contenders brace for electoral upsets

Pic: @jsteenhuisen
Pic: @jsteenhuisen

Both the ruling African National Congress and the main opposition Democratic Alliance are struggling to navigate a new political era

The latest opinion survey results – by the Social Research Foundation, Ipsos and the Brenthurst Foundation – are unanimous that the African National Congress's (ANC) sh...


Junta falls out with its fanbase

Pic: EspritModiboKeita Facebook
Pic: EspritModiboKeita Facebook

The regime's split with the anti-French and pro-Russian Yerewolo – its biggest supporter – may have been provoked by links to Hizbollah

Fear of links to Iran and Hizbollah helped turn interim President Colonel Assimi Goïta's regime against its biggest domestic supporter, and to imprison its leader and harass o...


Meagre record haunts Tshisekedi's plan

Pic: @Fatshi20
Pic: @Fatshi20

For all the President's rhetoric and slick campaigning, many voters remember his failure to deliver on past promises

The campaigning season is careering towards election day on 20 December with Félix Tshisekedi expected to win another presidential term despite his meagre record in governme...


Floods put fighting on hold

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud addresses the the East African Community. Pic: @HassanSMohamud
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud addresses the the East African Community. Pic: @HassanSMohamud

A 'once-in-a-century' deluge halted troops movements while the President went on a world tour to raise funds

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has November's unprecedentedly severe rains and floods to thank for the fact he has not paid the full political price for the setback government for...


South-west bias claims weaken Tinubu's standing

Inaugural Federal Executive Council with newly appointed ministers at the council chambers of the State House, Abuja, 28 August 2023. Pic: @officialABAT
Inaugural Federal Executive Council with newly appointed ministers at the council chambers of the State House, Abuja, 28 August 2023. Pic: @officialABAT

The President is accused of stacking the cabinet and the military with his fellow Yoruba – and the critics are getting louder

The government's policy team has won plaudits internationally but at home it is struggling to reignite the economy and the burden of its reforms is hitting middle-class and poorer ...


Much ado about Kidal

Copyright © Africa Confidential 2023
Copyright © Africa Confidential 2023

The junta's seizure of this key northern city from the Azawad coalition could create more problems than it solves

The victory of Forces armées maliennes (FAMa) and its Russian Wagner Group allies over the Coordination des mouvements de l'Azawad (CMA) for control of Kidal on 14 November ...


Will Tidjane Thiam's 'grand retour' succeed?

Tidjane Thiam. Pic: David Levenson / Alamy
Tidjane Thiam. Pic: David Levenson / Alamy

The former chief executive of Prudential and Credit Suisse is returning to national politics as presidential contender

A big choice faces the internal elections committee of the Parti démocratique de Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI), the long-time ruling party now in opposition, as they prepare to...


Political fight intensifies over state transit company

Pic: transnet.net
Pic: transnet.net

Finance minister turns down bailout request from Transnet whose failings have cost the economy over US$26 billion

Tough decisions and strong political backing are needed to turn around the ailing state-owned transport and logistics company, Transnet which could face a ratings downgrade. Struct...


Mix-up costs Juba envoy

Pic: @AfricanUnionUN
Pic: @AfricanUnionUN

The long-serving South Sudanese ambassador to the United Nations, Akuei Bona Malwal, is being recalled to Juba after a series of misunderstandings which enraged President Salva Kii...


ZANU-PF's impostor plot

Bishop Tapfumaneyi Masaya Pic: @CCCZimbabwe
Bishop Tapfumaneyi Masaya Pic: @CCCZimbabwe

The ruling party sows discord in the opposition as a rogue activist sacks their MPs


Arrears all round

Salva Kiir takes over the chairmanship of the East African Community from President Evariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi. Pic: @SouthSudanGov
Salva Kiir takes over the chairmanship of the East African Community from President Evariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi. Pic: @SouthSudanGov


Amid regional chaos, a glimmer of hope in Jeddah and Addis

Greater Nile Petroleum Oil Company Tower, September 2023 Headquarters of the Sudanese Armed Forces, April 2023. Pic: ©2023 Maxar Technologies.
Greater Nile Petroleum Oil Company Tower, September 2023 Headquarters of the Sudanese Armed Forces, April 2023. Pic: ©2023 Maxar Technologies.

As the devastating stalemate between Burhan's and Hemeti's forces continues, the pressure for a ceasefire is mounting