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Two months prior to the local and legislative elections in late May, the Guinean government dissolved all but the smallest opposition parties. This move represents a step towards authoritarian consolidation that, paradoxically, reveals the very insecurity the regime strives to hide. It also contradicts any optimistic interpretation of Mamadi Doumbouya’s recent attempt to gain legitimacy …
After eight years out of office, President John Mahama, often called by his initials JM, achieved significant success in the first year of his second term. His government decreased the rate of inflation, reversed the nosedive in the cedi’s value, and stabilized the economy. This year, he intends to build on those successes, to make …
Ghana: Exclusive interview with President Mahama Read More »
The political alliance between Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko collapsed in late May, leading to Faye dismissing Sonko as prime minister and members of the National Assembly from the PASTEF party electing Sonko as Speaker. The split had been anticipated, due to the growing tensions between them for nearly a …
For decades, individual Africans and groups have called for reparations to be paid to the continent and its varied diaspora by the former European slaving nations for the enormous harm they did to Africa and its people over the 400 years of transatlantic slavery. Now the African Union has taken up the mantle. It has …
The longstanding tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea have resurfaced recently, following the breakdown of their alliance against rebels in Ethiopia’s Tigray region during the 2020-22 civil war. A significant concern is Ethiopia’s desire for access to the sea through the Eritrean port of Assab. Jane Cybulski reports. Tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea have been ratcheting …
Guinea’s presidential election in December, the first since the 2021 coup, has not signified a return to civilian governance. General Mamady Doumbouya, who received 87% of the vote, has dismantled significant democratic structures, making the prospects for genuine democracy in Guinea appear unlikely. Without stronger international pressure, the country may face a prolonged period of …
Nnamdi Kanu, the founder of the Indigenous People of Biafra, was sentenced to life in prison on terrorism charges last November. His movement’s advocacy for the Igbo people, a prominent ethnic group in Nigeria’s southeast, to establish an independent Biafran state initially began without violence, but escalated as the Nigerian government responded with significant force. …
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is in his eighties, and his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, is positioning himself for succession, saying he’s “tired of waiting.” As head of the military, he oversaw efforts to suppress opposition during the recent presidential campaign, boasting after the January vote that 30 “terrorists” had been killed and 2,000 “hooligans” arrested. On …
U.S. President Donald Trump claims to have ended the prolonged conflict in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, the M23 rebels, who dominate a significant portion of the region, are not a party to the supposed peace deal signed with Rwanda in December. They have strengthened their hold on power by …
Much of the international community, particularly countries in Africa and the Middle East, has criticized Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia, as an independent nation. Some express concerns that this decision may exacerbate instability in Somalia, which is already facing significant challenges, and argue that it contradicts global standards of respecting countries’ …