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Jul 30, 2018

Why Mali’s election matters

By J. Peter Pham

While the July 30, 2018, general election in Zimbabwe—the first in almost four decades where longtime ruler Robert Mugabe won’t be on the ballot—has been attracting a great deal more attention, the presidential election in Mali one day earlier matters just as much and, arguably, is even more important to the security and geopolitical interests […]

Africa Elections

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Jul 16, 2018

Below the surface, a game changer in Congolese politics

By Pierre Englebert

“Shikata,” or “remain seated” in Swahili, claim the posters on Congolese President Joseph Kabila’s effigy in the streets of Lubumbashi. But while everyone’s attention is focused on the regime’s contortions to stay in power, despite constitutional impediments to doing so and deep domestic discontent, the 2015 break-up of Congo’s existing provinces has upended politics below […]

Africa Corruption

AfricaSource

Jul 12, 2018

Why Djibouti is the loser of the Horn of Africa’s new peace

By Kelsey Lilley

At the least, this tectonic shift will reduce the revenues available to President Ismail Omar Guelleh, in power since 1999, and undermine his ironclad grip on the country.

East Africa English

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Jun 21, 2018

Islamist terrorism in Mozambique: An emerging threat?

By James Wholley

In October 2017, a little-known Islamist insurgency by the name of “Ahlu Sunna wa-Jama” or “Swahili Sunnah,” attacked the town of Mocimboa da Praia in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province. The attack began a campaign of terror that has paralyzed Mozambique’s northern coast and threatened $30 billion in offshore natural gas projects, a key lifeline […]

Africa English

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Jun 5, 2018

Cameroon’s anglophone crisis intensifies: Why the central government is ultimately responsible for perpetuating the escalating violence

By Alexandra Fairbend

In the past year, both national holidays commemorating Cameroon’s foundations—October 2017’s independence anniversary and May 2018’s National Day salute to the unitary state system—were marred by violence between the Francophone government and Anglophone secessionists. The secessionists, who formally declared independence for the “Republic of Ambazonia” in October, have struggled to establish a sovereign state comprising […]

Africa English

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May 30, 2018

Congolese opposition unify ahead of presidential elections

By Pierre Englebert

Democratic Republic of the Congo opposition leaders Moïse Katumbi and Felix Tshisekedi are on a US and European tour to lobby for further sanctions against the regime of President Joseph Kabila and for continued Western pressure towards free and fair elections, scheduled for December. They have formed an alliance which, they hope, can unite the […]

Africa Corruption

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May 16, 2018

Burundi’s flawed constitutional referendum

By Kelsey Lilley

Burundians will go to the polls on Thursday, May 17 to vote in a constitutional referendum set to allow Pierre Nkurunziza, president since the end of the country’s civil war in 2005, an opportunity to stay in power until 2034.  The vote takes place amid a fragile domestic situation, and it is likely to deepen […]

Africa Corruption

AfricaSource

Apr 23, 2018

Somalia’s continuing crisis worsens with UAE dispute

By J. Peter Pham

While it is imperative to keep up military pressure on the militants, ultimately insurgencies like Somalia’s can only be defeated by political legitimacy.

Africa Corruption

AfricaSource

Apr 3, 2018

Who are the winners and losers of Africa’s new free trade agreement?

By Abdoul Salam Bello and Jonathan Gass

Last month, the leaders of forty-four African nations signed a framework agreement to form a continental free-trade zone that will encompass a billion people and up to $3 trillion of cumulative GDP. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) would be the largest free trade agreement since the founding of the World Trade Organization over […]

Africa East Africa

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Apr 3, 2018

Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam marks milestone, approaches completion

By J. Peter Pham

The April 2 anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in 2011 passed largely unremarked amid the cascade of momentous news coming recently from Ethiopia, including several years of unrest, the sudden release of thousands of detainees in mid-February, the resignation of the prime minister one day […]

Africa East Africa
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