Eye on Africa

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Somalia's road to recovery resumed on Sunday after new Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble took office on Sunday just a day after parliamentary approval, but the procedure used could raise new constitutional questions given the lack of his predecessor Hassan Khaire. At his office, Roble pledged to institute specific reforms in the country for the next four months just before the country heads to the election, promising to focus on security, the implementation of polls as well as the violence…

After visiting the Morounou region earlier this month, the Ivorian president spent four days in the Marahoué region. At the end of this new "state visit" in front of the remarkable and the inhabitants of Bouaflé, in the center of the country, Alassane Ouatarra spoke to his political opponents. "The law has been said and the democratic game is now open," the Ivorian president assured Bouaflé. Far from responding to the demands of the opposition, which in particular calls for the dissolution of the Independent Electoral…

The country's largest union is stepping up pressure on the government by calling for demonstrations on Monday 28 September to protest the rise in fuel and electricity prices in the country. In the context of economic crisis, the federal government has in fact decided to end its subsidies in these two sectors. The price of petrol at the pump is now indexed to market prices, while electricity prices will double in early September. The threat of a social movement launched by the Nigerian Labor Congress was at the center of…

Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula was scolded by President Cyril Ramaphosa for carrying an ANC delegation on a military plane during a trip to Harare, Zimbabwe, this month. In an attempt to quell the controversy, the South African president has decided not to pay him his salary for three months. But the main opposition party is now asking for his resignation. For Cyril Ramaphosa, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula made "a mistake in the verdict". The South African presidency announced on Saturday evening, September 26, that it had sent it "a…

Eleven years after the September 28 massacre, the victims have still not achieved justice despite the government's repeated promises. The United States, France and the European Union "call on the Guinean government to hold a trial as soon as possible". The investigation has been completed since the end of 2017, and 13 defendants are to be tried by the Dixinn court in the first instance in criminal cases. But in the absence of significant progress, Guinea's partners are considering other remedies. Last January, the…

The US Treasury Department last week announced new measures against Evgueni Prigozhin and his network in the Central African Republic. The Russian businessman, close to Vladimir Putin, is accused of interfering in the 2016 US election. He has since been on the US sanctions list. He is also accused of being the Kremlin's supervisor in Africa through his connections to the Wagner group of mercenaries. This time, the sanctions are aimed at three Russians and two companies involved in Prigozhin's operations in CAR. In a press…

After endless negotiations on the conditions for reopening places of worship, the Federation of Charismatic, Pentecostal and Revival Church of Gabon decided on September 12 to reopen churches without permission this Sunday despite the Covid-19 epidemic. The government considers the process unacceptable and it acted on Sunday 27th Sunday. During a press conference on Saturday, September 26, Interior Minister Lambert Noël Matha threatened religious leaders who were tempted to defy the ban. "A group of religious leaders has…

Moctar Ouane, the new Malian prime minister, now has 48 hours to form his government. This former foreign minister had been driven away from Malian political life in recent years. He was for some time a diplomatic adviser to UEMOA. Within the Malian political class, the appointment of a civilian as prime minister seems to be unanimous. New Malian Prime Minister Moctar Ouane does not come from the local political backwater. It is quite far from the parties, which is an advantage when we want to organize transparent…

As South Africa tries to emerge from the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, it is questioning the fate to be reserved for public companies. Many of them have suffered significant losses this year, despite having already had financial difficulties before the crisis. Now they are asking the government to save them, but the country's coffers are already less and less full. Before Parliament, the Ministry of Finance painted a very bleak picture at the beginning of the month: the country's public companies are…

In Kenya, President Uhuru Kenyatta is concerned about the recent rise in doping cases among the country's athletes. He asks the Ministry of Sports to develop a major training and testing plan to combat this scourge. For the Kenyan president, the country's reputation is at stake a few months before the Olympics. "Kenya has built its reputation as a stronghold of sport on pure and just victories." This statement is signed by Uhuru Kenyatta, who expresses his concern over the increase in doping cases discovered in recent…