President Uhuru Kenyatta is pushing ahead with an anti-corruption drive that involves a new chief prosecutor – Noordin Mohamed Haji – and a re-energised Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission. Efforts to tackle corruption have increased following the disputed presidential election result of late 2017 and subsequent symbolic handshake in March 2018 when president Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga settled their main...

The Zambian economy has been expanding at a rapid pace in recent years, but is facing uncertain times in 2015. Global copper prices fell sharply in December and January, and in March were trading around 20% below the levels achieved a year earlier. Copper exports are by far the single largest contributor to export earnings in Zambia (typically accounting for around 70% of total merchandise exports) and the fall in copper prices is undermining...

Nigeria and Cameroon have signed a series of agreements to strengthen trade and commerce between the two countries. However, a section of Cameroon’s north-western border with Nigeria was closed by the Nigerian authorities in February in an attempt to block the free passage of the militant Islamist group Boko Haram. The group is waging a campaign of violence in north eastern Nigeria and has reportedly used areas in north-western Cameroon to...

The current constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) came into effect in 2006 and set out a plan for decentralisation, which included the fragmentation of the existing 11 provinces at the time into 26 new provinces by the end of 2009. In addition to the restructuring of local government, the constitution made provisions for each province to retain 40% of its internally produced revenues. However, more than seven years after...

The government of the DRC and the leaders of the March 23rd Movement (M23) rebels are on the cusp of signing an important peace agreement brokered by members of the African Union (AU), particularly Uganda. The M23 rebels recently ceased military operations following an intense campaign by the DRC forces and the introduction of a beefed up UN ‘intervention brigade’. If the peace deal goes through, it could be a catalyst for greater security in...

The United Nations (UN) deployed a new 3,000 strong ‘intervention brigade’ in July to support MONUSCO operations in eastern DRC. The peacekeeping mission aims to establish a security zone around Goma (near the border with Rwanda) to protect the population from renewed fighting between government forces and M23 rebels, and has a specific mandate to target offensive operations and neutralise and disarm rebel groups. The introduction of the...