Policy & Power
How decisions are made across Africa, and who makes them.
EU’s steel tariff hits South Africa
The EU’s new steel import framework took effect July 1, imposing annual quotas with a 50% tariff on volumes above the thresholds, under regulation 2026/1384 published June 24. Quotas are allocated by product category…
Kenya awards JKIA rebuild to China
Kenya signed a Ksh154.2 billion ($1.2 billion) contract with China Road and Bridge Corporation on June 23 to modernise Jomo Kenyatta International…
South Africa’s June 30 shutdown arrives
Anti-immigration protesters marched across South Africa’s major cities on June 30, the deadline set by the March and March movement for undocumented…
US-Iran truce sends oil crashing
A US-Iran ceasefire agreement and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz have sent Brent crude crashing from a peak above $120 per barrel in April to…
South Africa braces for June 30
South Africa’s police service has activated joint operations in all nine provinces at a projected cost of R600 million ahead of the June 30 national…
Stop checking passports, SA minister warns
South Africa’s Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi warned at an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration briefing on June 14 that private citizens…
China embeds deeper in Africa’s ports
China holds stakes in roughly one-third of African ports, has invested $50 billion in port infrastructure since 2013, and accounts for 22% of all…
Tanzania and Singapore strike first partnership
Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam made the first-ever state visit by a Singaporean head of state to Tanzania on June 9, marking the 45th…
Ramaphosa tightens immigration amid unrest
President Ramaphosa announced a sweeping immigration crackdown in a June 7 national address, committing to tighter border controls, faster…
Berbera’s rise reshapes East Africa trade
Berbera Port in Somaliland has expanded to 500,000 TEUs annually and is positioning itself as a major trade gateway for Ethiopia and the Horn of…
Ghana-Jamaica pact ends two-decade silence
Ghana and Jamaica concluded the Third PJCC Ministerial Session in Accra on May 27, signing four bilateral agreements in health, defence, education…
Tanzania finally breaks its Moscow silence
Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan arrived in Moscow on June 2 for a three-day state visit, becoming the first Tanzanian head of state to…
Ethiopian Airlines confirmed a global competitor
US Ambassador to Ethiopia Ervin Massinga declared on May 26 that Ethiopian Airlines is no longer simply a regional carrier but a competitor on the…
Markets price Senegal for debt restructuring
JPMorgan’s May 26 research note revealed that Senegal’s 2033 Eurobonds are pricing in a restructuring scenario with a 15% haircut, five-year…
AGOA clocks out in December 2026
The African Growth and Opportunity Act expires December 31, 2026. A one-year extension signed by Trump in February restored lapsed benefits, but the…
Ethiopia’s Eurobond talks collapse, bondholders sue
Ethiopia’s Ministry of Finance announced on May 28 that formal Eurobond restructuring talks with private bondholders collapsed after they rejected a…
WHO declares Ebola continental emergency
WHO declared the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in DRC and Uganda a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on May 16. Africa CDC followed with…
Museveni signs law that rattles investors
Uganda’s President Museveni signed the Protection of Sovereignty Act into law on May 17, requiring individuals acting on behalf of foreign interests…
Somalia slides toward famine as aid collapses and Hormuz bites
Parts of southern Somalia face famine for the first time since 2022 as Hormuz disruption drives up to 60% price surges for diesel and therapeutic…
Africa’s food supply under threat: AU acts
The African Union convened a Joint Extraordinary STC on fertiliser market disruption and food system risk from the Hormuz conflict for May 20-22,…
Ghana evacuates citizens from South Africa
Ghana’s President Mahama approved the immediate evacuation of distressed Ghanaian citizens from South Africa on May 14 following the latest wave of…
Macron pledges $27bn at Africa summit
The Africa Forward Summit closed in Nairobi with the adoption of an 11-point Nairobi Declaration and a $27 billion investment pledge from French…
Kenya and France sign 11 deals on rail, ports and energy
Kenyan President William Ruto and French President Emmanuel Macron witnessed the signing of 11 bilateral agreements at State House Nairobi on May…
Africa rises against SA as Afrophobia crisis deepens
Nigeria’s President Tinubu ordered a crisis notification unit in South African missions, the Senate called to revoke MTN and DStv licences, ECOWAS…
Africa Forward Summit opens with 40-deal target
Kenya’s Foreign Affairs PS Abraham Sing’Oei said the Africa Forward Summit opening tomorrow is expected to conclude up to 40 deals with real…
Brent drops 6% on ceasefire hopes after Iran clashes
Brent crude fell roughly 6% over the week to settle near $101 per barrel on Friday as Trump insisted the US-Iran ceasefire remained intact despite…
US invites Kenya to lead Africa minerals trade zone
The US has invited Kenya to lead a preferential critical minerals trade zone as East Africa’s AI market grows rapidly, with analysts warning that…
US-Africa Business Summit heads to Mauritius in July
The 18th US-Africa Business Summit moves to Mauritius on July 26 to 29, 2026, the first time the summit has been held on the Indian Ocean island,…
Nairobi hosts Africa-France summit as Macron and Ruto co-chair
Kenya hosts the Africa Forward Summit on May 11 and 12, the first time a non-Francophone country has co-chaired France’s flagship Africa diplomacy…
Morocco launches $5.6bn Nador port to rival Europe’s biggest
Morocco will launch Nador West Med, its $5.6 billion Mediterranean deepwater port, in Q4 2026 with 5 million TEU container capacity, Africa’s first…
Pope Leo XIV delivers blunt corruption message to Africa
Pope Leo XIV visited Africa and delivered a sharp message on corruption, inequality and human rights that The Africa Report described as unsparing.…
Hormuz ceasefire fractures as Brent hits $114
Brent crude surged 5.8% to $114.44 on May 4, its highest 2026 close, after Iran launched drones and missiles at UAE infrastructure in response to…
Angola’s $107 oil windfall meets SA’s supply crisis
Angola’s 2026 budget used a $61 oil reference price; Brent is at $107, generating roughly $50 million per day in above-budget windfall revenue. The…
Mozambique signs $537m US compact that survived Trump cuts
Mozambique signed a $537.5 million MCC Compact II with the US on April 30 covering coastal resilience, rural transport and Nacala Corridor access…
UAE quits OPEC, squeezing Africa’s oil producers
The UAE formally left OPEC on May 1, targeting production of 5 million barrels per day by 2027 unencumbered by quotas. Its light, low-sulphur crude…
Trump’s Hormuz gambit keeps oil above $100
Trump launched “Project Freedom” on May 4, deploying US Navy destroyers and 15,000 personnel to guide neutral ships out of the Strait of Hormuz.…