Lead story

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: What does it mean for Africa?

The isolation of Russia through the West’s punitive sanctions may not only adversely impact Africa through oil, wheat and other grain price hikes, it may also create fortress Russia that will pursue an aggressive policy in Africa and other weak regions in order to gain allies, markets, raw materials and diversification of its external relations

• Europe needs Africa, and Africa needs Europe
• Empowering African youth through tech education
• Impact of Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso’s ECOWAS exit
• Will Nigerians mirror Kenyan protests? 

• SA: a maturing democracy amid high expectations

Piracy: Securing the Indian Ocean

Threat still exists:
Although the Puntland authorities are acting tough on pirates in their sphere of influence along the Somali coast, industry bodies are worried about continued acts of maritime piracy not just in the Eastern region of the continent but also in the Gulf of Guinea

Mozambique’s security conundrum 

Balancing  mineral wealth: sustainable opportunities

Powering urban water solutions for the future

How will China’s Digital Silk Road play out in Africa?



Cover Story: Politics aside, France’s economic prowess in its former African colonies has been gradually dwindling as other world powers, notably the US and China, continue to make strong inroads in various financial sectors

*Review: a deeply flawed account of Congo’s mining industry
*Banking on a single currency to boost intra-Africa trade
*What is the model trade deal for Africa?
*Zimbabwe elections: a preview

Sierra Leone: crunch elections
*Controversy rages over return of Benin Bronzes
*Unleashing Africa's mineral power: overcoming obstacles to maximise value
*Youthful and innovative potential holds key to region’s economic growth
*The fight against racism, xenophobia and tribalism

Peace and security: what will the AU prioritise in 2023?
In hindsight, 2022 was a challenging year for stability in Africa, and against this backdrop, the AU played a constructive role, achieving some notable gains, although tangible outcomes remain marginal or susceptible to breakdown
The reality of independence 60 years on
It is an indisputable fact today that the great majority of Africans have not enjoyed the benefits – the rights, liberties, prosperity and good life – in whose name their freedom from colonial rule was sought
Poor management still holding up Africa’s progress
Governance is at the foundation of promoting rapid economic growth, reducing poverty and inequality, achieving social cohesion and promoting political and economic stability, and no country can develop in the context of instability and maladministration, says Mohamed Ibn Chambas, who points out that Africa needs to first and foremost fix its governance challenges to promote political and economic stability

Africans need to declutter their minds for heightened political consciousness
Only by recognising the interpersonal effects of imperialism and colonialism can Africans hope to move forward and create a more just and equitable future
Leveraging international finance centres (IFCs) to support investment flows in Africa
Agnes Gitau examines the crucial role international financial centres can play in attracting much needed capital to the region

Nigerian elections: decision time
US ramps up plans to invest more in Africa
Boon for Africa's gas producers

Ghana’s economic headwinds
The  multiple downgrading by the international  credit rating agencies have had their negative impact on the economy, as Ghana lost access to the international capital market where it could borrow to support budget implementation and debt substitution
Kenya: Ruto rings the changes
The new Kenyan leader has taken aim at a variety of laws, regulations and programmes that were central to the administration of his predecessor by starting to dismantle them
Sub-Saharan migration to Tunisia
A film by a young Tunisian director pointedly highlights how Africans from south of the Sahara are faring in the North African country. Mounira Chaieb looks at the complex situation facing migrants there
Key to ending coups
African Union collaboration with civil society organisations could sustain the momentum against unconstitutional changes of government

East Africa’s ports step up competition 
From the Horn of Africa on the strategic Red Sea to the buoyant ports of Mozambique, East Africa’s ancient “Swahili Coast” provides a logistical nexus between Africa’s massive population centres and other continents. Foreign direct investment is driving expansion and rehabilitation of existing seaports, while entirely new facilities are also being rolled out. Ports that shun partnerships with experienced foreign investors are set to lose out as competition for market share intensifies

*The tasks facing the ‘hustler’ President 

A month after presidential and legislative elections in Kenya on August 9, and subsequent legal wrangles, a new administration led by President William Ruto has finally taken over the reins of power from President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government. Moses Onyango looks at the issues that the new leader will have to tackle as he tries to maintain his populist stance

*Does Africa need ‘safari tourists’ disguised as international election observers?  

It is not enough for foreign poll monitors to rush into a country and make pronouncements on election results after a short stay, argue Babafemi A. Badejo and Nana K. A. Busia, Jr., who say these observers would not fully understand the complexities at play, especially before the day of elections

*Transatlantic slave trade: the other side of the coin

The issue of the return to Nigeria of Benin Bronzes looted by British troops in February 1897 from the ancient kingdom has been in the headlines recently. While many argue in favour of the artefacts to be sent back, an African American group fighting for “slavery justice” does not support the idea. The Restitution Study Group contends that the bronzes would benefit the descendants of African slave traders. This has raised a few hackles among those who say that Africans were not responsible for the odious trade in human beings. Max Siollun looks at this thorny debate

Civil society and the search for justice
SA: security risks one year after July 2001 looting
The US dollar as a potent sanctions weapon
USA AND THE LUMUMBA ASSASSINATION

The unravelling of multi-party politics

Election violence in Africa has been, invariably, put down to bad political leaders, but Nana K.A. Busia Jr argues that it has been more a case of bad constitutional drafting that has seen the continent backslide into anarchy from the close of the decade, in 1999, when almost three quarters of African countries were under democratic rule with all of them having undergone periodic elections  

 Two coups that tested ECOWAS’ resolve

With the Guinean military junta announcing on April 30 a 39-month timetable to return the country to civilian rule, Issaka K. Souaré looks at Guinea and Mali, two countries where, he says, the regional body committed some strategic mistakes in trying to deal with the interference of soldiers in politics  

Kenyan elections: kingmaker against the kings

Barely four months before voters go to the polls, the political temperature is rising as leading candidates, power barons and interest groups scramble to tie up loose ends before the big day, writes Sylvanus Wekesa 

 The war in Ukraine and its impact on Africa

In this analysis of selective African countries and regions, Toyin Falola explores the continent’s economic interactions with Russia in particular and Europe in general in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war

Counting the cost of Europe’s quest to ramp up African gas supplies 

European countries are engaged in frantic diplomacy with North African states and other African natural gas producers to secure new gas supply contracts in an increasingly competitive market. At least $50 billion in new pipeline investments may be signed off this year

• EU’s blinkered view on South African findings

• Archbishop Desmond Tutu: 1931-2021
Consummate believer in universal human rights
• Russia attempts to refocus its ties with Africa 
• Five key trends to watch for trade and investment

• After COP26: why gas should be part of the continent’s clean energy future

• Corruption and the violation of human rights

• Forced displacement: a global cause for concern

• The making of African dictatorships

• Coup in Guinea more than an act against controversial change of Constitution

• The recent pillaging and violence in South Africa highlighted the desperation of the poor in a country with the world’s widest wealth gap
• Questions have been asked recently about whether Nigeria is a failing state or is already a failed state
• With rampant cases of selfish and visionless leaders, governance in Africa has become a practice in divisions, victimisation, alienation and marginalisation 
• Will the new government walk the talk and fulfil the promises made on the campaign trail to deliver a united, prosperous and equitable Zambia 
• Africa Briefing talks to Teddy Osei, founder and leader of legendary ‘sunshine’ band Osibisa, which has just released a new studio album

Africa Union's flawed peace and security agenda

A slow and bumpy start for Africa free trade

Legal systems need reform

*Mozambique: challenges ahead
It is one of the poorest countries in the world, yet extremely rich in natural resources that could turn its economy around only if it is able to defeat the Islamic insurgency that has halted critical investment

Ethiopia at the crossroads: the perils of narrow nationalism

John Magufuli: his legacy

Preview of Ghana's December elections
Ethiopian PM Abiy's military offensive on Tigray
Africa is going for gold

African Heritage: Reclaiming the Narrative

In this edition, we examine Africa's involvement in the Black Lives Matter movement; Ghana's voter registration brouhaha and the changing narrative of the country's politics.
We also look endemic corruption in Nigeria with the arrest of the country's anti-corruption czar
Other issues include the agenda of Malawi's new president

Africa's future through the lens of its past
Africa and the world in the face of Covid-19
Covid-19: Africa has to rely on its own resources

Debate rages over new West African currency
African countries at the highest  risk of debt distress
The unfulfilled promise of African independence
Jury still out on the political change in Kenya
UK's Ghana aid dilemma

Crucial year for international criminal justice

Russia joins the new 'scramble' for Africa

In this edition, we report on how corruption continues to harm the efforts to bring people out of poverty. In recent years, many national governments, as well as the African Union, have declared the fight against corruption as their priority.

July - August 2024

May-June 2024

March-April 2024

January-February 2024

November-December 2023

September - October 2023

July - August 2023

May - June 2023

March - April 2023

January - February 2023

November - December 2022

September - October 2022

July - August 2022

May - June 2022

March - April 2022

January - February 2022

AfricaBriefing is a fast-growing digital news portal that delivers African business, economic, political and development news to an audience of more than 25,000 a month. 
AfricaBriefing highlights and examines the political, business developments and economic forces driving and underpinning the continent’s growth. We provide accurate, unbiased and authoritative news, analysis and forecasts, as well as trenchant opinion pieces on political, economic and social developments in Africa, giving our growing audience an insight into the driving forces of the African economy.

1. You agree that the use of Magzter.com, the application and its services, are at solely at your own risk. Neither Magzter.com nor its associates nor employees nor third party content providers guarantee that the service will be completely uninterrupted or error-free or foolproof against miscreant activities. Nor do they warranty that you will get the exact results as expected or promised by the website or product.

11. THE SERVICE AND ALL PUBLICATIONS ARE PROVIDED ON AN 'AS IS' AND 'AS AVAILABLE' BASIS. MAGZTER, ITS AFFILIATES, SUPPLIERS, LICENSORS AND AGENTS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, NEITHER MAGZTER NOR ITS AFFILIATES, SUPPLIERS, LICENSORS OR AGENTS, MAKES ANY WARRANTY THAT (I) THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, (II) THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE, (III) THE INFORMATION THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE SERVICE OR THAT MAY BE CONTAINED IN THE PUBLICATIONS WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE, OR (IV) THE QUALITY OF ANY PUBLICATIONS OR THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS. YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR OBTAINING AND MAINTAINING RELIABLE INTERNET CONNECTIVITY AND YOUR DEVICE. MAGZTER IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR INABILITY TO DOWNLOAD CONTENT. ANY MATERIAL DOWNLOADED OR OTHERWISE OBTAINED THROUGH THE USE OF THE SERVICE IS DONE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK AND YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR MOBILE DEVICE OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OF ANY SUCH MATERIAL. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM MAGZTER OR THROUGH OR FROM THE SERVICE SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY.

2. You will maintain and promptly update that information to keep it true, accurate, current and complete. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account and password and for restricting access to your computer, and you agree to accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account, including the selection and use of all content and services.

2.You will maintain and promptly update that information to keep it true, accurate, current and complete. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account and password and for restricting access to your computer, and you agree to accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account, including the selection and use of all content and services.

3. In no event will Magzter.com or any person or entity or third party involved in the creation, production and distribution of the content on the website and the application be liable in contract or legally for any damages, including and not limited to, direct, indirect, incidental, special, and consequential incurred to you while or on using Magzter.com. By registering on the website or downloading the application, you agree that the provisions mentioned in this section shall apply to all use of and content on the website and the application.

3. Without prior written or authorised permission from Magzter, you should not modify, copy, distribute or sell any content obtained from Magzter as everything published here is the proprietary property of Magzter or its licensors. As such unauthorised use may also violate applicable laws including copyright and trademark laws, Magzter strictly prohibits these and will terminate your access and account if any such illegal activity is proved or detected. You should also stand liable for the damages caused by these unauthorised activities. Except as permitted by the Publication's lawful owner, you acknowledge that you do not acquire any ownership rights by downloading Publications accessed through the Service. Except as explicitly required under copyright law or permitted by the features of the Service you may not modify, reverse engineer, publish, transmit, display, participate in the transfer or sale, create derivative works of, or in any way commercially exploit or provide to a third party the content of the App, the Publications, or any portion of them without the express permission of Magzter and the owner of such content. We do not grant you any licenses, express or implied, to the intellectual property of Magzter or Magzter's licensors.

5. You specifically acknowledge that Magzter.com is not liable for any kind of defamatory or offensive or illegal conduct of other users or third parties or their content and that the risk of injury from the foregoing rests entirely with you.

8. Magzter reserves all rights to monitor the content published and inputted by you for the purpose of determining whether you are compliant with these terms and conditions and other operating rules determined by Magzter. Magzter has the right to take decisions about the content and delete them at its own will.

9. Magzter is a distributor and NOT a publisher of the Publications and so Magzter has no editorial control over the content, including opinions, advice, statements, services, offers etc., that is represented in the magazines. So Magzter will not take responsibility for the accuracy or the reliability for any information or facts provided therein or that is made available through the service, by anyone other than authorised Magzter employees who are acting on their official capacities. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered by the Service, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of Magzter. Magzter will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information obtained through the Service or from the Publications. The Service may contain links to other Internet sites and third-party resources and Magzter does not assume any responsibility or liability for communications or materials available at such linked sites. These links are provided for your convenience only. You are solely responsible for understanding any terms and conditions that may apply when you visit or place an order through a third-party site.

Choose your favorite titles from 40+ exciting categories

Details of the objectionable content, including its link on our platform

Download your favorite titles and read them offline, anytime and anywhere

Gift your loved ones with a Magzter Gift Card instantly and give them the freedom to read their favorite magazines and newspapers from thousands of best-selling titles.

Gift your loved ones with a Magzter Gift Card instantly and give them the freedom to read their favorite magazines from thousands of best-selling titles.

Gift your loved ones with a Magzter Gift Card instantly and give them the freedom to read their favorite magazines from {{magCount}} best-selling international titles.

Girish Ramdas is the Co-founder and CEO of Magzter, a New York based startup that has been making waves in the global digital publishing business. Magzter has crossed 80 million users since its inception in 2011 from more than 150+ countries with 1000s of magazines, newspapers and books from more than 4,500 publishers worldwide. He has more than 25 years of experience in cross-platform publishing, including print, mobile, and Web development. During this period, he has co-founded and run three successful start-up businesses. He has enabled magazine companies to go digital and helps them monetize their content across the digital world. Girish's deep industry experience in online, mobile and publishing ecosystems has made him an expert in acquisition, marketing and monetizing digital content across platforms globally.

In the event that you encounter any objectionable content on our platform, we have put in place a grievance redressal policy to address your concerns.

Magzter Inc. (“Company”, “we”, “us” or “our”) knows that you care about how your personal information is used and shared. Please read the following privacy policy (the “Policy”) to learn more about our privacy practices. By visiting any of the websites operated by the Company, and any sub-domains thereof, or using any of our mobile applications and other methods of content distribution (collectively, the “Service”), you acknowledge that you accept the practices and policies outlined in this Policy, and you hereby consent that we will collect, use, and share your information in the following ways.

Magzter Inc. is the World's largest and fastest growing self-service, cross-platform digital newsstand with over 80 million users since its inception in 2011 and thousands of magazines and newspapers across 40+ categories and 60+ languages. Headquartered in New York, Magzter has its local presence in Amsterdam, London, Mexico City, Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Singapore, and will soon be expanding to other countries. Founded by global entrepreneurs, Girish Ramdas and Vijay Radhakrishnan in June 2011, Magzter enables magazine and newspaper publishers around the world to create and deliver digital editions of their titles to global consumers.

Magzter is committed to providing a safe and secure platform for our users. Please note that Magzter is merely a platform for publishers to distribute their content. We do not control or endorse the content published on our platform. We cannot be held responsible for the actions of our publishers or their content.

Magzter is not responsible for compensating any party that has suffered damages or incurred costs due to any content, or part of the content, that violates their rights. Magzter is not liable to face any legal action in civil court for any violation of rights caused by any content, or part of the content, that infringes the rights of a third party.

Magzter offers the world’s largest {{allyoucanread}} subscription service called {{gold}} which gives digital readers unlimited access to 9,000+ magazines and newspapers for a monthly subscription price. Magzter also has the largest number of stories in the world with its game-changing ezRead 2.0 feature for its apps, which enables smartphone and small-screen mobile users to enjoy magazine content the way it was meant to be enjoyed, with article text that is easy to read and is accompanied by stunning videos and high resolution photography.

Magzter offers the world’s largest “All-You-Can-Read” subscription service called Magzter GOLD which gives digital readers unlimited access to 9,000+ magazines and newspapers for a monthly subscription price. Magzter also has the largest number of stories in the world with its game-changing ezRead 2.0 feature for its apps, which enables smartphone and small-screen mobile users to enjoy magazine content the way it was meant to be enjoyed, with article text that is easy to read and is accompanied by stunning videos and high resolution photography.

Name

Note: This will only share the cover and the publication information, but not the content.

Please fill out this form if you need any help regarding publishing your content on Magzter

Prior to Magzter, he was the President of Dot Com Infoway (DCI) and Galatta Media. His duties included strategic marketing, partnership development, and monetizing content globally. DCI grew from a small team of 3 in 2000 to 300 by 2011 and was dealing with web, software and app development for clients globally.

Since we launched, Magzter has been committed to partnering with global organizations to provide the greatest possible newsstand technology & service to our customers. Whether you are looking to offer magazine subscriptions to your customer database or just want to learn more, Magzter is committed to helping your business grow. To find out more, please fill out the questionnaire below:

The DMCA allows us to restore the removed content if the party filing the original DMCA Notice does not file a court action against you within ten business days of receiving the copy of your Counter Notice.

This Policy covers Company’s treatment of personally identifiable information (“Personal Information”) and other information about you and your computer or device that Company gathers when you are accessing the Service. We may collect Personal Information from you, as explained in more detail below, and we use this Personal Information internally in connection with our Services, including to personalize, provide, and improve our products, services, content, and advertising, and to allow you to set up a user account and profile, to contact you, to fulfill your requests for certain products and services, and to analyze how you use the Services. In certain cases, we may also share some Personal Information with third parties, but only as described in point 4.

This title is included with your Magzter GOLD subscription

To analyze the quality of content and provide appropriate feedback to publishers

We have designated a Grievance Officer to address any complaints related to objectionable content.

We request that any complaint related to objectionable content be sent to the Grievance Officer through email to the above-mentioned email address. We also request that you provide the following details when making a complaint:

and the App that provides you the capability to order, subscribe to and receive the delivery of various magazines, books, news and magazine and publication related content (collectively known as 'Publications') and to have these digital versions of the Publications delivered to you

c. We also collect information associated with your use of the application in order to make personalized recommendations. If you provide your third-party account credentials to us, you understand some content and/or information in those accounts (“Third Party Account Information”) may be transmitted into your account with us if you authorize such transmissions, and that Third Party Account Information transmitted to the Service is covered by this Policy.

f. The Personal Information we collect allows us to respond to your requests, improve our products and services, customize the advertising and content you see, and communicate with you about new products.

is the World's largest and fastest growing self-service, cross-platform digital newsstand with over 87 million users since its inception in 2011 and thousands of magazines and newspapers across 40+ categories and 60+ languages. Headquartered in New York, Magzter has its local presence in Amsterdam, London, Mexico City, Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Singapore, and will soon be expanding to other countries. Founded by global entrepreneurs, Girish Ramdas and Vijay Radhakrishnan in June 2011, Magzter enables magazine and newspaper publishers around the world to create and deliver digital editions of their titles to global consumers.

n. We will also use usage information in order to ensure users adhere to our Terms of Use. For example, a user’s usage information will help us confirm that a user only downloads a magazine or other content a permitted number of times or to a permitted number of devices.

which gives digital readers unlimited access to 9,000+ magazines and newspapers for a monthly subscription price. Magzter also has the largest number of stories in the world with its game-changing ezRead 2.0 feature for its apps, which enables smartphone and small-screen mobile users to enjoy magazine content the way it was meant to be enjoyed, with article text that is easy to read and is accompanied by stunning videos and high resolution photography.

{{magzter}} is the World's largest and fastest growing self-service, cross-platform digital newsstand with over 87 million users since its inception in 2011 and thousands of magazines and newspapers across 40+ categories and 60+ languages. Headquartered in New York, Magzter has its local presence in Amsterdam, London, Mexico City, Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Singapore, and will soon be expanding to other countries. Founded by global entrepreneurs, Girish Ramdas and Vijay Radhakrishnan in June 2011, Magzter enables magazine and newspaper publishers around the world to create and deliver digital editions of their titles to global consumers.

Africa Briefing Magazine - March - April 2022

Africa Briefing Magazine - March - April 2022

In this issue

Africa Briefing Magazine Description: