In addition to #AfricanUnion suspension, #Gabon has also been suspended from #CentralAfrica bloc #ECCAS after its recent #coupdetat. https://www.africanews.com/2023/09/05/central-african-bloc-suspends-gabon-over-coup/

#africanews #AfricanPolitics #AU #politicalgeography #geography #geopolitics @geopolitics @geography

We also just updated our map of active and suspended #AfricanUnion member countries for the first time in 2 years - and there was a lot to update.

There are now more suspended #AfricanUnion member countries than ever before - a total of six countries, or 11% of the organization's membership.

https://www.polgeonow.com/2023/09/african-union-au-suspended-member-states.html

#geography #intergovernmental #AfricanPolitics #coupdetat #mapping #coupbelt #AU #politics #AfricanIntegration #africa @geopolitics @geography

Went back to twiiter just to see if Tsitsi Dangarembga was still posting -- she did this pretty heroically -- but has confirmed her promise of quitting as the #Zimbabwe election is completed and declared for Zanu-PF. Here's a conversation with her in Hamburg, from the FT, before the election. #TsitsiDangarembga #AfricanPolitics #African #Literature https://www.ft.com/content/944f8e24-84e2-4386-af0e-80c5e8d1e1ca

Interesting perspectives on #Niger from Nesrine Malik. #AfricanPolitics https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/14/niger-crisis-africans-continent-moscow-washington

Niger. The ultimatum from the West African bloc to the leaders of the miltary coup has now passed, but Jason Burke is always worth reading, and offers some intriguing shreds of something a bit like optimism (Candide variety, maybe) in his in imaginary journey across the Sahel. #Niger #Nigeria #Sahel #JasonBurke #AfricanPolitics https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/06/nigers-coup-adds-to-chaos-in-the-sahel-but-it-may-also-offer-some-hope

Zambia has renegotiated its debts, making breathing space for other kinds of policy making, and for seeking other forms of investment. The process is not complete of course. Hichilema, of the UNDP, is an interesting figure, no radical: but stable democratic transition was not guaranteed in the last election and it matters how those who govern in such contexts are treated by the international debt/business system. #AfricanPolitics #Zambia #debt #Hichilema https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-65997830

The question of whether mobile money providers should be regulated like banks has a long history, and in the latest twist #Kenya's Safaricom is being sued for lending out MPesa deposits as overdraft protection despite not being registered as a bank (by Faustine Ngila) // #africanpolitics #accesstofinance https://qz.com/why-safaricom-is-being-sued-by-its-customers-1850194457

William Shoki at Africa is a Country on the future for the left in #SouthAfrica as the day of shutdown approaches. 'Setting aside that the EFF lacks a coherent political vision and program, “the shutdown” as a popular mode of protest is time-honored and ineffectual. Its logic is rooted in a conception of the masses as laying dormant, in wait, needing only to be “activated” and spontaneous resistance energies unleashed. The truth is that collective action is not so easy.' #AfricanPolitics

#Tanzania plans to scale up lithium #mining after the discovery of new deposits, writes Bob Karashani #africanpolitics https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business/us-firm-joins-rush-for-tanzania-lithium-deposits-4157856

Very insightful long read about the politics of #Uganda's latest anti-LGBTQ+ bill from Kristof Titeca, who says Museveni has taken some steps to avoid alienating Northern donors over this issue in the past, but may run out of political room to do so today. (Serious CW for homophobia) #africanpolitics #queerrights https://africanarguments.org/2023/03/unpacking-the-geopolitics-of-uganda-anti-gay-bill/

Interesting essay on the Durban Strikes of 1973 by Peter Cole at Africa is a Country -- one of the newsletters that comes into my inbox that's always worth reading. #AfricanPolitics #SouthAfrica https://africasacountry.com/2023/02/one-of-the-great-events-in-global-labor-history

Insightful long read by Jaindi Kisero about proposed changes to #Kenya's #oil import policies, which would attempt to offer more price stability through long-term contracts but potentially shut some local importers out of the market #africanpolitics https://nation.africa/kenya/business/questions-emerge-over-multibillion-shilling-oil-importation-plan-4146958

#Kenya has ordered its embassies to coordinate some aspects of their work through the Deputy President's office rather than the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which I would read as suggesting some in-fighting at the top 👀 #africanpolitics https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/uncertanity-over-future-of-kenya-foreign-policy-4148356

This is a good piece from Isabela Nunes Franciscon exploring the various cash transfers and subsidies which #Ghana offered to vulnerable populations during the #pandemic - many of which were well-intentioned but didn't reach poor households #socialprotection #africanpolitics https://socialprotection.org/discover/blog/overview-social-protection-measures-towards-covid-19-crisis-ghana-key-considerations

"This film is a 'manifesto' for the status of women in #Senegal. Because beyond the representation of the domestic worker who is mute in this film, we find how women are muzzled and enslaved. The right to voice and to decent working conditions is a struggle that has not yet been won in Senegal." - Mariama Sylla, quoted by Rama Salla Dieng #laborrights #africanpolitics

https://africasacountry.com/2023/03/emancipation-that-costs-servitude/

This is so grim. "Burundian police arrested [24 people] at a seminar... hosted by MUCO #burundi a non-profit organisation that focuses on HIV/Aids. Police said that the accused were found with condoms and on suspicion of homosexual practices." #africanpolitics https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/burundi-charges-24-lgbt-members-4152138

"Currently, a lot of what passes for #policy #research is targeted at fellow academics (peer reviewers at journals) and funders. Yet the real clients of policy research ought to be policymakers in low-income countries. African countries would benefit from policy research designs and processes that pay attention to context and are readily legible to policymakers" - Ken Opalo #africanpolitics https://kenopalo.substack.com/p/the-world-bank-african-countries

This is dismaying: a French court has dismissed the case of environmental and human rights activists against #oil company Total in #Uganda, saying the activists changed their demands and didn't give the company enough time to respond before going to court. #africanpolitics https://www.jeuneafrique.com/1422716/economie/megaprojet-de-total-en-ouganda-les-opposants-deboutes/

In #Rwanda, "the percentage of the population with some kind of #health insurance has increased from 43.3% in 2005 to 90.5% in 2020." Learn more about how it happened in this interview b/w Charles Wiysonge + Sabin Nsanzimana #africanpolitics https://theconversation.com/over-90-of-rwandans-have-health-insurance-the-health-minister-tells-an-expert-what-went-right-195257

Here's some useful background on #Nigeria's new president Bola Tinubu, from Olayinka Oyegbile #naijadecides #africanpolitics https://theconversation.com/bola-tinubu-the-kingmaker-is-now-nigerias-president-elect-200383