What next for The Gambia after President Barrow’s re-election?
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What next for The Gambia after President Barrow’s re-election?

Elections in The Gambia are always a thrilling affair. There is a unique marble voting system used nowhere else in the world and results that rock the political establishment. While the outcome of this election avoided the ugly scenes witnessed four years ago – when former President Yahya Jammeh refused to accept defeat – a…

Is Tanzania headed towards a debt crisis?
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Is Tanzania headed towards a debt crisis?

Tanzania will borrow at least $2.34 billion from foreign lenders to finance its proposed 2022/2023 budget of $17.1 billion, a plan that risks sliding the East African nation into the red zone of countries with a heavy burden of public debt. According to Finance Minster Mwigulu Nchemba, 7.7% ($1.32 billion) of next financial year’s budget…

Inside America’s plan to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative
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Inside America’s plan to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative

The United States of America will invest in five to 10 large infrastructure projects around the world in January, as part of a wider G-7 initiative to counter the growing dominance of China. U.S. President Joe Biden launched his Build Back Better World, or B3W, plan during the June G-7 summit, with the goal of…

The price of Ethiopia’s civil war
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The price of Ethiopia’s civil war

For one year, Ethiopia has been at war with itself. What started as a “police operation” has turned into a full blown humanitarian crisis that risks disintegrating an already divided country and overturning economic gains accrued over the last two decades. Unlike many wars, the chronology of the Ethiopian civil war is widely agreed upon…

COP26: Why Africa is getting the short end of the stick
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COP26: Why Africa is getting the short end of the stick

Walking through Glasgow you’d be forgiven for thinking the pandemic is over. Motorcades carrying world leaders are bustling for space as armed bodyguards wrestle to showcase their individual and state prowess in Scotland’s capital. The port resembles a classy exhibition showcasing the most luxurious yachts the world has ever seen, full of many rich business…

Zambia urgently needs an economic revolution. But are elections worth the hassle?
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Zambia urgently needs an economic revolution. But are elections worth the hassle?

 (This is a transcript of the podcast posted on Monday, August 9th, 2021. You can listen to the podcast by clicking on this link https://www.buzzsprout.com/1655965/8988981) ARNOLD SEGAWA: Greetings and welcome to this edition of Mansa’s The Weekly Beat, I’m Arnold Segawa joining you from Johannesburg, and Maggie Mutesi I think you’re in Cape Verde this…

Explained: What is happening in South Africa?
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Explained: What is happening in South Africa?

A new wave of violence has erupted in South Africa with the government deploying military troops to restore calm and order. At least 6 people have died. The disturbances have intensified as former President Jacob Zuma began a legal challenge to his 15-month prison term sentence in the country’s top court. Images of burning buildings…

EXPLAINED: The economic impact of democracy protests in Eswatini
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EXPLAINED: The economic impact of democracy protests in Eswatini

(This is a transcript of the podcast posted on Monday, July 5th 2021. You can listen to the podcast by clicking on this link https://www.buzzsprout.com/1655965/8814901) Welcome to The Weekly Beat by Mansa with your hosts, Arnold Segawa, Maggie Mutesi, and Dumi Jere. Giving you all the info on Africa’s big finance and economic stories, The…

The story of white privilege in Kenya’s financial sector
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The story of white privilege in Kenya’s financial sector

It’s no secret that the startup scene in Kenya, like much of Africa, is on an upward trajectory but what many living in the country may not know is who exactly is a beneficiary of the funding that fuels this growth. A rising middle class and a younger, more educated demographic are some of the…

Kenneth Kaunda’s legacy and economic transformation of Zambia
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Kenneth Kaunda’s legacy and economic transformation of Zambia

(This is a transcript of the podcast posted on Monday, June 21st 2021. You can listen to the podcast by clicking on this link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6N51Sqn8Jzs06kk8j47Owk?si=EQSpY52YSEmks9-Y-p0kFA&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A0iXz0YJU6dWxAxjKHCO8W8&dl_branch=1&nd=1) Welcome to The Weekly Beat by Mansa with your hosts, Arnold Segawa, Maggie Mutesi, and Dumi Jere. Giving you all the info on Africa’s big finance and economic stories, The…

Kenneth Kaunda: The peacemaker who liberated southern Africa
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Kenneth Kaunda: The peacemaker who liberated southern Africa

Throughout the African continent, many streets, buildings, and airports are named after him. Unlike most independence heroes of their time, the name Kenneth Kaunda does not evoke bitter memories and feelings of alienation in different societies. His death on Thursday evening revealed a strong reverence that many across the globe had for one of Africa’s…

How Mozambique’s history of violence is dashing hopes of economic progress
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How Mozambique’s history of violence is dashing hopes of economic progress

There is no saying that is so common in the minds of Mozambique citizens above the age of 40 than, “Here we go again.” Ever since the Southern African country gained sovereignty from Portugal in 1975 following a bloody grueling war of independence, it has been plagued by successive armed insurgencies that have killed and…

Another win for President Nguesso ensures Congo’s economic crisis will prolong
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Another win for President Nguesso ensures Congo’s economic crisis will prolong

At 77, Congo’s President Sassou Nguesso is four times older than the average Congolese, whose median age is 19, according to UN figures. He’s been in office for more than 36 years, and on Tuesday, he was announced the winner of an electoral poll that international observers, religious leaders and the opposition unanimously agreed was…

Magufuli’s economic policies lifted Tanzania despite COVID-19 criticism
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Magufuli’s economic policies lifted Tanzania despite COVID-19 criticism

In 2017, one president shocked the world when he issued an order banning all public servants in his country from traveling abroad. But that head of state was not from Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland, South Korea or any developed nation where prudent utilization of public funds and accountability reigns supreme. He was from Tanzania. And…

Ethiopia’s PM Abiy won the war in Tigray. Now the economy is bleeding.
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Ethiopia’s PM Abiy won the war in Tigray. Now the economy is bleeding.

In November, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed – a Nobel Peace Prize winner – shocked the world when he ordered a military invasion in the country’s northern region of Tigray. Abiy justified the decision as “necessary to maintain the authority of the federal government” at a time when the country was plagued by ethnic violence…

Ethiopia turns to Burundi seeking to expand ties in the region
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Ethiopia turns to Burundi seeking to expand ties in the region

Compounded by crises in the north with the fighting in Tigray and a simmering land dispute with its western neighbor which threatens to spill over into a full blown war, Ethiopia’s president Sahle-Work Zewde took a much-needed break from mitigating multiple conflicts to visit another Eastern African in a bid to improve ties with regional…

Sudan accuses Ethiopian forces of incursion as land dispute threatens to escalate into full blown war
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Sudan accuses Ethiopian forces of incursion as land dispute threatens to escalate into full blown war

Sudan’s government has accused Ethiopian troops of entering its territory, further escalating a dispute over land that straddles their border. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said, “Sudan strongly condemns the aggression carried out by Ethiopia, in which its forces entered into territories that legally belong to Sudan.” It described the incident as “a direct…

Angola requests Dutch court to hand over Dos Santos-linked $500 million assets
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Angola requests Dutch court to hand over Dos Santos-linked $500 million assets

Angola’s government has formally asked a Dutch court to hand over a $500 million stake in the Portuguese oil company Galp linked to Isabel Dos Santos, the daughter of ex-president Jose Eduardo dos Santos. As part of the request, Angola says that top officials of the former regime took advantage of high oil prices in…

Nigerian President Buhari warns African Union must reform to stay relevant
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Nigerian President Buhari warns African Union must reform to stay relevant

Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari has called on the African Union (AU) to undertake large-scale reforms that will enable the body to remain relevant. As Africa’s most populous country and largest economy, Nigeria holds huge sway in the 55-nation bloc that was formed to promote international cooperation and harmonise member states’ policies. The African Union decided…

Why Somalia’s election matters now more than ever
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Why Somalia’s election matters now more than ever

There is a common adage that time is a healer, but in Somalia, memories of times gone by evoke painful memories of the good old days in both the elderly that witnessed them and the young who can only fathom such glories. To know how much has changed in this country, picture this. In 1967,…