Ivory Coast arrests 237 youths protesting authoritarian drift after removal of presidential terms limits
Ivory Coast, a nation of 32 million and the largest economy in Francophone West Africa, is due to hold a presidential election in two weeks. Earlier this year, four main opposition figures, including former President Laurent Gbagbo and former Credit Suisse Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam, were barred from running by the electoral commission.
Seychelles holds a runoff in a tight race between president and opposition challenger
A week before the first round of voting, activists filed a lawsuit against the government challenging a recent decision to issue a long-term lease for a 400,000-square-metre (100-acre) area on Assomption, one of the country’s 115 islands, to a Qatari company to develop a luxury hotel. The largest island in the archipelago is Mahé.
With only 77,000 registered voters Africa’s smallest and richest nation elects new president
The 115-island archipelago in the Indian Ocean has become synonymous with luxury and environmental travel, which has bumped Seychelles to the top of the list of Africa’s richest countries by gross domestic product per capita, according to the World Bank. The economy also has fuelled a growing middle class and opposition to the ruling party.
South African court orders body of former Zambian president returned home for state burial
Edgar Lungu died in June, aged 68, at a South African hospital following an undisclosed illness.
Economy hurt as Kenyans absorb impact of protests and steep input costs
July’s PMI reading marked the steepest drop in operating conditions since July 2024.
