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Articles on African politics

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King Mohammed VI of Morocco, (L) walks with Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn. Reuters/Tiksa Negeri

Morocco reaps rewards of major changes in its diplomatic strategy

Morocco has been on a massive diplomatic drive, using both its political and economic muscle. Since his coronation in 1999, the king has led over 40 visits to African countries south of the Sahara.
Malawi faces the biggest overhaul in its electoral system since the 1990s. Shutterstock

Malawi’s plans for major electoral reform are way overdue

The proposed change to Malawi’s electoral system is straightforward and makes logical sense. Yet it’s more complex and if adopted would revolutionise local politics.
Chinese President Xi Jinping at the recent Asian-African Conference in Jakarta. Reuters/Darren Whiteside

Africa offers a point of cooperation for Xi and Trump

If US President Donald Trump is the consummate dealmaker he purports to be, he should find the low risk, high returns of greater US-China-Africa cooperation irresistible.
Julius Malema and his fellow opposition EFF MPs being bundled out of parliament for disrupting President Jacob Zuma’s speech. Sumaya Hisham/Reuters

Why opposition parties in southern Africa struggle to win power

Opposition parties in sub-Saharan Africa struggle to prove themselves worthy to skeptical voters who, unlike in Western competitive systems, don’t trust them over former liberation movements.
Security officials remove members of the Economic Freedom Fighters during South African President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation Address. Reuters/Sumaya Hisham

Zuma’s state of the nation address: nothing but farce and fisticuffs

The ANC should draw the lesson that South Africans are unlikely to tolerate the ongoing descent of their politics into the gutter without strident resistance - in the streets, if necessary.
Members of the Ecowas force at the Denton Bridge check point in Banjul, The Gambia, following Yahya Jammeh’s departure. Reuters/Thierry Gouegnon

How West Africa built the muscle to rout dictators and keep the peace

Regional power Ecowas, which has just seen off yet another dictator in Yahya Jammeh, started off with a tame agenda 42 years ago. But it was soon shaped by civil wars, military coups and despots
US President Donald Trump stamped his inaugural speech with the promise of ‘America First’ – a slogan with an ominous past. Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

Trump’s ‘America first’ pledge has echoes of Rhodesia’s racist white nationalists

Rhodesia’s white supremacists appealed to the white electorate by taking a stand against African liberation. Similarly, Donald Trump appealed to white Americans who feel overwhelmed by globalisation.

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