Africa

The two countries in the Middle East with the highest growth expectations for 2022 are Israel and Egypt. Fitch Solutions estimates that MENA-wide GDP will grow by 3.6% in 2021, after a contraction of 4% in 2020. Egypt and Israel are the only countries within the region expected to grow …

Russia’s top diplomat assured his Libyan counterpart Thursday that Moscow supports the withdrawal of all foreign fighters from the North African country and is prepared to help work out the details with other countries. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after the talks in Moscow with Najla Mangoush that the …

U.S. Special Envoy and Ambassador to Libya Richard Norland visited Egypt, Turkey, and Morocco August 10-16. Ambassador Norland met with senior officials in Cairo and Ankara, and with Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita in Rabat. The Ambassador’s travel focused on the urgency of establishing the constitutional basis and legal framework …

Egypt seeks more influence in Mali through Al-Azhar, which is organizing a training program for a number of Malian imams in a bid to counter extremism. As Egypt steps up its efforts to boost its influence in the African continent, Al-Azhar announced Aug. 2 a training course for 23 imams …

Libyan National Army commander Khalifa Hifter visited Cairo and met with the US ambassador to Libya at a time of heightened tensions between Hifter and the new Libyan government of national unity. US Ambassador to Libya Richard Norland met with Libyan National Army (LNA) commander Khalifa Hifter in Cairo Aug. …

Sudan yesterday renewed its demand to replace the Ethiopian forces in the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) in the disputed Abyei region on the South Sudan border with multinational forces. This came during a meeting of the Security and Defence Council (the highest security body), according to …

A strong, internationally composed military force remains crucial to protecting the Somali government and preventing a victory by the Al-Shabaab Islamist militant movement. Last month, the African Union (AU) offered four separate options for the future of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to the Somali Federal Government (FGS). …

The only solution to Tunisia’s political crisis is a roadmap for getting back to inclusive politics and a renewed social contract. Long heralded as the sole success story of the Arab uprisings, Tunisia was thrown into political tumult on July 25 when President Kais Saied dismissed the prime minister, suspended …

Algerian journalist Rabah Kareche, who reported on a protest movement by the Tuareg minority, was sentenced Thursday to serve eight months behind bars, his newspaper Liberte said. It said a court in the southern town of Tamanrasset handed Kareche, who was arrested in April, a one-year term with four months …

President Kais Saied’s July 25 decisions to suspend parliament and the government appear to have been largely popular, despite sharp criticism from those denouncing them as a coup, unconstitutional, or a dangerous overstep of his authority. The mass celebrations in the streets that broke out immediately after his televised announcement …