Features

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Armed Nigerian security agents temporarily blocked the entrance to the National Assembly in the capital, Abuja, amid heightening political tensions ahead of general elections in February. Legislators, reporters and staff were turned away by secret police officers wearing masks and their standard black uniforms as they tried to enter the complex on Tuesday. After a couple of hours, lawmakers were allowed in one by one, while reporters and staff…

SOUTH SUDAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Sudan’s warring parties signed a peace deal granting rebels key positions in a transitional government, the latest bid to end an almost five-year conflict that’s claimed tens of thousands of lives. The accord will restore rebel leader Riek Machar as President Salva Kiir’s deputy, while appointing four other vice presidents and adding new posts for ministers and lawmakers. Following the collapse of a similar pact in July 2016, it will…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election bid is facing a growing challenge as members of his party defect to the opposition and support diminishes in a key region that’s stood by him politically for 15 years: the north. Home to about 40 percent of the West African nation’s voters, Nigeria’s North East and North West regions have long been Buhari’s bedrock — he carried them in three failed bids for the…

BAMAKO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and a former finance minister will contest a runoff vote in the country’s presidential elections after no candidate secured a majority in the first round. Keita secured 41.4 percent of ballots cast in the July 29 election and his main opponent, Soumaila Cisse, obtained 17.8 percent, the Ministry of Territorial Administration said in a statement on Thursday. Turnout was 43 percent of the more than 8 million…

KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Democratic Republic of Congo opposition leader Moise Katumbiabandoned plans to fly back to the country and will instead attempt to enter by land after the government said a warrant for his arrest had been issued. Katumbi, 53, is trying to return to the central African nation after two years in exile to register as a candidate in presidential elections scheduled for Dec. 23. He was convicted in absentia in 2016…