7th Edition

Good Afternoon folks! 😁😁

Delighted to have you here. And if you joined us this week, it’s great to finally connect with you… so here we go!

Welcome to The Friday Briefing, your weekly brief on geopolitics.

This is our seventh edition. It’s still a bit of a test, so if something does go wrong be sure to let us know… but anyway, we plan to send out your brief every Friday lunchtime 12pm GMT.

Our goal is to provide you with a balanced and insightful overview, allowing you to stay informed without being overwhelmed with information. But above all, we understand the value of your time. With our summaries, you can quickly grasp the major events shaping our world, deepen your understanding and be on your way in no time!

Our starting point…yes…Africa, but our vision extends beyond the boundaries of a single continent.

Oh don’t forget, feel free to leave behind any feedback, suggestions or further ideas you would like us to run with 🙂 

^{Why Africa? maybe because we don’t hear much…}

Back in 2013, the 42nd President of the United States tweeted the above tweet, “Just touched down in Africa…” ⬆️

Although Mr Clinton’s tweet was true, despite the brazen mistruths our leaders spout these days, he nonetheless could’ve worded it a lot better.

But the tweet tells us a lot more. It exposes an attitude that many of us may have towards Africa, either through ignorance or laziness or maybe because we don’t hear enough about African countries in our national news media.

This is a continent as diverse as it is complex, a continent home to over 1.4 billion people and 54 countries, making it the second-most populated continent in the world.

Events in Africa aren't isolated, they hold global importance too. Political transitions, economic developments and conflicts in Africa have ripple effects that stretch far beyond its borders.

And yes, while we begin with Africa, we’re dedicated to expanding our weekly round-ups to other continents in due course, taking our mission to new frontiers by connecting the dots between nations and continents.

So stay tuned! 👌

^{So, what’s been happening this week? 27 Nov - 1 Dec}

• Sierra Leone’s attempted coup ends in failure and arrests

• Somalia joins the EAC community bloc

• Presidential election campaigns kick off in DRC Congo  

• Nigeria’s President outlines first budget of £27.4bn

• Heavy gunfire in Guinea-Bissau’s capital “Bissau”

• President Andry Rajoelina wins re-election in Madagascar

^{What does this mean?}

Yes! Another one… but a failed one according to the Minister of Information.

Coups are becoming increasingly popular in Africa, but this was truly unexpected in comparison to the others we have seen. Sierra Leone is located in the west coast of Africa near Liberia and is some distance away from the countries experiencing regular coups in the Sahel.

A series of attacks on military barracks and prisons in Sierra Leone was described as a failed coup attempt, according to police and government officials. The Information Minister Chernor Bah said,

“The incident was a failed attempted coup. The intention was to illegally subvert and overthrow a democratically elected government.”

The inspector of the general of police said, “A group of people had tried to illegally unseat the government wit force.”

During a televised speech, the President Julius Maada Bio said that most of the leaders of the attack had been arrested and the government would continue to purse the rest. Government officials said 20 people were killed, 13 of those soldiers and 2,000 people escaped prisons.

Tensions remain in the capital Freetown with checkpoints in every direction and a curfew in place. With President Bio winning re-election, tensions have been building amid concerns about the transparency of the election. The opposition party All People’s Congress’s (APC) candidate Samura Kamara rejected the results claiming that it had not been credible.

Did you know…

Sierra Leone is struggling with the economic fallout of Covid with people regularly protesting high food prices.

The country is infamous for its blood diamonds. The otherwise known as “war diamonds” were mined and sold to fund the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) during Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war which lasted from 1991 to 2002.