40th 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 40th 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?}

• Protests erupt in Nigeria as curfews imposed

• Sudan’s military chief survives a drone strike

• France shifts its stance on Western Sahara to back Morocco

^{What does this mean?}

Police forces fired tear gas to quell mass protests across Nigeria as young people take the streets to rally against the country’s worst cost-of-living crisis seen in a generation.

With momentum soaring on social media, authorities feared a replay of the deadly 2020 demonstrations against police brutality or a wave of violence similar to last month’s protests in Kenya over a tax hike.

The government led by President Bola Tinubu said it was determined to prevent such scenario in a country that has long been a top African oil producer but where Nigerians are among the world’s poorest.

Fast-forward to today, human right groups say at least 13 people were killed during mass protests in the country. Authorities confirmed four people were killed by a bomb and the arrests of hundreds in the protests triggered curfews in several states.

Carrying placards and the Nigerian flags, people chanted songs and slogans demanding the reinstatement of gas and electricity subsidies whose removal as part of the government reforms to grow the economy has had a knock-on effect on the price of just about everything.

Did you know…

In November 2023, Nigeria’s lawmakers approved a new budget which included huge allocations for SUV’s and houses for the president, his wife and other public officials, sparking anger and criticism.

The president was also criticised for the sponsorship of over 400 individuals to attend the COP28 climate conference in Dubai, forcing him to introduce a three-month ban on minister and officials from publicly funded travels.

Sudan’s military chief, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, survived a drone attack on an army graduation ceremony he was attending in the eastern part of Sudan. The drone attack killed around 5 people.

Sudan has been torn by war for more than a year between the military and a powerful paramilitary group called the RSF which stands for the Rapid Support Forces.

The RSF has not commented on the assassination attempt yet, which comes nearly a week after its leader said he planned to attend cease-fire talks in Switzerland next month arranged by the United States and Saudi Arabia.

The military controlled Foreign Ministry responded to the U.S. invitation to the talks in Geneva, but said that any negotiation before implementing the Jeddah Declaration “wouldn’t be acceptable to the Sudanese people.”

Army Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, who commands the Rapid Support Forces, have been fighting since April, with a series of ceasefires failing to stop the intense fighting.

The country has been in turmoil ever since a popular uprising forced the removal of long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir in 2019. The short-lived transitional government was derailed when the two general joined forces to lead a military coup in October 2021.

Did you know…

The Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect Civilians passed in 2023 meant to end the conflict, but neither side committed to its objectives.

According to the U.N. migration agency, more than 10 million people forced to flee their homes since April 2023 with 14,000* people killed.

Numbers a likely to be higher*

France has thrown its weight behind Morocco’s autonomy claim for the disputed Western Sahara, shifting an historic position and adding itself to a growing list of countries to align with Morocco as a United Nations-mediated peace process remain stalled.

In a letter to King Mohammed VI of Morocco, President Macron called the plan that Morocco proposed to offer the region limited autonomy under its sovereignty the “only basis” to solve the conflict.

This shift in policy terms deals a blow to the pro-independence Polisario Front, which has for decades claimed to be the legitimate representatives of the indigenous Sahrawi people.

This change will deepen France’s ties with Morocco as it signalled it was open to investing in Moroccan projects in the disputed territory. However, this will certainly strain diplomatic relations in North Africa, alienating both France and Morocco form Algeria, which supports the Polisario Front’s claim.

Algeria called Morocco and France “colonial power, new and old” and announced it would withdraw its ambassador from Paris.

The Western Sahara is roughly the size of Colorado, encompassing a stretch of desert rich in phosphates and sitting along an Atlantic coastline rich in fish. Morocco annexed the former Spanish colony in 1975, sparking a regional conflict and putting it at odds with the Polisario Front.

Morocco quickly moved to occupy the majority of the land, fighting off guerrilla warfare from Polisario Front until the U.N. brokered a 1991 cease-fire and established a peacekeeping mission to monitor the truce (which was broken from time to time) and help prepare a referendum on the territory’s future.

Morocco has since embarked on expansive economic development efforts by constructing ports, highways and hotels.

Did you know…

The Sahrawis are an ethnic group native to the western part of the Sahara desert.

The Polisario Front is a rebel Sahrawi nationalist liberation movement claiming Western Sahara. The United Nations considers the Polisario Front to be the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people and motions that the Sahrawis have a right to self-determination.

The Polisario Front is outlawed in the parts of Western Sahara under Moroccan control and it is illegal to raise its party flag often referred to as the Sahrawi flag.

^{WE WILL BE BACK IN SEPTEMBER}

We are taking a break over August as we aim to hire a number of editors… We will be back in September so STAY TUNED via our Instagram page.

BIGGER AND BETTER VERY SOON! 👌👌

You’re done for the week. Follow us on our socials and see you next Friday!