10th Edition

Our First Milestone 🥳

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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 tenth 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?}

• Ethiopia and Egypt “dam” talks end in failure  

• President El-Sisi of Egypt begins his third term in office

• Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Morocco and Tunisia

• DR Congo elections vote enters second day

• Angola crashes out of OPEC due to disagreements

^{What does this mean?}

The latest round of talks between Ethiopia and Egypt over the controversial hydroelectric dam Ethiopia erected on the Nile’s main tributary has again ended in failure. Both countries blamed each other after 3 days of discussions in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.

The discussion in which Sudan was also part of derailed as Egypt accused Ethiopia of persistent refusal for compromise whilst Ethiopia accused Egypt of putting up roadblocks.

Ever since the building began in 2011, the countries have been trying to find an agreement over the $4bn (£3.4bn) Grand Dam. The Dam is on the Blue Nile near the Sudan border and Egypt fear it will have devastating effect on its water supply.

The Blue Nile meets the White Nile in the Sundanese capital of Khartoum and then flows through to Egypt. The concerns of Egypt is very serious and believes it’s an existential threat to its population of a 100 million.

Back in July 2020, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed hailed the first filling of the dam that led to tensions with Egypt.

Did you know…

What is a Dam? 👇

A dam is a barrier or structure across a stream, river or waterway to confine and then control the flow of water. They come in different shapes and sizes but can be used for water supply, hydropower and irrigation.

The Ethiopian Dam began producing power in 2023 and the final phase of filling the Dam’s reservoir has been completed.

The Dam is expected to produce 6,000 megawatts of electricity which is double Ethiopia’s current output.