43rd 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 43rd 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?}

• The President of Comoros survives a knife attack at a funeral

• Militants step up attacks in Burkina Faso and Mali

• Ghana’s opposition party demands audit ahead of Dec 2024 elections

^{What does this mean?}

Comorian President Azali Assoumani was slightly injured in a knife attack while attending the funeral of religious cleric. The attacker who was quickly identified as 24-year-old male solider was arrested.

The President’s injuries were not serious and returned to his official residence, his office said in a statement. The attacker however, was arrested by security forces and was taken into custody, by authorities now say he had been discovered a day later “unresponsive” in a cell where he was being held and declared dead.

The suspect named by authorities as Ahmed Abdou attacked the president with a kitchen knife. A civilian was also injured during the attack while attempting to protect the president. The president’s close protection agents immediately subdued the suspect and handed him over to investigators.

President Azali Assoumani was re-elected in January this year in a vote denounced by the opposition parties as fraudulent. The country has experienced more than a dozen attempted coups since independence from France in 1975.

In the Comoros Islands, the Presidency must rotate among the country’s three main islands every five years. However, in a vote held in 2018, the country voted to remove the presidential term limits and the requirement for the presidency to rotate between the three main islands.

Under the new system, President Azali Assoumani who took charge in a 1999 coup before stepping down in 2002 and then winning an election 14 years later, would be required to step down in 2029.

Did you know…

The three Comoros Islands are called Anjouan, Grande Comore, and Moheli

The country is a major source of irregular migration to the nearby French Island of Mayotte, which was historically part of the Comoros.

The Comoros Islands have endured years of poverty and political turmoil since its independence from France in 1975

Mali troops have this week subdued militants who attacked a military training camp and the airport in the Mali capital of Bamako. The militants tried to infiltrate the Faladie military police school in a rare attack before government troops were able to neutralise the attackers.

At least 15 suspects were arrested as the Transport Ministry suspended flights in and out of Mali. The Airports have now reopened. Mali, along with its neighbour Burkina Faso has for more than a decade battled an insurgency fought by armed groups.

Following military coups in both countries in recent years, the ruling Juntas have expelled French forces and turned to Russian mercenary units for security assistance instead

Ghana’s biggest opposition party held protests in regional capitals across the country demanding an audit of the electoral register for the general election set for December.

The chairman of the NDC said to supports on the street;

“We are not asking for a big favour from the electoral commission, we are demanding our right to free and fair elections.”

Ghana has held peaceful, free, fair and transparent elections for nearly two decades. The general election on Dec 7 will be the ninth consecutive election since the country's return to multi-party democracy in 1992.

However, allegations of irregularities in relation to the electoral register this year have created concerns about a possible democratic backslide. The NDC says it detected thousands of unauthorised transfers of voter names on the voter register for upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections.

The current president Akufo-Addo who was a student in Oxford many years back is stepping down this years after his second and final four-year term.

Did you know…

Presidential and Parliamentary elections in Ghana are held concurrently every four years

^{Book of the week…. DEAL IN THE WORKS!}

The idea is every week we will hold a poll on our social media pages, asking our readers to recommend a book for the week…

STAY TUNED!

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