https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/topics/africa Resources, debt, trade and the politics of the African economy. en https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/assets/brand/icon-512.pnghttps://geopoliticaleconomist.com/topics/africa https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/the-sahel-did-not-replace-france-it-unbundled-it https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/the-sahel-did-not-replace-france-it-unbundled-it Sat, 03 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000 Camilo Flora Matsumbo Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are often described as having swapped France for Russia. The record shows something narrower: the security layer of France's presence was replaced quickly, through Wagner and Turkish drones, while the development finance, monetary architecture and institutional access that came with it were not replaced at comparable scale by anyone. Africa Russia & Eurasia Europe https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/g20-common-framework-fixed-the-table-not-the-clock https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/g20-common-framework-fixed-the-table-not-the-clock Sat, 03 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000 Camilo Flora Matsumbo The Common Framework brought China and the Paris Club into one restructuring process for the first time. It left the timeline open-ended, and the IMF and World Bank have since called the missing standstill and deadline design gaps. The delay, not the generosity of each settlement, has been its most underpriced cost. Africa Indo-Pacific https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/sandals-gatekeepers-houthi-horn-axis-red-sea https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/sandals-gatekeepers-houthi-horn-axis-red-sea Thu, 01 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000 Frank Genin In September the Houthis stopped being an insurgency and became a landlord. With al Shabaab on the opposite shore, the Red Sea faces a dual chokepoint squeeze. Middle East & North Africa Africa https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/uae-africa-ports-gold-gates https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/uae-africa-ports-gold-gates Wed, 30 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000 Camilo Flora Matsumbo Emirati influence in Africa is better measured by position than by pledges: ports, gold markets and farmland place the UAE at the points where African goods change jurisdiction or form. Africa Middle East & North Africa https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/egypt-ras-el-hekma-suez-foreign-currency https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/egypt-ras-el-hekma-suez-foreign-currency Tue, 29 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000 Camilo Flora Matsumbo The $35 billion Ras El-Hekma deal with the UAE, not structural reform alone, most immediately eased Egypt's foreign-exchange crisis, arriving just as Houthi attacks collapsed Suez Canal revenue. Africa Middle East & North Africa https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/migration-management-trap-tunisia-europe https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/migration-management-trap-tunisia-europe Mon, 28 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000 Saif Eddine Ghobr Migration is neither a threat nor a tragedy. It is a system of management—and everyone is a manager. Africa Europe https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/global-south-financial-alternative-papss-brics https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/global-south-financial-alternative-papss-brics Mon, 28 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000 Camilo Flora Matsumbo Africa's most consequential break from dependence on external financial intermediaries is not the BRICS-led New Development Bank, but the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, a homegrown initiative moving money across African currencies without routing it through a third one. Africa https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/why-gold-can-buy-political-distance-and-garments-cannot https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/why-gold-can-buy-political-distance-and-garments-cannot Sat, 26 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000 Camilo Flora Matsumbo South Africa and Lesotho share a currency and a customs union, and absorbed the same American trade shock. The difference between their outcomes is not primarily about politics. It is about what each country sells, and how much of the value of those exports survives when the buyer changes. Africa Americas https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/nigeria-rating-upgrade-war-dividend https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/nigeria-rating-upgrade-war-dividend Fri, 25 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000 Camilo Flora Matsumbo Nigeria's sovereign credit rating upgrade is being presented as proof that three years of painful reform have finally paid off. Some of it has. But part of the improvement traces back to an oil price spike tied to a war Nigeria did not start. Africa https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/mozambique-lng-restart-fiscal-bet https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/mozambique-lng-restart-fiscal-bet Tue, 22 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000 Camilo Flora Matsumbo Mozambique's delayed LNG restart could bring major gas revenues into state coffers just as a global supply wave reshapes prices, buyer leverage and the value of that revenue. Africa https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/mozambique-mining-law-fiscal-bet https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/mozambique-mining-law-fiscal-bet Sat, 19 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000 Camilo Flora Matsumbo Mozambique's 15% state mining stake could increase public control over mineral resources, but its success will depend on whether the country can attract the investment needed to turn that stake into actual revenue. Africa https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/who-defines-tunisias-geopolitical-value https://geopoliticaleconomist.com/articles/who-defines-tunisias-geopolitical-value Tue, 15 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000 Saif Eddine Ghobr Tunisia's geopolitical value is not simply imposed by Europe, America or China. It is produced through an unequal exchange in which external demands reshape domestic incentives, and eventually the state itself. Africa Europe Americas