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Sudan’s displaced millions struggle to survive as economy seizes up

People hold pots as volunteers distribute food in Omdurman, Sudan, 3rd September, 2023

Port Sudan, Sudan Reuters About two months after heavy clashes around his home in Sudan’s capital drove Sherif Abdelmoneim to flee, soaring rent and food costs forced the 36-year-old and his family of six to return to a city where fighting still rages. Most of those who fled Khartoum after war between the army and […]

Egypt blackouts become symbol of malaise a decade after Sisi’s rise

A general view shows light around the mosque of Al-Fattah Al-Alim in the New Administrative Capital, east of Cairo, Egypt, on 2nd August, 2023.

Cairo, EgyptReuters For Egyptians grown used to a decade of reliable power supplies and boasts of vast investments in generation, a wave of rolling blackouts came as a shock – shaking faith in President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s record months before an election. Along with record inflation and a sharp weakening of the currency, the outages […]

Beauty salon ban in Afghanistan a blow to women’s financial freedom

A woman wearing a niqab enters a beauty salon where the ads of women have been defaced by a shopkeeper in Kabul, Afghanistan, on 6th October, 2021.

Kabul, AfghanistanReuters For the last eight years, Marzia Reyazee has supported her family with the earnings from her female-only beauty salon in Afghanistan, a business she spent more than $US18,000 setting up. But the 34-year-old mother of two is likely to find herself without her business, and with few other prospects for a livelihood, when […]

Analysis – Nigeria’s Tinubu faces daunting hurdles after reform sprint

Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu waves to a crowd as he takes the traditional ride on top of a ceremonial vehicle, after his swearing-in ceremony in Abuja, Nigeria, on 29th May, 2023.

Lagos, NigeriaReuters New Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has moved at lightning speed in his first month in office, implementing a raft of radical changes aimed at finally unleashing the full potential of Africa’s sluggish economic giant. But while his rapid headway on reforms has wowed investors, some analysts, observers and business leaders warn that bigger […]

Tunisia’s financial crisis leaves the sick struggling to find medicine

A woman sits near a pharmacy in Tunis, Tunisia, on 31st May, 2023.

Tunis, TunisiaReuters Sick Tunisians face a frantic struggle to find some medicines because the cash-strapped state has reduced imports, leaving doctors unable to control debilitating health problems and patients turning to informal markets for their medication. Hundreds of medicines have been missing for months, pharmacies say, including important treatments for heart disease, cancer and diabetes […]

Nigeria’s new President Tinubu promises economic reboot

Presidential candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu arrives with his wife Oluremi Tinubu at a polling station before casting his ballot in Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria, on 25th February, 2023.

Abuja, NigeriaReuters Nigeria’s new President Bola Tinubu vowed at his swearing-in on Monday to expand the economy by at least six per cent a year, lift barriers to investment, create jobs and unify the exchange rate, while also tackling rampant insecurity. Tinubu inherits a struggling economy with record debt, shortages of foreign exchange and fuel, […]

Xi clinches third term as China’s President amid host of challenges

Chinese President Xi Jinping looks on after casting his vote during the Third Plenary Session of the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China, 10 March 2023. MARK R. CRISTINO/Pool via REUTERS

Beijing, ChinaReuters Xi Jinping secured a precedent-breaking third term as President of China on Friday during a parliamentary session in which he tightened his control of the world’s second-largest economy as it emerges from a COVID slump and diplomatic challenges mount. Nearly 3,000 members of China’s rubber-stamp parliament, the National People’s Congress, voted unanimously in […]