Africa’s 2026 Elections: Navigating Complexity to Deliver for Citizens
Africa’s diverse governance tapestry is reflected in the 11 countries planning to hold elections in 2026. Roughly half can be expected to be competitive, while the outcomes in the remainder are predictable. Both the continent’s second-largest country by population, Ethiopia, as well as some of the smallest, including the island nations of Cabo Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe are going to the polls. … Many of the African countries going to the polls in 2026, accordingly, face fundamental democratic tests of crafting effective checks on the executive to enable power sharing and popular representation. … Youth are front and center in every election on the world’s youngest continent this year, wanting to be heard and demanding more transparency, fairness, and responsiveness to citizens from Africa’s electoral processes. … With regional norms in flux across the continent, elections in even the smallest countries are likely to have wider governance and security ripples. Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Ugandan Voters Face Soldiers in the Street and an Internet Shutdown Before Presidential Election
Ugandans are set to vote Thursday in an election that is likely to extend the rule of the long-term president while raising concerns about transparency, hereditary rule, military interference and an opposition strategy to prevent vote tampering at polling stations. … On Tuesday, less than 48 hours before the start of voting, the Uganda Communications Commission directed internet service providers to temporarily suspend the general public’s access to the internet, as well as the sale and registration of new SIM cards. … The internet shutdown was a blow to pro-democracy activists and others who use the internet to share information about alleged electoral malpractices including ballot stuffing and other offenses that routinely plague Uganda’s elections. … Ugandan authorities began deploying troops on Saturday in parts of the capital, Kampala, with armored trucks spreading into different parts of the city and soldiers patrolling the streets. AP
UN Reports Civilian Deaths and Malnutrition Crisis in Sudan as Fighting Escalates
The United Nations expressed alarm on Tuesday over escalating violence in Sudan that has killed dozens of civilians and pushed malnutrition levels in North Darfur to more than triple the emergency threshold. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that at least 19 civilians were killed on Monday during a ground assault in the Jarjira area of North Darfur. In a separate incident, a drone attack in Sinja, the capital of Sennar State, killed 10 people and injured nine others, according to data from the Sudanese Doctors Network. … The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimated that more than 8,000 people were displaced from villages in North Darfur’s Kernoi locality on Friday alone. While many fled to other parts of the state, some have crossed the border into neighbouring Chad. The surge in displacement coincides with a “deepening nutrition emergency” in North Darfur. A recent survey conducted by UNICEF and its partners in the localities of Tina, Um Baru, and Kernoi found acute malnutrition levels far exceeding the World Health Organization’s emergency threshold of 15%. Sudan Tribune
Bahri Observatory for Human Rights: Secret Graves, 4K+ Detained, Disappeared After 1,000 Days of Sudan War
The Bahri Observatory for Human Rights has revealed testimonies indicating the existence of secret graves inside the weapons camp in El Kadro and the Jabal El Hamir area of Hattab, for victims believed to have died under torture. The Observatory published a report on the occasion of the 1,000th anniversary of the outbreak of the war in Sudan, seen by Radio Dabanga. After the army entered the city of Bahri in January 2024, a new chapter of the tragedy was observed, represented by the documentation of some 3,000 detainees and detainees in Soba prison and Dar El Taibat without fair trials, as well as the issuance of nearly 500 judicial verdicts on charges of “cooperation,” which it said lacked the standards of justice. The Observatory confirmed that more than 1,000 people are still among the disappeared and forcibly disappeared, most of them in the custody of the Rapid Support Forces, in the absence of any official information about their fate, in addition to the presence of bodies still buried inside the courtyards of houses and in public squares in the neighbourhoods of El Droshab and Samrab, awaiting burial worthy of human dignity. Dabanga
Former Burkinabe Minister Murdered at Her Home in Ouagadougou, Prosecutor Says
Former Burkinabe minister Yolande Viviane Compaoré has been assassinated at her home in Ouagadougou, the capital’s public prosecutor’s announced on Tuesday. Officials said that Compaoré’s body was discovered at her home on Saturday and evidence found at the scene suggests that she was assaulted and murdered. Judicial authorities have opened an investigation and appealed for any witnesses to come forward. Compaoré was an influential figure during the presidency of Blaise Compaoré. A former governor of the Northern Region and a member of parliament for the former ruling party, the CDP, she held several ministerial posts, including Minister of Transport and Tourism. She also chaired the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee. The government of Blaise Compaoré was overthrown by a popular uprising in 2014 and the former president fled to Cote d’Ivoire. Africanews
Can An Exiled Malian Imam Unite People Against The Junta?
Mahmoud Dicko, who inspired protests that preceded the fall of former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in a 2020 coup, has been living in Algeria since 2023. With his new movement, the Coalition of Forces for the Republic (CFR), Dicko is aiming to re-establish dialogue between various parties and overthrow the military. An adherent of Wahhabism, a conservative and fundamentalist interpretation of Sunni Islam, he hopes to rally a population exhausted by over a decade of conflict. … Bakary Sambe of the Timbuktu Institute think-tank in Dakar told AFP that “Dicko is a figure who enjoys both religious respectability and popular support”. … “He was among those who advocated early on for inclusive inter-Malian dialogue, which implied open dialogue, including with armed terrorist groups”, Sambe said. An initial supporter of the junta, Dicko was quickly sidelined and became a nuisance for the military, advocating a return to civilian rule. AFP
Niger Revokes Licenses of Tanker Drivers Who Refuse to Go to Mali amid Jihadist Blockade
Niger has revoked the licences of dozens of transport operators and drivers for refusing to deliver fuel to neighbouring Mali where they face possible attacks by jihadists. [Jihadists] imposed a fuel blockade on Mali in September and began attacking petrol tankers on major highways. The landlocked country depends on fuel imports and in July had signed a deal with Niger to supply 85 million litres of fuel over six months to its vast, northern desert region, where various militant groups operate. Niger is an oil-producing country and a major ally of Mali – both run by military juntas which face jihadist violence. The fuel convoys from Niger making the journey crossing a route of 1,400km (870 miles) have faced jihadist attacks even under military escort. Last November, Niger delivered 82 fuel tankers to Mali, which managed to stabilise the energy supply hit by the recent blockade – as convoys travelling from Senegal and Ivory Coast have also been hit. Additional fuel shipments from Niger were expected in the following months, but plans were disrupted after drivers and transport operators refused to make the deliveries. BBC
Operation Against Nigerian Kidnapping Gang Kills “200 Bandits”—Official Tells BBC
More than 200 suspected members of an armed criminal gang in central Nigeria have been killed in an ongoing operation, an official has told the BBC. The large-scale, multi-agency offensive started on Saturday and had also led to arrests, the media officer for the Kogi state government said – without specifying a number. Footage shared with the BBC by the Kogi police, filmed from a helicopter, shows flames raging from one settlement in a densely forested area. For years, members of criminal gangs – known locally as bandits – have carried out killings and kidnappings for ransom, mainly targeting those in the north-west – but they have been moving to other parts of the country more recently. … Several bandit camps were destroyed during co-ordinated operations over the weekend involving the different arms of the country’s security and paramilitary forces, Kingsley Fanwo, Kogi state’s commissioner for information, said. BBC
DW Exclusive: Post-Election Violence in Tanzania’s Mwanza
A DW investigation into two major incidents in Mwanza region found evidence of atrocities. Eyewitness and survivor accounts, leaked police files, ballistics reports and geolocation data indicate the use of lethal force. Survivors and eyewitnesses told DW that unarmed civilians were gunned down and soldiers later removed the bodies. On October 29, eight protests took place in Dar es Salaam and quickly spread to Arusha, Dodoma and Mwanza, fueled by anger over alleged electoral fraud, opposition suppression and heavy‑handed policing. As violence erupted and unrest spread — buses and gas stations were torched and factories looted — the government imposed a 6 p.m. curfew and shut down the internet. A DW investigation found that during that blackout in Mwanza, security forces gunned down people in residential areas. … Eyewitnesses in Kisesa say police in uniform carried out the shootings. In Mji Mwema, eyewitnesses say the shooters wore black combat gear. Soldiers collected the bodies in both places, according to the eyewitnesses. … Months after election crackdown, hundreds of people remain unaccounted for. DW
Algeria’s President Urges Youth Living Abroad Illegally to Come Home
Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has called on Algerian youth living abroad “in vulnerable and illegal situations” to come home. During Sunday’s cabinet meeting, the president said he would regularise the status of these young citizens, including those who have committed minor infractions in their host country. … The measure could affect tens of thousands of young Algerians who have left their homeland illegally in recent years. Some 54,000 Algerians immigrated to Europe between 2020 and 2024, according to the International Organization for Migration. Under Algerian law, leaving the country illegally is punishable by up to 6 months in prison and a fine. The presidential decree would allow these youth to come home without facing legal proceedings if they pledge not to reoffend. The measure “excludes anyone who committed violent crimes, drug offenses, arms trafficking,” or collaborated with foreign security services to “harm” Algeria. Africanews
Pope’s Africa Trip Includes Stop-off in Angola
Pope Leo XIV plans to make a trip to Africa soon, including to Angola, a Vatican representative announced on Tuesday in the Angolan capital, Luanda. The US-born leader of the world’s Catholics, who was elected last May, has said he hopes to go to Algeria this year as part of a trip to the continent. It would be the first papal visit to Africa since Leo’s predecessor, Francis, travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan in early 2023. … The last pope to visit Angola was Benedict XVI in March 2009. AFP
South Africa: Ramaphosa Warns ANC Must Improve Local Services Ahead of Elections
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa told his African National Congress that it must improve its poor record on delivering services ahead of crucial municipal elections this year, polls which could see it lose control of key cities. The ANC’s grip on power in Africa’s largest economy loosened in 2024 when it was forced into a coalition at a national level after losing its parliamentary majority for the first time since the end of apartheid. Though issues such as power provision appear to be improving, complaints of sanitation problems and crumbling roads have become increasingly commonplace ahead of the local elections, which must be held before November. … The loss of important cities could accelerate the ANC’s declining influence and increase the number of unstable coalitions — such as the one in Johannesburg — that control urban centers vital for economic growth. Semafor