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See also Democratic Republic of the Congo 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020. Contents Volume 7, 2010. The previous year’s surprising political and military deals that the government had entered into with neighbouring Rwanda and the North Kivu-based rebels of the ‘Conseil National pour la Défense du Peuple’ (CNDP) endured throughout the year. However, this did not bring the volatile Kivu provinces and their citizens any closer to peace and security. The fragmenta…

See also Cape Verde 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020. Contents Volume 6, 2009. The political scene was marked by the comeback of Carlos Veiga, the former prime minister and leader of the ‘Movimento para a Democracia’ (MpD), who was elected uncontested as new leader of his party. At the same time, Prime Minister José Maria Neves was re-elected leader of the ruling ‘Partido Africano da Independência de Cabo Verde’ (PAICV). During a visit to the archipelago, US…

See also 'Zimbabwe' in 2004 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020. Contents Volume 2, 2005. The country started the year with a first for Africa, having sworn in its first female vice-president along with a new cabinet. Due to unbridled animosity between the major political parties, the political scene remained tense and polarised. The economy did not perform as expected and also witnessed many surprising policy changes, including major concessions by government. A cl…

See also African-European Relations 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020. Contents Volume 14, 2017. The year’s agenda was packed with an eu-au summit and the launch of a European External Investment Plan (eip), as well as Africa featuring on the G7 and the G20 agendas – both chaired by European countries. The year also marked the tenth anniversary of the Joint Africa-eu Strategy, which had been welcomed at the time as a fundamental shift towards a more equal partnership, and a move from “aid to trade and investment”. It is telling th…

See also Zimbabwe 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2019 | 2020. Contents Volume 15, 2018. The first full year of the post-Mugabe era, dubbed the ‘new dispensation’ and ‘the Second Republic’ by the new leadership, began with goodwill and optimism. The country enjoyed a raft of freedoms that distinguished it from the previous regime. However, an acrimonious election campaign, a hotly disputed election, and the killing of civilians after the election, dragged the country …

See also Niger 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020.Contents Volume 10, 2013. The government charted its way through the minefield of challenges posed by the war between Islamist groups and French-led forces in neighbouring Mali and Boko Haram’s revolt in Nigeria. Although Niger was seen by the outside world as a beacon of relative stability, the country’s vulnerability showed itself in attacks on a military base and uranium mine by Islamists driven out of Mal…

See also Democratic Republic of Congo 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020. Contents Volume 4, 2007. Following last year's elections, a democratic government under the leadership of Prime Minister Antoine Gizenga was formed. Lacking coherence and vision, the unwieldy government remained paralysed and failed to take steps to consolidate the hard-won progress in the DR Congo over the preceding two years. The year was characterised by two major setbacks: first, the h…

See also Lesotho 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020. Contents Volume 9, 2012. The factional battle that had been raging inside the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) culminated in Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili crossing the floor of parliament, taking a small majority of MPs with him, to form the Democratic Congress (DC). Continuing to head the government, he led his new party into a general election called in late May. Although the DC emerged as the sin…

See also Eastern Africa 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020. Contents Volume 5, 2008. Most external attention on the sub-region was again focused on the continuing armed conflicts in the Darfur region of Sudan and in Somalia, while early in the year the extraordinary post-election violence in Kenya was for some weeks very much in the international limelight. Other notorious conflict zones (Ethiopian-Eritrean border, northern Uganda, Burundi, Comoros) on the oth…

See also Zambia 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020. Contents Volume 6, 2009. Domestic politics in Zambia were already overshadowed by the presidential and parliamentary elections due in 2011. The ruling Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) was bickering about its leader and presidential candidate, while two major opposition parties, the Patriotic Front (PF) and the United Party for National Development (UPND) formed an electoral alliance, although it rema…

See also Mauritania 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020. Contents Volume 8, 2011. In the wake of the ‘Arab Spring’, a new protest movement, ‘Coordination de la Jeunesse du 25 Février’, emerged at the beginning of the year. The previously contested election of President Abdel Aziz in 2009 was regarded as a fait accompli and, instead of regime change, the protesters mainly focused on tangible social issues and constitutional amendments. The government responded by launching a series of social programm…

See also Angola 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020. Contents Volume 14, 2017. Long-time president, José Eduardo dos Santos, stepped down after 38 years in power. He was succeeded by João Lourenço in the August elections. Although the ruling party continued to dominate politics after contested election results, this was a momentous change that brought about fresh political dynamics toward the end of the year. Nonetheless, the economic crisis persisted, wh…

See also Nigeria 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020. Contents Volume 8, 2011. The April elections at federal and state levels dominated the political scene and confirmed the incumbent Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as president, giving him a very strong political mandate. An improved election commission conducted the most credible elections yet in Nigeria’s history, despite continuing widespread shortcomings and lapses. However, the country experienced an unpreceden…

See also Ghana 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020. Contents Volume 8, 2011. Flourishing oil sales in the first year of commercial drilling propelled GDP into double figures, even though the national debt also increased. There was single-figure end-of-year inflation for the second time in two years. Two petroleum related acts of parliament were passed, and a national gas company was formed. Petrol price increases were very well managed. Citizens were also rewa…

See also Democratic Republic of Congo 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020. Contents Volume 5, 2008. The year was dominated by the escalation in North Kivu of violence between the rebel army of Laurent Nkunda and a disintegrating national army. The fighting, which sparked a huge humanitarian emergency, was the continuation of an armed conflict that had persisted on and off since the end of the 2006 election cycle. It dashed the hopes for a peaceful resolution of t…

See also Republic of Congo 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020. Contents Volume 7, 2010. The political year was marked by the organisation of the 50th anniversary of Independence and strategies behind the scenes aimed at modifying the constitution. International relations were marked by concerns about sustainable development, debt reduction and a necessary revision of various bilateral cooperation agreements. The economy continued to be in bad shape and the publ…

See also 'Kenya' in 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020. Contents Volume 1, 2004. On the political front, 2004 started in as stormy a manner as 2003, albeit in a diametrically different mood. The early months of 2003 had witnessed the much-welcomed coming to power of President Kibaki and the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) and the ending of the uninterrupted rule of the Kenya African National Union (KANU) since independence in 1963. In 2004, tensions increase…

See also 'Benin' in 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020. Contents Volume 1, 2004. In 2004, one year after the parliamentary elections and two years before the presidential elections in 2006, no major political challenge faced Benin, even if the succession to President Mathieu Kérékou was still on the agenda. Relations between executive and judiciary, which gave rise to mutual criticism, were still very poor. Relations with Nigeria remained one of the main featu…

See also 'Angola' in 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020. Contents Volume 1, 2004. Angola in its second full year of peace continued to face a triple transition: from war to peace, from central planning to a market economy and from devastation to reconstruction. War had precipitated urban flight and the collapse of agricultural systems and internal trade. The challenges remained a fragmented national economy, a history of financial embezzlement and misappropria…

See also Comoros 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020. Contents Volume 8, 2011. After years of political unrest and uncertainty over the institutional structure of the ‘Union des Comores’, 2011 turned out to be relatively calm and restored an unaccustomed degree of political normalcy. Ikililou Dhoinine from Mohéli island had been elected as new president in December 2010, but only took office in late May after an unusually long interim period that allowed his p…