Newsletter Archive

Editor’s Note: Every Friday, WPR Senior Editor Robbie Corey-Boulet curates the top news and analysis from and about the African continent. In many respects, the Africa policy of French President Emmanuel Macron has looked similar to that of his predecessor, Francois Hollande. Both men have overseen large-scale military deployments on the continent while stressing the need for African governments to, eventually, provide for their own security in combating terrorism and other threats. Both men have also talked about the potential of economic development to curb the migration of Africans to Europe. But in his management of one relationship that has […]

Editor’s Note: Every Friday, WPR Senior Editor Robbie Corey-Boulet curates the top news and analysis from and about the African continent. It has been less than two years since Yahya Jammeh, the longtime dictator of Gambia, stepped down and fled into exile in Equatorial Guinea after losing the presidential election to Adama Barrow. But as the process of national reconciliation plays out on Gambian soil, human rights groups are already making moves to have Jammeh put on trial abroad. On Wednesday, Human Rights Watch and TRIAL International published a report they say links a notorious Jammeh-era paramilitary unit known as […]

Editor’s Note: Every Friday, WPR Senior Editor Robbie Corey-Boulet curates the top news and analysis from and about the African continent. Given Washington’s central role in bringing South Sudan into existence as a country in 2011, American officials have long felt a sense of responsibility for its success. Yet this week saw further indications that U.S. support might have its limits, especially if South Sudan’s civil war, now in its fifth year, continues unabated. In a statement Tuesday, the White House said South Sudan’s leaders had “repeatedly demonstrated their inability and unwillingness to live up to their commitments to end […]

Editor’s Note: Every Friday, WPR Senior Editor Robbie Corey-Boulet curates the top news and analysis from and about the African continent. Tensions are rising in Burundi, where the government of President Pierre Nkurunziza plans to hold a constitutional referendum later this month that would potentially permit him to stay in office for 17 more years. Formal campaigning began this week. In 2015, Nkurunziza’s controversial decision to seek a third presidential term, which was widely seen as unconstitutional, triggered widespread violence and prompted hundreds of thousands of people to flee the country. Though the constitution limited him to two terms, Nkurunziza […]