Menas Associates Blog
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The emergence of a Buhari 2.0?
The virtually simultaneous removal of consumer subsidies on petrol and electricity prices is a radical departure from virtually everything that President Muhammadu Buhari has, for many years, stood for. It is therefore being seen as an indication of the emergence of...
Madkhali Salafists exert their influence in LAAF controlled areas
Despite the ongoing summer power cuts and the escalating COVID-19 pandemic, the ultra-conservative Madkhali Salafist groups have maintained and even expanded their campaign against Sufi believers and their holy sites in those areas of eastern Libya under the control...
President Tebboune embarrassed by revelations about Gaïd Salah family’s wealth
Algeria’s President Abdelmajid Tebboune and his government are currently being embarrassed by revelations of the colossal fortune fraudulently accumulated by the late Army Chief of Staff, General Ahmed Gaïd Salah, (d. 23.12.19) and his family. Menas Associates’ own...
Petroleum Industry Bill to finally pass?
Almost two decades after comprehensive reforms of the Nigerian oil industry were first mooted, political insiders say there is a strong chance the National Assembly will pass a new consolidated draft of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) in the near future. ...
Will Iranians revolt?
Is Iranian society ready to revolt against poverty, injustice, and political repression? For decades, US administrations have hoped that a popular uprising will lead to the collapse of the Islamic Republic. Over the past two years, Iranian adversaries Saudi...
Libya ceasefire: initial optimism dashed by Khalifa Haftar
On 21 August, following weeks of intense international pressure, Prime Minister Fayez Serraj of the internationally-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), and Aguila Saleh, speaker of the eastern-based House of Representatives (HoR), simultaneously proclaimed...
Military coup: a victory for the Malian people and democracy
Mali’s latest coup d’état, on Tuesday 18 August, has been almost universally condemned internationally and especially by the African Union (AU), Mali’s neighbouring Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the UN and France. By contrast, most Malians have...
Too little and too late – economic plans and political repression
The Algerian government’s new economic plan has been the subject of a two-day conference and the major focus of the past week’s news. The conference, held at Algiers’ Centre International de Conférences (CIC) on 18-19 August, was addressed by President Abdelmadjid...
Mali crisis will inflect the whole region
On 23 July in our Sahara Focus regular monthly report we predicted that Mali’s political crisis will have serious implications for the whole region. Following the regime’s lethal gun attack on the 11 July peaceful demonstration, the way in which Mali’s political...
US Congress flexes its muscle with the Libyan Stabilization Act
The US Chargé d’Affaires to Libya, Joshua Harris, visited Misrata and Benghazi last week where he, respectively, held talks with the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) and the self-styled Libyan Armed Army Forces (LAAF). This rare visit by...
