Menas Associates Blog
Stay up to date with our most recent updates
Nigeria – Latest news
The relationship between President Muhammadu Buhari and his deputy, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo appears to be continuing to deteriorate despite both men doing everything possible to put on the appearance that nothing has changed. This has been illustrated by the...
Central Bank’s transparency enhanced by release of 2019 data
As has been noted in previous issues, Libya has suffered from run-away spending that has only worsened this year. A combination of factors — the division within financial institutions; the continued and expanding conflict; a deep history of corruption; and a lack of...
Five presidential candidates, but will there be a campaign?
The 12 December election will almost certainly go ahead but whether there will be an election campaign — or what sort it will be — is another matter altogether. Algeria former prime ministers and election frontrunners - Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Ali Benflis The...
A critical month begins as Algerian regime pushes for December election
The increasingly confrontational political climate will make this November a critical month. The current mood suggests that the regime-imposed 12 December election will be forced through, although many analysts and commentators still believe it will have to be...
Boost to gas production could help alleviate Libya’s budgetary pressures
Libya’s internationally recognised Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) recently announced that its 2020 Budget would probably be slightly less than LD48 billion (US$34 billion) and about US$200 million more than last year’s budget. The government is...
Will Buhari-Putin summit MoUs help rehabilitate Nigeria’s infrastructure?
Nigeria has found a new friend in Russia after President Muhammadu Buhari came back from the Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi with a basket of MoUs. Buhari was one of the five African heads of state chosen to have a one-on-one meeting with President Vladimir Putin at the...
Government reshuffle not as radical as King Mohamed VI wanted
This month Prime Minister Saadeddine Othmani finally managed to pull a new government out of the bag just in time for the re-opening of parliament, despite many believing he would be tripped up by the other parties in his ruling alliance. Yet — while the reshuffle may...
Who are Operation Barkhane’s victims?
The root of the failure of France’s Operation Barkhane in the Sahel is Paris’ inability to understand not just the political stakes but also the motivations that push hundreds of young people to join jihadism. Since France sent its troops to Mali in January 2013,...
Iran in the next six months
The intense factional competition is ramping up in anticipation of the 21 February 2020 election to the Majles. These rivalries will heighten domestic tensions and paralyse political decision making in the coming months. Hardliners will use the current anti-corruption...
Optimistic 2020 Budget won’t resolve Nigeria’s funding shortfall
The new era of collaboration between the Presidency and the National Assembly is already yielding results with the possible early consideration and passage of President Muhammadu Buhari's expenditure plans for 2020. He has presented the government's N10,330 billion...
