Menas Associates Blog
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New EU grants to counter illegal migration in Morocco
The EU announced on 14 December that it would commit an additional €118 million (US$133 million) to help Morocco tackle human trafficking and strengthen border management. The approved projects mean that the EU has pledged €148 million (US$167 million) to Morocco in...
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Collateral damage of US airstrike fuels concerns in the Sahel
A US airstrike in south east Libya on 29 November killed 11 Taureg mistakenly thought to be terrorists. Menas Associates investigations have found that the US intelligence was based on unchecked and unverified third hand information, and did not kill 11 al-Qa’ida in...
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Challenging year ahead for Nigeria’s economy
Nigeria's economy has remained sluggish despite recovering from a recession in 2017. Growth remains below 2.0%, with per capita growth consistently falling since 2015. Lack of key reforms means growth has largely depended on the oil sector’s performance. There is a...
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Iran in 2019: The political scene, economy, and society
The past year has been challenging for Iran, opening with popular protests that questioned regime legitimacy. As the year unfolded, the country came under intense pressure from beyond its borders and experienced a collapse of the national currency that took an...
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NOC assesses Benghazi mega-project
The divergent characters of the National Oil Corporation (NOC) and the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) reflect the different roles that they each played during the Qadhafi era. As the country’s principal source of income it was essential that the NOC remained...
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Baghdad and Erbil agree on Kirkuk oil export deal
After a standoff of more than a year, Baghdad and Erbil have agreed on a deal to resume oil exports from Kirkuk. Under the deal, which the Oil Ministry has described as a ‘preliminary agreement’, Erbil has agreed to pump between 50,000 b/d and 100,000 b/d from Kirkuk...
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Hint of early elections in Kazakhstan?
Rumours about presidential and parliamentary early elections in Kazakhstan are intensifying. Presidential elections may take place as soon as the beginning of 2019 – more than one year ahead of schedule. The last presidential elections were held on 26 April 2015, when...
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Sahel’s surprisingly large artisanal gold mining sector
The combined backdrop of the post-9/11 global war on terror (GWOT), post 2011 Qadhafi crisis, northern crisis in Mali, and current Sahel War have all combined to destroy livelihoods of most of the Sahel’s local population. The tourism industry, in particular, has been...
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Campaign officially begins for Nigeria’s 2019 elections
The official campaigns for Nigeria’s 2019 elections — both presidential and National Assembly — officially began on 18 November. President Muhammadu Buhari kickstarted his campaign with an official launch of documents tagged as the ‘Next level’, which listed his...
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Iran’s domestic politics under sanctions
One of the known political patterns of the Islamic Republic is that increased external pressure leads to increased internal cohesion. Nonetheless, the competition for power means that factionalism has not been stamped out. Even though the top leadership has instructed...
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