Governance Bound
Morocco: Belgian investigators in Morocco in probe over alleged bribery case
Several Moroccan officials have been questioned as part of a high-profile investigation into alleged bribery by the...
Algeria: Year before election, president picks new prime minister
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune dismissed his prime minister on Saturday, replacing him with a seasoned...
Algeria: Taking advantage of a freeze in the Hirak, regime decides to keep Karim Tabbou in prison
On 24 March, an Algiers Court canceled the release from prison of political activist Karim Tabbou, shamelessly taking...
North Africa’s incomprehensible night curfews
Opinion by Arezki Daoud: Persistent, logical and even unpopular policies must be implemented to fight the coronavirus....
Egypt’s prisons could become death traps for inmates and political prisoners
Cairo, March 20, 2020 (By Farid Farid) - In Egypt's overcrowded and putrid jails, families of prisoners fear a...
Editorial: 2020, the exceptional year
Editorial by Arezki Daoud: It’s official, Covid-19 is now North Africa’s biggest problem, just as it is for the entire...
Middle East countries urged to come clean about their covid19 numbers
Cairo, March 18, 2020 - The World Health Organization urged Middle Eastern governments Wednesday to be more...
Tunisia brings back loudspeakers to get its message out and fight coronavirus
MEA Risk brief: The municipality of Tunis resuscitated the old means of communicating official statements with...
Several Muslim countries close mosques, conservatives push back
Several Muslim countries have decided to close their mosques and ban collective prayers to protect their populations...
Egypt: 20 killed in floods, as Egypt is unable to fix its crumbling infrastructure
Cairo, March 13, 2020 - Heavy rains and flooding have killed around 20 people in Egypt, Prime Minister Mostafa...
Algerians maintain their anti-regime protests despite COVID-19
ME Risk Brief: Large crowds surged this Friday, 13 March in Algiers and in many Algerian cities for the 56th week of...
Algeria: Court sentences opposition activist Karim Tabbou to one year in prison, set to be released next week
Algiers, March 11, 2020 - A court Wednesday sentenced Karim Tabbou, a key figure in Algeria's anti-government protest...
Egypt: First death in Egypt’s coronavirus outbreak
Luxor, Egypt, March 9, 2020 - Scores of foreign tourists and Egyptian crew Monday remained quarantined aboard a Nile...
Algeria: Anti-regime Hirak figure Fodil Boumala acquitted by court
Algiers, March 1, 2020 - An Algerian court on Sunday acquitted Fodil Boumala, a key figure in a protest movement that...
Algeria: The dizzying pace of the anti-corruption campaign and the clan warfare
The Algerian legal system has resumed its anti-corruption campaign with the arrest this week of several business...
Sahel: With insurgents several steps ahead, Sahel leaders are disoriented
Nouakchott, Feb 25, 2020 - A summit of Sahel states heard appeals Tuesday to step up the fight against jihadists whose...
Algerian health authorities announce first case of coronavirus
The Algerian ministry of health said the country has recorded its first case of coronavirus. The announcement was made...
Algerians maintain their revolt against unpopular regime
Algiers, Feb 22, 2020 - Several thousand people gathered in the Algerian capital Saturday on the first anniversary of...
Algerians wrap up full-year of rallies with pledge to continue until old regime falls
Algiers, Feb 21, 2020 - (photo: Twitter: @khaleddrareni) Algeria this weekend marks a year since the birth of an...
Mauritania intimidates human rights activists
Nouakchott, Feb 19, 2020 - Amnesty International voiced concern Wednesday over Mauritania's arrest of 14 human rights...
Sahel: Rights activist in prison for speaking about Chad’s president’s health
N'Djamena, Feb 14, 2020 - Amnesty International said the head of a human rights group in Chad was being "secretly...
Sahel: Chad announces date for legislative elections after a five-year delay
N'Djamena, Feb 14, 2020 - Chad will hold parliamentary elections on December 13 after a five-year delay blamed on...
Algeria: The fall of a media provocateur and owner of a propaganda machine
Media provocateur Anis Rahmani, owner of Algeria’s Ennahar TV, was put on detention warrant by a court in Algiers as...
Algeria faces economic turmoil and nothing that Tebboune is doing will fix anything
By Arezki Daoud - (13 February 2020): The Algerian government appears clueless when it comes to fixing the economy, or...
Algeria: Sonatrach CEO Kamel Chikhi dismissed, company fails to stabilize
On 5 February 2020, Sonatrach CEO Kamel Eddine Chikhi was dismissed from his position by a government decree. He was...
Algeria: The emperor has no clothes, a president with no real power
There have been troubling developments in Algeria, confirming that newly appointed president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune has...
Maghreb rulers feeling a bit generous this week
At least two rulers in North Africa felt a bit generous this week. In Morocco, King Mohammed issued an order to free...
With oppression and no free speech, North Africans turn to football stadiums for politics
By Hamza Mekouar - From Casablanca to Algiers via Tunis, the chants belted out across football stadiums echo young...
Investigators probing role of Libya into financing of French ex-president Sarkozy’s election campaign
Paris, Jan 31, 2020 - A businessman at the heart of a probe into alleged Libyan financing of French ex-president...
Algeria intensifies harassment of religious minorities
After a two month lull, following heavy criticism on the forced closure of Christian churches in the Kabylie region,...
Sahel: Turmoil in Mali
Bamako, Jan 28, 2020 - A court in Mali's capital Bamako ordered the temporary release of former coup leader Amadou...
Mauritania: Authorities arrest men over homosexuality
Nouakchott, Jan 28, 2020 - Prosecutors in the Mauritania, where homosexuality is outlawed, have detained and charged...
Algeria: Unrest in El Oued after deadly accident in Still
Egypt: Universities to ban niqab for female staff
Cairo, Jan 27, 2020 - A top Egyptian court has ruled in favour of banning female academic staff at Cairo University...
Morocco: Don’t steal the king’s watches, you’ll go to jail for 15 years
Rabat, Jan 25, 2020 - A Moroccan court has sentenced a cleaner to 15 years in prison for the theft of dozens of luxury...
Political crisis took center-stage in Algeria’s 2019 security profile, says MEA Risk LLC
In a note addressed to its clients, advisory firm MEA Risk LLC said the apparent easing in political tension in...
Morocco: Rights group accuses Morocco of holding Belgian-Moroccan in inhuman conditions
Rabat, Jan 17, 2020 - Human Rights Watch on Friday accused Morocco of holding a dual Belgian-Moroccan citizen in...
Egypt: Mustafa Kassem dies in Egyptian prison
Washington, Jan 14, 2020 - An American citizen whose case was raised by top US leaders died Monday after more than six...
Sahel: People of Mali want foreign troops out
Bamako, Jan 10, 2020 - Hundreds of people in Mali on Friday protested against the presence of foreign troops in their...
Podcast: Algeria risk assessment: the intersection of business and political corruption
In this episode, Arezki Daoud of risk assessment firm MEA Risk LLC and editor of the North Africa Journal, looks at...
Algeria: A new government cabinet that fails to impress
Newly appointed president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced his first government cabinet, which comprises 39 members,...
Algerian regime releases prominent political prisoners, seeks to ease public pressure
Well-known independence war veteran Lakhdar Bouregaa, was released from jail on 2 January 2020. He had been detained...