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Egypt: After wishing each other a happy new year, Egyptians see price hikes that will make 2024 not such a happy year

Egypt: After wishing each other a happy new year, Egyptians see price hikes that will make 2024 not such a happy year

Immediately after “winning” a third term at the end of December 2023, President Abdelfattah Al-Sisi ordered the “progressive” dismantling of the so-called subsidies. Overnight, as the calendar shifted to 2024, the prices of electricity increased by as much as 26%. As you would expect many other products followed immediately, such as the prices for accessing the Internet up 33%, the price of Cairo metro ticket up by 20%. And that’s just the beginning. In the coming weeks and months, check out the prices of food and basic commodities soaring again, as the Egyptian Pound likely to lose more value.

MORE ANALYSES & MAJOR EVENTS

Trade: Israel-Morocco trade takes a hit amid extreme instability in the Middle East

Last year, Morocco and Israel have had a strong run on their bilateral trade, as the two countries put into effect the Abraham Accords. Almost all the Moroccan media reporting on the topic during 2023, underscored the exponential growth of Morocco-Israel trade, with headlines citing growth rates topping 150%. Until the war in Gaza began, triggering a reversal of fortunes that saw trade...

Sahel: Russia to experience boost of its influence in the Sahel

By Arezki Daoud: Russia’s influence in the Sahel is about to expand further with more cooperation deals announced by Niger and Russia during the ongoing visit to Moscow of Niger’s Prime Minister and other senior officials.  Speaking to Russian media, Niger’s Defense Minister Salifou Mody said joint projects are being finalized during the visit, following months of preparation and negotiation in...

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FOCAL POINTS

Egyptians struggle with Cleoptra’s skin color

An Egyptian archaeologist on Wednesday released a documentary on the life of Cleopatra, the same day Netflix began streaming a controversial production depicting the ancient queen as black. For weeks, pundits and officials in Egypt have reacted angrily to streaming...

Tunisia: Profile of jailed opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi

Islamist-inspired Ennahdha opposition party arrested on Monday, once towered over Tunisia's politics but many now blame him for the country's ills. The reputation of the 81-year-old veteran politician, once seen as a kingmaker following the 2011 Arab Spring revolt...

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POLITICAL AFFAIRS

Algeria: Opposition leader Zoubida Assoul announces presidential bid

Algerian opposition and pro-democracy lawyer Zoubida Assoul has announced that she will run for the presidential election scheduled in December 2024, marking the beginning of the unofficial election campaign. Assoul is the President of the Union for Change and Progress (UCP). She made the announcement at a press briefing on Friday, 1 March at her party’s headquarters in Algiers. Assoul spoke at...

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SECURITY, DEFENSE & TERRORISM

US-Niger relations face uncertainty, with Niamey’s pivot to Russia

Audio version: The news:  The visit a few days ago of a US government delegation to Niamey, the capital of Niger, did not go down well with the ruling junta there. Clearly as the junta is paving the way for the Russian military to enter Niger and expand their presence in the Sahel, the Americans are starting to lose patience and they may have shown their frustration in this latest interaction...

Tunisia neutralizes human smugglers

The Tunisian police reported on January 7, 2024 the dismantling of an alleged human trafficking network in the Sfax region. Authorities say the gang...

SOCIAL, LABOR & THE ENVIRONMENT

Libya: Revisiting Derna a month after the floods: mental trauma and thousands still missing

By Rim Taher: Nearly a month after floods hit Derna in eastern Libya, survivors are struggling to overcome the psychological toll, with many grieving the loss -- or still without news -- of loved ones. Extreme rainfall from hurricane-strength Storm Daniel caused two upstream dams to burst on September 10, sending flood waters that have been likened to a tsunami crashing through the middle of...

BUSINESS & THE ECONOMY

Algeria-Morocco Competition for Regional Influence Shifts to Economic Affairs

Opinion By Arezki Daoud:  Up until now, enemy brothers, Algeria and Morocco have been trying to impress and disrupt one another to ascertain their influence in the North Africa and Sahel regions through sabre-rattling, despite the two countries boasting the exact same socioeconomic, linguistic, and religious profiles. The two neighbors have been spending billions of dollars to build up their...

INTERNATIONAL

Mozambique: Corruption trial for ex-Mozambican leader’s son set for August

Nineteen defendants including a former president's son linked to a massive debt scandal that plunged Mozambique into its worst financial crisis are to go on trial next month, according to a court document seen Wednesday. The scandal saw the government secretly take out loans totalling around $2.0 billion in 2013 and 2014 from global investors to finance a tuna-fishing fleet and a maritime...

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DISCOVERY NORTH AFRICA: VIDEOS

In Morocco hills, cannabis farmers bet on budding industry •

In Morocco hills, cannabis farmers bet on budding industry •

By France24: In the hills of northern Morocco, vast cannabis fields are ready for harvest, but farmers complain that a government plan to market the crop legally is yet to deliver them any benefits. The marginalised Rif region has long been a major source of illicit hashish smuggled to Europe while Moroccan authorities, wary of social unrest, have often turned a blind eye.

Video: Tunisia’s Ex-PM Ali Laarayedh detained by police

Video: Tunisia’s Ex-PM Ali Laarayedh detained by police

Tunisia's anti-terrorism police detained for one day Ali Laarayedh, a former prime minister and senior official in the Islamist opposition Ennahda party, after an investigation into suspicions of sending jihadists to Syria, lawyers said on Tuesday. (France 24)

Video: Europe’s growing energy crisis

Video: Europe’s growing energy crisis

The Rio-Antirio bridge in Greece, one of the longest of its kind in the world, has turned off its eye-catching decorative lights as the country scrambles to save energy with winter looming. Government buildings including the Greek parliament and mayor's office in...

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