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After reaching a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a $1.4bn bailout, President Hichilema’s government faces a stern test trying to convince the public that a hike in energy prices is needed to restore economic fitness, writes Chiwoyu Sinyangwe in Lusaka

In a polity with no choices, inertia rules. On 25 January, the Tobruk-based House of Representatives (HOR) voted to give itself exclusive responsibility for choosing a new government to replace the one led by Abdel Hamid Al-Dabaiba. The decision opens the way to another lengthy constitutional impasse as it is unlikely the HOR has either the muscle or the credibility to eject the incumbent administration or to put its own appointees into the main ministerial portfolios in Tripoli.

Africa’s natural gas exporters have been warned they need to do more to track their methane emissions, ahead of the adoption of the EU Methane Strategy and in light of the global methane pledge to cut emissions by at least 30% by 2030, which was signed by more than 100 countries at the COP26 Conference in November.

What is believed to be the first shipment of phosphate rock from Western Sahara to Israel docked at Ashdod port on 29 March, on board the bulk carrier Keremcan Oba. It is not clear who the buyer is. While the shipment is thought to have involved a relatively small cargo of around 5,000 tonnes, it is a further sign of rapidly-evolving economic and diplomatic links between the two countries.

Industry actors in the Kenyan oil and gas sector are adopting a wait-and-see approach towards the 9 August presidential election, with many anticipating a change in regime following the vote.

The European Union intends to support The Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) mission in Cabo Delgado with an amount equivalent to the €15m ($15m) that the European Council recently committed to the Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique (Samim), EU high representative Josep Borrell said in Maputo on 8 September.

President João Lourenço and his MPLA government are promising more reforms following their return to power, but a big privatisation campaign headlined by Angola’s state oil giant Sonangol will likely take years to come into effect.

Colonel Mamady Doumbouya’s cabinet has been presented by his regime as bringing technocrats into key positions to improve the government’s performance, but critics say ministers are either too ‘apolitical’ to enact genuine change, or compromised by past business dealings. A strong signal comes with the presidency taking direct control of major state assets from other public sector bodies, write David Slater, Jon Marks and our Special Correspondent

Dramatic events across the Sahel have heightened concerns about instability and security threats across the region, where criminal networks and jihadist cells – including Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) splinter groups – have been increasingly active from southern Algeria to northern Nigeria

Guinea has world-scale iron ore, bauxite and other mineral resources, as media reports quickly reminded their consumers when news came in on Sunday 5 September that an imposing-looking putschist, Groupement des Forces Spéciales (GPS) commander Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, had seized power in Conakry.

Electricity generation across Nigeria reached 4GW in July, the Presidential Task Force on Power has announced. This is a step forward for Nigeria’s chronically underperforming industry, but shows that output remains way off peak demand of 14GW. Similarly, the transmission network’s capacity reached a new peak of 4.6GW as of 30 July, but this was not enough to fight off fierce criticism of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).TCN is run under management contract by Canada’s Manitoba Hydro International (MHI).

Nigeria enters the new year facing daunting challenges: the security situation in the Boko Haram-blighted north-east shows no signs of improvement, Niger Delta issues remain unresolved, and a global oil crash has undermined government budgets that depend on hydrocarbons exports for 75% of revenues. These negative factors will affect a political environment where the vast majority of states will be up for grabs in gubernatorial and legislative elections on 14 February, and President Goodluck Jonathan seeks a second (and a half) term of office, meaning that, for the first time since democracy was restored, the presidency will not necessarily change hands at the same time as the jobs of governors and MPs.

Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission on 27 February declared incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari the winner of the delayed 23 February election. Buhari landed 55.6% of the popular vote, a clear margin over the 41.2% who voted for his main rival Atiku Abubakar, according to provisional results. Buhari’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) also extended its majority in the National Assembly.Buhari had been expected to face a far greater election threat from Abubakar, who had successfully focused on the country’s economic malaise, exposed by the 2016 recession.

It says something for the political climate – and the power of social media – that Reuters on 2 December ran a story headlined: “Nigeria’s Buhari denies dying and being replaced by lookalike.” It quoted President Muhammadu Buhari telling diaspora Nigerians in Poland, where he was attending COP24 climate talks: “It’s real me, I assure you. I will soon celebrate my 76th birthday and I will still go strong.” He was referring to internet rumours that he had died and been replaced by a Sudanese-born body double.

The newsflow from Nigeria is, as ever, hectic: political alliances are shifting as President Muhammadu Buhari’s All Progressives Congress splits and the People’s Democratic Party, written off only one election cycle ago, draws back power-brokers; finance minister Kemi Adeosun has resigned over her submission of an apparently forged National Youth Service Corps exemption certificate (she had anyway thought she was exempt, having lived in the UK until she was 34); clashes between herders and farmers in the Middle Belt are now killing more people than the jihadist Boko Haram – which has not gone away despite huge military operations.