EDITORIAL
Ladies and Gentlemen
A parliamentary election, which was barely mentioned these days, recently took place in the Republic of Congo. In the "small" neighboring country of the Democratic Republic (in terms of area, Congo-Brazzaville is almost as large as Germany), General de Gaulle once installed the seat of Free France. His "hut" (La Case de Gaulle) on the banks of the Congo still stands today and has served as the residence of France's ambassadors since 1960.
So much for history.
Last week, the country's Minister of Administration announced the preliminary results of the first round of parliamentary elections. According to the results, the ruling "Workers' Party" (Parti congolais du travail, PCT) won 110 of the 151 seats in the National Assembly. For the party of President Sassou Nguesso, this would be the fourth consecutive election victory. Since the restoration of the multiparty system in the early 1990s, a total of six parliamentary elections have taken place in the Republic of Congo.
For the continent and its 54 states, 2022 is not a super election year. In addition to the general elections next August in Kenya, voters in Angola will still decide on their parliament and thus on the president in the same month. Parliamentary elections will follow in Senegal, São Tomé and Principe, Equatorial Guinea, Lesotho and, in December, Tunisia. Libya, Chad and Sudan, on the other hand, are unlikely candidates. It is uncertain, to say the least, that voters there will be allowed to cast their ballots this year as originally planned.
While elections in Africa continue to represent a rather low "risk" for some governments, the effects of the Ukraine War are currently causing far greater concern for many. Its consequences have put Africa's economies under considerable pressure. The events in Sri Lanka in this context have not gone unnoticed, especially since the country has very high debts to China. This is also true of a number of African states.
The oil-producing Republic of Congo, an OPEC member since 2018, can probably face the future more calmly in comparison. Beijing also did something a year ago that it is likely to be asked to do more often in the future. It granted Brazzaville some debt reilief, saving it from default.
Now, when many of Africa's faltering countries raise their fingers and ask for debt cuts in the face of crisis, the International Monetary Fund will point first to Beijing. Whether China is willing to do so, and whether it could do so at all on a piecework basis, is for the superpower to show.
With this somewhat shorter overview from Addis Ababa of what is happening at the African Union, we say Goodbye for the summer break. The next AU Newsletter will reach you again in September.
Sincerely,
Benno Müchler
Country Representative Ethiopia/AU
---
OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS AT THE AU
Russia's foreign minister travels to Africa:
Next week, Foreign Minister Lavrov will travel to Africa. In addition to Egypt, Uganda and the Republic of Congo, he will also visit Ethiopia, where the Russia-Africa summit is scheduled to take place in October.
Economy and Finance:
Plans for the creation of an African credit rating agency continue. Last week, however, Ghana reiterated its support.
Education:
The Pan-African University, an AU project and alliance of several African universities, awarded some 2,600 scholarships to students from 51 countries in Africa last academic year, AU Commissioner for Education Belhocine of Algeria reported at the AU Foreign Ministers meeting in Zambia this month.
