After a year where countries in Africa faced the impact of climate change, navigated political and social challenges, and celebrated sporting achievements, people across the continent are now looking ahead to the new year. In this episode of The Stream, we'll look at three stories in Africa that will be headline news in 2023.
Nigeria decides Africa's most populous country is preparing to hold a general election in February that will decide who succeeds President Muhammadu Buhari at the end of his second and final term. Bola Tinubu, the nominee of the ruling All Progressives Congress, is expected to face a strong challenge from People’s Democratic Party nominee Atiku Abubakar, who lost to Buhari in the 2019 election. Peter Obi of the Labour Party is also expected to be firmly in the running.
Eligible voters across the country of 211 million people will also choose members of the Senate and House of Representatives in the election. But as economic and security issues weigh on the minds of the electorate, there are concerns that recent attacks on election commission offices could undermine the free and fair running of the landmark vote.
We'll look at the issues at stake in the final stretch of campaigning. Sudan in transition? Sudan’s military coup leaders and a coalition of civilian pro-democracy parties reached a framework deal on December 5 that proponents hope will lead to a transitional civilian government and a new constitution.
But while members of the Forces of Freedom and Change say the internationally-brokered agreement provides a fresh chance for lasting political reform after the failure of previous deals, it does not have universal support.
Protesters allied with neighbourhood resistance committees say the deal grants too much undue power to the military and paramilitary groups and is a betrayal of those killed and injured in protests in the wake of the military takeover in October 2021. We'll ask what lies ahead for Sudan in 2023.
Zimbabwe’s election season Presidential and parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe are expected to go ahead in 2023, in what is widely expected to be a tightly-fought race between the ruling ZANU-PF of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change, led by Nelson Chamisa.
Millions of people across the country have long endured economic hardship and now daily power cuts have made day-to-day life even harder. And in an increasingly fractious political environment journalists covering political events have faced harassment and assaults by party supporters, raising fears of widespread violence at the time of the election. We'll look at the challenges people in Zimbabwe are facing in the run-up to what could be a critical vote in the country’s history.
