| Welcome to Next Africa, a twice-weekly newsletter on where the continent stands now — and where it’s headed. Sign up here to have it delivered to your email. Since Alassane Ouattara assumed the presidency almost 15 years ago, Ivory Coast’s economy has expanded 6% on average and it’s expected to be one of the fastest growing in the world. He now risks tarnishing that legacy.  Alassane Ouattara. Photographer: Denis Balibouse/AFP/Getty Images The 83-year-old president seeks to remain in power — contesting the October election to secure a controversial fourth term. While a change to the constitution nine years ago (that allowed him a third term) means he isn’t breaking any rules, the decision to stay on has invoked anger among the opposition, threatening the stability that he brought to the world’s biggest cocoa producer. That’s compounded because opponents, including former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam and ex-President Laurent Gbagbo, have been barred from running. In a region where coups have become commonplace over the past five years, political unrest could mar the image of a nation that’s become an example for democracy and economic success in West Africa. Already, protests have erupted in parts of the country, and the opposition has planned its biggest demonstration yet in the current campaign for Saturday. Tens of thousands of people are expected on the streets in the commercial hub, Abidjan, and across the nation to denounce what they see as Ouattara’s strategy to remove opponents from the ballot. With less than three weeks to go before the Ivorian electoral commission closes the application period to compete in the Oct. 25 vote, he still has time to cool tensions and open up the race. But for now, the shine of a remarkable turnaround for a country that wason the verge of splitting in two through conflict before Ouattara took over the leadership in 2011 may be fading. — Kamailoudini Tagba and Moses Mozart Dzawu Key stories and opinion:
Ivory Coast’s Octogenarian Leader Announces Reelection Bid
Ex-Credit Suisse Boss’s Bid to Run in Ivorian Vote Blocked Again
Thiam Party Forms Alliance With Ex-President Before Ivorian Vote
Thiam’s Party Holds Protest After Exclusion From Ivorian Vote
Ex-Credit Suisse Boss to Lead Ivory Coast Opposition Coalition  On this week’s Next Africa podcast, Kamailoudini Tagba joins Jennifer Zabasajja to discuss the upcoming election in Ivory Coast. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his US counterpart Donald Trump spoke by phone ahead of the introduction of Washington’s punitive new tariff regime. The call signals an effort by the authorities in Pretoria to invigorate negotiations on a new trade deal with its biggest partner after China. The two nations have failed to make substantive progress on an accord since their leaders met at the White House in May. Take a look at this explainer on who wins and loses from the US leader’s onslaught on the global trade order.  Ramaphosa and Trump in the Oval Office on May 21. Photographer: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Getty Images Some Kenyans turned to Elon Musk’s Starlink after the government tried to restrict access to the internet during last year’s protests. Now, the appeal of the billionaire’s satellite communications service is fading. Those who purchased the dishes may have thought it could help bypass government control over web access, however, Starlink’s high costs and slow speeds have deterred many users. At least 319 people, including dozens of women and children, were killed by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group that’s active in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the United Nations agency for human rights. The killings over 12 days in July happened in the same month that Congo and the group signed a so-called declaration of principles to end fighting after months of talks.  An M23 soldier in Rubaya, eastern Congo. Photographer: Camille Laffont/AFP/Getty Images A proposal by South Africa’s biggest mining company and other business leaders advising Ramaphosa on how to offer the US access to critical minerals angered the nation’s mines minister. Gwede Mantashe saw the move as an attempt by Sibanye Stillwater to advance its own interests and rejected the proposal. The spat highlights long-running disputes over the country’s mining strategy between the government and the private sector. Zambia played down the potential health risks stemming from an environmental disaster at a mine controlled by a state-owned Chinese copper-mining firm after the US ordered the immediate withdrawal of its officials from a nearby city. The waste-dam collapse spilled about 50 million liters of toxic sludge into a stream that ultimately flows into the Zambezi River. Separately, a Pretoria court ruled that former Zambian President Edgar Lungu, who died in South Africa in June, should be buried in his home country.  The tailings-dam breach near Kitwe. Photographer: Richard Kille/AP Photo Zimbabwe and the UK have made tentative moves to rekindle diplomatic ties after almost three decades of tension, driven by a global surge in demand for critical minerals that’s led the former colonial power to pursue $1 billion in deals with the resource-rich nation. Meanwhile, demand from China helped tobacco sales in the southern African nation surge to a record $1.1 billion for the season that ended this week. A helicopter crashed and claimed the lives of Ghanaian Minister of Defense Edward Omane Boamah and Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, the environment and technology minister. The cabinet members were among eight passengers and crew who died in the accident. Next Africa Quiz — Which African country (the only one on the continent to be fully encircled by another) was spared Trump’s highest reciprocal tariff rate in his final list of the levies? Send your answers to gbell16@bloomberg.net. Data Watch - Ghana’s inflation slowed more than expected in July, bolstering the case for further interest-rate cuts.
- MTN returned to profit in the first half of the year after Africa’s largest mobile-network operator didn’t see a repeat of currency depreciation that hit 2024 earnings from its Nigerian operation.
- Senegal is adding 10 megawatts of battery storage to its national power grid as part of efforts to stabilize electricity supply and avoid blackouts.
- Business travelers and tourists from Malawi and Zambia will have to pay deposits of as much as $15,000 to secure US visas, a measure aimed at curbing overstays in the world’s biggest economy.
Coming Up - Aug. 10 Rwanda and Senegal inflation for July
- Aug. 11 South Africa manufacturing data for June
- Aug. 12 Interest-rate decisions for Kenya and Uganda, South Africa second-quarter unemployment & mining data for June
- Aug. 13 Zambia, Namibia and Mauritius interest-rate decisions, South Africa retail-sales data for June
- Aug. 15 Nigeria and Botswana inflation for July, South Africa’s National Dialogue
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