How governments in northern Africa are left with only repression as they are unable to govern
This week (ending 21 January 2021), Tunisia made the front pages of global media with Tunisians clashing with security forces over the past days to complain about their living conditions. The riots, which are still underway, have been taking place in several regions,...
Podcast: Tunisia faces chaotic situation, as economic woes could derail political progress
Tunisia is a boiling cauldron. It is certain that the Covid-19 epidemic is having a drastic impact on the country on many fronts. But the system put in place after the 2011 Jasmine Revolution, which was praised around the world as paving the way for the first...
Podcast: NGOs in the Sahel: Operating in an increasingly challenging environment
In this episode, Arezki Daoud discusses with Do Christophe Ouattar of World Neighbors (http://WN.org) how NGOs are operating in the Sahel. Topics include coping with growing insecurity, environment degradation, the impact of Covid-19 on humanitarian affairs and much...
ABOUT
SERVICES AT A GLANCE
Shield and Alert Premium
Notification and alert system: Advanced notification system using email, SMS and state-of-the art S&A Premium App+. Find out here.
Podcast: Evolution of the Covid pandemic in the Maghreb as of mid-Nov. 2020
In this brief podcast recorded on 12 November 2020, MEA Risk's Arezki Daoud provides an update on the Coronavirus in the Maghreb region. The state of the Covid-19 epidemic in the Maghreb looks rather bleak as we are reaching the mid-point of November 2020. As in...
Podcast: One more election in Algeria and a highly compromised economic outlook
In this episode, Arezki Daoud of MEA Risk LLC and Editor of the North Africa Journal revisits Algeria after the most recent brief review on Egypt. Why Algeria? because the country is bracing for yet another election on 1 November with the government of President...
Podcast: An overstretched Egypt and the seeds of future unrest
In this 20-minute podcast, MEA Risk analyst Arezki Daoud discusses how overstretched Egypt is and what could be the seeds of future unrest. Episode recorded on 21 September 2020.
Podcast: Covid-19 and the crises of Libya, Tunisia and Mali
In this brief podcast recorded on 17 July 2020, MEA Risk analyst Arezki Daoud provides an update on what we are seeing in North Africa and the Sahel. The region is experiencing tumultuous events as the summer evolves. At this stage, it is clear that the fall season is...
Podcast: Algeria braces for new cycle of anti-regime protests
18 June 2020: There have been increasing calls by pro-democracy militants to resume the Hirak anti-regime protest movement in Algeria, a situation that has prompted an intensification of government repression against opposition figures and rights activists. The...
Sahel Podcast: Covid-19, the insurgency and the brutality of government forces
In this latest brief podcast, MEA Risk's Arezki Daoud addresses the issues of instability and security in the Sahel, focusing on the impact of Covid-19 pandemic, the insurgency and how government forces are magnifying the crisis in the sub-region. This podcast was...
Eid el-Fitr in the time of Covid-19
The holy month of Ramadan is coming to an end this week and after four weeks of sacrifice and spiritual uplifting, millions of Muslims are excited to finally greet the Eid El-Fitr celebration. But this year’s excitement is being severely dampened by the impact the...
North Africa and the Sahel Review of week ending 24 April 2020: Lock-downs, curfews and government abuse
This is a retrospect on North Africa and the Sahel region, for the week ending 24 April. The review, which focuses on the latest on Covid-19 in the Maghreb, Egypt and the Sahel, is presented by MEA Risk analyst Arezki Daoud. The video version can also be seen on...
Morocco vs. EU: illegal migration and Western Sahara challenge agricultural agreement
Morocco and the European Union are at an impasse when it comes to their joint agricultural trade agreement. At the center of the raw is Morocco’s insistence on including fisheries and farm products from the contested Western Sahara province, which European courts...
Egypt: Tension heats up in North Sinai, with threats for more to come elsewhere in Egypt
Suspected militants of the ‘Welayet Sinai’ (Province of Sinai) organization, affiliated to IS are suspected to be behind the killing of two Coptic Christians over the past few weeks. Attacks specifically targeting Christians have been on the rise recently, with the...
Algeria: Police foil suicide attack in Constantine, background and takeways
A suicide attack targeting a police station in Bab el-Kantara, Constantine province, was foiled on 26 February. A suicide bomber was seeking to enter the police station, but was prevented to do so by an officer who opened fire on him. The bomber's explosive belt went...
China to strengthen economic presence in Africa, seeks to widen political influence
Last month, China flexed its muscles against Nigeria when the West African country agreed to upgrade the second-tier Taiwanese diplomatic mission based in Abuja to full embassy status. Beijing did not like the move and has been threatening Nigeria to block any...
French military presence in Africa unlikely to change post 2017 presidential elections
Despite a deadly year of terror in France, partly tied to the country’s involvement in major conflict zones, Paris is looking to maintain such involvement, and may even increase it. The upcoming presidential elections are not likely to witness a major policy change,...
As counter-terror campaign intensifies in Algeria, Libya’s weapons making their way into the country
In the first four months of 2016, the Algerian army has killed 31 Islamist insurgents, and captured 33 others nationwide. Furthermore, an arsenal of war big enough to wreck havoc was siezed, including over 300 war weapons were retrieved, 202 hideouts were destroyed...
Broadcast: Europe’s Radicalized Muslim Population
Europe's integration policies related to its immigrants have been less than effective in stemming the rise of extremism. Decades of misconceived immigration strategies have led to the rise of radical movements, to the point now that new measures to strip the...
Oil prices & the impact on Sovereign Wealth Funds Libya as a case
The drop in oil prices in the last 12 months has taken markets and investors by surprise. State institutions such as Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF) have been affected and state budgets have suffered. SWF will grow slowly and in many cases will see some of their assets...
The Other Time Bomb: Food Dependency in Middle East/North Africa
North Africa’s stability is not only undermined by the terror risk coming from Daesh and other insurgency groups, but it is also more acutely affected by broad governance issues and its inability to deal with pressing economic, social and environmental problems. One...
How Algeria’s new budget may lead drug trafficking to soar
The recently adopted budget for fiscal year 2016 has been subject to vivid opposition from several political figures and civil society associations ever since a draft version was made released in late 2015. Developed on the basis of a reference price of $37 the barrel...
