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...
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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...
Podcast: Outlook – North Africa faces unprecedented economic crisis accelerated by Covid-19
26 March 2020: North Africa is bracing for an unprecedented economic contraction, even if the coronavirus crisis were to be contained soon. The fundamentals of economic growth are such, that the region is expected to witness an erosion of revenues driven by both...
North Africa facing the coronavirus: situation update as of 12 March 2020
Today’s topic of MEA Risk podcast is to review North Africa coronavirus readiness as of 12 March 2020. The podcast is presented by Arezki Daoud. Link to the transcript can be found here: https://bit.ly/3cWJGus
Algeria 2019 stability assessment: Main statistics
The apparent easing in political tension in Algeria post-12 December 2019 election is not evidence of a return to normal and the end of the anti-regime protest movement. The appointment of Tebboune as president after a massively rejected election, has forced a lull...
Sahel: Instability in Burkina Faso
This brief is about the West African and Sahelian nation of Burkina Faso. Several Western countries have recently issued travel warnings and MEA Risk has issued this first impression and additional comments on those warnings. Burkina Faso is a complex place and is...
Libya’s Berlin conference: First impressions
The Berlin conference on Libya was an honorable initiative from Germany's Angele Merkel for trying. But we fear it ended with no major progress and clear signs that the violence will not end anytime soon. In this audio briefing, MEA Risk's Arezki Daoud share the first...
Podcast: The Libyan crisis is getting complicated
The discussion on Libya that follows was recorded on the 10 January 2020. The discussion between MEA Risk’s Arezki Daoud and Alessandro Bruno took place a couple of days before the two warring parties in Libya agreed on a truce. Although there have been some minor...
Podcast: Algeria risk assessment: the intersection of business and political corruption
In this episode, Arezki Daoud of risk assessment firm MEA Risk LLC and editor of the North Africa Journal, looks at the intersection of business corruption and political corruption in Algeria. Heralded as a model of the country's new industrialization drive, involving...
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...
