Good morning and Happy Friday. Two quick updates to kick us off.

• The US government seems headed for a shutdown as House Republicans scuttled their own stopgap bill on Thursday night. This follows their rejection of a long-negotiated bipartisan spending bill after opposition from Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Government funding runs out at midnight. [SOURCE - Bloomberg]

• In another positive step in Syria’s transition, US representatives have met with the HTS-led interim government in Syria. [SOURCE - BBC]

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Africa Stability Ratings and News Summary

More Unstable

🇦🇴 Angola, 🇧🇯 Benin, 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso, 🇧🇮 Burundi, 🇨🇲 Cameroon, 🇨🇫 Central African Republic, 🇹🇩 Chad, 🇰🇲 Comoros, 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic Of The Congo, 🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea, 🇪🇷 Eritrea, 🇸🇿 Eswatini, 🇪🇹 Ethiopia, 🇬🇦 Gabon, 🇬🇳 Guinea, 🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau, 🇨🇮 Ivory Coast, 🇰🇪 Kenya, 🇱🇸 Lesotho, 🇱🇷 Liberia, 🇲🇬 Madagascar, 🇲🇼 Malawi, 🇲🇱 Mali, 🇲🇷 Mauritania, 🇲🇺 Mauritius, 🇲🇿 Mozambique, 🇳🇪 Niger, 🇳🇬 Nigeria, 🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo, 🇸🇱 Sierra Leone, 🇸🇴 Somalia, 🇿🇦 South Africa, 🇸🇸 South Sudan, 🇸🇩 Sudan, 🇹🇬 Togo, 🇺🇬 Uganda, 🇪🇭 Western Sahara, 🇿🇲 Zambia, 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe

More Stable

No countries were more stable over this period

Unchanged

🇩🇿 Algeria, 🇧🇼 Botswana, 🇨🇻 Cape Verde, 🇩🇯 Djibouti, 🇬🇭 Ghana, 🇲🇦 Morocco, 🇳🇦 Namibia, 🇷🇼 Rwanda, 🇸🇳 Senegal, 🇸🇹 São Tomé and Príncipe, 🇹🇿 Tanzania, 🇬🇲 The Gambia

Regional News Summary

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), fighting between the army and rebel groups has intensified, raising concerns about the upcoming peace talks. Scheduled negotiations with Rwanda were recently canceled, further complicating efforts to stabilize the region [SOURCE - Japan Today]. Amidst this turmoil, a mysterious illness, later identified as severe malaria, has led to numerous deaths among vulnerable populations, particularly women and children [SOURCE - CBS News]. The DRC is also grappling with tuberculosis, where detection failures hinder efforts to combat the disease [SOURCE - Scoop].

The DRC's challenges are compounded by climate shocks, which have exacerbated food insecurity and humanitarian crises in Central Africa [SOURCE - Scoop]. Additionally, the country has filed criminal complaints against tech giant Apple over the sourcing of conflict minerals, highlighting the ongoing exploitation of its natural resources [SOURCE - Investing].

In Algeria, a recent business partnership with Carestream aims to bolster economic ties, yet the country remains embroiled in tensions with Western nations, particularly France, which has been accused of destabilizing Algeria [SOURCE - Great Game India]. Despite these challenges, Algeria's strategic position in the global energy landscape continues to evolve, especially as the European Union's new policies favor African competitors [SOURCE - Undercurrent News].

Meanwhile, South Africa faces its own set of challenges, including a broken low-cost housing model that has failed to meet the needs of its citizens [SOURCE - The Conversation]. In a troubling incident, South African Jews have called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to condemn an alleged bombing attempt on a Jewish center, raising concerns about community safety [SOURCE - The Algemeiner].

In the realm of sports, South African goalkeeper Ronwen Williams has garnered recognition at the CAF Awards, marking a significant achievement for the country's football scene [SOURCE - SABC News]. Additionally, TymeBank has reached a valuation of $1.5 billion following a successful fundraising round, highlighting the growth of fintech in the region [SOURCE - TechCentral].

In Kenya, the release of a US Guantanamo Bay detainee signals a strengthening of international ties, while efforts to address tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia continue [SOURCE - UPI]. However, the country is also grappling with issues of cyber-slavery, which pose significant threats to both individuals and the economy [SOURCE - The Diplomat].

In Nigeria, the economy faces challenges from money laundering and infrastructure issues, including a recent oil spill at a Shell terminal [SOURCE - Times of India]. Despite these setbacks, Nigeria continues to attract foreign investment, with Shell committing to its Bonga North project to boost oil production [SOURCE - Azernews].

Sudan remains embroiled in a brutal civil war, with reports of mass rape and human rights abuses by the Rapid Support Forces [SOURCE - CBS News]. The situation has led to fears of partition, as the conflict continues to escalate [SOURCE - Financial Times].

In Zambia, the African Development Bank has granted a $108 million loan to support economic growth, while the mining sector has attracted over $5 billion in investments in recent years [SOURCE - News Diggers!]. The country is also set to face off against Angola in the COSAFA Cup final, showcasing its sporting prowess [SOURCE - News Diggers!].

Long Reads

Here are some longer pieces I’m going to be catching up on this weekend.

• It’s time for The Economists ‘World in 2025’ (which I hope to finish before 2025).

• This Newsweek piece on Project 2025 which still seems to be a good guide to the contours of the Second Trump term. (I also asked Perplexity to summarize Trump’s Day One Pledges.)

• In preparation for a big push on the Decis expert assistants in January, I’m doing a deep dive on AI Agents and reasoning, starting with these papers from OpenAI and Anthropic, and this series on effective RAG techniques by Naveen Pandey.

Have a great weekend and I will see you again on Monday. As a reminder, next week is when I will be transitioning to the fully automated newsletters.

Carpe tomorrow!