Africa Update Report with Advocate Sipho Mantula, Researcher: Thabo Mbeki African School of Public & International Affairs: Unisa
Description
29 August 2025
1. Zimbabwe- Harare
Mnangagwa Reads the Riot Act as Zanu-PF Succession Battle Rages On
As the Zanu-PF succession war intensifies, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has issued a stern warning, telling senior party members to fall in line, stressing that individualism has no place within his party.
Mnangagwa addressed a Politburo meeting at party headquarters in Harare this week, amid escalating tensions within Zanu-PF as rivals jostle to succeed him in 2028, when his current term expires.
2. Afrika – China
Africa is rapidly scaling up its solar power capacity, with imports of Chinese solar panels rolling at 60% in the 12 months to June, according to climate think tank Ember.
China, which produces around 80% of the world’s solar panels, remains Africa’s main supplier.
In the past year, 25 African nations imported at least 100 megawatts of solar capacity—up from 15 countries a year earlier.
3. Tanzania – Dar es Salaam
Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has been approved to stand in October’s presidential election.
It's Hassan's first time running for the presidency. She assumed the office following the death of her predecessor John Pombe Joseph Magufuli in 2021.
After her nomination was cleared, Hassan shared a post on X urging her Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party to "maintain unity to ensure victory for our party and for God's permission to return to serve citizens".
4. Pan Afrikan woman series: as we seal the women’s month in South Afrika
Who is transforming Afrika? The women who refuse to wait their turn.
Afrika has brilliant, courageous and visionary women leaders.
Afrika has women who are not waiting for history to remember them but shaping it in real time. From DR Kongo to Namibia
5. In our historical archives, it was on this day 29 August 1994 when South Africa signed the SADC treaty
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) was originally known as the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC).
It was formed on 1 April 1980 following the adoption of the Lusaka Declaration and was premised on closer co-operation between African heads of state.
United States
