The results of the presidential elections in Uganda came with no surprise, as incumbent Yoweri Museveni secured his fifth victory with more than 60% of the votes. The candidate of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Kizza Besigye, came second with 35%, while former prime minister Amama Mbabazi garnered less than 2%. Although there were…
The first two months of 2016 saw an unprecedented spike in protest activity in Tunisia. The number of riots and protests recorded by ACLED in January has been the highest since the 2011 uprisings, while mobilisation continued at slightly diminished levels in February. The epicentre of the unrest was the western province of Kasserine, where…
Progress was made in the South Sudan peace process. Riek Machar, leader of the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army – In Opposition (SPLA-IO), returned to government as the First Vice-President on 11 February (Africa Confidential, 19 February 2016). This marks Machar’s first return to government since he was fired by President Salva Kiir in 2013…
Over the past six months, Namibia has seen an above average number of riots and protests. The relatively peaceful country generally sees a combined average of 6.5 riots and protests per month (just over 4.5 protests and 2 riots per month). However, there were 13 protests in October, 5 protests and 6 riots in November,…
Levels of riots, protests and political violence in February remained relatively stable compared to the previous 6 months in Libya, with 71 riots, protests and politically-violent events recorded from 1 – 27 February (the 6-month average is just over 73 events per month). However, changes in the nature of armed clashes saw a significant increase…
Rates of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Africa have been increasing (United Nations, 2015). When selecting a location, investors place significant weight on stability – an optimal environment is where stability is high and risk is minimal (African Development Bank, 2012). The presence of conflict has been found to both have negative effects on…
Ethiopia has been subject to a wave of political violence and protest for the past three months. Demonstrations against the Ethiopian government’s ‘Addis Ababa and the Surrounding Oromia Special Zone Integrated Development Plan’ — a program designed to expand the capital, Addis Ababa, into the neighbouring hinterland — is the reason for this unprecedented civil…
In the first quarter of 2016, many of the trends that marked the previous year continue to play out in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR-Congo). The past year has witnessed volatility with respect to the number of riots, protests and politically violent events. This includes notable peaks in riots and protests in May and…
A new update of the recent unrest in Burundi, covering events from 26 April 2015 to 27 February 2016 has been released by ACLED. This update can be found here. ACLED has covered the Burundi crisis with regular data updates and blog posts since June 2015, relying on a combination of news sources and local…