The most important developments in sub-Saharan Africa. Six days a week.
Senegal's National Assembly rejected the government's revised 2026 budget on 3 November, adopting a procedural motion that blocked any debate on its content. Ruling-party deputies questioned the bill's forecasts, including a deficit of 7.6% of gross domestic product (GDP), and said the finance ministry had withheld data on debt. The finance committee had twice rejected the text amid a rift between the ruling party and President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who dismissed Ousmane Sonko as prime minister in May. The vote blocks funds meant for electricity suppliers and power-plant fuel, and leaves the government without an agreed fiscal plan for talks with the International Monetary Fund. Finance Minister Cheikh Diba said the president would take the necessary measures.
Mozambique's Council of Ministers approved on 3 November a decree creating the Moamba Special Economic Zone, covering about 64,000 hectares in Maputo province. The zone spans parts of the Moamba-Sede, Pessene and Ressano Garcia administrative posts; Ressano Garcia is the main road and rail crossing into South Africa. Spokesman Inocêncio Impissa said firms would get incentive schemes and simplified procedures to widen the tax base, create jobs and earn foreign currency, but named no investors or tax rates. The district already hosts a Chinese-owned ceramics factory whose owner proposed a special zone there in 2025. The site gives manufacturers direct access to the Maputo corridor and the South African market; the incentives will decide how many come.
