The year 2017
Bame Piet | Friday December 22, 2017 12:52
January
Inauguration of Donald Trump
January saw the inauguration of what seems to be the world’s most hated United States President in Donald Trump who became the 45th President. He immediately reversed majority of his successor Barrack Obama’s both domestic and foreign programmes and policies. Some of his decisions prompted nationwide demonstrations in the US particularly the banning of citizens from seven Islamic countries. His “America First” slogan has earned the US more enemies than friends.
May
World’s youngest President in France
The election of Emmanuel Macron ushered in a new record of world’s youngest democratically elected President at the age of 39 years old. A former economy minister under former president François Hollande was contesting against far right candidate Jean Marie Le Pen.
September
SADC sends troops to Lesotho
Lesotho was once again in the news for the wrong reasons. After crisis that has been going on for more than two years, army leaders were arrested after one of their colleagues was gunned down in Maseru. SADC resolved at a Summit in Pretoria to send troops into the country to restore order. Botswana foreign affairs minister says her country would not be joining SADC troops on grounds that the initial agreement was to send more diplomats and intelligence agents to continue bringing the warring parties under one roof.
October
Catalan Crisis
In Spain, the region of Catalonia holds a controversial referendum that seeks to gain independence from Spain. The referendum results show that majority of the residents preferred independence, something that sparked the intervention of the Spanish government. Catalan President Carles Puigdemont who has long argued that Catalonia had a moral, cultural, economic right to self-determination flees to Brussels where he would later be arrested with other members of the former Catalan district government.
October
China ruling party congress
The ruling National Congress of the Communist Party of China held its 19th congress at the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, between October 18 and 24, 2017 with 2,280 delegates attending. The delegates represented the party’s estimated 89 million members. The congress adopted a new ideology named after the current President Xi Jingping (Though on Socialism) and written into the Constitution, marking the first time since Mao Zedong Thought that a living party leader has enshrined into the party constitution an ideology named after himself.
November
Departure of Mugabe
It started with the sacking of his Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa on November 6. A week later the military warned President Robert Mugabe to reinstate Mnangagwa or it will intervene. The military then puts tanks in the streets of the capital Harare and assures the nation that everything was well with the President and his family. Mugabe reads a statement on television with the whole world expecting him to step down, which he did not do. On November 21, Mugabe finally bowed to pressure from his party and the military to step down an, event that was broadcast in major international newscasters such as BBC, CNN, and Sky News. Mugabe departure from power after 37 years also provoked celebrations by Zimbabweans at home and in the diaspora. Mnangagwa was inaugurated on November 24.
November
Moody’s downgrades South Africa credit rating
Moody’s Investors Service downgrades the government of South Africa’s debt rating to Baa2 from Baa1. The outlook on the rating was changed to stable from negative. This was largely expected by the market given prior rating downgrades by S&P and Fitch. Compared with Moodys and Fitch, S&P has the lowest foreign currency rating for South Africa.The downgrading was informed by among others;
l Poor medium-term growth prospects due to structural weaknesses, including ongoing energy shortages as well as rising interest rates, further deterioration in the investor climate and a less supportive capital market environment, which is a concern given that South Africa is highly dependent on external capital.
l The prospect of further rises in the government debt-to-GDP ratio implied by the low-growth environment.