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    David Pilling

    Africa Editor

    David Pilling is the Africa editor of the Financial Times. He was previously Asia editor and also formerly Tokyo Bureau Chief for the FT from January 2002 to August 2008. His column ranges over business, investment, politics and economics.

    He joined the FT in 1990. He has worked in London as an editor, in Chile and Argentina as a correspondent and covered the global pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry.

    Email David Pilling @davidpilling  on Twitter (link opens in a new browser window)

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    • Tuesday, 24 January, 2023
      Nigeria
      Nigeria’s elite trade pre-election verbal blows with ex-president Obasanjo

      Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar are frontrunners to be next leader of country of 210mn people

    • Friday, 20 January, 2023
      Nigeria
      Nigerian democracy still has a pulse

      February’s presidential election has the potential to be a significant turning point

    • Wednesday, 18 January, 2023
      House & Home
      How to create a city

      Entrepreneurs are planning autonomous ‘charter cities’ as an answer to Africa’s rapid population growth

    • Monday, 16 January, 2023
      US foreign policy
      Yellen to visit African countries as US steps up overtures

      Washington is seeking to entice nations away from financial and resource ties to China

    • Sunday, 15 January, 2023
      Tigray
      War in Tigray may have killed 600,000 people, peace mediator says

      Conflict came to an end after two years of fighting and was marked by waves of violence against civilians

    • Thursday, 12 January, 2023
      News in-depthSouth Africa
      Assassination attempt underscores criminal hold over S Africa’s Eskom

      Alleged attempt to kill chief executive André de Ruyter shows challenges he has faced in rooting out corruption

    • Monday, 9 January, 2023
      South Africa
      Ramaphosa pledges to move control of Eskom to South Africa’s energy ministry

      Plan highlights battle over power producer, whose outgoing chief suffered recent attempted poisoning

    • Sunday, 8 January, 2023
      Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd
      Boss of South African power producer Eskom survived poisoning attempt in December

      André de Ruyter, who resigned after trying to overhaul the troubled utility, claims he was given cyanide-laced coffee

    • Sunday, 1 January, 2023
      South African economy
      Corrupt, failing Eskom is a picture of South Africa in miniature

      Without reliable power, the country cannot generate economic growth and overcome the festering legacies of apartheid

    • Thursday, 15 December, 2022
      Burkina Faso
      Burkina Faso latest to ‘hire Russian mercenaries’, Ghana alleges

      Akufo-Addo tells Blinken that Wagner Group has ‘entered into an arrangement’ with Ouagadougou to fight jihadist revolt

    • Wednesday, 14 December, 2022
      South Africa
      Chief executive of South Africa’s Eskom quits as blackouts surge

      André de Ruyter to step down from struggling state monopoly amid national energy crisis

    • Thursday, 1 December, 2022
      Ghana
      Ghana faces rude awakening as the tide of cheap money recedes

      More countries will be unable to pay their debts after Covid and Ukraine, but ‘malevolent forces’ may not be the only problem

    • Tuesday, 8 November, 2022
      Special ReportManaging Climate Change
      South Africa’s green deal on coal power cut fails to ignite

      Most money earmarked to aid the switch to renewables is unspent

    • Tuesday, 8 November, 2022
      Special ReportManaging Climate Change
      Appetite for charcoal threatens ‘lungs of Africa’

      Some businesses are starting to develop alternatives to the cooking fuel

    • Friday, 4 November, 2022
      South Africa
      South Africa warns $8.5bn climate package risks fuelling debt burden

      International financing aimed at curbing reliance on coal relies too heavily on loans, says Pretoria

    • Wednesday, 2 November, 2022
      The Big Read
      The cost of getting South Africa to stop using coal

      Rich countries pledged $8.5bn to help the country shift away from dirty energy. But a year on, negotiations are strained

    • Friday, 21 October, 2022
      Climate change
      Why Africa is central to the climate change conundrum

      Unless we expect the continent to stay poor forever, its carbon emissions will rise dramatically

    • Tuesday, 18 October, 2022
      DR Congo
      DR Congo leader rules out deploying Russian mercenaries to quell rebels

      Félix Tshisekedi says country will rely on its own army to fight militia as he pledges to push ahead with economic plans

    • Tuesday, 20 September, 2022
      InterviewOil & Gas industry
      European Investment Bank resists pressure to fund gas projects

      Tensions grow between Europe and Africa over what constitutes a ‘just’ energy transition

    • Tuesday, 20 September, 2022
      News in-depthDemographics and population
      Niger questions wisdom of sustaining world’s highest birth rate

      President comes out against polygamy and early marriage in an attempt to shift social norms

    • Monday, 19 September, 2022
      Nigeria
      How Nigeria’s state lost the trust of its citizens

      The government collects a tiny fraction of output in taxes, with the result that the populace expects very little in return

    • Monday, 19 September, 2022
      African economy
      Turbulence in Nigeria dollar market hits airlines and investors

      Chronic shortage of currency tips into crisis as African power giant fails to profit from rising oil prices

    • Monday, 5 September, 2022
      Kenya
      William Ruto’s election victory upheld by Kenya’s supreme court

      Losing candidate had lodged several petitions to have result overturned

    • Friday, 2 September, 2022
      Africa
      Why the US is re-engaging with Africa

      China has built much of the continent’s infrastructure while Russia has deployed mercenaries to prop up dictatorships

    • Friday, 26 August, 2022
      Special ReportAfrican Development
      Pandemic sets Africa’s sights on vaccine independence

      Covid exposed Africa’s dependence on overseas production but local initiatives show potential

    Previous page You are on page 1 Next page

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