18 August 2025
1. Madagascar-Antananarivo
Successful 45th SADC Summit concludes in Madagascar yesterday and from here where to?
The South African government, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, has concluded its participation in the 45th Ordinary Summit of Southern African Development Community (SADC) Heads of State and Government.
The summit, which was held in Antananarivo, Madagascar, was convened under the theme: ‘Advancing Industrialisation, Agricultural Transformation and Energy Transition for a Resilient SADC’.
The summit saw South Africa elected as incoming Chair of SADC in 2026 and will host the 46th summit in August next year - nearly a decade after the country’s first incumbency.
2. Portugal- Guinea-Bissau
Portugal summons Guinea-Bissau envoy after journalists expelled ahead of tense election in November 2025
Lisbon is pushing back after Guinea-Bissau abruptly expelled reporting teams from Portugal’s state news agency Lusa and two African units of public broadcaster RTP.
So far, no official reason has been given by either government.
A decree issued Friday ordered the journalists to leave the country by August 19.
- New ECOWAS Chairman initiates moves to bring Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger back to the bloc
Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio, who assumed the rotating chairmanship of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in June, has expressed optimism about reintegrating Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger into the regional bloc.
- In our historical archives, it was on this day 18 August 1977 when a prominent and co-founder of the Black Consciousness Movement and his Comrade Peter Jones were detained under the oppressive Terrorism Act No. 83 of 1967, a legislation that endorsed the brutal methods of the apartheid regime.