On September 29, King Mohammed VI appointed Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as Morocco's first woman prime minister and asked her to form a government. Her party won the most seats in the September 23 parliamentary election. Elsewhere, renewed fighting in Ethiopia, deaths in Nigerian custody and a court challenge to a proposed refinery in Kenya exposed continuing political and economic risks.
Fighting has returned to Ethiopia's Tigray region, nearly four years after a peace agreement ended the previous war. Residents still recovering from that conflict now face renewed violence.
The federal army and fighters aligned with the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) each accused the other of restarting hostilities. In September, the TPLF joined six opposition groups, including Amhara Fano and the Oromo Liberation Army, in an alliance seeking to remove Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's Prosperity Party government. A common opponent could help the groups coordinate pressure on Addis Ababa. But deep political and territorial differences remain.
Ethiopia also accused Eritrea of supporting the alliance. Asmara denied the charge. Ethiopia then closed its embassy in Asmara and ordered 10 Eritrean diplomats to leave within 48 hours. Eritrea said it would take reciprocal action. Ethiopia and Egypt also expelled one diplomat each after a separate exchange of orders.
The fallout is spreading. Relations across the Horn of Africa were already fragile.
Morocco's new prime minister faces a governing test
On September 29, King Mohammed VI appointed Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as prime minister and asked her to form a government. Her party won the most seats in parliamentary elections held on September 23. The 50-year-old lawyer previously served as mayor of Marrakech and minister of urban planning. She is Morocco's first woman prime minister. She also joins the small number of women to have led governments in the Arab world, after Tunisia's Najla Bouden.
The Royal Court announced the appointment under Article 47 of Morocco's Constitution. The article provides for the king to appoint the head of government from the party that wins the most seats in the House of Representatives. The king appoints ministers on the head of government's proposal. El Mansouri described the role as a historic responsibility in her first public reaction, as Al Jazeera reported.
The cabinet is not yet formed. Reuters reported that El Mansouri had been asked to form the new government. The appointment is a first in Morocco's history, but the immediate test is whether the election result can produce a workable governing team. The constitution gives the monarch a central role in appointing the head of government and ministers. The process follows the election while also involving the monarchy's institutional role. The question of turning an election win into a governing team also featured in a related coalition analysis.
Deaths in Nigerian custody demand answers
At least 37 suspected illegal miners died after the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) arrested them in Niger state on September 15 and 16. The state commandant blamed a suspected disease outbreak. Survivors and relatives described overcrowding, poor ventilation and shortages of food and water. One survivor alleged that 65 detainees were packed into a cell. Operatives then sprayed a substance inside and locked the door, the survivor said.
President Bola Tinubu ordered a full and transparent investigation. The NSCDC arrested 24 personnel, including the suspended state commandant. The deaths raise urgent questions about detention conditions and oversight. The competing accounts need investigation, not assumption.
A separate mining disaster in Bauchi killed nine contract miners after heavy rain flooded an underground pit. One was reportedly electrocuted. The other eight were brought out and pronounced dead at hospital. In South Africa, the killings of dozens of women also raised alarms over worsening security.
Kenya refinery plan faces court challenge
Aliko Dangote and Kenyan President William Ruto broke ground on September 30 for a proposed $16 billion refinery in Lamu. The project has a target capacity of 700,000 barrels per day and would include a 1,000-megawatt power plant. Leaders from Uganda, Ethiopia, Togo and Benin attended the ceremony.
Dangote said the refinery would create 60,000 jobs and be ready by 2030. Those figures remain projections for a project in development. The refinery is not built, and it has no operating capacity yet.
Some local residents sought more compensation for land used by the project. Separately, 133 Lamu residents asked Kenya's High Court to stop construction. Excavation and construction on the disputed land are restricted until the next hearing on October 14. Dangote dismissed the protests as games played by local marketers and international players. He said the project would proceed.
The court challenge leaves land rights and the project's next steps unresolved. That remains unsettled.
September's developments do not point to a single verdict for the continent. Morocco's first woman prime minister is a political milestone. Ethiopia's renewed fighting and the deaths in Nigerian custody raise immediate concerns about security and accountability. Kenya's refinery remains a proposal under court challenge, not a completed industrial gain. Institutions will have to protect people and settle disputes. Announcements alone will not turn plans into results.
