🎬 Hello Kitty money

ELECTIONS
Even Africa’s best-governed country has democracy problems

In an unfamiliar picture, Mauritians rallied to the polls on Sunday to vote despite enjoying the best governance on the continent, per the Mo Ibrahim Foundation report.

Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth was vying for a third term in Sunday's elections, which took place amid an economic boom and eroding public trust in the political establishment. 

What we know

Jugnauth’s Alliance Lepep is expected to retain power because it has the advantage of incumbency, a strong rural support base, and is benefiting from an improved macroeconomic outlook, according to BMI. However, its vote share is expected to decline due to worries about its commitment to democracy.

• Last week, the Mauritian government imposed a social media ban following leaked conversations between the police chief and politicians about the elections. The ban was lifted after two days.

• Mauritius has had to deal with the same political actors since its independence. The opposition candidate, Ramgoolam is himself a three-time prime minister and son of the nation’s first post-independence leader.

• A July survey by Afrobarometer showed just 32% of Mauritians expressed satisfaction with democracy. A dip from 72% a decade ago.

A growing trend. Afrobarometer also found that faith in the system plunged in South Africa, where the African National Congress this year lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since it took power under Nelson Mandela in 1994. The same occurred in Botswana, where the party that ruled for almost six decades finished fourth in last month’s elections. 

On the other hand, experts have warned against toppling the current government, especially after record economic progress as GDP has expanded about 6.5% annually since borders reopened in 2021, drawing an average of $860 million in investment dollars yearly. -EA

DIGITS

$4B+: How much Hello Kitty — who just celebrated her 50th birthday — generates for Sanrio each year. Sanrio illustrator Yuko Shimizu was inspired to create Hello Kitty by a white kitten her father gifted her when she was a child. The character first appeared on a coin purse in Japan in 1975. Now, Hello Kitty and her friends comprise the world’s second-highest-grossing media franchise behind Pokémon, earning Sanrio $80B+ over its lifetime.

PS: Hello Kitty is not the cat herself, but a little girl who happens to have a pet cat called Charmmy Kitty.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Nov. 11 — South Africa’s biggest mobile operator Vodacom and Africa’s biggest pay TV group Multichoice are expected to report half-year results. But Multichoice already issued a profit warning on Friday saying its results would be “negatively impacted” by macroeconomic and currency pressures in key markets, notably Nigeria and Zambia.

Nov. 13 — Somaliland, the self-declared state in the northwest of Somalia, will hold its fifth presidential election since 1997.

Nov. 12-14 — Africa Tech Festival 2024 will take place in Cape Town.

Nov. 15 — Nigeria’s statistics office to release the latest inflation data.

Nov. 17 — Senegal will vote in an early legislative election that could give President Bassirou Diomaye Faye a majority in parliament. Despite Faye having been swept to power in a presidential election in March, his party is far from assured of securing a majority.

SHOWER THOUGHTS

NEWS
Round the continent

• Political and civil leaders rallied this weekend to demonstrate against Pres. Tshisekedi’s constitutional reforms. They say they’re meant to keep him in office for a third term.

• Duma Boko was sworn in on Friday as Botswana’s new president, just a week after toppling Ian Khama in last week’s elections.

• South African warlord, Shaka Zulu got a new statue inaugurated this past week in his honor. The previous one was accused of making him look like a herd boy.

• Cote d’Ivoire ranks top of the wine importer’s list in Africa for the first time, setting off wine powerhouse, South Africa.