Emmerson Mnangagwa has been declared the winner of Zimbabwe’s presidential election with 52.6 percent of the vote. However, the vote was marred by instances of voter intimidation and disenfranchisement in urban areas. The opposition, led by challenger Nelson Chamisa, has rejected the result and will announce their next move in the coming days. 

BRICS is set to expand with six new members on 1 January 2024, including Ethiopia and Egypt. The news brings African membership in BRICS to 25 percent, and presents opportunities for closer cooperation. On the other hand, Egypt and Ethiopia’s uneasy relationship raises questions about the organization’s mechanisms for managing intra-group disputes, and larger questions around the bloc’s benefits.

• Islamic scholars have been key to negotiations between Nigerien coup leaders and the regional body ECOWAS. President Tinubu of Nigeria has communicated through these scholars the regional body’s dissatisfaction with the three-year transition timeline put forward by the Nigerien military. 
• South Africa’s Competition Commission wants to order Google to promote and invest in local businesses.
• OkayAfrica reviews Burna Boy’s “I Told Them.”

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Image: (from left) President of Brazil Lula da Silva, President of China Xi Jinping, President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, and Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov, during the BRICS Leaders Retreat Meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa. August 22, 2023. Photo credit: Press Information Bureau, Prime Minister's Office, India.