Middle East & Africa | A borrowers’ catch-22

African governments face a wall of debt repayments

But many are surprisingly reluctant to accept relief

After the virus, the clean-up

IT IS ALMOST a law of nature. Just as the female praying mantis eats her mate after copulation, so too can borrowers and lenders fall swiftly out of love. One minute they are sweetly wooing each other to consummate a deal. Then, the moment it is done, they are at each other’s throats.

This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Thanks, but no”

The fire this time: Police violence, race and protest in America

From the June 6th 2020 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition
An Israeli army Merkava main battle tank crosses the barbed-wire fence into the UN-patrolled buffer zone separating Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights near the UN Quneitra checkpoint.

Israel’s army adopts a high-stakes new strategy: more terrain

It remains present inside Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank

A girl looks on as seawater floods into her home on Nyangai Island, Sierra Leone

The sea is swallowing an African island

In Sierra Leone, adjusting to a warmer climate is getting harder


Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa delivers a speech during the Syrian National Dialogue Conference in Damascus, Syria

In a dictator’s palace, Syrians debate a new constitution

Ahmed al-Sharaa will soon have to reveal how sincere he is about the new, inclusive Syria


Could political upheaval hit Jordan next?

Resurgent Islamists and chaos in the West Bank may threaten Jordan’s king

Israel and Hamas have something in common

They both want to avoid a ceasefire collapse, for a few more weeks

How to make cash in Africa’s coup belt 

Mining multinationals are learning to do business with juntas