Cameroon: The President Left for Europe. Nobody Knows Where, or For How Long
On June 7, presidential plane took off from Yaoundé-Nsimalen airport carrying Paul Biya, his wife Chantal, and small group of senior aides. Destination: somewhere in Europe. Duration: unspecified. Purpose: officially, rest.
Communiqué describing the trip stated only that it would be a "brief private stay" in Europe — Biya's first visit to continent in more than eight months. His previous European stay had ended in October 2025, right before presidential election that gave him eighth consecutive mandate with 53.66 percent of the vote, at age 92.
There is now established ritual whenever Biya leaves the country. Citizens ask why he is staying away so long. Supporters ask why he should leave at all. And one widely shared editorial put it more bluntly than most official commentary dares — Biya wants what every long-serving leader is eventually accused of wanting: one more term, then perhaps one more after that, "for administrative convenience."
Meanwhile back home, government formation is apparently still pending. Yaoundé is described as awaiting a new cabinet even as the president departs for Europe — leaving question of who exactly is running day-to-day affairs somewhat open.
It is worth remembering that Biya has spent decades governing partly from abroad, and country has continued functioning regardless. Whether that arrangement remains sustainable as questions about succession grow louder is separate matter entirely.
CAR: Touadéra's Third Term Is Official. The Hard Part Starts Now.
While DRC's president maneuvers toward possible third term and Cameroon's president just secured an eighth, CAR's Faustin-Archange Touadéra has already crossed that particular finish line — comfortably.
Provisional results showed Touadéra received 76.15 percent of the vote in December 28 election — his third term, made possible by 2023 constitutional referendum that removed presidential term limits and extended terms from five to seven years.
His party, United Hearts Movement, dominated parliamentary results too — winning 50 of 74 declared seats, with turnout at 52.4 percent, notably higher than 2020's 35.3 percent. Sixty-seven seats are headed to second round later in 2026.
What happens now is, in some ways, more important than election itself. UN Peacebuilding Commission described country as entering "decisive phase" — but noted that as of February, 733 million dollars of MINUSCA's annual budget remained unpaid, roughly 63 percent of total. Mission is meant to begin gradually transferring responsibilities to national institutions, a process that depends on stability, institutional capacity, and money that has not arrived.
Touadéra has his mandate. He does not yet have functioning institutions capable of running country without UN peacekeepers, and peacekeepers are not fully funded. That gap is CAR's actual story for 2026 — not the election, which was never really in doubt.
Angola: Lourenço Goes to Belgrade — Because Why Not?
If you wanted a single image that captures how Angola's foreign policy works in 2026, this week provided one.
President João Lourenço, accompanied by First Lady Ana Dias Lourenço, arrived in Belgrade for three-day official visit — his first to Serbia since taking office in 2017. Programme includes talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, signing of cooperation agreements, visits to Serbian Parliament and military facilities, plus economic forum aimed at expanding trade between Angolan and Serbian companies.
Angola and Serbia have historic ties dating back to Yugoslav era, when Belgrade maintained close relations with African liberation movements including Angola's.
Serbia is not obvious priority for country managing eastern DRC mediation, AU chairmanship, Lobito Corridor negotiations with Washington, and pre-election tensions at home. But that is rather the point. Analysts describe Angola's external posture as strategic non-alignment — maintaining relations with all major power centres while rejecting exclusive association with any single one. Lourenço has been pursuing what amounts to portfolio diplomacy, with Brazil trade alone reaching over 1.6 billion dollars combined in 2024.
Belgrade trip will not make headlines outside specialist Balkans-Africa circles. But it fits pattern — Angola talks to everyone, signs agreements with everyone, and commits exclusively to nobody. In region where most countries are forced into dependency on one or two external patrons, that flexibility is itself form of power.
The Pattern Underneath
Three leaders, three very different weeks. Biya flew off without explanation. Touadéra secured his third term and inherited an unfunded peacekeeping transition. Lourenço added Serbia to a diplomatic dance card that already includes Washington, Beijing, Brussels, New Delhi and Brasília.
What connects them is less obvious than usual — but it is there. In each case, what matters is not the headline event itself but what it reveals about how power actually operates in these countries: personally, often opaquely, and frequently disconnected from the institutional processes that are supposed to constrain it.
