Vol 53 No 7 | NIGERIA The people who run the PDP show 30th March 2012 • Chief Mike Oghiadomhe, Chief of Staff to the President: as Edo State Deputy Governor, he made friends with his opposite number in Bayelsa, Goodluck Jonathan. He is...
Vol 53 No 7 | MALI Rebels and putschists 30th March 2012 Behind the coup in Bamako lies deep discontent at impunity as well as the mishandling of the Tuareg revolt The protests in Bamako started out with disgruntled soldiers, angry at how politicians had allowed their comrades to be overrun by Tuareg rebels. This then snowballed into a...
Vol 53 No 7 | SENEGAL Senegal ousts Wade 30th March 2012 Dakar’s streets were just as joyful as those of Bamako at the fall of their long-term leader, although Senegalese were relieved that the agent of change was electoral...
Vol 53 No 7 | GUINEA Condé looks East and West 30th March 2012 Rivalries among conglomerates – Western and Chinese – intensify as the President looks for development funds Multinational corporations and anti-corruption activists are jockeying for influence in Conakry as President Alpha Condé talks to the China Development Bank about finance for a US$8.6 billion development...
Vol 53 No 7 | CHADSENEGAL Habre hangs on 30th March 2012 Macky Sall’s election as President of Senegal has caused many to wonder if Chad’s ex-President Hissène Habré will still be welcome.
Vol 53 No 7 | NIGERIABRITAIN Ibori goes to Southwark 30th March 2012 Having pleaded guilty to ten money-laundering charges and obtaining a money transfer by deception and fraud, James Onanefe Ibori, the former Governor of Delta State, will...
Vol 5 (AAC) No 6 | GUINEACHINA Condé wants quick results 28th March 2012 Five-year plans, inspired and financed by China, are winning support in Conakry as pressure mounts on the government Officials from the China Development Bank (CDB) are offering to finance a substantial part of the Conakry government’s US$8.6 billion overhaul of mining and industrial infratructure, according to...
Vol 5 (AAC) No 6 | GHANACHINA Wary of pipeline politics 28th March 2012 Political and technical worries are holding back progress on the ambitious plans for a national gas industry Planning and construction work on Ghana’s US$850 million gas pipeline is slowing down because the lead contractor – China’s Sinopec – fears that national elections in December could...
Vol 5 (AAC) No 6 | GHANACHINA The three billion dollar question 28th March 2012 The government’s decision to borrow US$3 billion from the China Development Bank (CDB) has become a key election issue, much to the irritation of the authorities in Beijing,...
Vol 5 (AAC) No 6 | NIGERCHINABRIEFING Pressure at the pumps 28th March 2012 President Mahamadou Issoufou is under pressure to reduce petrol prices at the pump. On 23 March, the Syndicat National des Travailleurs du Commerce (Syntracom)warned that unless the government...