Vol 52 No 23 | NIGERIA Inflammatory subsidy 18th November 2011 Jonathan says fuel subsidies will end on New Year’s Day but few people expect that he can pull off such a momentous change to Nigerian life The federal government’s decision to remove fuel subsidies from 1 January 2012 is dividing the public and raising the spectre of unrest. The government insists that it cannot...
Vol 52 No 23 | SIERRA LEONE Ferry fiasco dents Koroma’s standing 18th November 2011 Anti-corruption momentum is slackening as the President gauges a growing political threat from the opposition On taking office in 2007, President Ernest Bai Koroma vowed to run the country as a ‘business venture’. What he did not intend was the state social security...
Vol 52 No 23 | LIBERIA New challenges after messy elections 18th November 2011 The President won easily but the damage to her authority and to political stability will need careful repair The Congress for Democratic Change presidential candidate Wilson A. Tubman had already decided to boycott the presidential run-off when police shot dead four of his supporters on 7...
Vol 52 No 23 | GAMBIA ‘No monster’ Jammeh heads for victory 18th November 2011 The President can rely on foreign friends and weak opponents to stay in power Putschist President Yahya Jammeh will win re-election for the third time on 24 November at the head of his Alliance for Patriotic Reconciliation and Construction (APRC). He may...
Vol 52 No 22 | ANGOLACÔTE D'IVOIRE The past is another country 4th November 2011 More is emerging about the history of bad blood between the two countries and Luanda’s former fondness for Gbagbo Luanda appears willing to forget its past strong support for Côte d’Ivoire’s then President, Laurent Gbagbo, and reconcile with his successor, Alassane Dramane Ouattara, but there is much...
Vol 52 No 22 | CÔTE D'IVOIRE They don’t seek him here... 4th November 2011 More information is emerging about ex-President Laurent Gbagbo’s former Youth Minister, Charles Blé Goudé, leader of the Jeunes Patriotes. He has been living in luxurious exile in Ghana,...
Vol 52 No 22 | LIBERIA Brinkmanship at the ballot 4th November 2011 Tubman’s conditions for standing in the second round of the presidential caused alarm Threats by Wilson A. Tubman and his Congress for Democratic Change to boycott the second round of the presidential election on 8 November were unresolved as Africa Confidential...
Vol 52 No 22 | GUINEA Condé to look at Dahdaleh case 4th November 2011 President Alpha Condé is being consulted about bringing charges against any Guinean nationals who may have taken bribes from Victor Dahdaleh, a former senior Guinean official told Africa...
Vol 52 No 20 | LIBERIA Ellen wants first-round win 7th October 2011 The President must take over 50% of the vote in the first round to avoid a far more difficult contest in the second The battle for the soul of Africa’s oldest republic is raging, with a war of words and dirty tricks between the governing Unity Party (UP) and the other...
Vol 52 No 20 | NIGERIAGULF OF GUINEAPIRACY The Security Council lands a new African problem 7th October 2011 Nigeria calls a debate on worsening piracy in the Gulf of Guinea The United Nations Security Council does not lack for African problems: the continent’s woes take up about three quarters of the Council’s time. Later this month, a new...