Vol 50 No 20 | GUINEA Gunning down democracy 8th October 2009 Condemned for massacring its own people, the junta negotiates an economic lifeline with China More than 157 unarmed demonstrators were shot down on 28 September by soldiers using rifles, daggers, machetes and iron bars. It was a straightforward massacre. Those killed...
Vol 50 No 20 | NIGERIA Bankable Assets 8th October 2009 The introduction by the Central Bank of Nigeria of polymer banknotes on 1 October has been blighted by accusations that millions of pounds in illegal commissions have been...
Vol 50 No 19 | NIGERIA Why the banks stay optimistic 25th September 2009 Oil, gas and Africa's biggest market keep the investors interested despite the increasingly desperate politics in Abuja ahead of the 2011 elections After six weeks of billion dollar bail-outs, high-level sackings and the arraigning in court of five top executives, Nigeria’s financial sector is still robust enough to prompt paeans...
Vol 2 (AAC) No 11 | GHANACHINABRIEFING An oil barter rescue 22nd September 2009 Oil industry officials in Accra are linking Finance Minister Kwabena Duffuor's 18 September statement that Ghana had applied for a US$2 billion concessional loan from China to...
Vol 50 No 18 | NIGERIA After the bank purge, back to the politics 11th September 2009 Taken aback by the seriousness of the Central Bank’s efforts to reform the financial sector, some politicians and debtors are plotting their revenge The targets of Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Lamido Sanusi's banking purge are beginning to fight back. Four bank chief executives have been arraigned on criminal charges and...
Vol 50 No 18 | CÔTE D'IVOIRE Trafigura and the toxic waste 11th September 2009 The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Toxic Waste, Okechukwu Ibeanu, is challenging claims by oil-trader Trafigura and its Ivorian subcontractor Tommy that the waste they dumped in Abidjan...
Vol 50 No 17 | NIGERIA After the boom, a purge 28th August 2009 A Central Bank audit has uncovered evidence of fraud and mismanagement which implicates some leading politicians and their business partners Like a family of latter day Medicis, Nigeria's top bankers have been prospering thanks to their acute political instincts and abilities to exploit their dominance in a tightly...
Vol 50 No 17 | NIGERIA Theatre, peace and votes in the Delta 28th August 2009 The surrender of about 1,000 militants in the Niger Delta was superbly choreographed. With hundreds of guns behind him, Ebikabowei Victor Ben - better known as 'General Boyloaf...
Vol 50 No 17 | GHANA A new economic team emerges 28th August 2009 Facing a downturn and needing an oil strategy, President Mills picks his own experts For his Council of Economic Advisors, President John Atta Mills has picked a team with wide experience of Western financial and academic institutions. They are academics, more used...
Vol 50 No 17 | CÔTE D'IVOIRE Trafigura in court 28th August 2009 Swiss-based oil trader Trafigura will have an eventful September before it goes on trial on 6 October in Britain's largest class action lawsuit. At the centre of this...