Vol 48 No 10 | NIGERIA A troubled transition 11th May 2007 The incoming government faces political road blocks as it tries to tackle the crises in electric power supply and the Niger Delta The gulf between the aspirations of the new political team under President-elect Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and the consequences of last month's disastrous elections is widening dangerously. Many around...
Vol 48 No 10 | NIGERIA Giant steps 11th May 2007 Mallam Nasir el-Rufai's student friends called him 'Giant'; he stands some five foot seven inches tall. These days he is more commonly known as 'Bulldozer', because of his...
Vol 48 No 10 | MALI La caravane passe au Mali 11th May 2007 Malian President Amadou Toumani Touré's electoral triumph ends 'the politics of consensus' in place since 2002. Results from the Minister of Territorial Administration, General Kafougouna Koné, give ATT...
Vol 48 No 10 | SIERRA LEONE Vote later, vote often 11th May 2007 The governing Sierra Leone People's Party is coming under fire for postponing this year's elections, which its candidate, incumbent Vice-President Solomon Berewa, is expected to win.
Vol 48 No 9 | NIGERIA The dealmaking begins 27th April 2007 The victorious People's Democratic Party wants to co-opt enough dissenters to put the rigged election furore behind it Time is pressing President-elect Umaru Yar'Adua ahead of the planned inauguration on 29 May. By then, he will have to put together his government transition team from the...
Vol 48 No 9 | NIGERIA The men from the south 27th April 2007 Bayelsa State's head of security, Bola Igali, barked orders into his mobile phone. 'We have a security situation developing,' he told Africa Confidential, breaking off the interview. Shooting...
Vol 48 No 9 | NIGERIA Uneasy truce in Delta State 27th April 2007 Emmanuel Uduaghan, the winner of the heavily disputed governorship elections in Delta State, will have a critical economic and political role in the coming months. He is the...
Vol 48 No 9 | MALI ATT seeks takokélén 27th April 2007 President Touré is poised to win a second term in Mali's presidential election on 29 April President Amadou Toumani Touré ('ATT'), has been campaigning for takokélén in the presidential election on 29 April. That's Bambara for 'taking all at once' - a first-round win....
Vol 48 No 9 | MALI Politicians and their parties 27th April 2007 Born in Mopti, Amadou Toumani Touré (ATT, 52) is backed by over 30 parties and myriad civil society organisations, along with the nebulous, 'apolitical' Mouvement Citoyen (Citizen's Movement),...
Vol 48 No 9 | CÔTE D'IVOIRE Oiling the wheels of peace 27th April 2007 Rapidly rising oil earnings could help to restore Côte d'Ivoire's status as the economic giant of Francophone West Africa.