Vol 41 No 24 | SIERRA LEONE Bringing back the British 8th December 2000 Critically dependent on UN and British military support, President Kabbah's government is facing growing civilian opposition Desperation and nostalgia help explain why more than 5,000 Sierra Leoneans crowded in to the National Stadium in Freetown on 23 November to show their support for British...
Vol 41 No 24 | GUINEA BISSAU Death of a veteran 8th December 2000 It seems that troops loyal to President Kumba Yala killed self-proclaimed Chief of Staff General Ansumane Mane in an ambush about 30 kilometres from the capital, Bissau, on...
Vol 41 No 23 | GHANA A bandwagon for change 24th November 2000 As President Rawlings prepares to bow out, the opposition parties have their best chance of winning power in a decade One of Ghana's experienced political observers recently confided to a friend in Accra: 'For the first time in this country, I have no idea what is going to...
Vol 41 No 23 | GHANA My country right and left 24th November 2000 The seven presidential candidates and parties contesting the 7 December elections offer an odd mix of professed ideologies and political histories. For 50 years, Ghanaian political allegiance has...
Vol 41 No 23 | BURKINA FASO Stuck in the sand 24th November 2000 President Blaise Compaoré has changed his government but not his problems On 6 November, a new prime minister, Ernest Yonli, took over from the respected but hamstrung technocrat Kadré Désiré Ouédraogo. His first big difficulty was to find enough...
Vol 41 No 23 | SENEGAL Conflict of interests 24th November 2000 Prime Minister Moustapha Niasse is getting ready to resign, probably before the constitutional referendum due on 7 January.
Vol 41 No 22 | CÔTE D'IVOIRE Gbagbo's next test 10th November 2000 The nation's troubles are not over yet. On 10 December, elections for the National Assembly will follow the 22 October presidential election. This is the poll in which...
Vol 41 No 22 | NIGERIA Hard loans 10th November 2000 Nigeria is questioning the legitimacy of much of the US$27 million debt claimed by the Paris Club of Western government creditors. Almost unprecedentedly, the meeting on 26-27 October...
Vol 41 No 22 | BURKINA FASO Losing friends 10th November 2000 President Blaise Compaoré has been stuck in a political crisis for two years.
Vol 41 No 21 | NIGERIA High street havens 27th October 2000 The search for Abacha's stolen money has led to several major Western banks and is at last forcing their governments to act Investigators pursuing some US$3 billion of funds stolen by the late General Sani Abacha's regime between 1993-98 have established that the cash was deposited in more than 30...