Vol 63 No 15 | GUINEACONGO-KINSHASACHINA Beijing recalibrates its contracts 21st July 2022 Chinese mining companies are under growing pressure in Africa, as they face fresh demands from governments over payments and infrastructure related to globally strategic operations. Disputes in Guinea...
Vol 63 No 15 | BURKINA FASO Compaoré's return baffles nation 20th July 2022 The junta invited the ousted dictator back to the capital, defying court verdicts and enraging the public. But some of the elite still have time for him Looking frail and disoriented, Blaise Compaoré returned to Ouagadougou on 7 July for the first time since a popular revolt eight years ago swept him out of power...
Vol 63 No 15 | NIGERIA Presidential race tightens after flagbearers pick running mates 12th July 2022 With a boost from the ruling party, Bola Tinubu bets on a Muslim-Muslim ticket as Peter Obi is set to pick up votes from Lagos and the south-west The longest-ever presidential election campaign in Nigerian history is into its next, more intense phase after the three leading candidates – Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and Bola Ahmed...
Vol 63 No 14 | NIGERIA Atiku and Tinubu clash on the economy 7th July 2022 Spiralling prices, public debt and joblessness make living standards the top issue in the presidential race A month after their emergence as presidential candidates, the economic programmes of Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar extolling the virtues of untrammelled market economics face more serious scrutiny...
Vol 63 No 14 | MALI Mali rejects human rights mandate 7th July 2022 Bamako isolates itself further by restricting UN peacekeeping operations while giving free rein to Wagner group After several months of provoking and prolonging disputes with numerous partners, Mali's transitional government has found a new entity to pick a fight with – the United Nations...
Vol 63 No 14 | GHANA A reluctant reversion to the IMF 7th July 2022 President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo finally decided to open negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for balance-of-payments support, after cabinet had debated the issue for weeks. Finance...
Vol 63 No 13 | NIGERIA Tinubu summons the ghosts of Abacha's kleptocracy 23rd June 2022 The ruling party's flagbearer brings together democracy campaigners and beneficiaries of the country's most venal dictatorship This year's Democracy Day celebrations on 12 June were muted, overshadowed by the expensive shenanigans of the national election campaign mixed with a pervasive disenchantment with the political...
Vol 63 No 13 | MALI Bamako refuses to look to France 23rd June 2022 With French and European troops leaving, the junta turns its ire on UN peacekeepers and seeks new foreign allies Malian military ruler Colonel Assimi Goïta is determined to show that his forces can tackle a growing Islamist onslaught, despite the withdrawal of French and European troops, under...
Vol 63 No 13 | GHANA Plans for urban forest raise hackles 23rd June 2022 Many suspect a scheme to turn a protected forest into Accra's answer to Central Park are ecologically dangerous and a cover for corruption A decision by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's government to reclassify a large part of the Achimota Forest reserve in Accra – the only urban forest in the...
Vol 63 No 13 | SENEGAL Poll ban fans the flames 23rd June 2022 Ousmane Sonko, co-leader of the opposition Yewwi Askan Wi electoral alliance, promises major protests on 29 June in protest at the killing of protestors by security forces on...