Vol 61 No 4 | CÔTE D'IVOIRENIGERIAWEST AFRICA 'Eco'-logical concerns 20th February 2020 The mooted new West African currency stands no chance of success unless its architects persuade Abuja to join Francophone West African countries' decision to convert their CFA franc into a first version of the 'eco', a planned single currency for the whole region, has sparked furious...
Vol 61 No 4 | MALI Terrorists at the table 20th February 2020 President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta says his envoy Dioncounda Traoré had his full authority to initiate talks with jihadist chiefs Iyad ag Ghaly and Amadou Koufa – after years...
Vol 61 No 3 | NIGERIA King for a year 6th February 2020 President Buhari will push through more economic nationalist policies. Beyond that, the picture gets cloudy As he wrestles with mutually reinforcing economic and security problems, President Muhammadu Buhari can no longer blame an uncooperative national assembly or opposition state governors if his planned...
Vol 61 No 3 | CÔTE D'IVOIRE Soro sounds off 6th February 2020 Prevented from re-entering his country, Guillaume Soro remains determined to stand in the presidential election. He announced at a 28 January press conference in Paris law suits in...
Vol 61 No 3 | MALI Putschist walks free 6th February 2020 The leader of the 2012 failed military coup, and suspect in the torture and murder of multiple Red Beret paratroopers opposed to his putsch, Amadou Haya Sanogo,...
Vol 61 No 2 | GUINEA Terminal turbulence 23rd January 2020 Alpha Condé is keeping the nation in a state of suspense by refusing to confirm whether he is standing for a third term In his New Year address to the nation, President Alpha Condé confirmed his plans to submit a new constitution to a popular referendum. But he again failed to...
Vol 61 No 1 | CÔTE D'IVOIRE Portents over the presidency 9th January 2020 Rumours swirl around who the candidates will be and whether any of them can quell simmering public resentment Ivorians go to the polls in October in what promises to be a no-holds-barred battle for the presidency. The main contenders are familiar – possibly too familiar to...
Vol 61 No 1 | GHANA Presidential action replay 9th January 2020 The odds favour the incumbent in this year’s presidential elections – a return match of 2016 – but by a much-reduced margin Eleven months ahead of national elections, the best guess is that President Nana Addo Akufo-Addo will win more narrowly than he did in 2016 and his New Patriotic...
Vol 61 No 1 | MALI Advantage jihadists 9th January 2020 Domestic political jockeying and stop-start funding for peacekeeping leave Bamako a sitting target for the Islamist insurgents For President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta the new year brings renewed diplomatic pressure – and not just from an international community exasperated by the lack of progress in implementing...
Vol 60 No 25 | NIGERIA Not yet, Generalissimo 19th December 2019 The lack of trust between government and activists over civil rights reflects the country’s deepening security crisis It was Muhammadu Buhari's military credentials that persuaded many Nigerians to trust him on security issues in 2015, at a time when insurgents had taken over more than...