Vol 60 No 21 | BURKINA FASOSAHELG5 The politics of counter-terror 25th October 2019 The government issues appeals to the West and the region for solidarity and money to resist the jihadist onslaught Soldiers, civilians, worshippers at a mosque were but some of the dozens of victims of Islamist guerrillas in Burkina as the pace of jihadist attacks on civilians and...
Vol 60 No 21 | BURKINA FASO Backs to the wall 25th October 2019 The speed of the jihadists’ campaign has caught the government off-guard and exposed the woeful inadequacy of the security forces This year the country has experienced more violent attacks in six months than the whole of the previous three years, causing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes...
Vol 60 No 21 | GHANA Short circuits 25th October 2019 A US aid agency and President Akufo-Addo’s government are clashing over a plan to reform the state power company The government's cancellation of a contract with a business consortium to manage the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has put it at odds with the United States government...
Vol 60 No 20 | BENIN Breaking the democratic line 11th October 2019 As he blurs state finances with private business, President Talon is shredding his country’s reputation for political reform Most of the big opposition parties boycotted the political dialogue called by President Patrice Talon on 7 October to defuse the crisis triggered by his exclusion of some...
Vol 60 No 20 | BENINNIGERIA Protectionism and patronage 11th October 2019 A bid by President Muhammadu Buhari to stop the smuggling of rice and petrol is turning into a cross-border political fight Ten months after its inauguration the new integrated frontier crossing between Nigeria and Benin at Sémé Kraké on the key Lagos-Cotonou corridor was closed to most trade on...
Vol 60 No 20 | NIGERIA The taxman cometh 11th October 2019 Unphased by mounting security threats, weakening international oil prices and an unresolved US$9 billion judgement debt demand, President Muhammadu Buhari's unveiled an ambitious new budget on 8 October,...
Vol 60 No 19 | NIGERIASOUTH AFRICA Summit bid to heal crisis 27th September 2019 After xenophobic attacks and corporate rivalries, the leaders of Africa’s two biggest economies are to meet next month For pan-African economic alliances and security cooperation much is riding on the summit between Presidents Cyril Ramaphosa and Muhammadu Buhari, due to hold on 3 October in South...
Vol 60 No 19 | MALI The talking cure 27th September 2019 The President wants a ‘national dialogue’ about the political and security crises but only on his terms Final preparations are under way for an 'Inclusive National Dialogue' widely seen as Mali's last hope for progress towards resolution of the seven-year-long political crisis. Some see it...
Vol 60 No 19 | GHANA Dissident doctor 27th September 2019 When Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah announced on 20 September that three men had been arrested for coup plotting, some Ghanaians felt they had entered a time warp,...
Vol 60 No 18 | NIGERIA The oil clean-up that didn't? 13th September 2019 The efforts to repair environmental damage to the oil-producing Niger Delta lack ambition and urgency The delays seemed at an end in 2015, when President Muhammadu Buhari formally launched the clean-up operation and endorsed the composition of the structures supervising the operations –...