Vol 58 No 8 | SIERRA LEONE Runway overrun 14th April 2017 Despite promising the International Monetary Fund and World Bank that he would not go through with it, President Ernest Bai Koroma has still not given up on the...
Vol 58 No 7 | NIGERIAUNITED KINGDOM The great oil chase 31st March 2017 A joint British-Nigerian probe into how tens of billions of dollars of oil money went missing promises to be the most thorough yet Oil industry experts calculate that Nigeria may have lost US$100 billion from 2010 to 2015 from outright theft and excessively disadvantageous production and trading deals. Audits by international...
Vol 58 No 7 | MALI Combat and compromise 31st March 2017 The government may be giving the northern Tuareg nobility too much in its bid to restore peaceful regional government At the last minute – and helped by United Nations pressure – Mali's government has persuaded the former separatists of the Coordination des Mouvements de l'Azawad (CMA) to...
Vol 58 No 7 | SENEGAL Timis takes shine off boom 31st March 2017 New oil and gas discoveries off Senegal's coast have seen oil majors circling as Frank Timis maintains an interest The involvement of the maverick businessman Vasile Frank Timis in Senegal's oil industry and his cosy relationship with President Macky Sall's government has attracted renewed interest from international...
Vol 58 No 6 | BURKINA FASO More progress, less movement 17th March 2017 The governing party is disappointing many with its response to mounting insecurity in the north There was an air of festive predictability about the Second National Congress of the governing Mouvement du peuple pour le progrès, held in Ouagadougou on 10-12 March. Among...
Vol 58 No 6 | NIGERIA Mega-projects await reforms 17th March 2017 With President Buhari back from sick leave, questions multiply about the timing and content of the economic rescue plan Hopes for Africa’s biggest economy are yo-yoing as policy-makers argue over radical reform of the naira exchange rate and the sale of government stakes in oil and gas...
Vol 58 No 6 | SÃO TOMÉ & PRÍNCIPE Broken China 17th March 2017 Urbino Botelho, Foreign Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe, has made his bid for posterity by breaking off diplomatic relations with Taiwan and restoring relations with the People's...
Vol 58 No 5 | GHANA A racing start in spite of the rocky finances 3rd March 2017 Several hefty economic obstacles will test the government's determination to push ahead with education and health reforms Harsh financial realities are starting to impinge on the bold programme to modernise the economy, and boost education and health, which swept the new government to power after... READ FOR FREE
Vol 58 No 5 | NIGERIA Health checks 3rd March 2017 More flexibility on the exchange rate could bring down the cost of borrowing The tribulations of the Nigerian currency, the naira, might offer some respite to President Muhammadu Buhari, currently in London under doctor's orders. The prospect of a change in...
Vol 58 No 5 | GUINEA Compromise in Conakry 3rd March 2017 Protests organised by teachers' unions on 20 February left eight people dead and more than 50 injured, said reports from Conakry. The protesters' demands for salary increases were...