Vol 55 No 6 | MALI Talking Timbuktu 13th March 2014 Deepening divisions among the armed groups – and the heavy hand of IBK – undermine the chances for talks on peace in the north Swept to power on a nationalist platform in elections last September, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta intends to make peace on his own terms or not at all. That...
Vol 55 No 6 | TOGOBANKS Tanoh goes as Ecobank cleans house 12th March 2014 Ecobank dismisses Chief Executive Thierry Tanoh and reinstates the sacked whistle-blowing Finance Director In what regional financial experts describe as striking a blow for good governance, on 11 March the board of Ecobank pushed out its Chief Executive Officer Thierry Tanoh,...
Vol 55 No 5 | GUINEA BISSAU Resuscitating democracy 7th March 2014 Soldiers and politicians compromised by their drugs activities are having trouble preventing a return to democracy The much-postponed general elections are now scheduled for 16 April but there is little chance of resolving the political crisis or even that the polls will take place...
Vol 55 No 5 | NIGERIA A sage from Zamfara 7th March 2014 To those who know both men, President Goodluck Jonathan's appointment of veteran spymaster General Aliyu Mohammed Gusau as Defence Minister on 5 March may be a case of...
Vol 55 No 4 | NIGERIA Oil theft row escalates 21st February 2014 President Jonathan risks panic among investors after he suspends Central Bank Governor Sanusi in a personal political battle Plain speaking, combative and ubiquitous, Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Sanusi Lamido Aminu Sanusi was never going to work well with the taciturn and cautious President Goodluck Jonathan.... READ FOR FREE
Vol 55 No 4 | NIGERIA Data battles in Abuja 21st February 2014 Nigeria's most sensational political row for a decade began with a dispute over arithmetic. The figure in question was US$49.8 billion: that was the oil sales revenue between...
Vol 55 No 4 | NIGER Isolation threatens Issoufou 21st February 2014 A big rally to back President Issoufou has done little to dispel dissatisfaction with living conditions and corruption He was feted as a reformer after winning the 2011 election that reversed the 2010 coup and seen as a beacon of stability during the Mali crisis (AC...
Vol 55 No 4 | SENEGAL Hunt loses momentum 21st February 2014 The fraud and embezzlement case against Karim Wade, son of ex-President Abdoulaye Wade, has changed from an open-and-shut case into a legal labyrinth, thanks to the defendant's lawyers....
Vol 55 No 4 | CÔTE D'IVOIRELIBERIA The price of peace 13th February 2014 Ouattara’s government has been paying Liberian mercenaries to keep a truce, while others are on trial in Monrovia. It is proving a major political headache in Liberia Côte d’Ivoire’s Great West region has been the site of deadly violence since civil conflict followed President Alassane Dramane Ouattara’s election victory over Laurent Gbagbo in November 2010....
Vol 55 No 3 | GHANA The wizard of Accra 7th February 2014 Short-term economic worries and the government’s tin ear on corruption claims are wobbling Mahama’s presidency Opposition activists like to portray President John Dramani Mahama as a kind of latter day Wizard of Oz, appearing to preside over a functioning government and thriving economy...