West Africa

A difficult year lies ahead for Nigerians as the political class manoeuvres for advantage in the aftermath of the chaotically rigged elections of April 2007. Legal chicanery, political...

Hopes are high that two of West Africa’s most war-devastated states – Liberia and Sierra Leone – will both see substantial turnarounds in 2008. Both governments have in...

Malian President Amadou Toumani Touré (ATT) finally has something to show for his consistent performance as one of Japan's biggest proponents in Africa with the opening of the...

Mali is not the only Francophone West African country courted by Japan. President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal was invited, along with the Presidents of Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania to...

Several countries have seen political progress with freer elections and freer newspapers. Many of the conflicts along the arc of crisis, which ran westwards from Abidjan towards Senegal's...

From their heydays in Nigeria in the 1980s, Latin America's druglords are diversifying their business in Africa. Nigerian traders still play a key role: they are regarded as...

The new United States Africa Command (Africom) is not yet operational but the US Navy plans to put ships into the Gulf of Guinea before the formal start-up....

Nigeria’s national elections in April are the most critical event scheduled this year in Africa. If they go well, Nigeria may be able to consolidate civilian rule...

One of the few genuinely popular public officials in Nigeria, Nuhu Ribadu, head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission will be a key player in the electoral...

There is hot speculation about whether President Olusegun Obasanjo wants to amend the constitution and secure a third term which, according to some elder statesmen, could damage his...