Vol 60 No 8 | GUINEA Condé bids for third term 19th April 2019 The President’s bid for a third term has hit top gear. Can a fractured opposition unite to deny him the constitutional changes he needs? President Alpha Condé's campaign to change the constitution to get himself a third term has now reached full steam, as he exhorts his party's rank-and-file to 'prepare for...
Vol 60 No 5 | GUINEA A surprise reunion 8th March 2019 A unexpected deal ends a long-running dispute, allowing everyone to get back to the business of extracting iron ore Israeli mining magnate Beny Steinmetz has made a surprise re-entry into Guinea, after reaching an apparently amicable settlement in his lengthy dispute with the Guinean government over allegations...
Vol 59 No 20 | GUINEA Turks in troubled waters 12th October 2018 Another over-priced port contract comes under fire for political patronage and secrecy The Port Autonome de Conakry (PAC), Guinea's principal sea port, is a strategic national asset, so the fact that it is now to be run by Turkey's Albayrak...
Vol 59 No 13 | BURKINA FASOGUINEATOGO Adieu à Françafrique 29th June 2018 The investigation of Vincent Bolloré highlights how the old business networks are losing influence in French former colonies When the French billionaire industrialist Vincent Bolloré was placed under formal investigation by Paris prosecutors on suspicion of bribing foreign officials in Africa, commentators wondered whether it was...
Vol 59 No 11 | GUINEA Conté's long shadow 1st June 2018 Ibrahima Kassory Fofana is not merely Guinea's new prime minister. His appointment by President Alpha Condé marks a return of the cadre of politicians who came to prominence...
Vol 59 No 6 | GUINEA Nine angry men 23rd March 2018 During his inauguration in December 2015, President Alpha Condé was warned by Kéléfa Sall, the head of Guinea's Constitutional Court, to 'not fall for the siren call of...
Vol 58 No 10 | GUINEAUNITED STATES Thiam verdict makes waves 12th May 2017 After a six-day trial, former Mining Minister Mahmoud Thiam was convicted in a New York court on 3 May of laundering US$8.5 million in bribes relating to mining...
Vol 58 No 8 | GUINEA Sex, rebels and Paris trips 14th April 2017 President Condé steams ahead in the opinion polls but dissent within his party is growing as local elections approach The career of the governing party's youth leader came to an abrupt end in late February when the latest in a series of sex tapes which have been...
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...
Vol 58 No 2 | GUINEA Electoral test for Condé 20th January 2017 February's local elections will gauge Condé's popularity. The economy will stay in the doldrums Guinea will finally hold its local elections in February, almost seven years late. It is the first major test of the governing coalition of President Alpha Condé since...