Vol 52 No 5 | CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLICNIGEREUROPEAN UNION The EU pays but keeps silent 4th March 2011 Opposition candidates declared the first round of the presidential election on 23 January tainted (‘vicié’), putting President François Bozizé’s 64.7% share of the vote in doub...
Vol 4 (AAC) No 4 | GUINEACHINA Minding the mines 28th February 2011 President Condé called off mining contract reviews but will move to take a one-third share of all mining projects Mining investors are bracing for a long battle. On 24 January, new President Alpha Condé backtracked on promises to review mining contracts, saying that the government would instea...
Vol 4 (AAC) No 4 | NIGERIACHINA Can’t pay, won’t pay 28th February 2011 Friendly rhetoric and big promises between Beijing and Abuja do not deliver as payment problems strain ties Big deals between the Nigerian government and Chinese companies have fallen through, providing yet another chapter to the up-and-down drama between Beijing and Abuja. On 10 Februa...
Vol 4 (AAC) No 4 | NIGERIATELECOMS Who can you call? 28th February 2011 Another attempt at privatising fixed-line operator Nigerian Telecommunications Ltd. (Nitel) and mobile operator Mtel has failed.
Vol 52 No 4 | CÔTE D'IVOIRE Democracy standoff 18th February 2011 Bitterness grows amid the political stalemate and economic pressure on Laurent Gbagbo is mounting The bitter rivalry between presidential claimants Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Dramane Ouattara has come to personify the arguments over how to manage elections in Africa and beyond...
Vol 52 No 4 | CÔTE D'IVOIRE The financial sanctions tighten 18th February 2011 Laurent Gbagbo’s economic options are narrowing. While sanctions have deprived him of most of his income from cocoa, he did, say local reports, make off with US$500 million worth o...
Vol 52 No 4 | NIGERIA A fight for the President’s base 18th February 2011 After a period of calm, political battles have resumed in Ogoniland as the ruling party tries to ensure its dominance ahead of the coming elections Political violence in the Niger Delta is escalating in the run-up to the April elections, threatening to plunge President Goodluck Jonathan’s power base into chaos again and compro...
Vol 52 No 3 | CÔTE D'IVOIRE Squeezing Gbagbo's budget 4th February 2011 African and European sanctions could take months to bite while the political and security crisis grows daily in Abidjan Europe is adding its own sanctions to the pressure on President Laurent Gbagbo from Africa's regional organisations to force him to stand down in the post-election stand off. At ...
Vol 52 No 3 | CÔTE D'IVOIRE Cocoa ban may hit Gbagbo's war chest 4th February 2011 Around 40% of the world's cocoa is grown in Côte d'Ivoire and the market is in confusion as a result of the reigning political paralysis. The harvests, though, are large an...
Vol 52 No 3 | NIGERIA Bayelsa's fighting chance 4th February 2011 Rivalry between two former loyalists of President Goodluck Jonathan and his People's Democratic Party in his home state of Bayelsa presages fierce confrontations before April's e...