Vol 64 No 8 | GHANA Banks count the cost of debt restructuring 13th April 2023 The government's debt exchange deal piles up pressure on the banks and the wider economy After much lobbying and protest, Ghana's pension funds avoided the onerous terms of the government's domestic debt exchange finalised in February. Few others in finance were celebr...
Vol 64 No 8 | GHANA The Opposition hides its teeth 13th April 2023 Despite a near hung parliament, the opposition has done little to challenge the government An evenly split Parliament between the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition, National Democratic Congress (NDC) appears not to have resulted in greater parliamentary...
Vol 64 No 8 | GUINEAMINING Beny Steinmetz loses appeal in epic Simandou corruption case 6th April 2023 Dismissing the ruling as 'politically motivated', the mining tycoon is to make one last attempt to overturn his conviction – at the Swiss federal court The Swiss appeal court's upholding of a guilty verdict for corruption against mining tycoon Beny Steinmetz nearly ends the decade-long legal fight over Guinea's Simandou iron ore r...
Vol 64 No 7 | NIGERIA Tinubu faces legitimacy challenge 30th March 2023 With less half the voters on the lowest turnout since 1999 supporting him, the president-elect has a credibility problem Questions about the national and state elections are stubbornly taking centre-stage with daily demonstrations in the capital at which the ruling All Progressives' Congress (APC) is...
Vol 64 No 7 | SENEGAL Sonko and the street take battle to Sall 30th March 2023 Dakar and other cities are facing a wave of protest against the government, tougher living conditions and the president’s plan to extend his tenure Searing criticism from what he had hoped would be a helpful government in Washington is the latest blow for President Macky Sall as opposition mounts against his government and his...
Vol 64 No 7 | GHANA A commission under fire 30th March 2023 The appointment of three new members to the seven-member electoral commission has prompted concerns that the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is packing the institution ahead of...
Vol 64 No 6 | NIGERIA State elections will reinforce three-party vote split 16th March 2023 Peter Obi's Labour Party will face fierce local fights as incumbent governors defend their fiefdoms after last month's political upsets The outcome of the elections in 28 of Nigeria's 36 states on 18 March will have more effect on the daily lives of most voters than the disputed presidential elections last month.
Vol 64 No 6 | GHANA Khaki vigilantes 16th March 2023 The Ghana Armed Forces have come under fierce public criticism following an apparent vigilante operation they conducted at Ashaiman, a densely populated town near Tema, in the Grea...
Vol 64 No 6 | GHANA Fights over debt and public spending are shaping the election campaign 13th March 2023 The opposition is revelling in criticisms of the government's economic management by the Auditor-General, who is in the spotlight again In a rowdy session in parliament on 8 March, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo used his state of the nation address to explain how the government planned to address the economi...
Vol 64 No 5 | NIGERIA Tinubu's last trick: from godfather to Kabiyesi 2nd March 2023 Opposition contenders question the ruling party candidate's victory in elections marred by technical failures, sporadic violence and a historically low turnout The next act of Nigeria's presidential election drama has started with fire and fury. At one end of the stage stands the official winner, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whose victory was annou...