Vol 55 No 15 | GHANA Letting a crisis go to waste 25th July 2014 Far from cruising to an inevitable electoral victory in 2016, the opposition New Patriotic Party has been left looking flat-footed, even as the government's troubles have multiplie...
Vol 55 No 15 | NIGERIA After the amnesty, more amnesty 25th July 2014 President Jonathan struggles to pacify militants and oil companies as violence and theft continue in his Delta homeland The environmental devastation, lawlessness and grand corruption have not stopped in the oil-producing Niger Delta but the situation looks far less forbidding when set against the h...
Vol 55 No 15 | NIGERIA The Jonathan surge 25th July 2014 Despite a security crisis and a poor public image, President Goodluck Jonathan's People's Democratic Party has engineered a startling political recovery. Much of the turnaround is ...
Vol 55 No 15 | SIERRA LEONE Honour among presidents 25th July 2014 Richard Konteh, the State House Chief of Staff supposedly fired for corruption, is claiming that he was in fact the fall guy for President Ernest Bai Koroma’s inadvertent ang...
Vol 55 No 15 | CÔTE D'IVOIRE Polls beckon as Hollande flies in 22nd July 2014 Ouattara hopes the French President’s visit will help his coalition prepare for next year's elections. The main opposition is floundering President François Hollande’s visit last week to Côte d’Ivoire was full of fanfares for regional security and doing business with France but behind the sce...
Vol 55 No 14 | SENEGAL Macky the knife 11th July 2014 President Macky Sall responded to his coalition’s poor showing in the 29 June local elections by sacking Prime Minister Aminata Touré and several other ministers. The ...
Vol 55 No 13 | NIGERIA Ekiti, the shape of things to come 27th June 2014 After a year on the defensive, the governing PDP has launched a determined fightback against opposition strongholds in the south-west The victory of Ayo Fayose, candidate of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), in the governorship elections in Ekiti State on 21 June held some harsh lessons for modernising politic... READ FOR FREE
Vol 55 No 13 | NIGERIA Sanusi's political throne 27th June 2014 The straight-talking former CBN Governor will find plenty of scope to promote his ideas and expand his influence from the Emir’s palace From any angle, the appointment of Sanusi Lamido Aminu Sanusi as the 57th Emir of Kano is bad news for President Goodluck Jonathan and his government. Sanusi emerged a moral if not...
Vol 55 No 13 | NIGERIALIECHTENSTEIN The trade-off 27th June 2014 The Alpine principality is returning some of Sani Abacha’s loot after the Nigerian government drops charges against his son Mohammed In what bears the hallmarks of a backroom political deal, Liechtenstein is to return 167 million euros (US$228 mn.) stolen by General Sani Abacha in the 1990s. This follows the dec...
Vol 55 No 13 | BURKINA FASO The knock-out stage 27th June 2014 First it was President Blaise Compaoré's opponents who filled up the 35,000-capacity Stade du 4 Aôut in Ouagadougo on 31 May, and then it was the ruling Congrès...