The calabash bubbles

Almost everything that could go wrong in West Africa this year has contrived to do so. The region's biggest economies, Côte d'Ivoire and Nigeria, are hobbled by political unrest and mounting debts. Five of the war zones in the region - Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Senegal's Casamance region - are sparking off counter-offensives with their neighbours. Low commodity prices and political uncertainties have scuppered progress on the ambitious plans of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) for a a free-trade area.

Article Tags:
Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Togo, Abdoulaye Wade, Abdou Diouf, Laurent Gbagbo, Robert Gueï, Ghana, Jerry Rawlings, France, Britain, Portugal, Gambia, Blaise Compaoré, Charles Taylor, Ahmed Sékou Touré, Ahmed, Lansana Conté, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, coup de théâtre, Union Économique et Monétaire Ouest-Africaine

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