Vol 65 No 16 | NIGERIA Central bank fights to slow inflation and protect its independence 26th July 2024 Within a year bank governor Yemi Cardoso has won a reputation for competence – despite the government’s mounting economic woes and dislike of accountability As spiralling prices hit a 30-year high and the weakening naira triggers another round of protests and strikes due to start on 1 August, the Central Bank of Nigeria has raised its ...
Vol 65 No 15 | NIGERIA Coming soon – a month of rage 18th July 2024 The government announces a $1 billion anti-poverty programme and monitors activists as its tries to pre-empt Kenya-style protests Sitting atop a 120-foot telecommunications mast in Abuja and threatening to jump, unemployed labourer Shuaibu Yushau refused to come down until the government addressed the economi...
Vol 65 No 15 | BURKINA FASO A hunter in aviation 18th July 2024 Burkina Faso’s national airline, Air Burkina, has struggled for more than a decade. But instead of saving West Africa’s oldest airline, the junta of Captain Ibrahim Tra...
Vol 65 No 14 | BURKINA FASOMALINIGER The juntas dig in as instability worsens 4th July 2024 Burkina’s leader Captain Traoré wants five more years in power but his army is losing badly against the jihadis The standing of Burkina Faso’s transitional leader Captain Ibrahim Traoré, who seized power in September, has hit a new low. But public opinion is the least of his woe...
Vol 65 No 14 | NIGERIA Tinubu’s government braces for Kenya-style protests 2nd July 2024 As anger grows over worsening living conditions and grand corruption, state security battens down the hatches The mass protests in Kenya which forced William Ruto’s government to scrap US$2.4 billion of tax hikes, albeit after 20 citizens lost their lives, have prompted calls for act...
Vol 65 No 14 | GHANA Government pushes better economy story to swing election back to Bawumia 24th June 2024 Private bondholders accept paper losses of some 40% on $13 billion of Eurobonds as Accra officials finalise debt accord Until this month Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia had the unenviable job of running for the presidency as leader of the government’s economic management team which has preside...
Vol 65 No 13 | GHANA Growth boost may speed up debt accord 20th June 2024 Accra has sent proposals to commercial creditors holding $13 billion of bonds after IMF confirms higher industrial outturn A few more lights are flickering at the other end of Ghana’s US$44 billion debt tunnel. First, the country’s gross domestic product grew 4.7% in the first quarter of th... READ FOR FREE
Vol 65 No 13 | GUINEATOGOFRANCE Bolloré back 20th June 2024 France’s Parquet national financier (PNF), the national agency for prosecuting financial crime, has referred the Breton billionaire and media magnate Vincent Bolloré f...
Vol 65 No 13 | SÃO TOMÉ & PRÍNCIPE Turkey’s power boost 20th June 2024 The government has signed concessions to operate its airport and a large power plant with Turkey’s FB Group, prompting speculation about Ankara’s geopolitical ambitions...
Vol 65 No 13 | NIGERIA Battle for presidency splits the Kano emirate 14th June 2024 Political alliances for the 2027 elections are fuelling the contest for the traditional leadership of Kano Two emirs are laying claim to the throne of the Kano Emirate – a 220-year-old stool. On the surface it is just a battle of two cousins but behind the scenes it is a war betwe...