Vol 64 No 18 | NIGER Toxic times for uranium 7th September 2023 Investment in future uranium mining operations was already on hold before Niger's July military coup, contrary to reports that the problems followed the coup, industry executives have told...
Vol 64 No 18 | MALI As Bamako pushes out the UN, Islamists seize new opportunities 4th September 2023 The junta and its Wagner Group allies are reopening battles with the former separatists as they race to take over the UN's bases After a decade of the UN's 15,000-strong peacekeeping force operating in northern Mali, the region is adapting to its sudden departure. Two threats stand out: the insurgent Islamist...
Vol 64 No 18 | SIERRA LEONE President Bio taps Trump ally as security worries grow 31st August 2023 Government hires US lobbyists after election dispute escalates and senior military officers are arrested United States defence consultant Jerry Torres has struck an agreement with Julius Maada Bio that he says will make him National Security Advisor to the newly re-elected President...
Vol 64 No 17 | NIGERWEST AFRICA General Tiani opens the bidding 24th August 2023 After calling regional leaders' bluff over military action, Niamey's putschists say they are ready to negotiate Serious negotiations to take Niger forward from the crisis born of the 26 July coup are at last under way after the Niamey putschists met with the envoys...
Vol 64 No 17 | NIGERIA Pushback tests Tinubu's tilt to the market 24th August 2023 Anger on the streets is mounting in the wake of spiralling food and fuel Hailed by bankers and foreign investors, President Bola Tinubu's decisions to end fuel subsidies and float the naira have collided with reality. The measures are fuelling the highest...
Vol 64 No 17 | NIGERIABRITAIN Courting Diezani 24th August 2023 Under investigation by Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) for a decade, Nigeria's former oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke was charged on 22 August with several bribery offences. Alison-Madueke has...
Vol 64 No 17 | SÃO TOMÉ & PRÍNCIPE Torture claims hit Trovoada 24th August 2023 The publication of a letter from the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) to Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada condemning human rights violations following last November's failed assault...
Vol 64 No 17 | GHANA Government stonewalling on corruption comes under fire 21st August 2023 Worsening financial strictures and revenue shortfalls are adding to the urgency of independent calls for tougher action against state skulduggery As investigations multiply into conflicts of interests in state agencies, lawyers and rights activists are accusing the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government of covering up malfeasance. Their calls...
Vol 64 No 17 | NIGERTOGO President Faure secretly helps the Niamey junta 18th August 2023 While publicly opposing the Niger junta, Lomé is offering it support amid reports that the Wagner Group is operating in northern Togo President Faure Gnassingbé's government is assisting the Niger junta to consolidate power, Africa Confidential has learned, although as a member of the Economic Community of West African States...
Vol 64 No 17 | NIGER Niamey's junta thumbs its nose 12th August 2023 Beyond ignoring military threats and reshuffling the army command, the ruling generals lack a strategy In another show of insouciance, the Niamey junta named a new team of ministers a few hours before West African leaders met in Abuja on 10 August to...