Vol 63 No 5 | SIERRA LEONE Formidable first lady flexes her muscles 3rd March 2022 Her critics in the ruling party accuse Fatima Bio of plotting to push out Vice-President Jalloh. That could cost votes in next year's elections To some, First Lady Fatima Bio is a strong, astute politician in her own right, but to others a bully who may have overstepped her bounds in the party and State House and has her e...
Vol 63 No 5 | NIGER Bazoum prepares to fight on two fronts 2nd March 2022 The President is welcoming European troops expelled from Mali while using development projects to counter anti-French sentiment Among the leaders in the Sahel, President Mohamed Bazoum faces the widest array of opponents from local activists hostile to France's presence to the jihadist insurgents trying to ...
Vol 63 No 5 | NIGERSAHEL Terrorisme sans frontières 2nd March 2022 The relocation of European troops from Mali to Niger holds political risks for President Bazoum but may avert a wider security breakdown Geography helps explain why President Mohamed Bazoum overcame his initial reluctance to host European and French troops after they were expelled from Mali this month. Bazoum unders...
Vol 63 No 5 | GHANA Activists rally against E-Levy as government launches consultations 18th February 2022 Ruling party prepares for fight with civil society and opposition over new electronic transaction tax When police in Tema charged Oliver Barker-Vormawor, a convener of the #FixTheCountry movement, with treason felony on 11 February, they fuelled a wider civil society campaign again...
Vol 63 No 4 | GHANA Ofori-Atta bets on the E-Levy, rejects IMF 17th February 2022 Locked out of the markets and hit by ratings downgrades, the government is trying to supercharge revenues and hack away at spending As Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and his Treasury team rule out any resort to the International Monetary Fund on nationalist grounds, they are taking a different set of political...
Vol 63 No 4 | GUINEA BISSAU Who was behind the failed power grab? 17th February 2022 The President of Africa's pre-eminent narco-state says he was targeted by drug gangs, but his own record is patchy The President of Guinea Bissau's claims about a failed putsch against him leave many questions unanswered. Around lunchtime on 1 February a group of armed men clad in sweatshirts s...
Vol 63 No 4 | NIGERIA New bankers' ramp 17th February 2022 A few days after Africa Confidential reported on the power of financiers in Nigerian politics, a couple of colourful election prospectuses extolling the virtues of African Developm...
Vol 63 No 4 | BENINMALIEUROPEAN UNIONSAHEL France moves out of Mali 16th February 2022 European governments are rethinking military plans in the Sahel ahead of the grand summit between the African Union and the EU African and European officials have agreed to move the centre for counter-insurgency operations in the Sahel from Mali to Niger but questions remain about how to manage the logisti...
Vol 63 No 3 | NIGERIA Bankers circle the presidency 3rd February 2022 The country’s military is over-stretched and few trust the political class but its financiers are projecting power like never before As the race for next year's presidential elections heats up, two political outsiders have been named as contenders with support by some in the top ranks of President Muhammadu Buha...
Vol 63 No 3 | SENEGAL Sall sags at polls 3rd February 2022 The die is not cast for President Macky Sall and his Benno Bokk Yaakar (BBY) coalition, as June's legislative elections loom. But the 23 January local polls show they now face seri...
