The 18 December referendum is meant to establish a new constitution, prepare for national elections in 2006, signal the end of the traumatic civil war and speed economic...

European Union envoy Aldo Ajello calls its the 'Cinderella effect'. Congo's well-heeled generals and politicians fear that the elections - like the chimes of midnight for Cinderella -...

The oil on which President Omar Bongo built his power is starting to run out but he carries on as usual after 38 years in the job (AC...

The 15 November arrest in Senegal of Chad's ex-President Hissène Habré may lead to the first trial abroad of a dictator. 'Fear is finally changing sides', a lawyer...

The big cleanup is on hold. In May, a parliamentary committee delivered its report on state contracts signed during the civil wars of 1996-97 and 1998-2003. The report...

As the elections loom, the government's grip on economic policy loosens and questions about accountability multiply. Some of the European Union countries bankrolling next year's elections want much...

Two weeks after flying home to bury his late wife Jacqueline, former Prime Minister Bernard Kolélas is under house arrest in central Brazzaville, guarded by government soldiers and...

The Paris office of Point Presse Afrique, an agency hired by Zacharie Myboto, was burgled on 24 September, for the third time since May. Computer files were stolen....

As usual, the lawyers emerged as the real winners after the failed coup against President Teodoro Obiang Nguema in March 2004 (AC Vol 46 Nos 8 & 9)....

On 4 October the Post newspaper of Cameroon published a front-page story alleging corrupt links between Social Democratic Front leader Ni John Fru Ndi and President Paul Biya....

The troubled Sengamines diamond operation is back where it started six years ago when a group of Gulf Arab businessmen and Zimbabwean generals carved out a chunk of...

Militant supporters of veteran oppositionist Étienne Tshisekedi wa Malumba want to turn Independence Day on 30 June into Revolution Day. Their cause: outright opposition to the government's plan...

Martin Ziguélé's gracious acceptance of defeat on 25 May may help avert potential conflicts after the decisive 65 per cent victory of General François Bozizé in the second...

Reports that Severo Moto Nsa, self-styled leader of Equatorial Guinea's Madrid-based government-in-exile, has surfaced in Croatia, are unlikely to stop the feverish speculation about what he's been doing...

The political rows over the constitution and the consequent delays are threatening the electoral timetable and the transitional government's stability. In theory, elections are to be held in...

Equatorial Guinea has failed to obtain disclosure of documents it needs for its case against the alleged coup plotters of March 2004. British firm Penningtons, legal advisors to...

General François Bozizé's transformation from coup leader to bringer of democracy in the 13 March elections is a textbook guide for putschists. Since seizing power two years ago,...

Since last year's muddled coup attempt involving British citizens (including Sir Mark Thatcher), Britain's relations with Equatorial Guinea have been cool. President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo seems to...

An International Monetary Fund mission to Kinshasa in mid-February led by Cyrille Briançon is to give the government a pass-mark and recommend that the final tranche of its...

When President Gnassingbé Eyadéma's son Faure Gnassingbé inherited Togo's presidency, Gabonese watched closely. Now President Omar Bongo Ondimba, 69, is Africa's longest-serving head of state. He came to...

Logistical obstacles and political arguments surround the transitional government's decision to postpone national elections, due in June and now put off by at least six months. Commercial interests...

South African prosecutors are pressing ahead with investigations into the Equatorial Guinea coup saga following their plea bargain deal with Mark Thatcher, which was ratified in Cape Town's...

It is election year again in Gabon and there is no doubt who will win: President Omar Bongo Ondimba, who has presided over the now declining oil power...

Of Gabon's 35 registered political parties, 29 belong to the presidential majority in what President Omar Bongo calls his 'convivial democracy'.

The announcement that the elections are to be postponed by at least six months has sparked a new wave of political unrest from all sides. Few would argue...

President Idriss Déby is on the campaign trail for a referendum on changing the constitution to give him a third term in office. Many of the gifts he...