Vol 5 (AAC) No 1 | INDIAWEST AFRICABRIEFING Indian mining houses struggle for contracts 10th November 2011 India-linked mining companies have had less luck than their Chinese counterparts in breaking into the West African market, arriving later on the scene than Chinese companies. However, a...
Vol 52 No 21 | WEST AFRICAPIRACY From Delta militias to piracy 21st October 2011 The amnesty deal in the Niger Delta seems to have driven the gangsters offshore in pursuit of seaborne business opportunities Governments and oil companies were sufficiently alarmed by the spate of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea to call for help from the United Nations Security Council (AC...
Vol 52 No 8 | CÔTE D'IVOIREWEST AFRICA A resolution in Abidjan 15th April 2011 The military ousting of Gbagbo will have repercussions across Africa The armed eviction of Laurent Gbagbo from the Ivorian presidency by a coalition of opposition, United Nations and French forces together with the organisation of national elections in...
Vol 51 No 11 | WEST AFRICAINTERNATIONAL DRUG TRADE Dealers on a high 28th May 2010 Stricter policing makes little impact on the flourishing cocaine trade, so it may be better to target the money launderers who handle the proceeds The quantity of illegal drugs seized in Africa has been falling. However, that indicates not the success of anti-trafficking policies but the increasing skill of the traffickers in...
Vol 50 No 7 | LIBYAWEST AFRICAMIGRATION Aller-retour 3rd April 2009 Huge numbers of West Africans hope to make a living abroad but find barriers in neighbouring countries and the rich West The loss of more than 200 lives on 30 March, when a ship carrying African migrants to Europe sank off the coast of Libya, prompted calls for rich...
Vol 50 No 1 | WEST AFRICA Before and after the voting 9th January 2009 Ghana’s close-fought but well-run election will set a new standard for competitive politics in Africa NIGERIA: Reform and unrest The Supreme Court’s validation of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s contentious 2007 election victory will do little to stabilise Nigeria’s fractious politics. The battle...
Vol 2 (AAC) No 12 | CHINAWEST AFRICA Abuja writes the playbook, Beijing brings the players 19th October 2009 Who is fooling whom in the scheming over oil and gas reserves? On the face of it, the speculation that China could take over US$50 billion worth of Nigeria's oil reserves currently licensed to Western oil majors is on the outer reaches...
Vol 49 No 6 | WEST AFRICA Cocaine coast 14th March 2008 Ghana, Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania were singled out as key locations for drugs transhipments by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime's (UNODC) report for 2008. Diplomatic sources...
Vol 49 No 1 | WEST AFRICA Kingmakers and charlatans 11th January 2008 Nigeria’s presidential contenders head for the courts while Ghana’s political veterans head for the hustings A difficult year lies ahead for Nigerians as the political class manoeuvres for advantage in the aftermath of the chaotically rigged elections of April 2007. Legal chicanery, political...
Vol 49 No 1 | WEST AFRICA From war to peace 11th January 2008 Hopes are high that two of West Africa’s most war-devastated states – Liberia and Sierra Leone – will both see substantial turnarounds in 2008. Both governments have in...