Efforts towards comprehensive reform of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry are in tatters some five years after the first version of the Petroleum Industry Bill was presented to Parliament. After several redrafts the PIB is still on the floor of the National
24th May 2013

Africa Confidential has discovered the whereabouts of one of the key financiers and middlemen who worked for the Liberian ex-President and convicted war criminal Charles Taylor during the Sierra Leonean civil war. Ibrahima Bah aka General Abraham or Ib
10th May 2013

Transcripts from the Special Court on Sierra Leone’s trial of Charles McArthur Ghankay Taylor contain copious evidence about the central role of Ibrahima Bah in diamond trading and arms supply under the heading ‘The Role of Intermediaries’. ‘The witness
10th May 2013

The SWAPO government has turned down a request from a Chinese state-backed company for unlimited numbers of work permits. Eastern China Non-Ferrous Metals Investment Holding (ECE) is developing a new iron-ore mine and steel plant as part of Namibia’s Visi
4th Apr 2013

Last year was not the year it was meant to be for Sierra Leone’s economy. The International Monetary Fund initially predicted growth at a staggering 51.4%. As the months passed that figure dwindled dropping first to 35.9% and later to around 20%. That i
15th Mar 2013

Only several months after President Ernest Bai Koroma’s re-election are the winners and losers in the post-electoral division of spoils becoming clear. Most prominent among them is Usman Boie Kamara the new Minister of Trade and Industry. He was Julius M
15th Feb 2013

The birthday party didn’t go according to plan. It was billed as a summit to celebrate 50 years of the African Union and its predecessor the Organisation of African Unity and to promote an African Renaissance and Pan-Africanism. Then reality intervened
1st Feb 2013

According to a leaked management report from September 2010 some 75% of the Libyan Investment Authority’s assets were in Europe 14% in North America and the remaining 11% in emerging markets. It is not clear how much was invested in Africa although the
18th Jan 2013

‘Serious concerns’ about the management of funds granted by the Global Alliance for Vaccinations and Immunisations (GAVI) to a health programme in Sierra Leone is causing embarrassment for Zainab Bangura the United Nations Special Representative for Sex
18th Jan 2013

The Indian National Congress and Manmohan Singh will try to hang on until general elections are called in mid-2014 at the latest. With corruption fuelling the public’s anger the government is focused on its reformist efforts and on making investments to
15th Jan 2013