The pan-African magazine of choice since 2009
Nigeria was once a leader among African nations, using its size and oil wealth to end civil wars and restore democracy in several countries on the continent. But that status has been washed away by persistent poverty, corruption, and inept governments. Sheriff Folarin writes. The traditional leadership and redeemer posture of Nigeria in Africa has …
The COVID-19 pandemic has been catastrophic for Nigeria’s film industry, halting production and shuttering theaters. A quarter of the one million people it employs could lose their jobs, and making new films has been hindered by the requirement that actors stay six feet apart. Abraham Achirga and Alexi Akwagyiram report. Nigeria’s film industry is creeping …
In March 2018, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition-party leader Raila Odinga announced a pact to work together. The agreement, a surprise because Odinga had claimed the presidency after the disputed 2017 election, represents an alliance between the elites of two of the country’s largest ethnic groups. But like similar arrangements in the past, it …
In this wide-ranging interview in July, John Dramani Mahama, Ghana’s former president and leader of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), explains why he finds it necessary to run again for president. The “poor performance,” as Mahama puts it, of the government of President Nana Akufo-Addo and the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) necessitates its …
Cote d’Ivoire President Alassane Ouattara says he would seek re-election in October, formally accepting the ruling party’s nomination to be its candidate and defying opponents who say the constitution forbids a third term. Ouattara, who has governed since 2011, said in March he would not run again. But his preferred successor, then-prime minister Amadou Gon …
Former Ghana President John Mahama has chosen Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman as his running mate for this year’s election, making her the first woman on a major Ghanaian party’s presidential ticket. The Dec. 7 poll will pit Mahama against his successor, President Nana Akufo-Addo, who defeated him in the 2016 election. Opoku-Agyeman, 69, is a former …
Yahya Jammeh, former Gambian president, used bribery proceeds and stolen government funds to buy a mansion in a suburb of Washington, D.C. American authorities allege in a lawsuit seeking to seize the property. The west African nation’s longtime dictator conspired to launder roughly US$3.5 million in “corruption proceeds” through the purchase of a lavish home …
Guinea’s ruling party has nominated President Alpha Conde to stand for a third term, taking advantage of a new constitution to circumvent a two-term limit for presidents. Conde, 82, stopped short of formally accepting the nomination in a speech in July. Talk of him running again has sparked widespread protests that have killed at least …
Malawi’s new president, Lazarus Chakwera, has pledged to clamp down on corruption, as he delivered his inauguration speech in a scaled-down ceremony dampened by a surge in COVID-19 cases. Chakwera unseated former leader Peter Mutharika in a June 23 re-run election after the 2019 polls were overturned by a court, citing irregularities. The ruling echoed …
An independent review has found that the African Development Bank (AfDB) rightly cleared its president, Akinwumi Adesina, of abuse of office, paving the way for him to seek a second term. Whistleblowers in January accused Adesina, who has held the AfDB’s top job since 2015, of abuses of office, including favoritism in hiring fellow Nigerians …