POLITICS-CAMEROON: Another Seven Years for the “Absentee Captain”

A distinct sense of "déjà vu" surrounds the announcement this week of results for Cameroon’s presidential poll, held Oct. 11.

SIERRA LEONE: Doubts About the Effectiveness of Anti-Corruption Institutions

Corruption. The word has a particular resonance in Sierra Leone, where endemic graft helped lay the ground for a brutal civil war that raged for much of the 1990s.

DEVELOPMENT: An Ambitious Agenda for the Helsinki Process

Their typical day starts at five in the morning or earlier. Balancing a pot on their heads – and sometimes with a baby strapped to their backs – women in rural Africa may walk up to 12 kilometres a day to fetch water.

ENERGY-NIGER: From Wood to Coal in an Effort to Stop Deforestation

The competition between energy and environmental needs in Niger has taken centre stage of late, with authorities seeking to promote the use of coal in a bid to halt deforestation in the North African country.

ECONOMY-BENIN: Cotton Firm Treads a Tortuous Path to Privatisation

The privatisation of state-owned enterprises is often fraught with difficulties – witness developments at Benin’s National Society for Agricultural Advancement (Société nationale pour la promotion agricole, SONAPRA), a cotton-processing firm.

ECONOMY-NIGERIA: Rebel Leader – Voice for the Masses, or Skilled Opportunist?

"The Nigerian government cannot protect all the oil pipelines in the Niger delta. If somebody says that they can protect all the pipelines that criss-cross the Niger delta, the person is a liar or maybe he does not know...the area," says Alhaji Mujahid Dokubu-Asari, leader of the rebel Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force.

HEALTH-SENEGAL: Adverts Spark Debate on Traditional Medicine

A Nigerian traditional healer who goes by the name of "Papa Magic Pot" may appear more comical than threatening. However, he and several other Nigerian healers have caused consternation in Senegal.

POLITICS-CAMEROON: So Many Candidates, So Little Enthusiasm

Voting began Monday for presidential elections in Cameroon, where initial reports say the response to the poll has been lacklustre.

HEALTH-BURKINA FASO: Activism Clashes With Tradition

Government and civil society representatives from around the world met in Kenya recently to debate how best to end female genital mutilation - a laudable effort. However, a case in Burkina Faso has exposed the limitations of their campaign.

HEALTH: UNICEF Urges Greater Commitment to Reducing Child Mortality

First, the good news: while nearly one in five children was dying before the age of five in the early 1960s, this figure had dropped to less than one in 12 by 2002.

HEALTH-GABON: Meat Ban Ruffles Feathers

The re-emergence of avian influenza in Asia, and an outbreak of the disease in South Africa, have put agricultural authorities in those countries on high alert.

EDUCATION: Lessons For Providing Adequate Schooling in Africa

Various African governments received a stinging rebuke this week for failing to live up to promises to improve children’s education in their countries.

HEALTH-NIGERIA: Taking the Knife to Burn Deformities

An exploding kerosene lantern brought life as Jude Ogbogbo knew it to an abrupt halt, when he was seven years old. "I lit the lantern and I was about to climb a staircase when it exploded. The kerosene splashed all over my body and I was covered in flames," he recalled in an interview with IPS.

POLITICS-CAMEROON: A Vote for Computerization

With the countdown to presidential elections in Cameroon gathering pace, it might be assumed that officials there are simply putting the finishing touches to polling systems and procedures. However, a fierce debate is underway about computerization of the voting process.

ENVIRONMENT: Illegal Gold Mining Ruining Rural Nigeria

Disused pits dug by illegal gold miners dot the expanse of land which once served as farmland. Before the gold rush, the villagers in this sprawling farming community, called Igun, used to produce cash crops like cocoa, coffee and cola nuts.

RIGHTS-LIBERIA: Women Demand Greater Participation in Politics

With general elections slated for next year, Liberian women - staunch advocates for peace in their homeland - are demanding greater participation in their country’s male-dominated politics.

RIGHTS-AFRICA: Female Genital Mutilation in the Spotlight

Difficult to speak about and dreadful to endure, female genital mutilation is taking a toll on the women of Africa.

POLITICS-AFRICA: The Continental Legislature Puts Down Roots

It was a telling incident. While several religious leaders were invited to say a prayer at Thursday's opening of the Pan-African Parliament's second sitting, an imam was not amongst them.

HEALTH: New Drug Formulas Needed for Children With AIDS

With HIV-infected children dying much faster than adults – shockingly, one-half by their second birthday – doctors are scrambling to design new treatment protocols that work even in the most resource-poor settings.

POLITICS: Soldiers of Fortune Likely to Roam Africa for Some Time

Debate about the role played by mercenaries in Africa has been revived in recent months, following the arrest and subsequent sentencing of 68 men accused of plotting to overthrow Teodoro Obiang Nguema: president of the tiny, oil-rich state of Equatorial Guinea.

LABOUR-NIGERIA: Modified, a Union Bill Still Gives Cause for Concern

Controversy over a bill to amend Nigeria’s trade union laws surfaced again this week, when a modified version of the measure was passed by the country’s senate.