POLITICS-CAMEROON: Church Vows to Exorcise “Demons of Electoral Fraud”

As candidates in Cameroon square up to each other for presidential elections in October, the Catholic Church is doing its best to ensure that the poll will not be an occasion for 'politics as usual' in the West African country.

RIGHTS-NIGERIA: Keeping Children Out of the "Go Slows"

It's a phenomenon that became noticeable in the 1980s, and is now a permanent feature of the urban landscape in Nigeria: children hawking goods on the streets.

ENVIRONMENT-BURKINA FASO: Elephants a Source of Pride and Concern

When Frank Alain Kabore - the manager of a wildlife concession in Burkina Faso - looks back, he recalls that days used to go by without him seeing an elephant in the reserve, a decade ago. Today, he comes across one every 100 metres.

ENVIRONMENT-SENEGAL: The Rubbish Dump That Musn’t Go – And Mustn’t Stay

The stench of the place is evident for miles around. Nonetheless, people of all ages, mostly men, can be seen scurrying around the Mbeubeuss dump site near Senegal's capital, Dakar, salvaging anything that can be sold.

RIGHTS-GUINEA: Trauma of War Resurfaces, Often among Women Refugees

Under a makeshift tent in the Laine refugee camp in southern Guinea, Charlesetta Kollie, a Liberian refugee, buckles down to teach dressmaking to a new group of apprentices.

ENVIRONMENT-SENEGAL: The Law of Unintended Consequences

What started as an urgent attempt to prevent a coastal town from being completely flooded has turned into an environmental headache for authorities in Senegal.

DEVELOPMENT-CAMEROON: Little to Quench the Nation’s Thirst

For people in both rural and urban areas of Cameroon, getting clean drinking water can prove a daily ordeal. Efforts are underway to address this problem – but they’re being regarded with a healthy degree of scepticism by many.

SUSTAINABILITY: Do ‘Water Wars’ Still Loom in Africa?

When water affairs ministers from countries along the Nile met recently to discuss the fate of the river, Boutros Boutros-Ghali was not in the room with them. But the lingering memory of his comment that future wars would be fought over water probably was.

RIGHTS-TOGO: Minister Believes Quantity Equals Quality

Dozens of newspapers, scores of radio stations and five television channels...At first glance, Togo seems like a media junkie’s dream destination. But does being spoilt for choice translate into press freedom?

ECONOMY-SENEGAL: High Stakes at Play in Bid to Privatize National Lottery

International Labour Day may already have come and gone - but workers' rights remain at the top of the agenda in Senegal, where employees of the state-run Senegalese national lottery are poised to fight government's decision to privatize the institution.

MAY DAY-NIGERIA: Pity the Victims of Workplace Accidents

Life on the job in Nigeria can be tough. But, it becomes even harder for those who have the misfortune to sustain injuries in the workplace.

RIGHTS: Cult Students Control the Campus, their Parents Run Nigeria

Omoyele Sowore’s attackers wore red baseball hats and covered their faces.

DEVELOPMENT-CAMEROON: Will New Plans for Agriculture Take Root?

The problems that affect agriculture in Cameroon are dispiritingly familiar: underinvestment in rural areas, limited access to water - and a global trading environment that disadvantages small-scale farmers. Government says it is trying to tackle the situation. But, civil society groups don't necessarily view its efforts with optimism.

POLITICS-NIGERIA: Porous Border Fuelling Gunrunning

Nigeria’s police are cracking down on illegal firearms which, they say, are threatening Africa’s most populous country.

ELECTIONS-SIERRA LEONE: An Election 30 Years in the Making

Local elections aren't a rarity, some would claim. But, they are if you live in Sierra Leone and have not had a say about local councillors in three decades.

POLITICS-LIBERIA: Former Rebels Surrender Weapons in Return for Money

After four months of uncertainty and anxiety, the 15,000-strong UN troops in war-ravaged Liberia this week resumed a six-month campaign to disarm tens of thousands of fighters. The 15-million-dollar exercise is designed to end the country’s 14-year brutal civil war.

RELIGION: Africa Rejects Donations From Churches That Support Gay Unions

Africa’s Anglican archbishops have vowed never to receive donations from western churches which support the ordination of gay priests.

DEVELOPMENT-LIBERIA: Public Frustrations Spark Mob Justice

The guns in Liberia's civil war have been silent for several months now, as the country makes tentative efforts to establish lasting peace. But in many respects, inhabitants of the capital - Monrovia - have simply exchanged one sort of war for another: the battle against criminal activity.

DEVELOPMENT-CAMEROON: Ending Famine Depends on Farm Reform

Food shortage has hit Cameroon, prompting agricultural experts to devise a plan to overhaul the country's farming system.

ECONOMY-GABON: Women Business Managers Few and Far Between

Marie-Julie Nse Ndzime has made a success of her printing company located in Gabon's capital, Libreville - no thanks to anyone else.

WORLD HEALTH DAY: Night Travel in Nigeria Saves Time – But Takes Lives

Okpara Williams says travelling at night along Nigeria's roads is a dangerous affair: "You can never tell whether or not you will get to your destination alive."