In his first book, Mark Weston has given himself the challenge of observing the daily life of people in three of the world’s poorest countries: Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone and Burkina Faso. I was fascinated by the journey that Weston and

Read the rest of The Ringtone and the Drum: travels in the world’s poorest countries – By Francesca Washtell »

On 17 November Sierra Leoneans will go to the polls in presidential, parliamentary and local elections. Over a decade ago, after years of turmoil and unrest, Sierra Leoneans were encouraged to embrace democracy as the means of restoring peace and

Read the rest of Sierra Leone: elections are a chance to ride the wave of economic development and democracy – By Peter Penfold »

The conviction of Charles Taylor is certainly some kind of justice. Many in Sierra Leone will feel that their suffering has been acknowledged by the international community. In Liberia many others will rejoice while some will grumble that Taylor, the

Read the rest of Charles Taylor Verdict – Is There Justice in Africa? By Michael Keating »

Tomorrow in The Hague the judges in what has been one of the lengthiest and most unusual legal battles ever to have been fought on the international stage are due to deliver the verdict on a man who over the

Read the rest of Charles Taylor: the long Wait for Justice Almost at an End – By Colin Waugh »

A principal quality that analysts of African business and politics need is humility. Events in North Africa in 2011 must have led to some uncomfortable questions between firms and their risk advisors – I have yet to see any end-2010

Read the rest of Political risk in Africa: predicting the unpredictable – by Jolyon Ford at Oxford Analytica. »

Interest in West African oil acreage has steadily increased in recent years and governments along the Gulf of Guinea have sought to benefit. Sierra Leone is no exception in that regard. On 29 December 2011, authorities announced the launch of

Read the rest of Oil: Sierra Leone calling all Takers – By Nana Ampofo, Songhai Advisory »

Colin Waugh is the author of “Charles Taylor and Liberia: Ambition and Atrocity in Africa’s Lone Star State” published next week in the UK by Zed books. Liberians have gone to the polls in an election which is already mired

Read the rest of Taylor Trial outcome: Liberian democracy still hampered by constitution – By Colin Waugh »

Last week the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14495242) reported on a scandal at the once respected Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone. It seems that students were unable to take their final exams because the University had simply run out of paper. What

Read the rest of Sierra Leone Paper Scandal Underscores Plight of African Universities – Michael Keating »