By Ziad Hamoui Multilateral Development Banks now account for more than half of Africa’s net financial flows – a 124 percent increase that is fueling one...
The continent has frameworks. What it still lacks is the resilience to survive the next shock.
By Ziad Hamoui Africa controls roughly 30 percent of the world’s mineral reserves. By mid-century, its population will surpass 2.5 billion, making it home to the...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu In mid-2022, West African heads of state made a pragmatic, if uncomfortable, concession. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) lifted...
A new payment partnership between PAPSS and Kenya’s PesaLink is doing what roads and railways alone never could: making intra-African trade genuinely frictionless.
By Ziad Hamoui Building roads is the easy part. The real obstacle to regional trade lies in the invisible infrastructure that no construction crew can fix....
By Fidel Amakye Owusu For decades, Liberia stood as a beacon of stability in West Africa. Then came the late 1980s, when civil war shattered that...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu The proposition that Africa’s fifty-four sovereign nations should negotiate as a single bloc is not radical – it is rational. Continental political...
By Ziad Hamoui When a Nigerian general recently floated the idea of fencing the country’s borders to combat terrorism, the response was swift and unforgiving. Colleagues...
By Mark-Anthony Johnson Can a West African nation plagued by poverty replicate Asia’s most audacious economic miracle? In the pantheon of ambitious national rebranding exercises, few...
By Danilo Desiderio The continent’s ambitious free trade agreement promises to reshape economic integration – but a tangled web of customs unions and political fractures threatens...
By Ziad Hamoui When more than 60 percent of cross-border trade deliberately avoids official channels, something has gone profoundly wrong with our customs systems. Ghana’s first-ever...
By Ziad Hamoui Official trade statistics capture barely a sixth of West Africa’s actual regional food trade. This massive data gap is undermining food security and...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu The Alliance of Sahel States has finally operationalized its founding ambition, but the implications extend far beyond military posturing. What began as...
By Kelly Mua Kingsly Africa proclaims the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as the world’s largest free-trade zone, spanning 1.4 billion people across 54 countries...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu Guinea-Bissau’s military has once again seized power, plunging the small West African nation into yet another cycle of political instability. While this...
By John Kourkoutas In 1880, roughly 90 percent of Africa remained “unclaimed” by European colonial powers. A map from that year shows a continent mostly in...
By Godfred Zina The slow-motion unravelling of West Africa’s established security order has entered a critical new phase. The decision by the junta-led Alliance of Sahel...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu Across Africa, a recurring political drama is playing out: ousted autocrats, even after years in exile, continue to cast long shadows over...
By Godfred Zina In October 2025, two of Africa’s longest-serving leaders – Cameroon’s 92-year-old Paul Biya and Ivory Coast’s 83-year-old Alassane Ouattara – secured yet another...
By Godfred Zina After emerging from the ashes of the 2010–11 post-election violence – a crisis that left over 3,000 dead and deepened national fractures –...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu Last Friday, I arrived in Lomé for the second edition of the Lomé Peace and Security Forum – an event that has...
By Godfred Zina As ballots are tallied in Cameroon and tensions mount ahead of Ivory Coast’s pivotal vote later this month, two of West and Central...
By Kelly Mua Kingsly Across Africa, headlines trumpet fiscal recovery: Debt-to-GDP ratios are declining. Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and Cameroon are all showing signs of stabilization. Commodity...
By Ziad Hamoui In Accra last week, the ECOWAS Commission launched the US$10 million West Africa Livestock Marketing Support Programme (PACBAO-2) – a bold, long-term initiative...
By Godfred Zina Since 2020, Africa has witnessed a chilling resurgence of military coups – each one draped in the rhetoric of “restoring order,” “fighting corruption,”...
By Ziad Hamoui When history looks back on the defining infrastructure projects of 21st-century Africa, the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor will stand out – not as just another...
By Dishant Shah As the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) moves from vision to reality, a pivotal question echoes across boardrooms, policy think tanks, and...
By Danilo Desiderio “To draw legs on a snake” – a Chinese proverb warning against unnecessary embellishment – is more than a cautionary tale about overdesign....
By Fidel Amakye Owusu In 1963, as African nations emerged from colonial rule, Ghana’s visionary leader Kwame Nkrumah made a bold call: the continent needed a...
By Ziad Hamoui In a bold move that could reshape the economic landscape of West Africa, President John Dramani Mahama’s recent address to investors in Singapore...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu As Africa’s security landscape becomes increasingly complex, defense chiefs from across the continent are meeting in Nigeria to address the urgent challenges...
By Ziad Hamoui In the first quarter of 2025, a quiet but transformative shift reshaped Africa’s economic landscape: trade between the East African Community (EAC) and...
By Dishant Shah In an era when African leadership is often scrutinized through the lens of longevity, dynastic politics, or Western approval, one figure has emerged...
By Ziad Hamoui As the September 30, 2025, expiration date of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) approaches, Africa stands at a pivotal economic crossroads...
By Godfred Zina Across Africa, a troubling pattern is emerging – one that threatens the hard-won gains of democratic governance over the past three decades. In...
By Godfred Zina As global powers intensify their competition for influence across Africa, the United States is redefining its approach to the continent – not through...
By Gregory Simpkins The wave of coups in Africa’s western region, including the Sahel, offered hope that Pan-Africanism had taken hold and that neocolonial powers, notably...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu As Liberia once again finds itself in the global spotlight following President Joseph Boakai’s recent visit to the White House, it’s worth...
By Danilo Desiderio The 11th edition of the Assessing Regional Integration in Africa (ARIA XI) report – jointly published by the United Nations Economic Commission for...
By Godfred Zina As Russia expands its influence across the Sahel region, its strategic partnership with Mali has grown significantly stronger. This week, Malian leader Colonel...
By Godfred Zina A year after my initial analysis of Togo’s political trajectory, the nation finds itself at a pivotal juncture. President Faure Gnassingbé, heir to...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu Since rejoining the African Union in 2017, Morocco has steadily expanded its influence across the continent, with a particular focus on West...
By Dishant Shah Africa stands out as the continent with the highest number of regional trade blocs – more than any other part of the world....
By Danilo Desiderio Could the concept of a national “Made in” brand evolve into a unified, continent-wide “Made in Africa” initiative? This question is gaining traction...
By Mary Alorh Regional integration is not just a goal – it is a necessity for both individual subregions and the broader African continent. By fostering...
By Godfred Zina As the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) marks its 50th anniversary, the regional bloc finds itself at a pivotal moment. Despite...
By Godfred Zina In recent years, the democratic landscape in several African nations has deteriorated alarmingly. Authoritarian rule, violent extremism, rampant corruption, human rights abuses, discrimination,...
By Dishant Shah Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have officially withdrawn from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a decision that reshapes the region’s...
By Dishant Shah Africa’s economic landscape is being shaped by eight major Regional Economic Communities (RECs), each striving – sometimes successfully, sometimes not – to drive...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu The decision by three landlocked nations—Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger – to leave the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has...
On Saturday, Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama began a crucial three-day diplomatic mission, kicking off his tour in Bamako, Mali. The visit was marked by a...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu In September 2021, a group of soldiers, led by a senior commander, seized power in Guinea. Their resistance was swift and overwhelming,...
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has officially announced five candidates for its highly anticipated presidential election, set to take place on May 29, 2025. Competing for...
By Dishant Shah In 1975, a bold vision brought together a group of West African nations – what if borders no longer hindered trade, travel, and...
By Godfred Zina The African Union Commission Chairperson elections are scheduled for February 2025, with candidates from Djibouti, Kenya, and Madagascar, following Mauritius’ withdrawal from the...
By Godfred Zina Despite ongoing diplomatic tensions in Africa, 17 heads of state, including Nigerian President and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Chair Bola...
West Africa has been in the news in recent times due to the security challenges it faces. In the north, east, and the eastern half of...
On 24th June 2012, Ghana lost a sitting president for the first time in its existence as a state. That same day, John Mahama, his deputy,...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu Founded in the mid-1970s, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) aimed to advance regional integration, prioritizing economic collaboration over political...
By Mary Alorh Africa’s collective efforts are pivotal in achieving transformative policies like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which aims to streamline the free...
AP | Ghana’s former President John Dramani Mahama is set to return to office in the West African nation’s presidential election after the ruling party candidate,...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu In 2011, amid the Arab Spring uprisings and the fall of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, one of the issues he reportedly raised...
By Danilo Desiderio The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission has officially launched an electronic Certificate of Origin (eCO) to streamline trade processes and...
By Danilo Desiderio All members of the World Trade Organization (WTO), including countries and customs territories, undergo periodic reviews of their trade policies. The frequency of...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu In February, I engaged in a discussion about the evolving security landscape in West Africa with an American business executive based in...
By Danilo Desiderio A recent article from Burundi Eco outlines the status of creating a common currency in the East African Community (EAC). While regional central...
Liberian President Joseph Boakai has raised concerns over the increasing risk of proxy conflicts in West Africa, calling for measures to prevent the region from becoming...
By Godfred Zina Amid growing insecurity and instability in West Africa, Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo unveiled key security strategies at the Second International Defense Exhibition and...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu The Global Terrorism Index, a comprehensive study evaluating the impact of terrorism in 163 countries, covers about 99.7 percent of the world’s...
By Mary Alorh The history of the newly formed Confederation of Sahel States cannot be discussed without acknowledging the impact of colonial rule on these nations....
By Mary Alorh The recent coups in the Sahel region have accelerated the expansion of global powers on the African continent. China and Russia are deepening...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu During the last United Nations General Assembly session, the Guinean leader emphasized that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) should...
By Mary Alorh The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional organization in West Africa, has recently faced challenges due to the formation of...
By Gregory Simpkins For nearly half a century, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), established with the Treaty of Lagos in 1975, has endeavored...
By Godfred Zina On July 6, 2024, the heads of the military juntas from Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso gathered in Niamey for the first meeting...
Reuters | Niger’s junta has agreed to talks with Benin’s government, led by two former Benin presidents, to help restore relations after a coup in Niger...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Republic of Benin spearheaded Africa’s democratic wave, marking a pivotal shift towards civilian rule...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu In 1980, Leopold Senghor, the founding president of Senegal, voluntarily stepped down from power and handed the reins to his prime minister....
By Fidel Amakye Owusu During the Cold War, the West held significant influence in West Africa, particularly through France, which had considerable control over many countries...
The East African Community (EAC) is witnessing a notable transformation in its trading patterns, marked by a growing emphasis on intra-African trade and a corresponding decline...
By Gregory Simpkins Following what has been described as intense negotiations, the U.S. government has agreed to withdraw its drone base from Niger. This base is...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu In mid-2022, leaders from West Africa convened to lift economic and diplomatic sanctions imposed on Mali and Burkina Faso. These measures were...
By Gregory Simpkins When then-Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade congratulated his opponent on his victory and peacefully stepped down following the 2012 election, he was internationally praised...
By Paul Nantulya India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, termed Africa as India’s “sister continent,” in recognition of the long ties of affinity. Since the 1960s,...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu The military junta in Niger has declared an end to its military collaboration with the United States, denouncing the agreement that facilitated...
By Douglas Yates Macky Sall’s legacy as Senegal’s president since 2012 became more complex in his last year in office. The year was so filled with...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu A couple of weeks ago, during the ISOA Africa Conference in Nairobi, I posited the argument that while every coup is a...
AP | The sanctions will be lifted with immediate effect, the president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, Omar Alieu Touray said...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu After the military coup in Niger on July 26, 2023, I was sought by various media platforms where I granted several interviews....
By Fidel Amakye Owusu When the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was established in May 1975, most of the leaders in West Africa were...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu In the 1950s, 60s and 70s, when many countries in West Africa faced political instability and concomitant economic decay, Liberia was one...
By Alan Hirsch President William Ruto of Kenya recently announced that Kenya’s borders would be open to visitors from the entirety of Africa, with no visas...
By Fidel Amakye Owusu Integration in Africa was one of the pressing topics in the 1950s and 1960s. At a point, disagreement over how to achieve...
By Gregory Simpkins Since the coup in Niger last month, sanctions have been levied against the new regime, borders have been closed and now that the...
Africa News | Niger’s military coup leaders announced the appointment of Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine as prime minister on Monday evening in a statement read out...
By Gregory Simpkins The coup virus in Africa continues to infect nations – even those that had seemed somewhat immune. Niger has been considered a beacon...
AFP | West African heads of state on Sunday chose Nigeria’s new President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to lead their regional bloc for the next year, replacing...
AFP | West African leaders agreed on Sunday to create a regional force to intervene against jihadism and in the event of coups, a senior official...
The recent wave of coups in West Africa reflects both a generational divide and a history of military involvement in African politics.
AFP | West African leaders hold a key summit on Thursday as a wave of coups buffet a region struggling with poverty and a long history...
AP | West African neighbor states on Friday suspended Burkina Faso in the aftermath of this week’s coup, making it the third nation in the regional...
AP | Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, the former president of Mali who took office in a landmark election held after a destabilizing coup only to be ousted...
West African community imposes additional sanctions on Mali
Reuters |West Africa’s main political and economic bloc imposed sanctions on Sunday against Mali’s transitional leaders after they informed the organization they would not be able...
West and Central Africa has seen 4 coups since last year
ECOWAS reaffirmed its opposition to any political changes by unconstitutional means and condemn in strongest terms, this coup.
Africa is the second least affected region of the world
Group of 15 West African countries have adopted a new road map to launch a single currency in 2027 after previous plans derailed by COVID-19 pandemic.
By Mohammed Momoh Capital markets in Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) region are working towards integration by the first quarter of 2016. The rationale...
I wish, at the very outset, to express appreciation to the African Union Commission for, firstly, inviting me to this meeting of the High Level African...
Ghana’s President John Mahama has asked African leaders to prepare a coordinated plan to defeat al-Qaeda-linked Islamist militants like the al-Shabaab in Kenya and Boko Haram...
West African states should re-open their borders and end flight bans put in place to halt the spread of Ebola, the Economic Community of West African...
Officials from the Keita administration in Mali government will meet with representatives of Tuareg separatist movement in Algiers on July 16, indicating progress in their stalled...
Heads of State and government in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) plan to meet at an extraordinary summit in the Ghanaian capital, Accra...
The Ghana Shippers Authority has threatened to drag Ivory Coast to the ECOWAS Secretariat if it fails to allow cargo trucks from Ghana into its country,...
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has formally launched the Liberia National Trade Policy 2014-2019 and the Liberia National Export Strategy 2014-2019 which outlines government’s strategy for creating...
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is cautiously optimistic that Guinea Bissau’s elections scheduled for Sunday will be transparent, free and fair, says Sonny...
Ghana President John Mahama has been elected Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). President Mahama, who takes over from Ivorian President Allasane...
Côte d’Ivoire will help Cape Verde improve its integration in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the former country’s Minister of Foreign Relations has...
Officials in Mali have revealed that many of Mali’s 147 parliamentary seats will be decided in a runoff next month following a first-round vote on Sunday...
Ask anyone with insider knowledge of Africa’s regional economic communities – and they will tell you that most of the issues keeping Africa apart are not...
(Reuters) – West African leaders on Thursday called for a regional military operation against al-Qaeda-linked rebels in north Mali to be transformed into a U.N. peacekeeping...
(AFP) – The emergency summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional bloc has called on member states and Chad, which has pledged...
The Ghana Export Promotion Authority has rolled out a geographical mapping of companies to create a database for a national product trace-ability system, as the country...
(Reuters) – The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has called an extraordinary summit in Ivory Coast to discuss the military campaign against al-Qaeda linked...
(Reuters) – West African states are preparing to send troops to Mali as an international campaign to eject al-Qaeda-linked elements who have seized the north of...
The U.N. Security Council on Thursday authorized military action to wrest northern Mali from the control of al-Qaeda-linked extremists but demanded progress first on political reconciliation,...
Immediate Past Mali Prime Minister Cheikh Modibo Diarra The prime minister of Mali Cheikh Modibo Diarra has resigned. Diarra, went on TV at 4 a.m. to...
Ghana President John Dramani Mahama. PHOTO/Issouf Sanogo/AFP AP – President John Dramani Mahama on Sunday was declared the winner of Ghana’s presidential election, despite widespread technical...
A West African summit on Sunday agreed on a military force of 3,300 troops with a one-year mandate to wrest control of northern Mali from Islamist...
West African nations on Friday plotted military force against “terrorist groups” in Islamist-occupied northern Mali as regional foreign and defence ministers met on a strategy to...
High-level delegations from the West African bloc – the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the the United Nations met with Malian leaders Friday...
The U.N. Security Council on Friday unanimously approved a plan to back an African-led military force to help the Mali army oust Islamic militants who seized...
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which has been trying to broker an end to the political crisis in Mali will secretly deploy regional...
The president of the West African bloc of nations said Monday it “can no longer hesitate” to combat terrorism and criminality in northern Mali, which was...
The current chair of the African Union, Benin President Boni Yayi, said Friday West African nations would soon meet on strategies to intervene in Mali, where...
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said that regional troops would definitely intervene in Islamist-occupied northern Mali if negotiations with the extremists failed to yield a solution. “Diplomacy...
Interim Mali President.,Dioncounda Traoré. PHOTO/File In his first address to the nation since returning home from hospital, the interim president of Mali, said that he “fully...
The Ivory Coast president says military intervention in Mali is “inevitable” within weeks, if there’s no quick change in the West African country where Islamist extremists...
Mali was “preparing all options” to retake the Islamist-occupied north of the country and national consultations were being prepared to form a government of national unity,...
Senegal has withdrawn a commitment to contribute troops for a regional ECOWAS intervention in Mali. Senegal President Macky Sall communicated the decision during a visit to...
West Africa leaders meet in Burkina Faso on Saturday with civil leaders from Mali amid moves to create a government of national unity to tackle a...
The Economic Community of West African states (ECOWAS) is urging the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution that would authorize any military action it takes...
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) says it will investigate who is responsible for allowing Monday’s attack on Mali’s president to happen. ECOWAS, expressed...
West African mediators wrapped up their mission to Mali on Monday, after securing their choice for transition president by offering the leader of a March coup...
The chief negotiator for the economic community of West African States (ECOWAS) says the junta in Mali has accepted that the current interim president will stay...
The first wave of troops from the West African regional bloc – the economic community of West African states (ECOWAS) have landed in Guinea-Bissau to try...
West Africa’s regional bloc – the economic community of West African states (ECOWAS) threatened Monday to re-impose sanctions on Mali, saying that the junta’s actions “appear...
The coup leaders in Guinea-Bissau and west African mediators agreed on Friday that parliamentary speaker Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo will lead a transition government, ruling out the...
West African regional bloc – the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) announced Tuesday that it has imposed sanctions on Guinea-Bissau after talks in Gambia...
Gunfire echoed across Bamako on Tuesday as Mali government troops battled each other, with one side trying to oust soldiers who seized power in a coup...
Political parties met with Guinea-Bissau’s military junta Sunday in an attempt to reach a political solution days after soldiers arrested the prime minister in the tiny...
Mali Interim President.,Dioncounda Traore. PHOTO/File Mali’s new interim president took office Thursday, returning the country to civilian rule three weeks after mutinous soldiers overthrew the nation’s...
The body representing West African nations has imposed severe financial sanctions on Mali, after a 72-hour deadline elapsed and the soldiers that recently seized power failed...
The junior officer who grabbed power in a coup last week said Friday he plans to hold free elections and rapidly return Mali to its established...
Negotiations between Mali’s military junta and four West African presidents seeking to restore the country’s elected government will take place in Ivory Coast, after the plane...
Several thousand people took to the streets of Mali’s capital, Bamako, Wednesday in support of last week’s military takeover and a new constitution hastily written by...
Soldiers stormed the presidential palace and announced Thursday that they had seized control of the country, ousting the president of Mali just one month before he...
Ghana’s Vice President John Dramani Mahama has urged leaders of the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) sub-region to demonstrate more commitment towards the integration...
Former Nigeria President Olesegun Obasanjo The Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) Heads of State and Government has approved the appointment of former Nigerian President,...
Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire) President Alassane Ouattara‘s party won a parliamentary majority in Sunday’s elections, the chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission said early Friday. The...
A branch of Ecobank in Nairobi, Kenya. As the aircraft floats across the landscape of West Africa, one notices ruler-straight earth roads stretching as far as...
