Analysis – Confusion reigns ahead of Tunisia vote
TUNIS (Reuters)- – After standing up to beatings, imprisonment and snipers with orders to kill, Tunisia’s revolutionaries are facing a new threat on the path to democracy: confusion.
With elections less than two months away, residents in the cradle of the Arab Spring are showing signs of bewilderment in a revolution they had hoped would create jobs and ease poverty but which has instead spawned scores of political parties and a transition process with no end in sight.
Sonatel profits drop as Mali tax break ends
DAKAR, Aug 11 (Reuters) – Senegalese telecommunications
group Sonatel said on Thursday net profits dropped by 20 percent
during the first half of 2011 due largely to the end of a tax
holiday it enjoyed in Mali, though revenues rose.
Net profits totalled 75.4 billion CFA francs ($164 million)
during the period, from 94.5 billion CFA a year earlier, the
company said in a release.
Will Guinea accept Konate’s gift?
One of the first things you see when you arrive at the airport in Conakry is a poster of General Sekouba Konate, wearing fatigues, sunglasses and a red beret.
Drive into the city, and interspersed among the campaign billboards that cover the sides of major roadways, you’ll see more Konate posters – including one bearing the words “Sentinel de la Paix”, bringer of peace.
Guinea’s election – press conferences or scrums?
It remains to be seen if either candidate in Guinea’s presidential election knows how to run a country.
But after Sunday’s run-off election, during which the candidates wanted to say a few words to journalists after casting their ballots, it is clear that neither knows how to run a press conference.
Early voting peaceful in Guinea election
CONAKRY, Nov 7 (Reuters) – Guineans voted peacefully on
Sunday in the decisive second round of a presidential election
aimed at returning the country to civilian rule, with no early
reports of trouble after a campaign marked by ethnic tension.
The election is the mineral-producing West African state’s
first free vote since independence from France in 1958 and, if
it passes smoothly, could improve stability in a fragile
neighbourhood known as Africa’s “coup belt”.
Guineans vote in presidential run-off
CONAKRY (Reuters) – Guineans used to decades of authoritarian rule went to the polls to on Sunday to elect a president in the West African state’s first free election since independence from France in 1958.
The run-off vote, if it passes peacefully, could mark a turning point for the minerals-rich country and bolster efforts to develop democracy in Africa’s “coup belt.”
Guineans set to vote in presidential run-off
CONAKRY (Reuters) – Guineans used to decades of harsh authoritarian rule elect a president Sunday in the West African state’s first free elections since independence from France in 1958.
The run-off poll, if it passes peacefully, could mark a turning point for the minerals-rich country and bolster efforts to develop democracy in Africa’s “coup belt.”
Key political risks in the Gulf of Guinea
DAKAR, Oct 1 (Reuters) – A stretch of West Africa’s coast
spanning more than a dozen countries, the Gulf of Guinea is a
growing source of oil, cocoa and metals to world markets.
But rising rates of piracy, drug smuggling, and lingering
political uncertainty in an area ravaged by civil wars and coups
have made it a challenging destination for investors seeking to
benefit from the massive resources.
Snap analysis: Guinea vote delay risks raising tensions
DAKAR (Reuters) – Guinean authorities said on Wednesday a presidential run-off would be delayed by as much as two weeks because of organizational failings, a move some fear could trigger unrest.
The poll is meant to complete a transition to civilian rule in the junta-led West African bauxite exporter and could be its best chance at ending an era of harsh authoritarian rule since independence from France in 1958.
Equatorial Guinea’s PR crisis
Four months into a public relations offensive, Equatorial Guinea is still struggling to get good press.
The government of the tiny West African state, eager to shake a reputation as one of the most corrupt and repressive on the planet, hired a high-powered U.S. communications firm Qorvis in May in the hope of rebranding itself as a progressive nation and a good place to do business.
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