West Africa Archive

Earlier this month, Guinea-Bissau’s political factions agreed to a six-point roadmap to form a consensus government and end more than a year of deadlock. Although the ambitious plan is a positive step toward ending the small West African country’s political crisis, the deal is unlikely to overcome the deep divisions within Guinea-Bissau’s parliament or address the fundamental drivers of instability. Moreover, the planned withdrawal of an Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) peacekeeping mission in mid-2017 will allow Guinea-Bissau’s military to play a greater role in politics, raising the possibility of a coup in the next two years. Guinea-Bissau’s […]

In this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, and host Peter Dörrie discuss global violence and discrimination against women, the political crisis in Guinea-Bissau, and the need to give Syrian refugees the right to work. For the Report, Ernest Nti Acheampong joins us to talk about how young entrepreneurs are driving economic growth in Africa. Listen: Download: MP3Subscribe: iTunes | RSS Relevant Articles on WPR: The World Needs a Peace Treaty Between Men and Women WPR Global Insider Interview Series on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Deal to End Guinea-Bissau’s Deadlock Instead Stokes Risk of Another Coup Many […]

NAIROBI, Kenya—When U.S. President Barack Obama attended the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, in July 2015, it helped place Africa in the global limelight as an emerging entrepreneurship hub. At the event, global leaders, business executives, mentors, young entrepreneurs and high-level government officials reiterated the crucial role of entrepreneurship in economic development, creating new jobs, driving technological innovations and enhancing economic growth. Many speakers specifically called for African governments to put in place strategies to support the growth of enterprises. Africa is already taking advantage of its youth demographic dividend to push young entrepreneurs to contribute to the continent’s […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the status of women’s rights and gender equality in various countries around the globe. A group of grandmothers on the outskirts of Senegal’s capital, Dakar, are using their influence in their village to promote modern health care and medicine in a bid to improve women’s health, a plan that nongovernmental organizations hope can be replicated across the country. In an email interview, Hawa Ba, the head of the Open Society Initiative for West Africa’s Senegal country office, discusses women’s rights in Senegal. WPR: What is the current status […]

In July, Marine Corps Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser officially took over command of the United States Africa Command, known as AFRICOM, from retiring Army Gen. David Rodriguez. Waldhauser inherits an organization that has overcome initial growing pains and turned into an integral player in responding to African security challenges. Although the U.S. maintains only one official base on the continent, as many as 60 smaller facilities sprawl across 34 African nations. These facilities serve as staging areas for a steadily growing array of joint special force operations, military exercises and other security cooperation activities. Under Rodriguez’s three-year tenure, AFRICOM took […]

Recent elections in several African countries have extended the rule of long-time leaders, painting a bleak picture of ordinary citizens’ ability to press for political and social change. Amid violent government crackdowns, many opposition groups are also marred by their own disunity. But activists haven’t backed down, and grass-roots organizations are taking matters into their own hands, demanding better governance and more rights. World Politics Review’s 10-article compilation looks at the challenges Africa’s popular and political movements face and some of the progress they’ve made. The following 10 articles are free to non-subscribers until Sept. 15. The State of Organized […]