Category Archives: Politics

A quiet morning

Posted on July 26, 2018 by admin

It’s one of the those mornings here in Lusaka, where you head out of the drive at the usual time, and within 5 minutes you notice that it all seems a little too quiet. It’s a sort of mid-week Sunday … Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism, Politics | 4 Comments

Decolonising Ivory Coast

Posted on August 28, 2016 by admin

I was interested to see a reference to Ivory Coast in Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s classic ‘Decolonising the Mind’ from 1986: Speaking of the racist literature of Haggard, Huxley et al: “In such a literature there were only two types of … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Politics | Leave a comment

Jobs for the boys

Posted on August 6, 2016 by admin

If there’s a story that depresses me almost more than any other when I survey the Ivorian newspaper front pages, it’s the headlines from ruling party youth members that they’ve been “forgotten”. Youth employment is a tragic and major issue … Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism, Politics | Leave a comment

Ivory Coast – African country of the year 2015?

Posted on December 29, 2015 by admin

This post is both spurious and speculative, but if you had to select an ‘African country of the year’ in 2015, I would reckon Ivory Coast / Cote d’Ivoire must be in with a fighting chance. Not that I follow … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Politics, Sport | Leave a comment

Les malentendus

Posted on August 29, 2015 by admin

One of the key words that bring a wry smile for followers of Ivorian politics is ‘malentendu’. The fiercest political disagreement or falling out of yesterday is today simply excused as being all down to a mere ‘misunderstanding’. The word … Continue reading →

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The first candidate

Posted on August 8, 2015 by admin

I couldn’t help being amused by reading about the first presidential candidate to drop off his papers at the electoral commission in Abidjan. It turned out to be a certain Eloi Bolou Gouali. No, I haven’t heard of him either. … Continue reading →

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Reading the comments

Posted on June 21, 2015 by admin

Reading the comments section of anything online can be pretty depressing, no matter how high-brow the platform. Nevertheless, it was particularly disappointing to read the comments on this news article on an opposition rally in Yopougon yesterday. The news event itself … Continue reading →

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Ivory Coast in the rankings

Posted on June 20, 2015 by admin

At the start of the Ouattara presidency, blogger Hotel Ivory said that the various global rankings would be a good way to measure the success or failure of the new government. So with the election now just four months off, how … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Politics | 2 Comments

Student life in Abidjan under Ouattara

Posted on June 7, 2015 by admin

Since I wrote last week’s post listing Ivorian blogs, I realised that much of the recent blogging action has been on RFI’s Mondoblog platform, which I’d more or less neglected. I’ve since discovered that that does now seem to be the … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Politics | Leave a comment

Electricity hikes

Posted on May 26, 2015 by admin

The announcement of an electricity bill increase last week by President Ouattara during a visit to Odienne in the far north-west quickly provoked a strong reaction on social media. Beyond the fact that no-one likes to see their utility bills … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Politics | Leave a comment