May 2010

Nigeria’s Season of Uncertainty
by Richard Joseph and Alexandra Gillies
“Three years after Nigerians gave the largely unknown Yar’Adua the benefit of the doubt despite his disputed electoral victory, their hopes again rest with an untested leader.”

Ethiopia Is Headed for Chaos
by Berhanu Nega
“Once the 2010 election passes without any meaningful change, the real contest among rival political and ethnic forces will work itself out in the theater of armed rebellion.”

African Economies’ New Resilience
by Peter M. Lewis
“Near-term prospects for the region’s economies are encouraging when one considers the enormous shocks of the recent crisis and the depth of the global downturn.”

Zuma’s First Year
by R.W. Johnson
“So factionalized and divided is the ANC that it is not clear that either the party or the country is still governable.”

More Aid Is Not the Answer
by Jonathan Glennie
“Most analysts on the continent do not share donor nations’ optimism that a big push in aid will make a big difference in the lives of poor Africans.”

Perspective: The Rape of Zimbabwe
by Robert I. Rotberg
Ending Robert Mugabe’s purge of his country’s human and physical capital will require more pressure smartly applied, particularly by neighboring nations.

Books: Behind China’s Rise in Africa
by William W. Finan Jr.
A new book likens Beijing’s proliferating interests on the continent to the dealings of a “Godfather” engaged in everything from oil and uranium to textiles and infrastructure.

The Month in Review
by the editors of Current History
An international chronology of events in March 2010, country by country, day by day.

Map of Africa
by the editors of Current History
Map of Africa