In January 2018, Ramaphosa appointed a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into “state capture,” the label commonly used in South Africa for government corruption. The testimony to the Zondo Commission of Angelo Agrizzi details the extravagant bribes paid by companies to the highest level of the governing African National Congress (ANC), mostly in return for highly lucrative contracts.

The United States and the United Kingdom have issued a joint statement stating that they will deny visas to Nigerians involved in rigging or violence in the national elections scheduled for February 16. In addition to monitoring polling stations and outbreaks of violence, they will also be monitoring social media for incidents of hate speech and incitement of violence.

Oby Ezekwesili announced she is stepping down as the presidential candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria. The elections are scheduled for February 16. She said her goal now is to build a coalition that would provide an alternative to the All Nigeria Progressives Congress (APC), the party of incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), whose presidential candidate is former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

This update represents violence in Nigeria and related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger between January 19 to 25, 2019.

Udo Jude Ilo is the Nigeria country representative for the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA). Yemi Adamolekun is the executive director for Enough is Enough Nigeria (EiE). Last week,…

Presidential elections take place in Nigeria on February 16 (unless they are delayed). While there are dozens of candidates, only two stand a chance of winning the election. They are Muhammadu Buhari, incumbent president and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president and candidate of the People’s Democratic Party.

The BBC cites data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which are probably the best available. According to IOM, in 2015 there were 6,000 traffickers in the Agadez region of Niger who transported some 340,000 migrants across the Sahara to Libya. The migrants were eventually bound for Europe. They came from all over West Africa to Agadez, long a center of the cross Sahara trade.

This update represents violence in Nigeria and related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger between January 12 to 18, 2019.

The World Bank released its annual Global Economic Prospects report for sub-Saharan Africa earlier this month, forecasting a GDP growth rate of 3.4 percent in sub-Saharan Africa for 2019. This is up from 2018 and represents a modest recovery from a downturn that began in 2015.