Author: Opia Mensah Kumah

The announcement by Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara (with French President Emmanuel Macron by his side) that the eight countries of UEMOA have decided to drop the CFA Franc (FCFA) in favour of the proposed ECOWAS common currency, the Eco, has elicited bewilderment, controversy and excitement in equal measure. Indeed African nationalists and intellectuals have long… Read more

Focus, Focus! The political chatter in Ghana is not focused on the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections at this time. Instead of a full-on discussion of how to ensure a conflict-free and credible elections, political commentary, as far as elections are concerned, is directed at one juicy story: the possible impeachment of the Electoral Commissioner… Read more

Prologue On 3rd June 2015, disaster struck Accra in spectacular, biblical, fashion. Flood waters fire extinguished over 150 souls at a fuel station near the Kwame Nkrumah Circle. The disaster generated a national debate on urban waste management, notably the disposal of plastic waste, unregulated informal settlements and the link between poor drainage and perennial… Read more

South Africa – Behind and Beyond Xenophobia Through most of April 2015, the world’s attention was gripped by the xenophobic violence that swept across the rainbow nation, resulting in the deaths of several African migrants. Africans, in particular, were bewildered. Indeed bewilderment surpassed outrage in many instances. Why are our brothers killing us? That was… Read more