Tuesday, November 27, 2018

2020 a year to watch

2020

The beginning of a third decade in the new millennium

The elections are due to be held across Africa during 2020 in:

Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cabo Verde
Cote d'Ivoire
Ghana
Guinea
Togo

That's a lot across West Africa

I've been talking to Ivorian friends about the situation locally for the next elections as that is where I'm most concerned.  After the municipal elections in early October 2018 that caused chaos in some regions of the country,  as there was one declared death (Lakota) and a lot of post-election dramas.
I asked the question; as I usually do!

The last Presidential elections in Cote d'Ivoire passed peacefully in general but that's because the Gbagboists refused to vote.

So where does that leave 2020 in the sub-region of West Africa, particularly Cote d'Ivoire?

A lot of friends are already talking about leaving the country to watch the elections pass from afar.  Personally this worries me as it hints at something more ominous.  Currently there's no clear leader to take over from Alassane Ouattara.

Having said this, over the last few years, Burkina Faso has had an de-facto government when Compaore was exiled, Burundi has seen a lot of turmoil, another country I love and was shocked to hear a hand grenade go off within an hour of my arrival a few years ago.  Burundi is in chaos and I hope it stops soon!  Ghana has a President that wants to leave his religious mark with a building resembling the Yamoussoukro Basilica despite not having schools nor regular electrical supplies, so dumsor makes today's headlines.  Guinea's fortunes change daily, I'm not going to comment on that or Togo's possible perilous future ...

2020 is a year to watch ... I hope I'll be more optimistic soon!

1 comment:

wili said...

hello, I've been following your work and you seem to know a lot, I am currently in Accra trying to get to Abidjan and I am wondering if you know of single drivers that would take me to the border between Ghana and Abidjan please