FW: February Digest: Politics in Tanzania and Nigeria

New work on politics in Tanzania and Nigeria

Especially busy? Here are our top picks for this month:

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

While January's publications showcased economic research, our emphasis this month has been on politics.

As Tanzania's constitutional referendum approaches, our recently released Briefing Note traces the country's history of katiba reform. A new interactive timeline illustrates the interwoven stories of constitution-building in postcolonial Tanganyika and Zanzibar.

The referendum is expected to take place in April. With a general election due to follow in October, this is an exceptionally important year for Tanzania. We are following developments closely and will be adding to our Tanzania blog series in coming weeks.

Elsewhere on the continent, elections are in full swing. Lesotho's February polls have resulted in the formation of a coalition government. You can follow commentary on all of Africa's major electoral developments using our 2015 elections resource page, which is continually updated. After a controversial six-week postponement, Nigeria is due to vote next.

Early in the month, ARI's Paul Adams discussed Nigeria's political future with the International Business Times. Paul will also be speaking at a major conference on Nigeria, hosted by our friends at Africa Confidential. We encourage you to take a look at the programme of what promises to be an extremely interesting event.

Looking at Nigeria from a different angle, ARI director Edward Paice's latest column in the Africa Report discussed Lagos's potential to mobilise revenue from property tax. A forthcoming blog post will also document researcher Jamie Hitchen's trip to Lagos and Edo State, where he investigated the herbal medicine industry.

Jamie writes our series on Ebola in Sierra Leone, which most recently explored irregularities in government spending. The next instalment will examine why the epidemic's social impacts fall disproportionately heavily on women.

Our Counterpoint "Africa Debt Rising" continues to attract attention and favourable comment, with Brookings referencing the paper in an article on sovereign bonds. Readers might also be interested in the work of our friends at IEA Ghana on budget discipline as a policy priority.

Best wishes,

Maya Prabhu
Communications and Research Associate, Africa Research Institute