A troubled technocrat
When seeking election in 2006, President Thomas Yayi Boni promised he would rule without the traditional political parties that he and some portions of the population had blamed for Benin's earlier instability and lack of economic development.

Diplomacy as an export
President Blaise Compaoré's regional diplomacy has come full circle. Leaving behind rumours of support for Côte d'Ivoire's Forces Nouvelles rebels, 2008 brought a pact with his former arch-nemesis Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo's political party. He has also mediated in political squabbles in Togo.

Joining the big league
In 2008, Cape Verde left its least developed country status behind, joining middle income countries, with a GDP per capita of more than $2,000. Huge foreign investment and a successful public investment programme put GDP growth on pace to reach 7.6% in 2008, with predictions of 7% in 2009.

A test for the master strategist
Côte d’Ivoire has quietly been overcoming the obstacles to enduring peace. In the debate surrounding ‘deal democracy’ in Kenya and Zimbabwe, it has been forgotten that Côte d’Ivoire got there first with the March 2007 Ouagadougou agreement between self-proclaimed President Laurent Gbagbo and northern rebel chief Guillaume Soro.

Handouts and threats
President Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh will continue to court donors and investors in 2009, glorifying their interest in this small country to further puff his popularity. Jammeh - who has been widely condemned for claiming to have discovered a herbal treatment for HIV/AIDS - appears to have put his more repressive political tactics aside.

Black gold for the black star
As Ghanaians wait for the promised 2010 start of an oil boom, there is a short-term prospect of an economic slowdown, implying that big-spending promises made at election time will be put on hold.

Enemies & loyalists sacked
Caught between stagnation and disaster, Guinea faces another uncertain year.

Struggling to end the smuggling
Nobody knows the value of drugs money transiting through the economy, but it is likely to surpass the GDP. The judicial police are woefully understaffed and no seizures were made in the first ten months of 2008.

Banishing ghosts old and new
Africa’s only female head of state, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf applies a sophisticated approach to government, combining good public relations with a firm hand in managing Liberia’s damaged and dysfunctional administrative structures.

More rice, less rebellion
Two years after the first-round re-election of President Amadou Toumani Touré (ATT), the average Malian is still waiting for the fruits of his promised development programme. The state of the world economy explains in part the difficulties that the ATT plan is encountering, since it planned to see growth hit a sustained 7%.

Testing Tandja’s iron grip
Conflict, dissent and the government’s hard line response to them are growing threats to the stability of a country which could instead be reaping rewards from its natural riches. Despite being the world’s fifth-largest producer of uranium, Niger remains the world’s fourth-poorest country.

Go-slows in the programme
The low-key style of governance offered by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua since he was elected in April 2007 has been in sharp contrast to the manner of his assertive and controversial predecessor.

Dealing with the prodigal son and father
Once labelled a ‘democratic model’ in a conflict-ridden West Africa, Senegal will show its own signs of social and political stress in 2009. Under octogenarian President Abdoulaye Wade there have been worrying signals which cause concern both at home and abroad.

A shaky start for Koroma
Despite a shaky first year, it looks as if President Ernest Bai Koroma – the All People’s Congress (APC) leader elected in September 2007 – may just have done enough to mark it out as something of a success.

Tough constitution required
The 2010 presidential election risks overshadowing everything else in 2009, simply because so much hope is placed on it by the Togolese people.