WTO Hopeful Okonjo-Iweala Balances Nigeria, U.S. Citizenships by Bryce Baschuk

Nationality takes on greater scrutiny in era of protectionism Supply Lines is a daily newsletter that tracks Covid-19’s impact on trade. Sign up here, and subscribe to our Covid-19 podcast for the latest news and analysis on the pandemic. Harvard-educated and longtime World Bank economist Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is bidding to become the next director-general of the …

Aliko Dangote plans to spend $15 billion on a project that — if successful — could revolutionize Nigeria’s economy. By Elisha Bala-Gbogbo

The under-construction Dangote Industries oil refinery and fertilizer plant site in the Ibeju Lekki district, outside of Lagos, Nigeria, on March 6. On a peninsula east of Lagos, 30,000 workers are employed on a project that holds out the promise of transforming Nigeria’s economic fortunes. It’s here that Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, plans to …

Is the coup making a comeback in Africa? by David Pilling

Democracy is the norm across the continent, but soldiers are still seizing power The coup is back in Africa. Last week, soldiers in Mali overthrew the unpopular president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, completing the west African country’s second coup in eight years. In Sudan, in April last year, after months of massive protests, the Sudanese military …

Escape: the Nigerian woman who brought her trafficker to justice by Ottavia Spaggiari

Susan had been on Italian soil for exactly three days when, on 23 July 2015, she was taken with dozens of other new arrivals to a noisy, overcrowded detention centre in Rome, and told she would shortly be deported back to Nigeria. Some women shouted in anger, others started to cry. Susan remained silent. She …

Homeland Security Was Destined to Become a Secret Police Force Masha Gessen

Since early July, federal agents in military-style uniforms have waged battle against protesters in Portland, Oregon, using tear gas and nonlethal munitions.Photograph by Mason Trinca / NYT / Redux In a press conference on Tuesday, Chad Wolf, the acting head of the Department of Homeland Security, responded to media reports that unidentified federal agents using …