Akong Charles Ndika

On 20 October 2014, the World Health Organization officially declared Africa's most populous country ‘Ebola free’, 42 days after the last case was confirmed in Nigeria.

Few emergencies in modern history have accumulated an endless list of frightening superlatives in such a short period of time.

The staggering accumulation of crises in recent months seems to have overshadowed the ongoing sectarian bloodbath between the Muslim and Christian communities in the Central African Republic.

The Indian Ocean island nation of 22 million people is famous for at least two things: its unique pristine biological diversity as well as its recurrent political turmoil, the most recent turn of which ended last January with the election of a new President.

The Ebola outbreak has hit a panic button at the core of the political, social and economic establishment across the continent. In a herd-like fashion, one country institutes a blanket ban, triggering others to follow, apparently with no careful assessment of unintended consequences.

A surprise press conference held last month by Emory University Teaching Hospital stands out as a rare bright moment in the fight against an uncontrollable Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa.

CAMEROON: POWER PRIVATISATION, THE CHAD OIL PIPELINE AND SKEWED DEVELOPMENT
Akong Charles Ndika