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Mail & Guardian
Sophie Bouillon

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Sophie Bouillon

Sophie Bouillon is a journalist at AFP.

The poor are the losers in the economy since Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari closed the border. (Mohammed Elshamy/Andalou Agency)
BENIN

Border closure has mixed impact for Nigeria’s economy

The most visible winner from the closure is the Nigerian treasury, which has benefited from the falling cost of petrol subsidies

  • Sophie Bouillon
4 min read
BENIN CITY

Nigerian migrants struggle to reintegrate after Libya ordeal

Many returnees suffer long-term mental and physical health problems as well as social stigma on returning to Nigeria

  • Sophie Bouillon
5 min read
Ranked the 15th wealthiest person in sub-Saharan Africa with a fortune topping $400-million in 2015 according to Forbes, Benin’s Patrice Talon presented himself as part of a new wave of can-do African leaders. (Reuters/Philippe Wojazer)
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

New look, old ways? Benin’s leader and the authoritarian past

Elected in 2016 by defeating the preferred successor of Thomas Boni Yayi, Patrice Talon won the top job without a traditional political power base

  • Sophie Bouillon
4 min read
The election is the sixth to be held in the 20 years since Nigeria returned to civilian rule after decades of military government. (Getty)
ATIKU ABUBAKAR

Nigeria counts cost of postponed presidential poll

The two main candidates — President Muhammadu Buhari and Atiku Abubakar — both called for calm as a one-week delay was announced

  • Sophie Bouillon
4 min read
Abubakar comes from the Muslim-majority north, and his nomination follows an unwritten rule in Nigeria that the presidency should alternate every two terms between a candidate from the north and south. (Paul Carsten/Reuters)
ATIKU ABUBAKAR

Privatise Nigeria’s oil industry? Easier said than done

Atiku Abubakar, the main opposition contender, has vowed to break up the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, which he called a "mafia organisation"

  • Sophie Bouillon
4 min read
On the eve of a presidential election and after two years of painful recession beginning in 2016, voters are demanding accountability. (AFP)
MINIMUM WAGE

Nigeria’s new minimum wage: Too much to ask?

President Muhammadu Buhari may have spoken too soon when he backed an initiative to hike his country’s minimum wage by a whopping two thirds

  • Sophie Bouillon
4 min read
‘I’m proud to be the nominee of the House Democratic caucus once again for speaker of the House,’ Pelosi told reporters as votes were being counted. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)
MTN

MTN affair casts shadow over Nigeria’s economy, say analysts

In a shock announcement last Wednesday, the Central Bank of Nigeria ordered MTN to repay $8.13-billion

  • Sophie Bouillon
  • Gregory Walton
4 min read
Benin is is the fourth biggest producer in Africa
SOPHIE BOUILLON

Behind Benin’s cotton harvest, worries over ‘monopoly’

The sleepy town of Bohicon in southern-central Benin roars into life during the cotton harvest between January and March.

  • Sophie Bouillon
4 min read
Survival: Nasm Ugerama’s baby is due in a month.
FAURE GNASSINGBE

Child killed as anti-government protests rock Togo

As the opposition call to unseat President Faure Gnassingbé, demonstrations on both sides have intensified in the region

  • Sophie Bouillon
3 min read