This article critiques the second-hand vehicle markets in the West African region, focusing on the triad trading arrangements among Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and Niger. These countries are connected by... Show moreThis article critiques the second-hand vehicle markets in the West African region, focusing on the triad trading arrangements among Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and Niger. These countries are connected by a number of underlying conflicting interests in the second-hand vehicles trade. Benin and Togo are incentivised by the revenues derived from re-export trade and port operations. Niger provides a proxy market for the illegal re-export of these vehicles to Nigeria, with the latter suffering huge welfare losses as a major consuming nation. We conclude that by offering conflicting benefits to the West African countries, the second-hand vehicle market provides disincentives against true regional integration. Show less
This dissertation is about northerners within an urban setting in Ghana. It discusses the processes by which Alhaji Braimah, the unelected but recognised chief and spokesman of northerners in... Show moreThis dissertation is about northerners within an urban setting in Ghana. It discusses the processes by which Alhaji Braimah, the unelected but recognised chief and spokesman of northerners in Accra, was able to utilise British colonial urban policy in Accra to establish a community called Tudu. Tudu became an urban space where northerners not only lived but also engaged in economic activities, especially transport and trade. By combining the analysis of social relations, history and individual biography, the book contributes to our understanding of the role of northerners in Accra and how they contributed to the economic development and physical establishment of the city. Show less
Since the late 1980s evidence has been emerging in support of rumours of South African involvement in the southern African ivory trade from the mid-1960s onwards. There is some evidence that, from... Show moreSince the late 1980s evidence has been emerging in support of rumours of South African involvement in the southern African ivory trade from the mid-1960s onwards. There is some evidence that, from the early mid-1970s, elements of the South African government and its security forces began actively to encourage their allies in Rhodesia, Mozambique and Angola to acquire ivory and sell it through South Africa. The first really authoritative evidence that the South African Defence Force (SADF) was indeed implicated in the ivory trade in Angola especially came from Colonel Jan Breytenbach, one of the founding officers of the South African Special Forces, who had seen active service in southern Angola from 1970 on. An interview with Breytenbach, conducted at his home in the Cape Province on 8 December 1989 by Ross Reeve, working on behalf of the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), is reproduced here. In the interview, Breytenbach gives considerable detail concerning his earlier allegations that UNITA had smuggled ivory on a huge scale for many years, in complicity with officers of the SADF. A brief postscript notes that considerable doubt remains as to the precise degree of SADF involvement in the ivory trade and that the South African government has instituted (in 1994) a judicial inquiry into the alleged smuggling of and illegal trade in ivory and rhinoceros horn. Show less
