That would be a tall order even for a freshly elected leader with a thumping majority and two terms in office. In fact, the spokesman’s desperate hyperbole reveals the truth of the matter: Mr Jonathan is taking over the leadership of one of the world’s least governable countries in the least promising circumstances.

Bharti Airtel, the largest Indian mobile phone company by subscribers, confirmed on Monday that it is in talks to buy the African assets of the Kuwaiti telecom company Zain for about $10.7 billion.

The two companies said in separate statements Monday that they are in exclusive talks until March 25 about the transaction. The potential deal does not include Zain’s assets in Morocco and Sudan, and is subject to due diligence and regulatory approval, they said.

A small group of West African men who came to the Rockies in search of economic opportunity are embroiled in a dispute with Wal-Mart, accusing it of a raft of discriminatory actions. Most say they were dismissed because supervisors wanted to give their jobs to local people in need of work.

Wal-Mart, which has a history of discrimination and labor complaints but has increased efforts to promote diversity at its stores, denies the accusations.

Question: What are the key themes in the 2010 African Economic Outlook (AEO) that is at the heart of today’s peer review meeting organized by the Bank?

Answer: The peer review meeting brings together the contributors to the 2010 AEO in order to discuss the detailed country-level analysis on the economic situation and prospects for AfDB Regional Member Countries (RMCs). It is a very important gathering to ensure consistent, high-quality analysis across all the 50 countries that will be covered in this year’s report.

The endorsement which is contained in a final communiqué issued at the end of the meeting underscores that a “200% increase would allow the Bank to serve client countries and entities within them.” The communiqué also highlights that the governors supported adherence to the Bank’s policy to make net income transfers to the African Development Fund (ADF), taking into account the Bank’s financial position and its overall needs.

ARRIVING at the airport in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, you have a fair chance that the newish-looking taxi taking you into town will not be the usual French or Japanese model, but Iranian. And it will not have been imported, as most cars in Africa are, but assembled in nearby Thiès. From here, the first few hundred taxis have just come off the production line at an Iranian-built Khodro plant. They are tangible symbols of a new power in sub-Saharan Africa that has, for some, begun to cause ripples of concern.

On one side were the faces of people the government has deemed true members of society, the ones eligible to vote in the first election here in a decade. On the other side were snapshots of the multitudes — about a million in all — whose identities have fallen under official suspicion.

SAFETY recalls are a common enough occurrence in the car industry. If handled correctly, few have long-term consequences for the manufacturer involved. However, the disaster now engulfing Toyota is of a different order. Not only is Toyota’s brief reign as the world’s largest carmaker threatened but, more important, so too is its reputation for matchless quality and management. Rivals that had grown used to living in the Japanese firm’s shadow are quietly celebrating.

Sub-Saharan Africa's second-biggest economy is seen as one of the world's final scaleable frontier investment destinations with a population of more than 140 million people, but weak regulation and impunity for offenders have clouded its image.

Arunma Oteh, a former vice president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) who took over in January as SEC chief executive, pledged to improve transparency in Nigeria's capital markets, at one point among the fastest growing in the world.

A suitcase containing $1 million in shrink-wrapped bills, hand-carried into New York by the former president of Gabon for his daughter to buy a Manhattan apartment. Purchases of a stretch Hummer H2 armored limousine and C-130 Hercules military transport planes for a civil war in Angola. And a shell company named Sweet Pink used to funnel millions of dollars into the United States from Equatorial Guinea.