Togo's political and economic systems have not changed as quickly as others in West Africa.

Ten years since the end of the civil war, but with an election due in 2012, political temperatures are running high.

Senegal's forthcoming 26 February presidential elections were the focus of the past year, and these polls are likely to dominate political, social and economic life even more as 2012 begins.

The regime is doing its best to ensure that memories of strongman Mamadou Tandja (1999-2010) fade quietly away.

The year 2012 will be shaped by the April presidential elections. Mali has developed a stable democratic system in the past 20 years, since Amadou Toumani Touré (ATT) overthrew authoritarian leader Moussa Traoré in a coup then handed power over to a civilian government.

After winning Liberia's crucial elections in October-November 2011, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf faces the challenge of the slow withdrawal of peacekeepers and a newly hostile political environment.

Political stability appears to have returned to Guinea­-
Bissau. Despite a testy relationship between President Malam Bacai Sanhá and Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior, Gomes Junior has served an unprecedented three years in office. 


After completing the first stage of the transition that ended in the election of President Alpha Condé in November 2010, Guinea does not seem to have turned its back on old ethnic and political rivalries.

President John Atta Mills was to face the toughest political battle of his career ahead of Ghana's crunch election on 7 December 2012.

Gambians have come to realise that President Yayha Jammeh's hold on the reins of power may never be successfully challenged at the ballot box.

Efforts to reinvigorate Côte d'Ivoire's economy after the disputed November 2010 elections have taken off, but President Alassane Ouattara's government faces the twin challenges of hauling the conflict-crippled economy to its feet while fostering reconciliation.

The end of Pedro Pires's presidential mandate and the death of former president Aristides Pereira, both leading figures in the struggle for independence, marked the end of an era in September 2011.

Political debates surrounding the country's first joint legislative and municipal elections and the role of constitutional term limits will dominate in 2012.