Good luck coming to West African state near you

Nigeria's elections were a vote for political stability. Despite the initial hitch when the election process had to be delayed for a week, the outcome was hugely positive for perceptions of Nigerian democracy. Although there was some carping about election irregularities, the crushing win of incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, who has a PhD in Zoology, gave a clear mandate to the new government and broke the tradition where the presidency passes from the north to the south and back from cycle to cycle. Already in West Africa, Ghana has held successful elections where power has passed from one party to another without incident. We have also seen recently in Ivory Coast that West Africans will not tolerate an illegitimate leader holding on to power. Gbagbo's departure was humiliating: where he could so easily have stepped down with dignity he chose to cling on to the last and was dragged away in shame. Sub-Saharan Africa in general appears to be coming of age. This is particularly evident in its economic growth path which has been strong over the past decade and has regained momentum after the global credit crunch. The QSL is from FRCN Enugu heard in Cape Town in 1993 on short-wave. Nigerian state QSLs are precious.

Correa corrals the vote

Ecuador goes into a referendum this weekend. Voters are being asked to vote on a list of no less than 10 questions ranging widely from restraints on media ownership and reforming the judiciary to limits on bullfighting and cockfighting and bans on casinos and gambling. Gimme a break! The exercise is more just a popularity test for President Rafael Correa because most people don't really understand what the referendum is all about. Correa has made a successful recovery following last year's police uprising and continues with a programme of spending on schools, hospitals and roads. The strong oil price has provided cash flow for this poor and divided country which defaulted on its sovereign debt in 2008. Only nine years earlier it became the first country to default on Brady bonds (the debt structure created after the Latin American debt crises in the 1980s). The QSL is from Teleradio in Guayaquil, heard on 1350 AM one morning in central London using a Wellbrook 1530 antenna in the garden. It came through crystal clear for a few minutes, enough to get an ID and some programme details. I heard Ondas de la Montana in Medellin, Colombia on the same morning but try as I might never received a QSL.

Branding the Royals

As the confetti settles after the Royal Wedding, the paparazzi wonder where the happy couple will be heading to enjoy their honeymoon. It seems that William will actually first be returning to base to resume his helicopter pilot duties before taking his bride off to some secret resort. We are told that William 'loves Africa' and has enjoyed his trips 'to Africa' over the years. We Africans always wonder what this actually means. After all this is like saying, William 'loves the World'; or 'loves Asia' etc. There are stacks of countries in Africa and they are by no means the same. The continent stretches as far north of the equator as south and has multiple nationalities, tribes, languages, geographies, stages of economic development, political systems, cultures and.... I could go on. Anyway, the Wedding was a brilliant coup for the British royal brand. Up to 2 billion people watched world wide. You don't get better marketing than this and the payback for the UK economy will way exceed the cost. However, one thing that struck me was how poor William's responses were when taking his vows. He has this rather clipped accent. This was evident especially when he was required to say 'I will.' You could barely hear him - his volume was low and he elided the two words. This was a big moment - it's the time you say 'I WILL' clearly and with the best King's English diction. The QSL is from LBC, London, heard on 1152 kHz AM from Johannesburg in 2006.