School is back in session for post-secondary students in Ghana, but Ramatu Sidic has been hitting the books for weeks. She's getting ready for the biggest test of her life - becoming a voice for Ghanaian youth and a global ambassador for peace. The Accra native recently took the crown at the 2010 Miss ECOWAS Ghana Peace Pageant.

Women in Nigeria remain victims of gender discrimination, especially in politics. This monograph examines the possibility of utilising the First Lady’s institution to achieve gender mainstreaming and consequently terminate the sustained feminine marginality in Nigerian politics. The study finds that the First Lady’s office is self-serving as successive First Ladies since the Babangida military era are merely utilising their positions to mobilise and rally support for their husbands in power.

This report on the electoral commission of Ghana is part of a broader project on 'Modelling Success: Governance and Institution-building in West Africa', being implemented by the Consortium for Development Partnerships (CDP). This report demonstrates that there are governance institutions in Africa that perform creditably well, referring to Ghana's electoral commission as an example.

Rwanda, home to Africa's largest solar power plant, is eager to harness renewable energy to ensure economic development. But its grand ambitions face many challenges. The US$1.3 million plant, known as Jali, is covered in 4,000 solar panels covering 2,880 square metres. It produces 325,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a year - but this is still just 0.1 per cent of Rwanda's total electricity production.