IRIN and Bloomberg probe the causes of the coup in Mali. Think Africa Press examines the micro-dynamics of the mutiny/coup itself. Reuters provides a look at the military situation in the north. The United Nations Security Council, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, the European Union, and the United States have all condemned the coup.
Given how rapidly news is coming out of Mali, Twitter remains your best bet for the latest.
Despite hopes that Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala would become the next World Bank president, it appears almost certain that President Barack Obama’s nominee, Darmouth College President Jim Yong Kim, will get the job.
Ethiopian troops aren’t gone from Somalia, yet, it seems. Together with Somali government forces they drove al Shabab rebels from the town of Hudur (map) on Thursday.
The Mauritanian government has refuted earlier reports that it had agreed to an extradition of former Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah al Senussi back to Libya. Libya’s new government says it wants to try Senussi before elections this June.
Guinea-Bissau is set to hold a run-off in its presidential elections. The problem is, the second-place finisher, former President Kumba Yala, says he will not participate.
IRIN has an interesting look at the strategies of pastoralists in Niger for coping with drought, and includes some commentary on how the border closure with Nigeria (due to the Boko Haram uprising) has denied pastoralists access to an economic safety valve.
Last but definitely not least, Senegal will hold the second round of its presidential elections tomorrow, pitting incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade against challenger Macky Sall, whom the BBC has profiled here.
What are you reading today?
Sahel Blog 
You probably saw this but I really liked
http://africasacountry.com/2012/03/23/malis-coup-first-thoughts/
About Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, there is a world of difference between the way she is perceived in the West and the way she is perceived at home.
Many people don’t realise how much damage the fuel subsidy crisis last January did to her reputation. She basically has to start from ground zero to rebuild the lost trust – a very difficult proposition given that her future is tied to the future of the Jonathan administration.
The World Bank doesn’t really have a stellar reputation on the streets of Lagos and it is better known for the damage it wrought in the eighties and nineties (structural adjustment programmes) than anything else. I think its importance is widely overstated and so is its relevance. An Africa less dependent on the World Bank will automatically be a more prosperous and balanced Africa. And the time to break that cycle of dependence is now.