Dapoapara follows the news out of Nigeria and Ghana, and tells you which of it matters.
Both countries produce more journalism every day than any one person can read. Most of it is written for readers who already have the context — who know the ministries, the party alignments, the history behind the headline. If you are following home from abroad, or following the region from outside it, that context is exactly what you are missing.
This site does two things. It explains — original pieces working through what a policy, a number or an election result actually means, written for people who are following these countries from a distance. And it points — a live feed of headlines from Nigerian and Ghanaian newsrooms, each linking straight to the outlet that reported it.
About Me
Dapo Apara, who grew up and schooled in Ghana and Nigeria, is an Engineer, Economist and Chartered Accountant who currently resides partly in the US and partly in the UAE.
That background is the reason this site covers two countries rather than one. Most coverage treats Nigeria and Ghana as separate stories; having lived in both, the connections between them — currencies moving in opposite directions, the same policy landing differently, election cycles echoing across the border — are the things that stand out first.
The training shapes the coverage too. A good deal of what matters in West Africa right now is economic — debt, currency, inflation, the difference between a headline number and what it means in a household. Reading a balance sheet is a useful qualification for that, and where an argument here turns on figures, the figures are checked and the working is shown.
Being based between the US and the Gulf shapes it as well. Both are places where West Africa is felt at one remove — through remittances, trade, gold, and the decisions of people who left. That is a useful angle on the region, and it is also a limited one.
This site is not original reporting. There is no correspondent here, no one on the ground in Lagos or Accra, and no claim otherwise. The reporting is done by journalists at Nigerian and Ghanaian news organisations, and this site points you to them.
What it offers instead is the diaspora vantage point: close enough to care and to know what the shorthand means, far enough to notice what a reader at home takes for granted. If you are following these two countries from outside them, that is usually the gap you are trying to close.
What gets written about
Judgement is the product here, so it is worth being clear about it. A story gets written up if it meets at least one of these tests:
- It has consequences. Policy, currency, energy, security, elections — things that change how people live rather than things that are merely loud.
- It is being undercovered. A story getting less attention than it warrants is more useful to you than the one already on every front page.
- It connects. Developments that echo across Nigeria and Ghana, or that link the region to the wider world.
- It is hard to follow from abroad. Slow-moving stories that matter but never produce a single dramatic headline.
What does not make it: celebrity churn, engagement bait, and stories built on a single unnamed source with nothing corroborating them.
Sourcing and attribution
The writing here is original. The reporting underneath it is not. Facts, figures and quotes come from working journalists at Nigerian and Ghanaian news organisations, often reporting under real pressure, and this site is built on top of their work rather than in place of it.
So the rules here are firm:
- Every item names the outlet that reported it and links directly to the original article.
- Summaries are written in my own words and kept short. Full articles are never reproduced here.
- Where the exact phrasing matters, a brief quote is used and attributed.
- Where a claim is contested or a single outlet is alone in reporting it, that is stated rather than smoothed over.
- Analysis and context are mine and are labelled as such, separate from what was reported.
If you are an outlet and want something here changed or removed, contact me and I will act on it promptly.
Corrections
Errors get corrected on the page, with a note saying what changed and when. Nothing is quietly edited after publication. If you have spotted something wrong, please tell me — dapo@dapoapara.com.
Get in touch
Tips, corrections, disagreements and suggestions are all welcome: dapo@dapoapara.com