Günther Lanier
I am now 62 and I live in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. I have lived here since 2002 - which means that I have been around for longer than half of all Burkinabè, the median age being below 18 years. Ever since I have come here, my main focus has been Africa.
This site is to provide news about the continent - mainly by means of what I write about it and secondly by summarising news that other people wrote. Concerning my writings, though English is my second language and though I used to publish quite a bit in the 1990s and up to 2002, I have only written in German and French since 2002. So my bibliography should not mislead you: I have translated only the titles of my articles & books written since 2002, not their content.
As for myself, I was born and raised in Vienna, Austria. I was a scholar at the United World College of the Atlantic in South Wales from 1974 to 1976, got my IB, my international baccalaureate there, then went back to Vienna to study economics and social anthropology. Took my time, travelled and lived a lot, finally got my master in economics in 1990. Published my thesis on Indian developmental politics. Worked for banks and rose to SVP and Head of Country Research and authorised signatory of Austria's biggest investment bank. Then turned to teaching - at Vienna University first, then at the Mahindra United World College of India (1999-2002), later in Burkina. Was the jury coordinator for SozialMarie (awards for innovative and creative social projects) for some years. Have been active against Female Genital Cutting and Gender-Based Violence since 2003, mostly in Burkina, partly in a bilateral (Austrian and German cooperation) and multilateral (Unicef) context, but most consistently and up to the present day within civil society.
Have taken to writing as my main occupation since end 2015, publishing an article every Wednesday on www.radioafrika.net, writing for the Austrian bi-monthly "International" as their correspondent for Africa. And I have published two books in German and two in French - see my bibliography under "Home".