On the Somalia Pavillion
As Somalia makes its first appearance at the Venice Biennale, some Somali artists are questioning who gets to represent the nation — and on whose terms.
Blog
The new scramble for Congo
Backed by the Trump administration, US mining firms, financiers, and tech investors are mounting an aggressive push into the DRC’s mineral sector, reviving an old imperial logic under the language of strategic competition.
The return of Mwalimu
As debates on industrial policy revive, Nyerere’s legacy offers a critical archive of both the promise and limits of socialist development.
From Mubarak to Sisi
What began as a familiar security state has hardened into something new: a unified coercive order that governs Egypt through violence, surveillance, and permanent emergency.
When the peacemaker clocks out
Kenya’s shift toward trade-led diplomacy underscores the difficulty of sustaining regional leadership under conditions of fiscal dependence.
Kenya’s goon economy
Across the country’s urban centers, young men are being recruited into political militias that offer quick cash, fleeting power, and little chance of escape.
Pope Leo and the strongmen
The Pope’s African tour tested whether the papacy can speak to ordinary people without becoming a prop for authoritarian power.
The heart of the South African film industry
A debut feature set on the Cape Flats turns a familiar crime premise into a quiet study of fatherhood, masculinity, and survival. But its limited reach reveals the deeper problems facing South African film.
The game behind the game
The football gambling industry across Africa preys on the risk factors built into the game. The only viable solution is investing in durable, developmental frameworks at the grassroots level.
The shadow of the fatherland
Akinola Davies Jr’s feature-length debut traces how Nigeria’s military rule collapsed the boundary between political crisis and intimate life, leaving families to bear the cost of authoritarian power.
After the Jamahiriya
Fifteen years after NATO’s intervention in Libya, economic collapse and foreign subjugation have fueled renewed support for Gaddafi-era stability.
How to fix a match for $280
Burundi’s football league rarely draws headlines — making it an easy target for match-fixing networks now entrenched in its top division.