When the peacemaker clocks out
Kenya’s shift toward trade-led diplomacy underscores the difficulty of sustaining regional leadership under conditions of fiscal dependence.
Blog
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.
Truquer un match pour 280 dollars
Le championnat burundais fait rarement les gros titres — une discrétion qui en fait une cible facile pour des réseaux de matchs truqués désormais ancrés dans l’élite.
The music is not yours
On the latest AIAC podcast, the gang from the Nigerian Scam explores how Afrobeats got globalized, who captured the value, and why the party may be ending.
Sovereignty beyond the nation
A new history of the interwar Latin American left recovers the rich debates over race and self-determination that shaped the region's anti-imperial politics — and still resonate today.
Fields of dependency
As the US-Israel war on Iran disrupts fertilizer supply, Africa’s reliance on imported inputs exposes the deeper political economy driving food insecurity.