The violence unfolding in Mali reflects a deeper political impasse: how to sustain popular aspirations for emancipation without collapsing into military authoritarianism.

Latest

Bus depot, University of the Witwatersrand.

Branches without roots

Across Africa, governments are elevating STEM education while sidelining the humanities. But science and technology are never neutral, and technical expertise alone cannot transform society.

SPORTS

Culture

Blood and nation

In today’s India, stories of terrorism and national humiliation are being reworked into fantasies of decisive power — blurring the line between memory, myth, and politics.

Shop Now

Politics

Two cranes on the Congo river at sunset.

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.

FIFA World Cup

An unexpected footballing kinship

If the reception the Democratic Republic of the Congo received at the FIFA intercontinental playoffs is anything to go by, visiting African fans can expect a joyful camaraderie in Mexico.