Africa rising? A historical perspective
African demographic growth is expected to continue unabated over the next century. How should poverty reduction be addressed on the continent?
Blog
Has Africa’s May ’68 been forgotten?
How do Morocco and Senegal, the two African countries that had a May '68 of their own, commemorate or debate that legacy 50 years later?
Two trips to Juba
Youth activism and the politics of violence in South Sudan.
Arundhati Roy in Johannesburg—An essay on essays
In a world of fake news, shallow analysis and torrid pontificating, combining empirical evidence with emotive expression, is what give Roy's essays legs.
Exile, Return, Home?
Many will read Sisonke Msimang's new memoir for its musings on exile and home, but it is also a political telling of the complicated South African transition.
Zimbabwean Twitter is shifting the country’s political landscape
There were two key take-aways from the recent elections and their aftermath in Zimbabwe: one, fasting and prayer don't determine election results; and two, social media has profoundly changed the political landscape.
Silent Aid
The time is ripe to ask not "does aid work," but "how does aid work?"
Why we’re losing the fight against TB
The global response to a disease that largely effects the most marginalized populations of poorer countries shows a basic lack of respect for human rights on the part of international institutions.
The school hairstyle protest in Soweto
When black students at an elite school in South Africa's capital protested over how teachers treated them over their hair, everyone noticed. It's not the same in township schools.
When Melania Trump went to Africa
Pith helmets and jodhpurs aside, Melania Trump went to four African countries to promote her "Be Best" education initiative. What's that about?
Decolonizing streets
The renaming of streets is an important urban decolonial practice.
Husbands to rent
Try being a single woman in Nigeria.