Politics
All that glitters
One corporation's tax tussle with Tanzania holds many lessons for African countries that continue to struggle with the inequitable share of proceeds from their extractive sectors.
Traditional wars
With Kenya in the grip of a global pandemic and grappling with an ailing economy, is constitutional reform really a priority?
Small changes
Cooperatives provide a convenient lens through which to examine the political present and future of Uganda, if not the greater region.
Mozambique’s borders
The dynamics of refuge-seeking in southern Mozambique between 1895 and the 1980s.
The regulatory chill
The shadowy world of bilateral investment treaties urgently needs African alternatives, especially if we want to combat climate change.
How to think about Ethiopian politics today
Social science and the ghosts of “the nationalities question” in Ethiopia today.
Congo’s white ‘refugees’
After the fall of colonial rule, some whites fled from their African countries of residence and sought refuge in apartheid South Africa.
The price of contamination
Legal cases against foreign multinationals in the Central African Copperbelt seek justice for decades of pollution. But activists should also investigate the historical legacies of colonial mining companies.
Ethiopia’s war of narratives
The current political conflict, now a civil war, in Ethiopia partly has its roots in disagreement among elites on how to narrativize Ethiopian history.
From the Niger to the Nile
In the late 1890s and early 1900s, a number of West African Muslims migrated east, settling in Sudan and Mecca, to seek refuge from European colonization.
Nonviolent guerrilla cartographers
During the Sudanese uprising, Khartoum became a carefully re-mapped city where only the revolutionaries knew its paths.
Study notes on Nigeria’s youth revolt
Was the #EndSARS protests a victory or a defeat for the country's popular masses?
Oil and Angola’s ‘crusade’ against corruption
Angolan political authorities are not particularly interested in justice or tackling corruption. It is more about settling scores.
Preparing for the long struggle ahead
COVID-19 has been a blessing to the ruling classes in Algeria. However, the popular Hirak movement has not said its last word yet.
Gambia’s truth commission
As some Gambians speak before the country's TRC, the testimonies create a space for their compatriots to express ideas about rights, dignity and social values.
Hustler mentality
Kenya's Deputy President, William Ruto, wants to be president. He projects himself as a go-getter. But there is a more sinister story behind his hustler narrative.
A cycle of diminishing expectations
South Africans are learning the hard way that corruption cannot simply be solved through technical fixes and increasing “accountability” through locking the villains up.
The Jacinda Ardern model
New Zealand's Prime Minister is a very nice centrist. People in the rest of the world, including Africans, calling for her to be emulated should be careful what they wish for.
Nigeria’s movement against brutality and poverty
The background to the #EndSARS protests and celebrating a movement that challenges Nigeria’s ruling class.