The War in Mali’s North–To What Effect?
The rebels--that is, the MNLA and their disavowed and dangerous allies--hold Mali hostage.
Politics
Bamako-sur-Seine
A sense of how the Malian diaspora experiences the political tensions and instability back home.
Germany’s Namibian Legacy
Jim Naughtom's images of Herero wearing German colonial outfits, is a powerful and necessary form of post-colonial critique.
The shareholders of Jesus Inc.
God is the fastest-growing business in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa. It may be time we agitate for our governments to raise taxes on these corporations.
Tinariwen speaks on the coup in Mali
Tuareg musicians Tinariwen, on tour in Europe these days, spent some time in Belgium this weekend.
The Hissène Habré “political and legal soap opera”
In recent weeks media coverage of African criminals and their victims have been dominated by capture
The new type of Senegalese
One of the key groups that engineered the ousting of Senegalese president, Abdoulaye Wade - he wanted to change the constitution to stay in power - was a youthful grassroots social movement group founded by a collective of rappers.
Mali’s Democracy–Down but not out
Is the adoption of a new constitution by Mali's military regime a starting point for getting the soldiers back under civilian rule? Let’s game this out a little bit.
Okonjo-Wahala
Nigeria's very unpopular finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, whose last name in local slang is made to sound like trouble, wants to be World Bank President. She's the "African Renaissance" candidate. What do Nigerians make of it all?
Mali’s Coup–‘Politics is Bad’
The idea that because the coup happened, it's no longer worth taking positions on it is wrong-headed and dangerous. We should ask why, and why now.
Mali’s coup—First Thoughts
A few things are worth saying about the mutiny and the coup that rocked Bamako over the last few days.
The Price of Leadership
A new series of documentaries explore the politics of leadership via an imaginative, malleable, deeply personal treatment of history.
Malawians are fed up with Madonna
Malawi is fed up with Madonna and her school daze, with the singer’s refusal to consult
The Invisible Christians
A big part of the story that is being missed about Invisible Children is that they're firmly rooted in Evangelical Christianity.
A miserable fraud
The power to choose on social media who is to be the next target of America’s moral manhunt, all with the benediction of a panel of biddable celebrities.
Julius Malema’s History
Last week, after Malema was expelled from South Africa’s ruling party, we went back and looked
Tuareg Nationalism
A quick survey of Western media suggests Tuareg nationalist claims don’t carry the same weight as
The most influential African thinker
If we could ask our readers (and critics, and everyone else) to pick Africa's most insightful intellectual, who would they pick?
The Beatles, Black Sabbath and Africa in 2050
No that’s not a stadium rock concert, it’s the musical references in the introduction to a
Ruth Bader Ginsburg knows her constitutions
The South African Constitution and the emerging rights jurisprudence of the country's Constitutional Court are, demonstrably, influential.