Africa: A New Era of Austerity? On Listening to African Scholars

African Affairs, the journal of the Royal African Society that sponsors this blog, has recently published an article on the legacy of the Covid-19 pandemic response and a 'new era… Read more »

Africa: Ethiopia's Smaller Wars - Destitution, Conflict Escalation, and Military Abuses in Lower Omo

With war looming in the north of the country, Ethiopia threatens to make headlines again, as it has in recent years due to the wars, insurgencies and intercommunal violence that… Read more »

Africa: The Ides of Congo - Willy Ngoma's Death and a Republic At Risk

The death of Willy Ngoma -- affectionately known within the AFC/M23 coalition as "Mr Quickly, Quickly" -- marks more than the loss of a field commander. To understand why his death… Read more »

Africa: The Hollowing of Sovereignty - Nigeria's Trilemma and the Retreat of the State

In early February, an insurgent group attacked communities in Kwara, North Central Nigeria, killing over a hundred people. President Bola Tinubu condemned the attack, ordered the… Read more »

Africa: Israel's Somaliland Gamble Is Repeating the Bloody History That Created Al-Shabaab

The Boxing Day recognition will not bring stability but will ignite a conflict that empowers extremists and spills into Ethiopia's troubled east. Read more »

Africa: Museveni's Militarised Elections - A Gen Z Reckoning

The 15 January elections in Uganda are almost a foregone conclusion, preceded, as has become customary, by a violent crackdown against the opposition. As the results begin to… Read more »

Africa: Côte d'Ivoire, Mali and Burkina Faso - a Shared History Collides With Political Fractures

For many decades, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Mali constituted one of the most integrated spaces of human and economic circulation in West Africa. Beyond simple… Read more »

Africa: Africa's Share of the Nobel Prizes

The curtain has fallen in Oslo and Stockholm. The Nobel Prize laureates have been announced. The award ceremony has taken place; however, it has invariably generated less… Read more »

Africa: Climateflation and Water Scarcity - Why Africa Faces the World's Sharpest Food-Security Risks

In Lagos, a maize seller recently doubled her prices within a single year. In Morocco, pipelines stretch across barren plains, carrying desalinated water to farms that once relied… Read more »

Africa: Africa's Next Peace Frontier Is Digital Sovereignty - Reflections From the Lomé Peace and Security Forum

There are moments when a forum stops being a gathering and becomes a mirror. The Lomé Peace and Security Forum (11-12 October 2025) did exactly that--a quiet reframing of… Read more »

Africa: The Aid Economy's Entrepreneurship Mirage

On the fifth floor of one of Nairobi's gleaming innovation hubs, the hum of ambition is palpable. Logos of USAID, DfID, the Mastercard Foundation, and other donors line the walls.… Read more »

Africa: Will the Gaza Peace Deal Have Ripple Effects On the Quad-Led Peace Process in Sudan?

Debating Ideas reflects the values and editorial ethos of the African Arguments book series, publishing engaged, often radical, scholarship, original and activist writing from… Read more »

Africa: The Burden of Representation - Women in African Academia and the Politics of Visibility

Beyond access to freedom Read more »

Africa: Without Work Permits, Refugee Women in Nairobi Face Exploitation and Hardship

Many refugee women in Nairobi lack official work permits, forcing them into precarious, informal jobs where they face low pay, exploitation, and no legal protection. Although… Read more »

Africa: Angola's Overlooked Role in the Zambezi River System

The Zambezi is one of Africa's great rivers. Its basin, covering approximately 1,370,000 km2, is home to approximately 50 million people and spreads across eight countries: Angola,… Read more »

Africa: The Big Elephant in Brussels

Debating Ideas reflects the values and editorial ethos of the African Arguments book series, publishing engaged, often radical, scholarship, original and activist writing from… Read more »

Africa: From Non-Intervention to Non-Indifference - What the African Union Has Really Learned About Crisis Management

Two decades after replacing the OAU, the AU's record is best measured not by communiqués but by how fast it converts rules into results on the ground. Read more »

Africa: Transitional Justice in Sudan - Between a Long-Standing Elusive Quest and the Foundation for an Alternative Future

Debating Ideas reflects the values and editorial ethos of the African Arguments book series, publishing engaged, often radical, scholarship, original and activist writing from… Read more »

Africa: Academic Funding, Academic Publishing, and Academic Freedom - an African Conundrum

Debating Ideas reflects the values and editorial ethos of the African Arguments book series, publishing engaged, often radical, scholarship, original and activist writing from… Read more »

Africa: When Digital Lending Feels Like Financial Colonialism

Hustlerfund, a mobile lending application in Kenya advances a 20-year-old woman named Khamba to stock up her fruit stall in Nakura. In another seven days, it has almost doubled. In… Read more »

Africa: Crisis in Eastern DR Congo - the Congolese Govt and M23 Rebels in a Standoff Over Migration

The authorities of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the M23 rebels, who control large swathes of Congolese territory, are locked in a new standoff over the delivery of… Read more »

Africa: Making a Case for Aid - Less Donor-Curated Visibility, More Redistribution of Narrative Power

Debating Ideas reflects the values and editorial ethos of the African Arguments book series, publishing engaged, often radical, scholarship, original and activist writing from… Read more »

Africa: Academic Freedom Under Threat in African Universities

Debating Ideas reflects the values and editorial ethos of the African Arguments book series, publishing engaged, often radical, scholarship, original and activist writing from… Read more »

Africa: Publishing Autonomy, Censorship, and Endogenous Capitalism - Learning From Henry Chakava's Legacy

Debating Ideas reflects the values and editorial ethos of the African Arguments book series, publishing engaged, often radical, scholarship, original and activist writing from… Read more »

Africa: Delinking, Islam, and a New Vision for Burkina Faso

The political drama unfolding in Burkina Faso feels ripped from the headlines. The expulsion of French troops, the pivot to Russia, the fiery speeches by Captain Ibrahim… Read more »