Namibia: Windhoek's Old Location Was a Place of Pain, but Also Joy - New Book

All that's left of a famous settlement called the Old Location in Windhoek, Namibia, is a graveyard and a monument to remember the residents who were killed while protesting their… Read more »

Zimbabwe: Edson Sithole - New Book Uncovers the Work of a Thinker, Lawyer and Zimbabwean Freedom Fighter Who 'Disappeared'

Edson Sithole was born in what was then Southern Rhodesia in 1935. He was the first black person in southern Africa to obtain a Doctor of Laws degree. He was the second black… Read more »

South Africa: Museum in a Box - On the Road With South Africa's Heritage

Museums are usually in cities. So, where transport is poor and it's expensive to travel, many people can't visit them. We decided to experiment with a way of getting around the… Read more »

Zimbabwe: Noviolet Bulawayo Wins the Best of 25 Years of the Caine Prize. Why She Deserves It

Zimbabwean writer NoViolet Bulawayo has been honoured as Africa's best short story writer after winning the Best of Caine Award. The special recognition marks 25 years of the… Read more »

Tanzania: Tanzania's Social Media Clampdown and the Elections - What's At Risk

Social media platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and X have transformed political dialogue and activism in Tanzania. The democratisation of political expression has… Read more »

Nigeria: Nigeria's Plastic Waste Could Enrich the Fashion Industry - Here's How

On any street in Lagos, Abuja or Port Harcourt, you'll find abandoned plastic bottles lying around. Each year, about 2.5 million tonnes of plastic waste are produced in Nigeria and… Read more »

Zimbabwe: Zimbabwean Artist Portia Zvavahera Turns Her Prayers Into Paintings

At the Boston waterfront sits the Institute of Contemporary Art, an architectural marvel that gleams against the harbour in a wealthy neighbourhood. My Uber driver, an African… Read more »

Kenya: Muslim Ritual Meets Swahili Culture At Kenya's Unique Annual Maulidi Festival

Lamu is a historic Swahili port town on an island off the northern coast of Kenya. Each year it hosts the famous Lamu Maulidi Festival, a sacred Muslim celebration, planned this… Read more »

Africa: What Is Ableism? Words Can Hurt People but African Culture Offers an Alternative

"You speak good English for a Black person." Read more »

Ghana: Ghana's Films Don't Often Make It to Netflix - Local Solutions May Be the Answer

African filmmakers have long faced challenges in securing wide-scale distribution for their films. In this context, digital platforms such as Netflix and YouTube have been hailed… Read more »

Nigeria: God and Nollywood - How Pentecostal Churches Have Shaped Nigerian Film

In Nigeria today, one doesn't have to attend a church service to hear a sermon. The pulpit has moved - onto screens, into living rooms, and across YouTube. Read more »

Egypt: Curious Kids - in Ancient Egypt, Did Pyramids Really Have Booby Traps? Why Was Treasure Hidden Inside?

In ancient Egypt, did pyramids really have booby traps? Why was treasure hidden inside? - Effie, age 8, New Plymouth, New Zealand. Read more »

Africa: African Novels Are Being Translated to English in a Bold New Trend. We Review Ignatius Mabasa's the Mad

When it comes to African literature, translation has mostly meant translating work from European languages into African ones. Translation from African languages into English has… Read more »

Senegal: Sex Workers in Colonial Senegal Were Policed By France - Book Explores a Racist History

Desiring Whiteness is an award-winning book by historian Caroline Séquin. It explores the intertwined histories of commercial sex work and racial politics in France and the… Read more »

Nigeria: How Nollywood Films Help Kenyan Housemaids Make Sense of Their Lives

Nollywood, Nigeria's prolific video-film industry, has been popular in Kenya since it was introduced to east Africa at around the turn of the century. Read more »

West Africa: TikTok's Online Wild Meat Sellers - Study Finds Endangered Species On Offer in West Africa

In Togo and much of west Africa, wild meat remains an important part of daily life, valued for its taste, cultural traditions, and as a source of income for those who sell it. Read more »

Tanzania: Abdulrazak Gurnah - Searching for Signs of Zanzibar's Most Famous Writer, All I Found Was Trinkets and Tourists

Zanzibar has long been an island of arrivals for traders, sailors, slaves and, more recently, waves of tourists. I arrived as a wedding guest and a reader of the Zanzibar born… Read more »

Nigeria: Fela and Food - How Lagos Restaurants Are Serving Up the Music Star's Legacy

In Lagos, Nigeria's commercial and creative capital, food is doing something unusual. It's keeping alive the spirit of a musician. Read more »

South Africa: Kippie Moeketsi's Global Influence - What Made the South African Saxophonist So Great

One of the most influential artists in South Africa's rich history of jazz is Kippie Moeketsi. He was born on 27 July 2025 and passed away at only 57. Read more »

South Africa: South Africa's Earliest Newspapers Made Money From Slavery - Book Offers New Evidence

In a recently published book, Reconsidering the History of South African Journalism: The Ghost of the Slave Press (2025 Routledge), author and journalism professor Gawie Botma… Read more »

Africa: Drones, Disinformation and Guns-for-Hire Are Reshaping Conflict in Africa - New Book Tracks the Trends

Alessandro Arduino has researched Africa's security affairs with a particular focus on the use of private military companies and other guns-for-hire across the continent. In his… Read more »

Nigeria: A University Bookshop in Ibadan Tells the Story of Nigeria's Rich Publishing Culture

Driven by a desire to explore Nigeria's literary and cultural history beyond the metropolis of Lagos, I took a road trip to Ibadan, once the most important university town in the… Read more »

South Africa: Kippie Moeketsi At 100 - the Soul-Stirring Story of a South African Jazz Legend

It's 100 years since the birth of reedman Jeremiah Morolong "Kippie" Moeketsi on 27 July 1925. He was one of the most influential saxophonists shaping South Africa's modern jazz… Read more »

Africa: What Makes a Person Cool? Global Study Has Some Answers

From Lagos to Cape Town, Santiago to Seoul, people want to be cool. "Cool" is a word we hear everywhere - in music, in fashion, on social media. We use it to describe certain types… Read more »

South Africa: Johannesburg's Creative Hubs Are Booming - How Artists Are Rejuvenating a Failing Inner City

Johannesburg is weathering a storm of crises. Nowhere is its complex tangle of challenges more visible than in the inner city, where crime, overcrowding, and infrastructure… Read more »