Nigeria: Chimamanda's Lagos Homecoming Wasn't Just a Book Launch, It Was a Cultural Moment

When the announcement of Chimamanda Adichie Ngozi's latest novel Dream Count was made, it was regarded as a major event in African literature. The internationally celebrated… Read more »

Ghana: TikTok Users in Ghana and Zimbabwe Enjoy Making Fun of Government - Why It Can Have a Downside

Browse the internet or turn on the global news and chances are the coverage of Africa you find is about war, coups, displaced populations and disease. Read more »

South Africa: Sacred Sites in South Africa Can Protect Natural Heritage and Culture - Here's How

Nature isn't confined to officially protected areas. A lot can be done to conserve biodiversity in other places too. The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity agreed in… Read more »

Egypt: Queen Hatshepsut's Statues Were Destroyed in Ancient Egypt - New Study Challenges the Revenge Theory

After the Egyptian pharaoh Hatshepsut died around 1458 BCE, many statues of her were destroyed. Archaeologists believed that they were targeted in an act of revenge by Thutmose… Read more »

South Africa: Feya Faku As I Knew Him - a Tribute to the Great South African Jazz Trumpeter

Lex Futshane, the South African bass player in the 1992 student band NU Jazz Connection, was the first to tell me that the great South African jazz trumpeter Feya Faku had died… Read more »

Nigeria: Detty December Started As a Nigerian Cultural Moment. Now It's Spreading Across the Continent - and Minting Money

Every December in Nigeria and Ghana a giant party takes place, unfolding in a whirlwind of concerts, festivals, weddings, art shows, dress-ups, meet-ups and travel. Locals and… Read more »

Africa: Netflix Gives African Film a Platform - but the Cultural Price Is High

Netflix began its Africa operations in South Africa in 2016. When the US streaming giant announced it was setting up shop in Nigeria in 2020, many west African film-makers,… Read more »

Africa: Harry Belafonte Leveraged Stardom for Social Change, His Powerful Voice Always Singing a Song for Justice

In May 1963, as civil rights demonstrations rocked the city of Birmingham, Alabama, Harry Belafonte was at a cocktail party in Manhattan, scolding the then-attorney general of the… Read more »

Africa: Banning African Films Like Rafiki and Inxeba Doesn't Diminish Their Influence

Social media and internet forums function as an important space of contestation for issues relating to queer identities. This is evident in reactions to two fairly recent… Read more »

South Africa: The Closing of Cape Town's Fugard Theatre Points to Systemic Failures

South Africa's theatre fraternity has reacted with heartbreak to the announcement that Cape Town's famous Fugard Theatre has closed its doors for good. Named after the playwright… Read more »

Africa: Why Hip-Hop Needs to Be Taken More Seriously in Academic Circles

Jazz's current generation of stars grew up in these genre-fluid times with hip-hop. Concurrently, a significant number of hip-hop artists have been integrating jazz into their… Read more »