Sudan: Sudan's Death Toll in 2025 Could Be As High As 100,000 - How We Did the Count

Estimates of the number of people directly killed in Sudan's civil war vary widely, in part because counting casualties in active conflict zones is extremely difficult. In 2025,… Read more »

Africa: Military Coups Promise Change - 4 Ways They Can Leave African Countries Worse Off

A military coup d'état is the ouster of an elected president or head of state, usually through the use or threat of force. Putschists (those who participate in a coup) often… Read more »

Africa: Yemen's Houthis Move to Control Crucial Waterway - Our Research Maps the Countries Most At Risk

The advance of the Iran-aligned Houthi rebel group in Yemen has driven more than 130,000 people from their homes since the beginning of September, deepening the humanitarian crisis… Read more »

Nigeria: Nigeria's School Kidnapping Threat Is Changing - 4 Lessons From the 56-Day Oyo Attack

Following the mass abduction of 46 pupils and teachers in Oyo State, south-west Nigeria in 2026, the authorities attributed the attack to the Ansaru terrorist group. Key suspects… Read more »

Ethiopia: Ethiopia Is Sliding Back Toward War - a Look At What Is Driving the Fighting and Why It Matters

Four years after a fragile ceasefire ended widespread conflict in Ethiopia, the region is again slipping back into full-out war. Read more »

Ethiopia: Ethiopia's Peace Deal Is Unravelling - What Went Wrong With the Tigray Agreement

The Pretoria peace deal in Ethiopia was an agreement to cease hostilities. It wasn't a comprehensive political settlement. A political settlement is an enduring agreement among… Read more »

Western Sahara: Morocco's Deadly Wall Across Western Sahara - Why the 2,700km Berm Was Built and the Damage It Does

Western Sahara has been carved in two since the 1980s by a wall that Morocco built to hold on to territory it occupied in 1975. Fifty years on, the conflict remains unresolved and… Read more »

Somalia: A Decade On, Somalia's Federal Pact Benefits Elites and Al-Shabaab - but It Fails the People

The federal government of Somalia was established in 2013 after years of peace and reconciliation talks, held in the context of a famine in 2011 and the rise of militant Islam in… Read more »

Africa: Climate Change Is Fuelling African Conflict - Governments Are Developing a Shared Response

Climate change is making life tougher. Across Africa, failed harvests, shrinking water supplies and more extreme weather are leaving millions of people hungry and forcing many from… Read more »

Ethiopia: Ethiopia's Armed Opposition Unites Against Abiy Ahmed - 5 Reads On the Country's Political Struggles

Seven Ethiopian armed groups have announced a new alliance aimed at overthrowing the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Read more »

Africa: Africa's Red Sea States Face Growing Risks As Houthi Rebels Expand Their Reach

The Houthi takeover of parts of the Red Sea gives the armed group a new platform to challenge global shipping. The group has taken over the port of Mocha, the island of Mayyun, and… Read more »

Africa: Africa's Air Travel Is Reliant On Distant Hubs - Why It's Time to Fix This

When conflict erupted in the Middle East in 2026, the consequences were felt far beyond the region. One was the disruption to Gulf airspace. The ripple effects hit the global… Read more »

Sudan: Sudan's Military Is Accused of Using Chlorine Bombs - Here's How They Work and What the Law Says

Persistent allegations of chemical weapons use in the Sudanese civil war have recently been reinforced by new evidence. Read more »

Niger: Niger's Failed Coup Is a Warning to the Sahel's Military Rulers - Those With Power Must Keep Their Promises

Niger's military regime, led by General Abdourahamane Tchiani, faced its most significant challenge on 29 August 2026 since coming to power in 2023. For several hours, soldiers… Read more »

Ethiopia: Conflict Is Rising in Ethiopia's Tigray Region - 5 Steps That Could Stop a Return to Full-Scale War

The Ethiopian federal army and Tigrayan forces have resumed their war, having failed to turn the November 2022 peace deal into a lasting political settlement. Read more »

West Africa: Lithium in the Sahel - How Armed Groups Are Exploiting the Global Scramble for the Critical Mineral

Every electric vehicle, smartphone and laptop battery begins with one essential ingredient: lithium. Read more »

Sudan: Refugees, Lost Trade and Security Costs - How Conflict in One African Country Drives Up Debt for Its Neighbours

Conflicts in Africa vary in scope and intensity. They range from large-scale civil wars to territorial disputes, localised insurgencies, inter-communal violence, political… Read more »

Burundi: Burundi Refugees Talk About Life in South Africa After Their Long Journey - Hope and Heartbreak Side By Side

Over 250,000 people were registered as asylum seekers and refugees - people displaced by force - in South Africa in 2024. About 4% of them were from Burundi, some 3,000km away. Read more »

Africa: Refugee Camps Explained - Why South Africa Has Avoided Them

South Africa started processing undocumented migrants at a temporary repatriation centre in Musina, a border town with Zimbabwe, in July 2026. This followed weeks of intensified… Read more »

Nigeria: Nigeria's Conflict Zones - Why People Stay Even When They Can Leave

When armed groups attack a community, people often assume that everyone who can escape will leave. This belief influences news stories, public discussions and humanitarian efforts,… Read more »

South Sudan: South Sudan's First Elections Won't Be Perfect - but Another Delay Could Be Even Riskier

South Sudan is expected to hold an election on 22 December 2026, the first in the country's history. It's already been postponed twice, in 2022 and 2024. Read more »

East Africa: Africa's Greater Horn Region Is Facing a Looming Polycrisis Fueled By Conflict, Prices, Climate and Disease

The impacts of a strengthening El Niño and the lingering effects of the war in Iran highlight two separate and seemingly unrelated global hazards. But in the Greater Horn of… Read more »

South Sudan: South Sudan At 15 - How the Political Elite Have Found a Way to Profit From Peace As Well As War

South Sudan's independence from Sudan in 2011 was meant to close the chapter on one of Africa's longest civil wars: the north-south war that preceded it. Formally, it did. But… Read more »

South Sudan: Serving a State That Couldn't Pay - Why South Sudan's Civil Servants Didn't Quit During the War

When civil war broke out in South Sudan in December 2013, civil servants found themselves at the centre of a deep political and economic crisis. Read more »

Ethiopia: Can an Ancient Oromo Philosophy Help Ethiopia Build Peace? Why Namummaa Matters

Ethiopia's Oromo people have an indigenous philosophy known as Namummaa, or "humanness", which places relationships and peace at the centre of social life. The Oromo are Ethiopia's… Read more »