Somalia: Israel's Recognition of Somaliland - the Strategic Calculations At Play

Somaliland is not internationally recognised as a sovereign state, though it declared independence from Somalia in 1991. A territory becomes a sovereign state when its independence… Read more »

East Africa: Tanzania's President Raised Hopes for Women's Political Representation

President Samia Suluhu Hassan's historic rise as Tanzania's first woman head of state broke a decades-old tradition of male dominance. In keeping with political precedent, she also… Read more »

Ethiopia: Ethiopian Women and Safety - Why Some Switch Their Ethnic Identity When They Start Working

For many women in Ethiopia, getting their first formal job doesn't just change their income; it can change how they describe who they are in everyday public interactions. Read more »

East Africa: Another War in the Horn of Africa Would Be Disastrous for One of the World's Most Repressed Nations

The geopolitical temperature is rising in the Red Sea. Read more »

Somalia: Israel's Recognition of Somaliland Is About Political Alliances, Not Legal Principles

Israel's decision to recognise Somaliland as an independent nation has been described as historic by Somaliland's president, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi. He framed the December… Read more »

East Africa: Another War in the Horn of Africa Would Be Disastrous for One of the World's Most Repressive Nations

The geopolitical temperature is rising in the Red Sea. Read more »

Uganda: Uganda's Autocratic Political System Is Failing Its People - and Threatens the Region

When he was first sworn in as Uganda's president in 1986, Yoweri Museveni declared that his victory represented a "fundamental change". He promised that Ugandans would no longer… Read more »

Uganda: An Interview With Scholar Mahmood Mamdani

In his latest book, Slow Poison: Idi Amin, Yoweri Museveni, and the Making of the Ugandan State, anthropologist Mahmood Mamdani explains the factors and characters - Idi Amin and… Read more »

Kenya: Two Kenyan Women Rebuild Libraries in a Quietly Powerful New Documentary

Two Kenyan women - Wanjiru Koinange and Angela Wachuka - set out in 2017 to do something both ordinary and radical: rebuild neglected libraries in Nairobi. Read more »

Uganda: Inside Uganda's Video Halls, 'Video Jokers' Transform Hollywood Blockbusters Into Local Entertainment

If you walk into a video hall in Uganda your attention will probably go straight to a person sitting at the front of the audience. Speaking rapidly into a microphone, they comment… Read more »

Uganda: Political Policing in Museveni's Uganda - What It Means for the 2026 Elections

Uganda's police have long faced criticism for politically charged interventions. These include episodes in which lethal force has been used in ways that observers describe as… Read more »

Kenya: Street Food in Mombasa - How City Life Shaped the Modern Meal

As Kenya's cities grew, more and more people left their rural homes and subsistence farming systems to go to urban settlements like Mombasa to find work. In the city, meals were… Read more »

Kenya: Kenya's 'Night Running' - How a Rural Ritual With Links to Witchcraft Became an Urban Staple

In parts of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, it is not uncommon to hear of individuals who run naked at night. They cause trouble and instil fear in the neighbourhood. They throw stones… Read more »

Tanzania: Autocracies in Transition - in 2025, Cameroon and Tanzania Rulers Clung to Power - but Look More Vulnerable Than Ever

Autocratic leaders in Africa like their numbers to be in the high 90s, it appears. Read more »

Sudan: Sudan's Civil War - a Visual Guide to the Brutal Conflict

Sudan's brutal civil war has dragged on for more than 2½ years, displacing millions and killing in excess of 150,000 people - making it among the most deadly conflicts in… Read more »

Uganda: Uganda Election - Museveni Will Win, but the Landscape Has Changed Since His Last Victory

On the eve of Uganda's 2021 presidential election, it was clear that regardless of how Ugandans voted, the incumbent, Yoweri Museveni, would most likely be declared the winner.… Read more »

Kenya: Managing Conflict Between Baboons and People - What's Worked - and What Hasn't

Conflict between humans and baboons can tear communities apart. Shirley C. Strum has studied wild olive baboons in Kenya for more than 50 years. In that time she's come to… Read more »

Djibouti: Djibouti's Democracy Takes Another Knock As Ageing President Engineers Yet Another Term

Djibouti's president, Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, pushed through constitutional changes removing presidential age limits in October 2025. The changes enable him to remain in power… Read more »

Sudan: Sudan's Protesters Built Networks to Fight a Tyrant - Today They Save Lives in a War

Sudan has a long history of civilian-led resistance, with young people playing a key role. For example, informal neighbourhood networks established in 2013 to survive repression… Read more »

Sudan: 'I Have to Talk About It So That the World Can Know What Happened to Women and Girls in Sudan' - Rape and Terror Sparks Mass Migration

I was in Khartoum when the conflict started. Armed soldiers of Arabs came to our house and they wanted to loot groundnuts, but my mother resisted opening the door. Immediately, one… Read more »

Africa: News Influencers Are Reshaping the Media - Insights From Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa

News creators and influencers have become increasingly important sources of news as more people turn to social media and video networks like Facebook and YouTube to inform… Read more »

Kenya: High-Rise Living in Nairobi's Pipeline Estate Is Stressful - How Men and Women Cope

Within sight of Kenya's main international airport in Nairobi's east, Pipeline residential estate stands out like a sore thumb. Composed almost entirely of tightly packed high-rise… Read more »

East Africa: Fish Farming Is Booming in Lake Victoria, but Pollution and Disease Are Wiping Out Millions. How to Reduce Losses

Aquaculture - the farming of fish and other aquatic organisms - is the world's fastest-growing food production system. Read more »

Sudan: How a Sudanese University Kept Learning Alive During War

The civil war in Sudan began in April 2023, causing death, hunger, displacement and destruction on a huge scale. Gihad Ibrahim, head of e-learning and senior manager at Mashreq… Read more »

Tanzania: 75% of Kilimanjaro's Natural Plants Have Been Wiped Out - and Climate Change Isn't the Biggest Threat

Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is sold to the world as frozen romance and pure nature. But the real story today is at its feet, not its peak. Read more »