November 09, 2023
Liberia: Could Joseph Boakai Do a Biden in Liberia's Run-Off Election?
At 78, Boakai is the veteran bridesmaid of Liberian politics; like his American counterpart, he runs against a populist megastar with a comical grasp of governance. Will the… Read more »
November 04, 2023
Africa: Liberal Democracy Is in Crisis, Does It Need Rethinking?
Authoritarianism is on the rise, coups back in fashion, and elections reduced to a perfunctory ritual. How do we reverse the slide? Read more »
November 02, 2023
Africa: President Ruto Is Not Africa's Mia Mottley
Kenya's president has reinvented himself as Africa's climate champion, but his policy contradictions reveal that this is just his latest hustle. Read more »
November 01, 2023
Africa: Who Stands With Palestine?
The UN's failure to intervene effectively in the current crisis is sowing the seeds of its eventual demise - even as Israel's principle enabler destroys the last vestiges of its… Read more »
October 30, 2023
Congo-Kinshasa: Election 2023 - a Stable, Secure and Prosperous DRC Is Possible
Destabilised by the global scramble for its vast mineral riches, the forthcoming election could trigger the nation's transformation to prosperity - but only if it is conducted… Read more »
October 17, 2023
Africa: Africans, Slavery and Reparations - Why Nana Akufo-Addo's Claims Are Deeply Flawed
While the Ghanaian president made bold claims for reparations to African states, the African elite's long silence about its role in the slave trade speaks volumes. Read more »
October 09, 2023
Uganda: Uganda At 61 - In His Sunset Years, Museveni Tightens the Noose
What does Museveni's refusal to let go mean for the future of the country and region? Read more »
October 05, 2023
Africa: What Africa Needs From the World Bank Annual Meetings
$1 spent on climate adaption can yield up to $10, not to mention immeasurable other benefits, yet efforts remains chronically underfunded. Read more »
October 03, 2023
Liberia: Why Liberia's President Weah Must Go (Democratically)
Liberia's disaffected citizens are more than justified in hoping that the 10 October election brings change. Read more »
September 20, 2023
South Africa: 'Urban Politics' in Rural Libode, South Africa - Residents Protest Extended Power Outages
Debating Ideas aims to reflect the values and editorial ethos of the African Arguments book series, publishing engaged, often radical, scholarship, original and activist writing… Read more »
September 15, 2023
Zambia: Why Is Zambia's President Warning Off Non-Existent Coup Plotters?
Though baffling to some, Hichilema's talk of a coup contains two clear messages to two different audiences. Read more »
September 13, 2023
Zimbabwe: A Shameful Shambles - an Account of Zimbabwe's Elections of August 2023
An election observer who has witnessed every Zimbabwean election since independence in 1980, narrates his experience of the 2023 elections. Read more »
September 07, 2023
Tanzania: January Makamba and Tanzania's Return From Self-Isolation
What does January Makamba's appointment to Tanzania's foreign docket add to President Hassan's expanding diplomatic chessboard? Read more »
September 04, 2023
Somalia: State-Building As the Elite's Perverse Incentive
Facing growing allegations of corruption and nepotism, can the Hassan Sheikh administration win the war against Al Shabaab? Read more »
August 31, 2023
Somalia: Understanding the Local Context Is Key to Addressing Fragility in Somalia
No longer a vision of the failed state of a decade ago, for Somalia the journey from fragility to sustainability is long, tough and ongoing. Read more »
Gabon: Adieu to a Post-Colonial Bully?
The coup in Libreville is less a marker of democratic erosion than a signal of the revolt against France's neocolonial domination. Read more »
August 29, 2023
Sudan: Sudan's Crisis - Can Cash Transfers Prevent Starvation and State Collapse?
Debating Ideas aims to reflect the values and editorial ethos of the African Arguments book series, publishing engaged, often radical, scholarship, original and activist writing… Read more »
August 30, 2023
Africa: View(s) From Africa - What's At Stake At Africa Climate Week?
We asked a panel of policy experts about their hopes, fears, and expectations from the Africa Climate Summit and Week. Read more »
August 01, 2023
Africa: Africa Elections 2023 - All the Upcoming Votes
A regularly updated list and interactive map of the upcoming elections in Africa in 2023. Read more »
August 18, 2023
Liberia: Young People Are the Real Peacekeepers in Liberia
A generation with no memory of the civil war will be voting in October - despite their abiding loss of faith in Liberia's politicians. Read more »
August 16, 2023
Sudan: 'One Army, One People'? the Ethnic and Regional Politics of Sudan's Military and Militias and Its Role in Coups and Wars Past and Present
Debating Ideas aims to reflect the values and editorial ethos of the African Arguments book series, publishing engaged, often radical, scholarship, original and activist writing… Read more »
August 15, 2023
Niger: Niger - The Resource Politics of a Post-Colonial Revolt
FrançAfrique, the opaque independence deal that supplied Africa's resources to France, is being dismantled one coup at a time. Is Mr Yevgeny Prigozhin the new master behind… Read more »
August 09, 2023
South Sudan: Controversial General Elections and the Future of Democratic Transition in South Sudan
Debating Ideas aims to reflect the values and editorial ethos of the African Arguments book series, publishing engaged, often radical, scholarship, original and activist writing… Read more »
August 08, 2023
Africa: Tinubu's Cabinet Nominees - Renewed Hope or Recycled Tropes?
Tinubu's cabinet is stacked with political heavyweights: nine ex-governors, several former cabinet ministers and legislators. An indication, perhaps, of growing anxieties about the… Read more »
August 04, 2023
Ethiopia: How Years of Tension in Amhara Boiled to the Surface
Deepening suspicions that Abiy was plotting against the Amhara is driving the Fano rebellion against Addis Ababa. Read more »