August 01, 2023
Algeria: Algeria - the Hirak and Its Aftermath
Algerian journalists are on the frontline of an unprecedented wave of state repression against the uprising that toppled former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Read more »
July 28, 2023
West Africa: Will the Sahel Survive Another Coup?
An Arab, deposed President Bazoum's attempts to shuffle his Fulani-dominated Republican Guard, may have triggered the coup. With French and US troops stationed there, and Russia in… Read more »
July 12, 2023
Cameroon: Paul Biya's Ghostly Legacy in Cameroon - The Absence That Shaped a Nation
In power for 41 years, the 90 year-old president has ruled mostly in absentia, a ghostly embodiment of a gerontocracy that has gifted its people the concept of Waithood. Read more »
June 27, 2023
Africa: Frelimo Turns to Dirty Tricks for the 2023 Local Elections
Haunted by corruption, accused of running down the economy, Frelimo will nevertheless sweep the October elections - whether voters like it or not. Read more »
June 22, 2023
Central African Republic: Touadéra's Third-Term Plans Are Pushing CAR to the Brink
In his quest to remake the country in his image, President Touadéra has unleashed forces he may not be able to control. Read more »
June 15, 2023
Africa: The EU's Landmark Carbon Tool Presents Major Catch-22 for Africa
The CBAM will push producers to decarbonise yet make it harder to do so. Our modelling suggests the policy could cut Africa's GDP by $25 billion. Read more »
June 13, 2023
Egypt: Neo-Pharaonism, Egypt's Ultra-Nationalists and the Hidden Hand of the State
Cancelling Kevin Hart's show last February exposed a virulent racism lurking beneath the revival of a popular movement long considered pagan. Read more »
Zambia: President's 'Desperate Plan' to Stay in Power? A Response
We assess the same evidence as Sishuwa Sishuwa and come to different conclusions. Read more »
June 09, 2023
Senegal: Senegal's Angry Protesters Are Proud Defenders of Their Democracy
Senegal's protesters should be lauded for defending their country's democracy, not condemned for fomenting chaos. Read more »
June 05, 2023
Cameroon: Cameroon - the Keyboard Warlords of the Breakaway Republic
Two social media rivals from the Anglophone southwest, based in far-off England, have been prosecuting their own digital war - with life-and-death consequences in Ambazonia. Read more »
May 30, 2023
Africa: 'Don't Agonise, Organise!' Remembering Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem's Advocacy On 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 »
South Africa: The Two Defining Challenges Facing South Africa
Stagnation at home and fence-sitting abroad are costing the country dearly, and the costs are only rising. Read more »
May 27, 2023
Sudan: How the Generals Disappeared the People On the Way to the Economy
Is independent Sudan's history the haunted tale of military generals meeting their fates on the economic paths they were trying to avoid? Read more »
May 25, 2023
Sudan: Making Pariahs of Al-Burhan and Hemedti Will Unlock the Talks
Until the parties feel that their financial interests are in jeopardy, they won't be prepared to participate in genuine discussions. Read more »
May 24, 2023
Africa: 'Our Target Is Replacing Cement' - the Ethiopian Startup Thinking Big
Kubik promises to turn plastic waste into high quality affordable homes. We spoke to its CEO about dignity, safety, and thinking globally. Read more »
May 23, 2023
Kenya: The Rebirth of Anti-Elite Land Politics in Ruto's Kenya
If the invasion of the Kenyatta property resurrected the ghosts of Mau Mau, where did it leave the land question in central Kenya? Read more »
May 15, 2023
Sudan: As the Generals Fight, Who's Playing Chess With the Old Islamists?
The clash between Burhan and Hemedti was inevitable. In the mediation scramble, nobody can afford to side with Bashir's Islamists. Read more »
Africa: Presidential Term Limits and the Power of Precedent
Incumbents' appetites for third-term runs may be waning, but they still carry hugely disruptive political legacies. Read more »
May 11, 2023
Burundi: 'The President Has Crossed the Rubicon - There's No Turning Back'
In the wake of the arrest and detention of former PM Alain Guillaume Bunyoni, political observers weigh the consequences. Read more »
May 09, 2023
Botswana: Botswana Has Always Driven a Hard Bargain With De Beers
Botswana is not following a trend of African state negotiating more aggressively with corporations. It has long set this trend. Read more »
May 05, 2023
Sudan: Revolutionary Reflections, Amid a Raging War
If the popular revolution of 2019 was badly undermined by its rejection of representative politics, how can it be revived? Read more »
May 02, 2023
Congo-Kinshasa: Lines Through the Lake - Why the Congo-Rwanda Border Can't Be Redrawn
Long-standing cultural affinities of Rwandophones in the Great Lakes may appear to bolster Kigali's historical claims to parts of eastern Congo, but it's more complicated than it… Read more »
April 25, 2023
Rwanda: Rwanda, Too, Needs to Make Amends
Rwanda accuses Congo-Kinshasa of being unable to put its house in order; it, too, must deal with the question of its 245,000 refugees. Read more »
Somalia: Somalia's Crucible of State-Making
For thirty years the Somali peninsula has been a crucible of experiments in contemporary state formation, a fascinating opportunity to observe and test political-economic theory.… Read more »
April 19, 2023
Sudan: What Will Happen in Sudan?
The current crisis exposes the motives of the men with guns. It requires, paradoxically, the intervention of a distracted international community that has done little to support a… Read more »