February 19, 2023
Nigeria: Gender Equality in Nigeria - Three Reasons Why Women Aren't Represented in Politics
In March 2022, Nigerian women suffered backlash in their pursuit of gender equity. Five gender bills presented to the National Assembly were thrown out. Read more »
February 16, 2023
Tanzania: Tanzania Is Ruled With Impunity - Four Key Issues Behind Calls for Constitutional Reform
Tanzania's president issued a statement in June 2016 announcing a ban on political rallies outside campaign periods. The ban was unconstitutional. Read more »
Nigeria: How to Poll 93 Million Voters - the Challenge of Pulling Off Nigeria's Presidential Elections
Nigeria's registered voters, which the Independent National Electoral Commission has put at 93.5 million, are expected to come out in their numbers in what will be Africa's biggest… Read more »
Africa: Pan-Africanism Remains a Dream - 4 Key Issues the African Union Must Tackle
The African Union (AU) - made up of 55 member countries - has made significant progress with integrating the countries of the continent and giving them a voice in global politics. Read more »
February 14, 2023
Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe's Budget Plans Open Door for Growth but Only If High Interest Rates Don't Derail Them
When Zimbabwe's finance minister Mthuli Ncube presented the national budget for 2023 to Parliament in November 2022, he placed high emphasis on a raft of initiatives designed to… Read more »
February 13, 2023
Nigeria: Nigerian Elections - Eight Issues Young People Want the New Govt to Address
As Nigeria prepares for the 25 February presidential elections, it's interesting to consider what young Nigerians are expecting. Read more »
February 12, 2023
Africa: African Researchers Are Ready to Share More Work Openly - Now Policy Must Make It Possible
Librarians are the curators of creativity. They collect success stories and share it with the world. Traditionally, the success was from published authors, which libraries shared… Read more »
South Sudan: South Sudan's Oil and Water Give It Bargaining Power - but Will It Benefit the People?
South Sudan has long been one of east Africa's most unstable states. But surging external interest in its resources and the diplomatic agility of its rulers are again underlining… Read more »
February 08, 2023
Kenya: Kenya's President Wants Taxes to Replace Foreign Debt - Seven Ways to Get There
In the run-up to Kenya's 2022 polls, economic issues, particularly public debt and joblessness, took centre stage. The Kenya Kwanza team led by William Ruto suggested that Kenya… Read more »
Nigeria: What I Like and Hate About Nigeria's Election Campaigns - Political Scientist
Election campaigns are an important aspect of the democratic process in Nigeria. They give voters a chance to learn what a candidate or party stands for. Read more »
South Africa: State Capture in South Africa - Time to Think Differently About Redress and Recovering the Stolen Loot
South Africans are plunged into darkness daily by rolling power cuts. These are a stark reminder of the destruction that years of state capture wreaked on Eskom, the state-owned… Read more »
February 07, 2023
South Africa: South Africa's Ruling Party Has Favoured Loyalty Over Competence
Cadre deployment is one of the best-known policies of the African National Congress (ANC), which has governed South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994. And many of the… Read more »
February 06, 2023
South Africa: Link Between Crime and Politics Raises Concerns About Criminal Gangs Taking Over
A report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (Gitoc) released in September 2022 argues that South Africa has increasingly become a centre of organised… Read more »
February 05, 2023
Nigeria: Election Violence in Nigeria's South East Is Threatening to Derail Voting in the Region
Violence is a perennial feature of elections in Nigeria. It happens across the three stages of the electoral cycle - before, on and after election day. Read more »
February 03, 2023
Tanzania: Samia Suluhu Hassan Is Reforming Tanzania - It's Winning Her Fans but Boosting the Opposition
A series of political manoeuvres by Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan have set the east African country on an unfamiliar, yet hopeful, political path. Since her elevation to… Read more »
February 02, 2023
Kenya: The Body Choosing Kenya's Election Commission Is Being Overhauled - How This Could Strengthen Democracy
Kenya has new rules for choosing the people who run its elections. Read more »
February 01, 2023
Nigeria: Nigerian Elections - 5 Major Challenges Facing the Country's Next President
Nigerians will soon determine who their next president will be in a general election. Polling is due at the end of February and inauguration is scheduled for 29 May 2023. Read more »
Zambia: Direct Support to Small Scale Farmers Reduces Poverty - What Zambia Is Doing Right
Over half of Zambia's population lived below the national poverty line in 2015. In rural areas, where 89% of households are engaged in agriculture, the poverty rate was even… Read more »
Kenya: George Magoha Was a Force for Better Education in Kenya. but He Had His Flaws
The death of former Kenyan education minister Professor George Magoha, 71, closes a vibrant chapter in education policymaking and leadership. It was a chapter marked by unmatched… Read more »
January 31, 2023
Ghana: Accra Is Congested, but Relocating Ghana's Capital Is Not the Only Option
Capital cities play an important role in the socio-economic development of every country. People generally move to cities where there are opportunities. Read more »
January 26, 2023
Tanzania: Opposition Rallies Are Finally Unbanned - but This Doesn't Mean Democratic Reform Is Coming
In Tanzania, the political rally is back. Chadema, Tanzania's leading opposition party, held mass rallies outside the official election campaign for the first time in six and a… Read more »
January 25, 2023
South Africa: Adriaan Vlok - the Case for Accepting the Late South African Politician's Apology for Apartheid
The recent death of Adriaan Vlok, the prominent South African apartheid-era law and order minister, brought the issue of political apologies for past wrongs back into the public… Read more »
January 24, 2023
Ghana: Ghana's Nkrumahist Parties Keep Splitting - a Threat to Their Strength in the 2024 Election
Political parties are not always completely united, as most classical political scientists argue. Dissenting opinions and the scramble for party apparatus tend to trigger internal… Read more »
January 22, 2023
Nigeria: Ten Factors That Could Affect This Year's NIgerian Polls
As Nigerians inch closer to the February 2023 presidential election, the seventh since the current wave of liberal democracy formally started in 1999, there are at least 10 key… Read more »
January 20, 2023
South Africa: Power Cuts in South Africa - Trend to Get Off the Grid Is Gathering Pace, but Total Independence Is Still a Way Off
South Africans have been battered by power shortages for several years. These have worsened to the point that towards the end of 2022 the country's electricity utility, Eskom, had… Read more »