November 28, 2022
Cameroon: Paul Biya Has Been Cameroon's President for 40 Years - and He Might Win Office Yet Again
At 89 years old, one of the oldest leaders in the world, President Paul Biya of Cameroon has marked 40 years as head of state. He assumed office in 1982. Read more »
November 25, 2022
South Africa: How to Impeach a President - Ramaphosa Case Puts New Rules to the Test in South Africa
South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa faces possible impeachment in the country's parliament over the illegal stashing of thousands of US dollars at his farm in 2020. This is… Read more »
Congo-Kinshasa: Conflict in the DRC - 5 Articles That Explain What's Gone Wrong
For nearly three decades, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been embroiled in violence. Millions of people have been killed, and an estimated 5.6 million others displaced… Read more »
Namibia: Namibia Pulls Down German Colonial Statue After Protests - Who Was Curt Von François?
Anti-colonial activists in Namibia - calling themselves A Curt Farewell - have scored a victory after a statue of a colonial German officer, Curt von François, was removed… Read more »
November 22, 2022
Africa: All Signs Point to Blowing Past the 1.5 Degrees Global Warming Limit - Here's What We Can Still Do #AfricaClimateCrisis
The world could still, theoretically, meet its goal of keeping global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius, a level many scientists consider a dangerous threshold. Realistically,… Read more »
Ghana: Ghana Digitised Its Address System - Its Failure Offers Lessons to Other African Countries Creating Smart Cities
Smart urbanism is about using digital technologies to address urban problems. Across the continent, digital technologies and smart initiatives have been applied in myriad ways,… Read more »
November 21, 2022
Africa: COP27's 'Loss and Damage' Fund for Developing Countries Could Be a Breakthrough - or Another Empty Climate Promise #AfricaClimateCrisis
Developing nations were justifiably jubilant at the close of COP27 as negotiators from wealthy countries around the world agreed for the first time to establish a dedicated "loss… Read more »
November 20, 2022
Nigeria: Treatment of Wastewater in Oil Fields Is Failing, Raising the Risk of Health Hazards #AfricaClimateCrisis
People need both clean, safe water and sustainable energy. That means both resources must be properly managed. But when it comes to the oil and gas industries, there's a problem. Read more »
Somalia: Time for a New Strategy On Al-Shabaab
In October 2022, Somalia's capital Mogadishu suffered yet another massive suicidal attack. More than 100 people were killed. Hundreds more were wounded and thousands will have been… Read more »
November 17, 2022
South Africa: Nation Needs Strategic Leadership to Weather Its Storms. Its Presidents Have Not Been Up to the Task
South Africa is in a state of crisis. Its current reality is necessarily shaped by historical events, not least the outcomes of the political settlement process that led to the end… Read more »
November 11, 2022
Africa: How the Energy Crisis Is Pressuring Countries At the UN Climate Summit - While Some Race to Renewables, Others See Natural Gas Wealth, but It May Be Short-Lived #AfricaClimateCrisis
Russia's war on Ukraine has cast a shadow over this year's United Nations climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where officials from around the world are discussing the costs… Read more »
Kenya: Presidential Term Limits Will Be Hard to Scrap - Here's What It Would Take
A member of parliament in Kenyan president William Ruto's governing coalition created a firestorm by suggesting that there was a plan to remove presidential term limits in the… Read more »
Nigeria: Africa's Largest Democracy Goes to the Polls in 2023 Amid Rising Insecurity
Africa's biggest election will be held in February 2023 in Nigeria. It's the seventh successive general election in the country's 23 years of unbroken democratic government. Read more »
November 09, 2022
Tunisia: Tunisia's Once-Vibrant Democracy Is On Its Deathbed - but It Can Be Saved
One of the lessons the 21st century is bringing home is that the winners of elections can gradually kill democracies. Healthy democracies have institutional checks and balances… Read more »
November 08, 2022
West Africa: Jihadism and Military Takeovers in West Africa - Burkina Faso Coup Highlights the Links
The West African sub-region at the southern edge of the Sahara Desert has recently attracted significant attention. The main reasons have been an increase in violent extremism and… Read more »
November 10, 2022
Kenya: Kenya Standard Gauge Railway Contracts - What Released Documents Say, and What They Don't
A media frenzy has erupted in Kenya over the November 5, 2022 release of three Chinese loan contracts signed between the Kenyan government and China Export Import Bank (Eximbank),… Read more »
November 06, 2022
South Africa: Can a Coalition Govt Work in South Africa?
South Africa's municipal government elections in 2021 produced a number of largely unstable local government coalitions. There's now a strong possibility that the next government… Read more »
November 02, 2022
Lesotho: Lesotho's Election Brought Change. Six Things Needed to Promote Peace and Democracy
Lesotho's 2022 general election, its tenth since its independence from Britain in 1966, was unique in more ways than one. Read more »
October 28, 2022
Nigeria: Abuja Terror Alert - Nigerian Government Should Not Downplay the Threat
Terrorism is one of the world's greatest security challenges. Trying to predict it is an important part of the effort to counter terrorism. Read more »
October 27, 2022
South Africa: Multiparty Democracy Is in Trouble - Collapsing Coalitions Are a Sure Sign
South Africa's 28-year-old, continuously transforming multiparty democracy was reminded of its own fragility when, in September, a coalition running its biggest city, Johannesburg,… Read more »
October 26, 2022
Kenya: Kenya Has Lifted Its Ban On Genetically Modified Crops - the Risks and Opportunities
Kenya recently lifted a ban on the cultivation and importation of genetically modified crops amid the worst drought in 40 years and soaring food prices. This includes white maize,… Read more »
Somalia: Four Lessons From Past Experience of Dealing With Famine
Since 1990 the world's famines have been classified as small - with the glaring exceptions of Somalia in 1991-92 and 2010-12. Now the UN's World Food Programme says that nearly… Read more »
October 25, 2022
South Africa: Apartheid 'Town Planning' Created Orlando 90 Years Ago. It Became a Hotbed of Black Resistance
Orlando East, a working class community on the periphery of Johannesburg in South Africa, has turned 90 years old. Orlando was one of the first municipal locations - called… Read more »
October 24, 2022
Africa: It Matters That Rishi Sunak Has Become the UK's First Prime Minister of Indian Descent
Following his uncontested run at the top job, Rishi Sunak acquires the less-than-coveted title of second successive un-elected British prime minister to take office in 2022.… Read more »
South Africa: Parliament Fails to Hold the Executive to Account - History Shows What Can Happen
In South Africa's apartheid era from 1948 to 1994, the executive arm of government dominated over parliament. In any system, this allows a small group of politicians to dominate… Read more »