Tanzania: Edwin Mtei, Tanzania's First Central Bank Governor, Left Lessons On Leadership

Edwin Mtei, who passed away on 20 January 2026, was the first governor of Tanzania's Central Bank after independence from Britain. Read more »

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 »

Nigeria: Nigeria's Former Election Umpire Has Been Appointed an Ambassador - Why This Is a Red Flag

The Nigerian Senate confirmed the appointment of the immediate past chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as an ambassador in December 2025. This has… 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 »

Nigeria: Nigeria's 2027 Election Can Set a Model for Disability Inclusion. Here's How

Nigeria has built an impressive legal framework for disability rights. The challenge now is turning these commitments into consistent, lived realities for voters with disabilities.… 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 »

Africa: The G20 Was Built to Stabilise the World's Economy - but It's Failed On Climate, Debt and Inequality

The Group of Twenty (G20) emerged from the financial turmoil that followed the collapse of the Thai currency in 1997, which rapidly spread financial instability from Thailand to… Read more »

South Africa: Johannesburg Has Failed Its Informal Traders - Policies Are in Place, but Action Is Needed

Johannesburg's inner city is a bustling hub of economic life - a dense, dynamic web of informal traders, adjacent businesses and other users. Informal trading remains an essential… 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 »

Nigeria: The Pluses and Minuses of U.S. Airstrikes in Northern Nigeria

A month before the US carried out its Christmas day attack on militants linked to the Islamic State group (IS) in north-western Nigeria, president Donald Trump had declared Nigeria… Read more »

Africa: The Politics of the Hyper-Polluting Private Transport Used By the World's Super-Rich Is Hotting Up

While millions of people make the effort to sort their recycling, buy fewer clothes and generally make greener choices, the world's wealthiest can emit the same amount of carbon as… 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 »

Africa: Internet Shutdowns Are Increasing Dramatically in Africa - a New Book Explains Why

Between 2016 and 2024 there were 193 internet shutdowns imposed in 41 African countries. This form of social control is a growing trend in the continent, according to a new open… 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 »

Africa: Coup Contagion? a Rash of African Power Grabs Suggests Copycats Are Taking Note of Others' Success

In a scene that has become familiar across parts of Africa of late, a group of armed men in military garb appeared on state TV on Dec. 7, 2025, to announce that they had suspended… Read more »

Zimbabwe: The Price of Going Home - Christmas Boxes and the Final Return From South Africa to Zimbabwe

Each December, long-distance buses, minibus taxis and private cars stream northwards from South Africa as Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second biggest city, prepares for its annual ritual:… Read more »

West Africa: Kidnapping for Ransom in the Sahel - Analysis of 24 Years of Data Shows a New Trend

Kidnapping for ransom has a long history in the west African Sahel. In 1979, a rebel group led by Chad's future president Hissène Habré kidnapped a French… Read more »

Nigeria: Nigeria's Economy Has Improved but Ordinary People Still Feel the Pinch - Economist Offers Some Solutions

Nigerians have been waiting anxiously for the economy to "turn a corner", following economic reform initiatives undertaken by President Bola Tinubu in 2023. These included removing… Read more »

Africa: Coups in Africa - How Democratic Failings Help Shape Military Takeovers - Study

Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Guinea and Gabon have all suffered regime change in the last five years, led by men in military uniform. Read more »

Senegal: Thiaroye Massacre - Report On the French Killing of Senegalese Troops in 1944 Exposes a Painful History

The Thiaroye camp near Dakar was a Senegalese army barracks housing African soldiers called "tirailleurs sénégalais" (Senegalese riflemen). It welcomed men returning… Read more »

Lesotho: Fossil Science Owes a Debt to Indigenous Knowledge - Lesotho Missionary's Notes Tell the Story

For over a century, the scientific literature has credited western missionaries with "discovering" fossils in Lesotho, the small, mountainous country surrounded by South Africa. Read more »

Guinea Bissau: Guinea-Bissau Coup - Election Uncertainty Has Triggered Military Takeovers Before

Guinea-Bissau has had nine attempted coups and five successful ones since its independence in September 1973. Salah Ben Hammou, a researcher with a focus on the politics of… Read more »

Africa: South Africa and Pakistan - Countries Brought to Their Knees By Elite Capture and Economic Paralysis

In the ongoing quest to understand South Africa's political and economic stagnation, it may be helpful to look at other postcolonial states that have travelled further along the… 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 »