Africa: 60 Percent of Africans Don't Believe Democracy Is Working in Their Interests - How Parliaments Can Fix the Problem

Across Africa, democracy is being tested - by rising authoritarianism and military coups as well as a growing disconnect between citizens and the institutions meant to represent… Read more »

Namibia: What Does It Mean to Become an Adult? in Namibia, It's Caring for Others

Around the world, people become adults in different ways. In some places, it's when you get a job, get married, or move out of your parents' house. In others it might include an… Read more »

Cameroon: Cameroon's Election Risks Instability, No Matter Who Wins

Cameroonians will vote in presidential elections on 12 October 2025. The incumbent, Paul Biya, who has been in office for nearly 43 years, will be a candidate. Read more »

South Africa: Should Governments Pay Businesses for Climate Disasters? Researchers Unpack Huge Lawsuits in South Africa

The most catastrophic natural disaster ever recorded in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province - also the worst flood in South Africa for more than a century - has sparked two major… Read more »

Senegal: Senegal's Rating Downgrade - Credit Agencies Are Punishing Countries That Don't Check Their Numbers

Senegal's dramatic two-notch credit rating downgrade in February 2025 by the credit rating agency Moody's was followed by a Standard & Poor's downgrade in July. Read more »

Africa: World Maps Get Africa's Size Wrong - Cartographers Explain Why Fixing It Matters

The African Union has endorsed the #CorrectTheMap Campaign, a call for the United Nations and the wider global community to use a different kind of world map. The campaign… Read more »

Lesotho: Lesotho's Historian 'Burns' Machobane Told the Country's Story - and Helped Build It After Colonialism

Last year Lesotho celebrated 200 years since the founding of the nation by Moeshoeshoe I. This year the small country in southern Africa will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of… Read more »

South Africa: South Africa's Service Delivery Crisis - Why Protesters Are Using More Militant Tactics

Post-apartheid South Africa is characterised by frequent public protests. On average, between 2007 and 2013, there were over 11 protests daily. Research shows that protests almost… Read more »

South Africa: South Africa's New Climate Targets - Balancing Ambition With the Realities of Coal and Climate Finance

South Africa has scaled back its ambitions to cut down on the greenhouse emissions that come from burning fossil fuels and which cause global warming. Read more »

South Africa: South Africa's Sewage Crisis - Official Reports Don't Include Millions of Litres of Leaking Wastewater

Wastewater is the water we flush down our toilets, send down the drain from our showers and sinks or discharge from factories. It's supposed to travel through intact pipes to be… Read more »

Namibia: Namibia Celebrates Independence Heroes, but Glosses Over a Painful History

Namibia celebrates 26 August as Heroes' Day. It recalls the first military encounter between the South African army and members of the South West Africa People's Organisation… Read more »

Gambia: The Gambia's New Constitution Has Stalled Again - 5 Reasons Why and What That Means for Democracy

The Gambia's post-dictatorship democratic transition recently suffered a setback. The Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia (Promulgation) Bill, 2024 failed to pass its second… Read more »

South Africa: Young South Africans Don't Bother With Elections - Would Lowering the Voting Age Make a Difference?

South Africa is due to hold local government elections in 2026. In the last election in 2021, only 15% of the eligible voters aged 18 to 21 registered for the election. In view of… Read more »

Africa: Hype and Western Values Are Shaping AI Reporting in Africa - What Needs to Change

News media shape public understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) and influence how society interacts with these technologies. For many people, especially those who have not… Read more »

South Africa: South Africa Has Chosen a Risky Approach to Global Politics - 3 Steps It Must Take to Succeed

South Africa finds itself in a dangerous historical moment. The world order is under threat from its own primary architect. The US wants to remain the premier global political… Read more »

Tanzania: Tanzania's Independence Leader Julius Nyerere Built a New Army Fit for African Liberation - How He Did It

Tanzania has long enjoyed a reputation as a peaceful country. In contrast to most of its neighbours, this east African nation of 67 million people has largely avoided large-scale… Read more »

Kenya: Kenya's 1950 Kolloa Massacre - Britain Won't Own Up to Its Colonial Violence but Communities Need Closure

In 1950, British forces killed at least 29 civilians in one of the deadliest, but least chronicled, episodes of colonial violence in Kenya. Read more »

Chad: Succès Masra - How Chad's Opposition Firebrand Came to Be Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison

Chad's opposition firebrand and a former prime minister, Succès Masra, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on 9 August. He was accused of inciting violence and hate speech… Read more »

Africa: The International Order Is Shifting - African Countries Have an Opportunity to Reshape Global Power Relations

For too long, Africa's agency has been exercised defensively: managing expectations, preserving stability, reacting to external scripts. The continent has copied political systems… Read more »

Western Sahara: Morocco Using Economic Clout to Strengthen Grip On Disputed Western Sahara Territory

Christopher Nolan, known for directing blockbusters like Memento, Interstellar and Oppenheimer, is facing public backlash for filming scenes of his new film, The Odyssey, in part… Read more »

South Sudan: South Sudan's New Chief Justice Has a Chance to Reform the Judiciary - If He's Allowed to Do His Job

South Sudan's chief justice, Chan Reec Madut, was sacked in late May 2025 after more than 13 years on the bench. Madut leaves behind a legacy of inefficiency and accusations of… Read more »

Namibia: Namibia's Forgotten Genocide - How Bushmen Were Hunted and Killed Under German Colonial Rule

The genocide of Namibia's Ovaherero and Nama people by German colonial forces (1904-1907) is widely documented. But much less is made of what came next - the genocide of the… Read more »

Sudan: Sudan's Rebel Force Has Declared a Parallel Government - What This Means for the War

Sudan's south-western city of Nyala in Darfur recently became the centre of a significant political development. Read more »

South Africa: Ubuntu Matters - Rural South Africans Believe Community Care Should Go Hand-in-Hand With Development

The failure of many development initiatives has led some scholars, especially those associated with the post-development and decolonial schools of thought, to call for alternatives… Read more »

Nigeria: The African Activists Who Challenged Colonial-Era Slavery in Lagos and the Gold Coast

When historians and the public think about the end of domestic slavery in west Africa, they often imagine colonial governors issuing decrees and missionaries working to end local… Read more »