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 »

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 »

Nigeria: Nigeria Has Jailed Biafra Separatist Leader Nnamdi Kanu - Why It Risks Backfiring

The terrorism conviction and life sentence handed down by the Federal High Court in Abuja on Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, brings an end to a ten-year… Read more »

Africa: Facing Myriad Global Pressures, Iran Intensifies Outreach to African Partners for Critical Needs

Burkina Faso's security minister headed to Tehran on Nov. 12, 2025, for high-level talks with Iranian officials. The visit was a fruitful one: The West African nation reopened its… Read more »

South Africa: Who Was Albert Luthuli? the Murdered South African Leader Who Put His People Above Himself

South African liberation leader Albert Luthuli died on 21 July 1967 near his home in Groutville, in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. A government inquest concluded his… Read more »

Southern Africa: Becoming Human in Southern Africa - What Ancient Hunter-Gatherer Genomes Reveal

New genetic research is shedding light on some of the earliest chapters of our human history. In one of the largest studies of its kind, scientists analysed DNA from 28 individuals… Read more »

Sudan: Sudan's Protesters Built Networks to Fight a Tyrant - Today They Save Lives in a War

Sudan has a long history of civilian-led resistance, with young people playing a key role. For example, informal neighbourhood networks established in 2013 to survive repression… Read more »

South Africa: Thousands of Criminals Reoffend in South Africa - Better Data Would Show Where the Justice System Is Failing

In a recent statement, South Africa's minister of correctional services said more than 18,000 parolees had reoffended in the past three years. They included 209 committing murder… Read more »

Africa: TotalEnergies - French Court Ruling Over False Climate Claims Could Boost African Cases Against Polluters

A court ruling in France could give African countries more power to hold corporations to account when they pretend to be environmentally friendly. The Paris Judicial Court found… Read more »

Cote d'Ivoire: Côte d'Ivoire's Democratic Backslide - Elections Leave Even Less Space for Freedom

Ivorians went to the polls on 25 October 2025 to choose between incumbent president Alassane Ouattara - seeking a fourth five-year term - and one of four candidates who didn't have… Read more »

Southern Africa: School Violence Doesn't Happen in Isolation - What Research From Southern Africa Is Telling Us

School violence is a global public health phenomenon. This is when learners and teachers are the victims of physical and psychological abuse, cyber threats and bullying, fights,… Read more »

South Africa: Violence Against Women and Children Is Deeply Connected. Three Ways to Break the Patterns

In South Africa, intimate partner violence is the most common form of violence against women, and it is pervasive. According to the National Gender-Based Violence Prevalence Study,… Read more »

South Africa: South Africans Have Lost Trust in the Police, in Parliament and in Political Parties - What That Means

For democracies to function well, citizens have to trust their institutions. Every incidence of bad service delivery or corruption will influence how much citizens trust… Read more »

East Africa: Fish Farming Is Booming in Lake Victoria, but Pollution and Disease Are Wiping Out Millions. How to Reduce Losses

Aquaculture - the farming of fish and other aquatic organisms - is the world's fastest-growing food production system. Read more »

Guinea Bissau: Guinea-Bissau's Presidential Poll Has Already Failed the Credibility Test

Guinea-Bissau heads into its November elections against the backdrop of a deepening crisis of electoral legitimacy across Africa. In recent months, a string of elections has… Read more »

Africa: How Control of Water Shapes Power and Security in Africa

Water is often taken for granted, if you're lucky enough to have it coming out of taps. Yet it lies at the heart of national security. Read more »

Egypt: Tutankhamun Was Decapitated 100 Years Ago - Why the Excavation Is a Great Shame Instead of a Triumph

November 2025 marks 100 years since archaeologists first examined Tutankhamun's mummified remains. What followed wasn't scientific triumph - it was destruction. Using hot knives… Read more »

South Africa: Secret Electricity Price Hikes in South Africa to Be Curbed in a Game-Changing Court Ruling

A recent high court judgment could be a game changer for the setting of municipal electricity tariffs in South Africa. In late October 2025, the court ruled that the process used… Read more »

Sudan: How a Sudanese University Kept Learning Alive During War

The civil war in Sudan began in April 2023, causing death, hunger, displacement and destruction on a huge scale. Gihad Ibrahim, head of e-learning and senior manager at Mashreq… Read more »

Nigeria: How Nigeria's Grazing Law Also Shapes Land Divisions and Violence

When Nigeria's Benue State Anti-Open Grazing Law was passed in 2017, it brought hope that pastoralist herders would move to ranches, farmers would gain peace, and violent conflict… Read more »

Africa: Africa's Drone Wars Are Growing - but They Rarely Deliver Victory

In the last decade, armed drones have become one of the most visible symbols of modern warfare. Once the preserve of advanced militaries, armed drones are now widely available on… Read more »

South Africa: When Polluters Don't Pay - Still No Cleanup At South African Oil Refinery That's Caused Millions in Damage but Was Sold for 6 Cents

When BP and Shell sold the South African Petroleum Refinery (Sapref) in 2024 to the Central Energy Fund, a government entity, for R1 (or six US cents), environmental advocates… Read more »

South Africa: Access to Water Has a Long Racial History in Durban - I Followed the Story in the City's Archives

The water infrastructure politics of eThekwini, the municipality that includes the city of Durban, have been splashed across the digital pages of South Africa's news outlets in… Read more »

Nigeria: Is There a Christian Genocide in Nigeria? Evidence Shows All Faiths Are Under Attack By Terrorists

Terrorism and insurgency have ravaged parts of Nigeria since 2009, especially in the northern regions. Tens of thousands of Nigerians have been killed and millions have been… Read more »

South Africa: AI in the Courtroom - the Dangers of Using ChatGTP in Legal Practice in South Africa

A South African court case made headlines for all the wrong reasons in January 2025. The legal team in Mavundla v MEC: Department of Co-Operative Government and Traditional Affairs… Read more »