Long reads on African history, governance, economics, culture, and what comes next.
Between 2020 and 2023 the African Union faced six successful military coups in its member states: Mali (twice), Burkina Faso (twice), Guinea, and Niger. In each case the …
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) versus Rapid Support Forces (RSF) war that began on 15 April 2023 has killed an estimated 150,000 Sudanese, displaced over 10 million, and …
The M23 (Mouvement du 23 mars) insurgency in eastern DRC, dormant from 2013 to 2021 and reactivated since November 2021, has captured most of Rutshuru and Masisi territories …
Kigali's 2013 masterplan, revised in 2019/2020, is the most ambitious top-down African urban transformation programme of the last two decades. The plan reorganizes the city around mixed-use density …
The Alliance of Sahel States (AES — Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger), formed under the Liptako-Gourma framework in September 2023 and consolidated by the January 2024 withdrawal from ECOWAS, …
Look at a map of the Sahara as drawn by the Berlin Conference in 1885 and the same area as Tuareg and Toubou populations have inhabited it for …
Morocco recognized Tamazight as an official language alongside Arabic in the 2011 constitutional referendum. Algeria followed in the 2016 constitutional revision. In both cases the recognition followed decades …
The ANC's loss of its absolute parliamentary majority in May 2024 — falling to 40.18% of the national vote, from 57.5% in 2019 — is the most consequential …
Between 3 February and 24 March 2024, Senegal moved through a constitutional crisis that could have ended democratic rule and instead delivered the most decisive opposition victory in …
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) was established by the African Union in 2017 as a Specialized Technical Institution of the AU Commission, headquartered …
The Mouvement du 23 Mars (M23) — the armed group operating in North Kivu province whose 2022–2025 offensive captured substantial territory including Bunagana, Kibumba, and the approaches to …
The Arab Maghreb Union (UMA), founded in February 1989 by Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania, has not held a Heads of State summit since 1994. The Morocco-Algeria …