Long reads on African history, governance, economics, culture, and what comes next.
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 Pan-African Congress series — the 1900 London conference convened by Henry Sylvester Williams, the 1919 Paris congress alongside the Versailles peace conference, the 1921, 1923, and 1927 …
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 …
The Sokoto Caliphate, established by the Fulani jihad of Usman dan Fodio between 1804 and 1809, was at its peak the largest African polity south of the Sahara …
On 26 July 2023 the Niger Presidential Guard detained Mohamed Bazoum and announced the Conseil National pour la Sauvegarde de la Patrie. ECOWAS responded with the most aggressive …
Moussa Faki Mahamat completed his second four-year term as African Union Commission Chairperson in March 2025, after eight years that included the formal AfCFTA launch, the Common African …
On 30 October 2024 the Botswana Democratic Party, in power since the country's independence in September 1966, lost the general election. Duma Boko's Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) …