Opinion

© File photo of veteran Cameroonian politician John Fru Ndi. (REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye)

sleep well

Premium badgeCameroon’s Chairman Ni John Fru Ndi: Unforgettable democratic legacy Cameroon has been shaken since 12 June by the death of veteran political leader John Fru Ndi, who made great strides in furthering democracy in the We...
© File photo of Prosecutor Karim Khan preparing for a trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

southern justice

Premium badgeSouth Africa’s International Criminal Court conundrum Despite well-documented cases of extreme disparities in income and wealth, not to mention xenophobia, South Africa bears the burden of being Southern ...
© African heads of state pose for a group photo together with Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations during the opening of the 36th Ordinary session of the Assembly of the Africa Union at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia February 18, 2023. REUTERS

reversing the trend

Where are the powerful women in Africa? Despite some progress, gender discrimination persists on the continent, particularly in the economic sphere. As for female role models, they seem to b...
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu waves to a crowd as he takes the traditional ride on top of a ceremonial vehicle after his swearing-in ceremony in Abuja

post-election hangover

Nigeria: Can Tinubu pleasantly surprise his critics? Will President Bola Tinubu act on a better version of himself than his opposition fears he is? Or are concerns justified that he is not the people’s b...

Opinion top stories

President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of China Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pose during the 2023 BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, 23 August, 2023. (Gianluigi Guercia/Pool)

Group cheer

Premium badgeBRICS: Southern Africa’s unprecedented eco-political ‘Kodak moment’ For the region, the BRICS summit in Johannesburg could prove as tectonic as Zimbabwe’s hosting of the 8th Non-Aligned Conference in 1986 and South Afr...
Flags of South Africa, Brazil, Russia, India and China at the 2023 BRICS Summit at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on 24 August 2023. (AFP/Marco Longari)

negatory

Premium badgeThe BRICS expands and Nigeria is not on the list While Egypt and Ethiopia were welcomed into the exclusive club of nations destined to dominate the world economy by 2050, Nigeria was left out. Why be...
Yevgeny Prigozhin, 25 May 2023. (AFP/Concord Group)

What’s next?

Premium badgeThe myth of Wagner in Africa Following the Wagner mutiny that shook President Vladimir Putin in June, and the recent coup in Niger, speculation about the activities of the private...

Opinion top stories

President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of China Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pose during the 2023 BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, 23 August, 2023. (Gianluigi Guercia/Pool)

Group cheer

Premium badgeBRICS: Southern Africa’s unprecedented eco-political ‘Kodak moment’ For the region, the BRICS summit in Johannesburg could prove as tectonic as Zimbabwe’s hosting of the 8th Non-Aligned Conference in 1986 and South Afr...
Flags of South Africa, Brazil, Russia, India and China at the 2023 BRICS Summit at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on 24 August 2023. (AFP/Marco Longari)

negatory

Premium badgeThe BRICS expands and Nigeria is not on the list While Egypt and Ethiopia were welcomed into the exclusive club of nations destined to dominate the world economy by 2050, Nigeria was left out. Why be...
Yevgeny Prigozhin, 25 May 2023. (AFP/Concord Group)

What’s next?

Premium badgeThe myth of Wagner in Africa Following the Wagner mutiny that shook President Vladimir Putin in June, and the recent coup in Niger, speculation about the activities of the private...

Join a global community who rely on us for insight into power, markets and people on the continent.

Join Now
More than one million Sudanese have been displaced or have left the country (Khartoum, 14 May 2023). © AFP

J'ACCUSE...

Sudan war: ‘Foreign interests have taken precedence over will for peace,’ Albert Pahimi Padaké If the war between Generals Burhan and Hemeti once again highlights the weakness of international conflict prevention mechanisms, it also underlines –...
© Moroccan employees work in the new Renault factory in Melloussa, 30 km (19 miles) from Tangiers February 9, 2012. French car maker Renault opened a sprawling low-cost Moroccan factory on Thursday, taking aim at strong European demand for no-frills vehicles in a bid to buck the overall decline in the region’s car market. REUTERS/Stringer

our chance

Premium badgeWhat if Africa tried the Chinese model to eradicate poverty? From 2013 to 2021, nearly 100 million Chinese people broke free from poverty. So it should be possible to restore hope and dignity to millions of Afri...
© Painting by Yusuf Grillo

unique identity

Nigeria: Can today’s young artists live up to the masters of modern Nigerian art? The 1960s and 70s were an interesting time for Nigerian art. The artists who would become the vanguards of modern art in the country had just complete...
Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared winner in Nigeria’s presidential election

nail biter

Nigeria: Will Tinubu be sworn in on Monday? There is no doubt that Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State and current president-elect, is a master strategist and natural born winner who has al...
© File photo of pylons that carry electricity from a coal fired power station in Hwange, Zimbabwe. (REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo)

unenlightened

Premium badgeSouth Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe: Blackouts to total darkness? To observers, it’s incomprehensible that countries with active perennial waterways – via Zambezi River – teeter on the verge of energy poverty.
© By Damien Glez

pulling all stops

Zimbabwe: A strategic presidential pardon? With less than three months left to the general elections, Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has decided to grant clemency to nearly one-fifth o...