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The diplomats without an embassy

Africa Nick Roll - 22 Aug 2020

For breakaway territories, quasi-states and would-be secessionists, diplomacy is hard – but not impossible

A new Cold War is coming. Africa should not pick sides

Africa W Gyude Moore - 21 Aug 2020

COMMENT: As the US and China battle for global domination, Africa must stand firm, charting its own course

Covid-19 puts Sierra Leone’s expectant mothers at further risk

Africa Abdul S Brima - 20 Aug 2020

Almost 70% of the world’s maternal deaths happen in Africa. Now there’s coronavirus — and with poor prenatal and postnatal care on the continent, expectant mothers and children under five are even more vulnerable.

What is happening in Mali is a coup. We must call it that

Africa Nic Cheeseman - 19 Aug 2020

Zimbabwe called its coup a military-assisted transition to sidestep sanctions. Mali is doing the same. But failing to call power grabs by their name makes it harder to defend democracy

State of democracy in Africa: Changing leaders doesn’t change politics

Africa Nic Cheeseman - 19 Aug 2020

The Bertelsmann Transformation Index Africa Report 2020, A Changing of the Guards or A Change of Systems?, suggests that we should be cautious about the prospects for rapid political improvements

Review: On ‘Twice as Tall’, Burna Boy bends Afrobeats to his will

Africa Kwanele Sosibo - 18 Aug 2020

Burna Boy’s fifth studio album, ‘Twice as Tall’, extends beyond the hype to reveal the Afrobeats star’s vulnerability

Is Bobi Wine more than a one-hit wonder?

Africa Su Muhereza & Eshban Kwesiga - 18 Aug 2020

COMMENT: For all Bobi Wine’s evident popularity, it remains to be seen if he can build a political machine capable of posing a serious threat to Uganda’s president

African governments and the Covid-19 fallout

Africa Maria Sarungi-Tsehai, Nuru Mugambi & Lindelwa Farisani - 18 Aug 2020

The “Covid-19 Kairos” has provided governments with the opportunity to leverage the pandemic to create comprehensive sustainable economic development policies for all Africans

Nollywood demonises queer people

Africa Vincent Desmond - 16 Aug 2020

Nigeria’s legislation prohibits same-sex marriages and the film industry helps to fuel sometimes violent homophobic attacks

On the Covid frontline in Mogadishu

Africa Abdirahman Yusuf - 16 Aug 2020

Abdirahman Yusuf was determined to document the pandemic, so he went to the place that scared him most — the Covid-19 hospital

Repression in Zimbabwe exposes South Africa’s weakness

Africa Roger Southall - 15 Aug 2020

The pattern is now well established: crisis, intervention, promises by the Zanu-PF regime to behave, and then relapse after a decent interval to the sort of behaviour that prompted the latest crisis in the first place.

10 rules for aspiring politicians, according to Namibia’s First Lady

Africa Simon Allison - 13 Aug 2020

Pick your battles. Be careful who you sleep with. And learn to accept defeat

Mauritius weeps as the island is surrounded by oil

Africa Deeya Jahajeeah & Jess Auerbach - 12 Aug 2020

The Wakashio freighter spilled 4 000 tonnes of oil into the sea off the Mauritian coast. Now the island’s residents are working together to recover from the disaster.