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Benin

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Life president: NRM Presidential Candidate Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, together with the First Lady Maama
Janet Museveni, arrive at Buziga Islamic School grounds, Makindye Division, to kick off election campaigns.
Photo: National Resistance Movement

Africa 2026: polls sans choice, jobs

In addition, some of the continent’s wars show little sign of resolution

All Hail Angélique!: At the age of 64, the Beninese-French singer-songwriter Angélique Kidjo lives joyfully, performs powerfully and gives relentlessly. Photo: Patrick Fouque

Angélique Kidjo still sings with purpose

The Grammy-winning icon brings joy, power and purpose to the stage — and there’s no sign she’s slowing down

Players of South Africa celebrate after a goal during the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match between South Africa and Morocco at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa on June 17, 2023. (Photo by Ihsaan Haffejee/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Bafana ‘must’ qualify for 2026 World Cup

The football team begin their qualification campaign this weekend, and two former players believe that they have enough to make it to 2026

A portion of the African colonies’ budget continues to flow to the French central bank under various names and categories. (Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Former French colonies are still paying a ‘colonial’ tax

Far too many African assets are still under the control of Western powers

Smash and grab: The Benin Empire existed in what is now Nigeria from 1440 to 1897. In 1897, British forces captured and burnt the city of Benin, looting thousands of artworks, including bronze statues.  (Pictures From History/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

The Battle for the Benin Bronzes reaches melting point

Benin City’s looted bronzes are coming home – but the British Museum hasn’t received the memo, writes Carlos Amato

Disillusioned: Kenyans queue for cash handouts at a rally in Kisumu. The number of young voters registered for Kenya’s August 2022 elections has
dropped since the last poll five years ago, pointing to disenchantment caused by economic hardship and corruption. Photo: Brian Ongoro

Africa’s chief executives focus on Francophone markets

Leaders at some African firms are looking at Francophone markets as a way to expand sales hit by Covid-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

A man wears a traditional Kankurang mask along the beach in the popular tourist area of Senegambia in Banjul on December 6, 2021. (Photo: John Wessels/AFP)

The Continent: Africa A-Z of 2021

The highlights of 2021 in Africa

S20 warns that climate change is endangering human health, food systems and ecosystems worldwide

The time is ripe for Africa’s food policy to change

Food systems lack resilience in the face of crisis and that feed crises of their own making, driving climate change and fuelling epidemics of hunger, malnutrition, obesity and…

Visitors look at statues of the ‘Royal treasures of Abomey kingdom’ on display at the Musee du quai Branly in Paris on September 10, 2021, part of 26 artworks set to be restituted to Benin later in the year. (Photo by Christophe Archambault/AFP)

Ghosts of colonial looting haunt Europe’s museums

Here is a recap of disputes over artefacts looted from Europe’s former African colonies.

Angélique Kidjo performs at the Melkweg concert hall in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. (Photograph by Frans Schellekens/ Redferns)
Video

Angélique Kidjo puts Africa at the centre

Her latest project, Mother Nature, continues a musical trajectory that reflects on Africa’s history, the world’s perceptions of the continent and its influence on music everywhere

Regional human rights bodies such as the African Court issue judgments that support fundamental freedoms. Often these decisions overrule rulings made by governments.

Why are African countries undermining the rights bodies they created?

African states are starting to withdraw from rights bodies when rulings go against them

Benin’s democratic crisis is deepening, but no one is paying attention

Democracy is under attack in Benin, argues former foreign minister Rogatien Biaou, but the world press remains silent

How can we educate and re-educate societies to value female leadership? Does this need to start with a change in the school curriculum?

Why we must fight to secure places for more women and young people in politics

Too often, governments talk the talk on gender equality, but fail to walk the walk

Secessionist leader Isaac Adaka Boro, who in 1966 turned himself to the authorities. As the writer notes, the faces of Ologbosere and Boro, both destined to be executed, are tranquil, even foreknowing, as if the matter is settled.  (Records Administration )

Measures of Power: Our interest in violent, public justice

How the theatre of execution contributes to national mythmaking in Nigeria

The recent news of evictions and mistreatment of African students in China during the Covid-19 pandemic is rooted in a history of violence and discrimination

A brief history of anti-black violence in China

The recent news of evictions and mistreatment of African students in China during the Covid-19 pandemic is rooted in a history of violence and discrimination