Old-timers who refuse to step down

There is more in common between Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire than their shared history as former French colonies: they are led by elderly men who just don’t want to leave power, and both secured new... 

Trump’s empty-chair diplomacy

Over the next two days, Johannesburg will play host to the 2025 G20 Leaders’ Summit, which US President Donald Trump has announced he will boycott, calling it a “total disgrace” over his unproven... 

A voice too loud for America

Wole Soyinka needs no introduction in Africa – or shouldn’t. The legendary writer, poet and activist became the continent’s first Nobel Prize in Literature laureate back in 1986, and generations of... 

It’s cash over conscience for enablers of autocrats

Africa is not short of autocrats, but what rarely makes the headlines is that some glossy corporations from the Global North act as their enablers, padding their own bank accounts while propping up... 

Kariba’s rehabilitation lays foundation for another 50 years of hydropower delivery

After several delays since its launch in 2017, the $294-million Kariba Dam Rehabilitation Project (KDRP), aimed at repairing decades of erosion from high-velocity water discharge and refurbishing... 

From coup to campaign trail

October has been an event-packed month. We’ve witnessed the passing of Raila Odinga – the President Kenya never had – the electoral defeat of an incumbent head of State, Seychelles’ Wavel... 

Kariba’s rehabilitation lays foundation for another 50 years of hydropower delivery

After several delays since its launch in 2017, the $294-million Kariba Dam Rehabilitation Project (KDRP), aimed at repairing decades of erosion from high-velocity water discharge and refurbishing... 

The blessing of brief Presidencies

The relatively new African phenomenon of the one-term Presidency – the subject of a recent instalment of this column – is not letting up, with the continent’s latest failed wannabe two-term head of... 

Africa’s youth are done waiting

There is a fresh tremor running through Africa, where young people – those born in the 1990s and 2000s, the so-called Gen Z – are no longer content to wait for change. The Arab Spring protests that... 

Militants with a boardroom veto

Mozambican officials, desperate to jump-start economic development in the south-eastern African nation, must have breathed a sigh of relief when French energy giant TotalEnergies announced in May... 

From one term to oblivion

As I sat down to write this piece, my mind flashed back to our journalism history classes in college, where the Chicago Daily Tribune’s infamous ‘Dewey defeats Truman’ headline from November 3,... 

Not quite a country

Somaliland – which I have previously called “the other Somali republic” in this column to highlight its lesser visibility compared with Somalia, from which it seceded in 1991 but has struggled to... 

Ethiopia’s people power

Think of any African infrastructure megaproject. Chances are it was built with massive foreign loans. Ethiopia, on the other hand, passed the hat around – almost literally – and built a continental... 

Fake news, real fallout

Fake news doesn’t need a newsroom – just misunderstanding, a smartphone and a little fear. That’s all it took in Japan last month when a harmless cultural exchange with four African countries... 

Africa’s shameful silence

I’ve often lamented in this column the African Union’s (AU’s) dismally impotent threats whenever a military coup occurs in one of its member States, a pattern that has likely contributed to the... 

The restless dead of Africa

A new Africa seems to have arrived – one where the dead, if they happen to be former State Presidents or business tycoons, don’t simply rest. Instead, they spark unseemly wrangles between grieving... 

Billionaire exit strategies

Aliko Dangote, Africa’s wealthiest individual, with a net worth standing at a cool $23-billion-plus, last month stepped down as chair of Dangote Cement, the bedrock of his business empire, just... 

Crisis of concentration

South Africa has the dubious distinction of being the world’s most unequal country, with a Gini co-efficient – a measure of inequality based on per capita consumption – of 0.63. The broader... 

Ramping up African trade seen as key coping strategy as Agoa-extension prospects fade

With the continuation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) beyond its expiry next month in serious doubt as the administration of re-elected US President Donald Trump shifts decisively... 

Malawi’s tainted ticket

The electoral clock is ticking in Malawi. Voters head to the polls on September 16 to elect new municipal councillors, new MPs and a new President – if they choose not to renew the mandate of the... 

Ramping up African trade seen as key coping strategy as Agoa-extension prospects fade

With the continuation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) beyond its expiry next month in serious doubt as the administration of re-elected US President Donald Trump shifts decisively... 

Strangers in transit?

A chartered Global Crossing Airlines flight touched down at Eswatini’s King Swati III International Airport on the morning of July 16, carrying five passengers described by a US official in... 

Africa robbed, West enriched

Corrupt African political elites that plunder their countries’ coffers and stash the loot abroad –  with Western capitals their favourite vaults – have developed an astonishing sense of... 

ChatGPT’s human toll

Generative AI tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT are hailed as some of the most disruptive innovations in recent memory, promising – or already delivering – sweeping gains across countless fields. But... 

Leadership past its prime

Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Malawi and Uganda have one thing in common – all are preparing for Presidential elections in the coming months, and in the running are political veterans well past... 

When help hinders growth

When Western governments sneeze, development projects in Africa catch a cold. In 2024 alone, these governments disbursed $42-billion in official development assistance (ODA) to Africa. But the aid... 

Africa’s visual injustice

There is a fallacy many of us have carried since childhood, just like many generations before us, stretching back centuries. It has to do with how Africa is depicted on the maps that hung on... 

Trump-Musk blowup

I must confess – quite out of character for me, I immensely enjoyed the fallout between once best buddies Donald Trump and Elon Musk, which played out across Truth Social, Trump’s personal... 

Tribute to Ngūgī wa Thiong’o

The literary world is in mourning following the death late last month of Kenyan-born writer Ngūgī wa Thiong’o at the age of 87. Although I had long known of his battle with chronic kidney disease,... 

Lies in high places

Before Donald Trump hurled the term ‘fake news’ like a grenade at a journalist in 2016, and the world watched it explode into mainstream lingo, it was largely the jargon of ivory-towered academics... 

Health for the few

A pet peeve of mine is the woefully low levels of investment in Africa’s public healthcare sector – a reality that doesn’t seem to trouble the ruling elites, who hop on the next overseas-bound... 

From geological data to policy, Africa still has big critical-minerals gaps to close

As the world shifts towards a low-carbon future in response to unrelenting climate change, demand is surging for minerals essential to this transition, many of which are found in abundance across... 

From geological data to policy, Africa still has big critical-minerals gaps to close

As the world shifts towards a low-carbon future in response to unrelenting climate change, demand is surging for minerals essential to this transition, many of which are found in abundance across... 

Africa Day: 62 years on

Two days from today, Africans at home and abroad will mark the sixty-second anniversary of Africa Day, which commemorates the 1963 founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was... 

Democracy’s trust deficit

They say democracy is government of the people, by the people and for the people. Increasingly, however, it seems the people – particularly in  Africa – are losing faith in the idea. Nowhere is... 

The carbon credit catch

Africa contributes just 3% to global emissions yet endures a wildly disproportionate share of the climate fallout – from deadly heatwaves to floods, cyclones and relentless droughts. Now, as the... 

All bark and zero bite

The African Union (AU) and regional blocs such as the Economic Community of West African States consistently wax indignant each time men in fatigues shoot their way to power, threatening all manner... 

Tyranny of the map

Although views to the contrary have occasionally been aired – sometimes underpinned by what seems to be solid empirical research hinting at African involvement in the drawing up of the continent’s... 

Sleepy Statecraft

Remember Alfred Nzo? He was a stalwart of South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle, serving as secretary-general of the African National Congress in exile from 1969 to 1991, before becoming a... 

Mzansi’s words go global

When someone asks if “you are coming with” to establish whether you are joining an activity or event, it’s a sure-fire sign they hail from this great Mzansi of ours. Try saying that elsewhere in...