Africa

Perpetual Debt in the Silicon Savannah

Kenya’s poor were among the first to benefit from digital lending apps; now they call it slavery.

Black Panther Is Not the Movie We Deserve

The movie, unique for its Black star power, depends on a shocking devaluation of Black American men.

Growing Up Under Mugabe

On the enduring legacy of a dictatorial ruler.

Against Second-Rate Democracy in Kenya

Citizens of African countries are expected to accede to a lower political standard than real democracy. Not only does this perpetuate the old colonial imagination, it is also fundamentally wrong.

Kenya’s New Electoral Authoritarianism

Elections are now used to legitimate authoritarian regimes, not herald liberal democracy. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Kenya.

Who’s to Blame in South Sudan?

The country needs a political rebirth.

Writing Human Rights and Getting It Wrong

The West likes morality plays with clear heroes and villains, in which we play the role of savior.

What Future for South African Democracy?

Student protests and the deepening crisis of the post-apartheid order

The Failure of Refugee Camps

Refugee camps, intended to be temporary, host people for an average of 12 years.

One Nigeria Under God

Nigeria's recent election encouraged alliances among Muslims and Christians.

South Africa’s 99 Percent

The passage of the Group Areas Act in 1950 brought forceful expulsion and sequestration to all areas of the country.

Why This Ebola Outbreak is Different

The real reasons this outbreak has turned into an epidemic are weak health systems and lack of workforce.

Democracy in South Africa

After twenty years of electoral dominance by the African National Congress, are South African politics finally becoming competitive?

Soft Power in Nigeria

The U.S. is funding development in restive Northern Nigeria, but soft power isn't blunting anti-American sentiments.

Into Africa

OneTouch travels the African continent, showcasing its natural beauty.

Europe’s Deadly Border

Migrants are dying as they cross the Mediterranean. Is there a better way?

Empire’s Wasteland

The cause of Camus’s native countrymen moved him, yet he yearned helplessly toward the European culture that had formed him.

Arresting Robert Mugabe

An interview with activist Peter Tatchell.

The Varieties of Blackness

An interview with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

New Model Army

The Liberian army embarks on its first combat mission since the end of the country’s brutal civil war.

The White Correspondent’s Burden

Today, the “savage nature” of Africa is still on display.

Politics by Other Means

The Egyptian uprising has been rightly celebrated as a momentous event.

How to Write About Africa

At the offices of Kwani—a literary agitator without peer. 

Qaddafi’s Dream

The man who imagines himself king of kings.

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