President Omar al-Bashir’s declaration of a year-long state of emergency in Sudan indicates that he’s opted, for now, to take the route of greater repression to quell popular protests. He has also…
As an experienced airline pilot, aircraft accident investigator and professor of aviation, I know that such major crash investigations are an enormous effort often involving many countries’ governments and input from dozens…
Botswana’s High Court is considering a challenge to the provisions of the penal code criminalising consensual same-sex relations in the country. It will hand down its judgment in June. The challenge raises…
Senegal is widely touted as a stable democracy, experiencing good economic growth in a more volatile region. But people still take the risk of migrating to Europe. Because migration is largely undocumented…
Tensions are mounting dangerously between Rwanda and Uganda. The two African countries historically have been closely linked, with each playing a key role in the other’s political development. But all that is…
We often hear that irrigation in Africa is too limited, and that the key to a “green revolution” on the continent is to expand to levels seen in Asia. But what if…
Severe floods in Malawi have affected about a million people and claimed 56 lives. This isn’t uncommon in the country. Between 1946 and 2013, floods accounted for 48% of major disasters, and…
The post-Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe continues to struggle to establish its legitimacy. While this is the case the terms of its future international re-engagement will continue to occupy the Zanu-PF government. The…
One of the main reasons newly-elected Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari had been widely expected to lose his bid for a second term was the poor state of the country’s economy. Under his…
The borderlines separating Kenya and Somalia were first drawn in the late 19th century. Like everywhere else on the continent, this was the work of cartographers working for European colonial powers. Across…
