A Somali soldier looks out from a military base where a US special operations soldier was killed by a mortar attack south of Mogadishu in 2018.
Mohamed Abdiwahab/AFP via Getty Images
Al-Shabaab remains a strong regional actor and has proved itself to be a resilient force. It’s time to weigh a non-war strategic option
Internally displaced people from the Dinka ethnic group at the Minkamman camp in South Sudan in 2014.
EFE-EPA/Jim Lopez
In 2018, Africa accounted for 70% of the world’s people displaced by armed conflict and human rights abuses.
A woman casts her ballot at a polling station in Nigeria.
Photo by Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images
Ahead of 2023 general elections, there are increasing concerns that the current spate of violence in Nigeria, if unchecked, could undermine electoral outcomes.
Demonstrators protest in Tunisia’s capital Tunis in 2021 against President Kais Saied’s steps to tighten his grip on power.
Fethi Belaid/AFP via Getty Images
Tunisia’s democratic backslide demonstrates how autocrats can use constitutional cover to entrench authoritarianism.
People cheer at the army after the latest coup in Burkina Faso.
Photo by Olympia De Maismont/AFP via Getty Images
To understand the latest coup in Burkina Faso, one must appreciate the internal power struggles in the country, their links with violent extremism as well as the role of external state actors.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers the 2022 state of nation address to a joint sitting of Parliament. Coalitions could soon be a feature of national government.
Jaco Marais/Pool Images/Gallo Images via Getty Images)
Stable coalitions will depend on strong democratic values being embedded among political elites.
Atlantide Phototravel via GettyImages
Parties to the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region have agreed to end hostilities after two years. Here is a selection of previously published articles on its devastating consequences.
Kenyans protest against extrajudicial killings in Nairobi’s Mathare area on 13 April 2022.
Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images
To move towards justice and peace, Kenya must disband all police units implicated in unlawful violence and punish criminal officers.
Mpho Phalatse was toppled as mayor of Johannesburg following a no-confidence vote in September. A high court reinstated her.
Luba Lesolle/Gallo Images via Getty Images
In South Africa coalitions are weaponised as extensions of elections.
Members of the Congress of South African Trade Unions sing political songs in 1987 in Johannesburg.
Walter Dhladhla/AFP via Getty Images
Struggle songs are relevant even in the post apartheid context because they continue to be an important way in which people deliberate on issues.
Sam Matekane, Lesotho’s new prime minister has the daunting job of restoring public trust in politics and government.
Molise Molise/AFP via Getty Images
Unable to change the country’s vulnerability to shifts in the global and regional economy, the new prime minister Matekane has few economic levers to pull.
A damaged tank on the road north of Mekelle, the capital of Tigray, in February 2021.
Eduardo Soteras/AFP via Getty Images
The African Union needs to launch a credible, robust mediation process with mutually accepted mediators.
A UK mural employs the trending hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.
Tim Green/Flickr
BringBackOurGirls led to a global outcry, but it simplified a complex history that is best understood through survivor accounts.
Lesotho Revolution for Prosperity party leader Sam Matekane (centre), Alliance of Democrats deputy leader Professor Ntoi Rapapa (L) and Movement for Economic Change leader Selibe Mochoboroane.
Molise Molise/AFP via Getty Images
The new governing coalition enters office amid euphoria and excitement. There are great expectations it will end corruption and fix the ailing economy.
Burundi President Evariste Ndayishimiye addresses the UN General Assembly.
Photo by Mary Altaffer-Pool/Getty Images
The president has used coup rumour to get rid of anti-reform elements in government, and consolidate his power ahead of 2025 elections
EPA-EFE/Phill Magakoe/AFP Pool
Royal women play important roles in succession disputes, such as the naming of King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu’s heir.
Lesotho citizens queue to vote in a previous national elections.
EPA-EFE/ Kim Ludbrook
Despite their pretensions to support reforms, it is clear that successive governments are not interested in the reform.
Armed United Nations mission guards secure Malakal airport in in Unity State, South-Sudan, amid conflict between government and rebel troops.
GettyImages
A way forward is for the national government of South Sudan and Unity State government to work together to address the crisis.
Kalk Bay, Western Cape, South Africa.
Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The trend globally is for countries to be explicit about their maritime interests, underpinned by a sound security strategy.
Niger soldiers conduct a simulated mounted patrol.
Eric Holman/Wikimedia Commons
West African governments need to be clearer about the similarities and differences of violent extremist groups.