Papa Wemba was one of the most active ambassadors of Congolese urban music on the global stage. He did this by fusing international musical styles with authentic Congolese grooves.
The relationship between advocacy organisations based in Western capitals and their marketed constituency of marginalised and disadvantaged African groups is tenuous. What then, is the goal?
In the words of US President Obama: Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions. In this light, the South African president’s acceptance of a court ruling against him is a good thing.
Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo has been convicted for crimes of sexual violence during war in the Central African Republic. It’s a significant case, but not the historic victory it’s been hailed as.
Unlike the third-term fever afflicting the Great Lakes region, Rwanda is not mired in corruption and stagnation. Rwandans were fearful and anxious about what might happen after 2017 without Kagame.
Congress tasked the SEC with reducing violence in Congo through Dodd-Frank’s conflict minerals provision. A laudable goal, but the SEC can’t achieve it.
The fall in commodity prices has hit the DRC hard. This is a lesson to resources-dependent countries in Africa that they need to diversify their economies.
Brett Bailey’s Macbeth at Brisbane Festival is a powerful production that relocates Verdi’s opera (based on Shakespeare’s play) to the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
French and African presidents have, in the past, entertained close relationships outside official channels. These often included illegitimate exchanges. But there are signs that this is changing.
The fortunes of the world’s remaining wild gorillas is linked to prosperity in the places where they live - hence the high price of tourist permits. But with economic development comes economic threats too.
On January 6 2014, the US State Department reported that a Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) commander had handed himself in at an American base in the Central African Republic. The man identified himself as…
Part-time lecturer at the Global Health & Social Medicine, Harvard University, and Lecturer at the School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, University of Liberia
Professor of Francophone Studies (Africa, Caribbean), Faculty Affiliate with Africana Studies, World Literature Program and Human Rights Pracice, University of Arizona