Although Africa is familiar with large-scale refugee crises, it is uncommon for it to host people seeking protection from outside the continent, as is the case with thousands of Yemeni refugees.
Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara at an election campaign rally.
Reuters/Luc Gnago
The egalitarian society envisioned by political activists and thinkers Rick Turner and Steve Biko has not been realised. But, they continue to inspire critiques of post-apartheid South Africa.
To mark the African National Congress’ policy review conference, we bring you a selection of previously published articles about the state of South Africa’s governing party and the country.
Robert Mugabe, the nonagenarian Zimbabwean president, is the poster boy for Africa’s ageing leaders.
Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo
Why is Africa so saddled with ageing presidents who ought to be enjoying their retirement in peace when the continent desperately needs young, agile and innovative leaders equal to its challenges?
Mickael, from Eritrea, sits close to a security fence on the main access route to the ferry harbour terminal in Calais, France.
Reuters/Pascal Rossignol
The European obsession with labeling people either economic migrants or refugees hampers understanding of the problems they face. Adding the role remittances play to the debate would help.
Standing tall: Muhammadu Buhari at the UN.
EPA/Matt Campbell
President Buhari of Nigeria has finally named his cabinet. He was either slow, or he was very choosy, or he couldn’t find enough honest people. Certainly his 55th national anniversary speech was full of…
Supporters of the Congress of South African Trade Unions march in the streets of Johannesburg. Economic freedom has eluded the majority of South Africans.
Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters
Economic transformation of unequal societies in a democratising context is difficult. This requires a creative mix of policy options underpinned by a commitment to social justice.
Women wait in line to fill buckets from a communal clean tap in Masiphumelele, Cape Town, South Africa. The country has extremely high levels of inequality.
Nic Bothma/Reuters
Thomas Piketty’s visit reminds us of the need to reconsider South African inequality-fibbery. His inequality critique is vital, but only if it can withstand the neoliberal embrace.
Malawian President Peter Mutharika has promised to fight the corruption that has seen donors withdraw their support for his impoverished nation.
Reuters/Eldson Chagara
Malawi appears to have learnt nothing from the biggest state corruption scandal that rocked the country two years ago, leading to donors withdrawing their support. The same conditions still remain.
The Global South is engineering new anti-poverty strategies, leaving traditional left analysts in a quandry.
Reuters/Nacho Doce
Could the surge of worker and popular resistance worldwide provide the global trade union movement with an opportunity to take the lead in developing a broad coalition of social forces?
The opening ceremony of an exercise organized by the US military in Ndjamena, Chad earlier this year to take on Boko Haram.
Reuters/Emmanuel Braun
Apart from numerous worldwide threats including from China, Iran, North Korea and Russia, the US is taking more notice of Africa due to the expansion of extremist organisations on the continent.
Post-election violence in Kenya in January 2008. The country was forewarned in its peer review report that trouble was brewing, but took no action.
EPA
The African Peer Review Mechanism has made a difference since it was started in 2003. There are multiple examples of reforms that have been introduced as a result. All have gone unnoticed.
The Economic Freedom Fighters’ entry into parliament is the most dramatic example of political realignment in South Africa.
Reuters/Skyler Reid
The Marikana massacre of 2012 triggered strikes across South Africa and political realignment. But could this, and the formation of the United Front to rival the ANC, have long-term significance?
Vendors sell bananas in an open market in a village near Bujumbura. Burundians are being driven deeper into poverty.
Reuters/Goran Tomasevic
Whenever the crisis in Burundi is discussed, the economy is often overlooked, even though it is central to understanding the backdrop to the most severe crisis since the end of the civil war.
Robert Mugabe on the day the 91-year-old president read out the wrong speech at the opening of parliament.
Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo
Robert Mugabe is no novice when it comes to reading wrong speeches. But he is in good company.
King Mswati III, centre, with his regiments at Ludzidzini royal palace during the annual Reed Dance in August. Swaziland ranks among the worst in Africa for its level of democracy.
Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko
Satisfaction with democracy varies widely in Africa. Across 28 countries, only 46% of citizens say they are “very satisfied” or “fairly satisfied” with the way democracy works in their countries.
France’s relationships with its former African colonies has become ambivalent.
Reuters/Pascal Rossignol
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.
Yarik Turianskyi is Manager of the Governance and African Peer Review Mechanism Programme at the South African Institute of International Affairs and guest lecturer in African Governance and Eastern European Politics, University of Pretoria