The ICC has made important advances by investigating cases outside Africa and completing ones that further define what is not allowed in war. South Africa’s withdrawal is concerning, but not fatal.
Burundian refugees fleeing conflict at home gather on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in Kigoma region in western Tanzania.
Thomas Mukoya/Reuters
The initiative to establish an African Humanitarian Agency is a welcome one. But political, technical and financial support will matter. This will require the AU to take a pragmatic approach. Can it?
The UK plays a crucial role in how the European Union engages with African nations. Post referendum, political and diplomatic norms will have to be re-imagined.
Members of the Non-Aligned Movement meet at the session of the 17th summit of heads of state and government.
DIRCO
The Non-Aligned Movement member states enjoy cohesion on few issues. Historically, their heterogeneity ranged from absolute monarchs to socialist presidents.
Heads of state and their representatives at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council in New York.
Reuters/Lucas Jackson
The world is steadily transitioning to a multipolar systemic balance of power. The UN Security Council needs to reflect and be a truer representative of the emerging voices of a contemporary “UN”.
President of Botswana Ian Khama. He leads a country that’s lost the shine created by his father Seretse Khama.
EPA/Alejandro Ernesto
For a global audience, the movie ‘A United Kingdom’ provides a topical account of race relations. The love story is likely to revitalize the popular viewpoint of Botswana as a national success story.
Kenyan youth chant in celebration before the arrival of Pope Francis at the Kasarani stadium in Kenya’s capital Nairobi.
Reuters/Thomas Mukoya
The African Union has identified youth as critical for development. But, a new survey reveals a wide gap between these aspirations and the reality of youth public engagement on the continent.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Sunrise, Florida.
Reuters/Eric Thayer
Achieving greater freedom and equality for all identity groups is African democrats’ primary goal. By contrast, American democrats have traditionally been preoccupied with individual rights.
Migration across borders is a reality for most people living in Africa.
Reuters
The rise in the number of people fleeing Boko Haram terror calls for urgent amendments to Nigeria’s constitution to provide legal protection to the country’s millions of internally displaced citizens.
Former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré at his trial in Senegal for crimes against humanity.
EPA
The trial of Chad’s former dictator could provide a template for prosecutions of other African despots. Its success could be seen as a victory for African justice over international approaches.
Trucks wait at the no man’s land on the Kenyan-Tanzanian border. Attitudes towards cross-border movements differ widely.
Reuters/Noor Khamis
Resistance to free movement across borders in many countries suggests that large numbers of African citizens see foreign migrants as competition to local labour and businesses.
Africa must rise by becoming self-reliant.
US Army Africa/Flickr
Africa has been called a “consumer continent” by many, but in reality much of what its people consume is produced elsewhere. Technology is key to Africa becoming a self-reliant producer of goods.
Refugees waiting to receive essential items, including food, jerry cans, blankets, soap and plastic sheeting, at Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp.
Jo Harrison/Oxfam
The timing of Kenya’s announcement that it will close the world’s largest refugee camp, and its reasons for doing so, hold important lessons for understanding refugee situations around the world.
African leaders meet at the African Union Summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2015.
EPA/Kim Ludbrook
Silencing the guns in Africa by 2020 will require a Herculean effort on the part of the AU Peace and Security Council, whose remit is to prevent, manage and resolve conflicts.
There is very little evidence that commodity producing countries diversify their economies by adding value to their raw materials.
Reuters/Siegfried Modola
The downturn in the commodity boom will not automatically lead to diversification of Africa’s economies. This can only be achieved through a focus on creating learning economies driven by innovation.
Ethiopians reading newspapers in the capital Addis Ababa. The country’s media is among the most repressed on the continent.
Reuters/Tiksa Negeri
Press freedom has changed little in the past decade. If the African Union is to commit to the principles of democracy, it needs to do more to uphold freedom of expression and protects its journalists.
Former South African President Thabo Mbeki.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
A central goal of Thabo Mbeki’s African Renaissance was the right of African people to determine their own future. But the country he governed struggled to embrace his pan-African vision.
Investment in science and innovation is needed to help build Africa.
Kate Holt/Africa Practice/Flickr
Successful economies are led by innovation and driven by knowledge. For Africa to advance, it needs to make more substantial investments in its research and development sector.
Heads of state at an African Union session in Addis Ababa. They have signed up to a plan that envisages strengthening institutions and governance.
EPA/Solan Kolli
If the governing ANC ignores the calls for Zuma’s resignation,it may undermine South Africa’s leadership on the continent. It creates the idea that he can undermine the constitution with impunity.
Jan Smuts Professor of International Relations and Director of the African Centre for the Study of the United States (ACSUS), University of the Witwatersrand