Ethiopian refugees fleeing fighting in Tigray province queue to receive supplies at the Um Rakuba camp in Sudan’s eastern Gedaref province.
Ebrahim Hamid/AFP via Getty Images
The standoff between Abiy Ahmed and the armed forces in Tigray has already caused thousands to flee their homes.
Ethiopian soldiers in 2005 on a hilltop outpost overlooking the northern town of Badme, in the Tigray region.
Marco Longari/AFP via Getty Images
The Ethiopian premier is manipulating ethnic rivalries to shift the agenda from democratic reform to authoritarianism.
Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed (centre) pictured outside his office awaiting dignitaries in February 2020.
EPA-EFE/STR
The tensions that had been simmering between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and the Abiy administration eventually boiled over.
A Chinese engineer (centre) and Kenyan construction workers building a road in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
Daniel Irungu/EPA
Twenty years after the first China-Africa forum, the perceptions of ordinary African citizens still need to be better considered in government-to-government interactions.
Soldiers from the Mozambican army patrol the streets in Mocimboa da Praia following an attack by suspected Islamists in October 2018.
Adrien Barbier/AFP via Getty Images
The situation in Cabo Delgado is dire. The international community needs to act fast to contain it.
Kenyan journalists, some covering their mouths with tape, hold signs during a march to demand for press freedom in Nairobi in 2013.
Simon Maina/AFP via Getty Images
More needs to be done to ensure that journalists can do their important work without fear or favour.
An elderly voter casts her ballot at Wazo Hill polling station in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, on October 28, 2020.
AFP via Getty Images
Tanzania’s October poll shows that elections are purely performative for governments which do not adhere to the basic tenets of democracy.
Supporters attend a Chama Cha Mapinduzi rally in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in 2015 when John Magufuli was first elected.
Daniel Hayduk/AFP via Getty Images
Magufuli took a populist approach in trying to woo voters away from an invigorated opposition, and when that didn’t work he reported to oppressive tactics.
President John Magufuli has closed down all the reliable means to evaluate allegations of foul play.
Getty Images
As key opposition members lose seats in their strongholds, it is clear that Tanzania’s ruling party is set to establish a super-majority that will institute a deeper authoritarian agenda.
Kenyan soldiers stand over caskets bearing the remains of their fallen comrades during prayers in 2016.
Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images
In January 2016, Kenyan troops were defeated by Al-Shabaab militants at El Adde in Somalia. This is why it happened.
Eritrean president Isaias Afwerki in China in the 1960s. He is fifth from the left, rear row.
He’s a brooding, taciturn figure, who has dominated Eritrean politics since the 1970s, and there are few signs of an effective challenge to his rule.
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, left, and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok at an October 2020 ceremony celebrating the peace deal.
Ebrahim Hamid/AFP via Getty Images
The transitional government has achieved a monumental milestone, but peace agreements in Sudan have been known to fall apart quickly.
Former President Mwai Kibaki signs the new constitution in Nairobi in 2010 before former Attorney General Amos Wako.
Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images
Kenya’s constitution-making process has exhibited a gyration pattern that often starts with a belief that governance reforms can rectify the country’s problems, but ends up as a power struggle.
A ship in the Lobito harbour seen through an apartment window in 2014.
Photo by Jess Auerbach
Angola has a complex history in which war has featured prominently. There is much more to the country than that, and a new book provides insight on beauty, happiness, and everyday life in Benguela.
Michele Cattani/AFP via Getty Images
The link between foreign military training and local insurgencies has yet to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Workey Tadele, a radio operator, at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam near Guba in Ethiopia in December 2019.
Eduardo Soteras/AFP via Getty Images
America has historically been a strong Ethiopia ally, but this latest move to withhold foreign direct assistance has thrown its loyalty into question.
French Air Force soldiers work on a Boeing C135 parked on the French Air Force base in Niamey, Niger in December, 2017.
The Horn of Africa is the epicentre of foreign military activity. Foreign troops have been deployed to support peace initiatives, subdue terror groups and support foreign security initiatives.
Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki (left), Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (right) and Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed.
The proposed cooperation promises to address transnational problems within the three countries but it might alienate the rest of East Africa.
African leaders at the 33rd African Union Heads of State Summit at the headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in February 2020.
The Africa peace and security posture is not everything it was intended to be, but it is credited with a number of success stories.
Tundu Lissu reacts to supporters as he returns home after three years in exile.
A united opposition could create enough momentum to unseat incumbent John Magufuli from power.