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Just over two years ago, in March 2023, United States Vice President Kamala Harris visited Tanzania. There, she was warmly received by President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who had ascended to the presidency after the death of the autocratic John Magufuli. President Samia described the United States as “an important partner in our pursuit for democracy […]
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By Michelle Gavin As civilians in Goma once again flee chaos, leaders fail to take responsibility for the crisis. Once again, the eastern Congolese city of Goma has fallen to the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group. The mayhem is certainly real; the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) displacement crisis is second only to Sudan’s, and many of the roughly 1.5 […]
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By Michelle Gavin Amid a spate of abductions and disappearances in Kenya, President Ruto’s government feigns ignorance. In the wake of last year’s Gen Z protests, Kenyan President William Ruto had two choices. He could accept the youthful population’s rejection of business as usual and get serious about cleaning up corruption in government, aiming to ride […]
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Complexity is no excuse for the world’s continued inaction on the war in Sudan. By Michelle Gavin It is often suggested that the horrific crisis in Sudan garners little international attention because of its complexity, and specifically because “there are no good guys, only bad guys.” It’s true that Sudan’s crisis grows more complicated by the day, […]
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By Michelle Gavin For some, the future of U.S.-Africa policy is looking up. Optimists are trumpeting the virtues of President-elect Trump’s enthusiasm for transactionalism, noting that it could lead to more investment on the continent and less moral posturing. Certainly, those outcomes are desirable, and a more transactional approach could, in some instances, line up U.S. priorities more closely with […]
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By Ebenezer Obadare Getting rid of foreign military presence may be the least of African countries’ problems. Of late, a distinct note of self-assertiveness has found its way into the pronouncements of many African countries. While the underlying mood most certainly dates back to the period before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, that […]
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By Michelle Gavin No one expects a great deal of focus on Africa policy from the incoming Trump administration. But the Africa portfolio in 2025 will present ample opportunities to assert or decline U.S. leadership, to protect or endanger U.S. interests, and to align with or oppose African societies. The peace and security agenda is particularly fraught. Instability […]
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By Mariel Ferragamo As BRICS grows in both membership and global sway, its expansion comes with divisions among its members old and new on how to set the stage for a revised world order. The countries that comprise BRICS—which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, and now five new members—are an informal […]
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By Noël James and Uma Fox Ghanaians Celebrate Win for Gender-Inclusivity in Politics Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang—a member of the National Democratic Congress party (NDC)—has been elected as the next vice president of Ghana, making her the first woman to hold this position. A former minister of education and professor of literature, Opoku-Agyemang will join President John Dramani Mahama, who previously […]
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By Ebenezer Obadare Contrary to doomsayers, liberal democracy is building up a head of steam on the continent. To judge by the tone of commentary coming out of Africa in recent times, liberal democracy could not be in a more perilous state, so perilous indeed that anywhere you look across the continent, disenchanted Africans are […]
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