Politics – Views & Research

A woman standing in the middle of a group of people who are seated under an awning

When government fails, who helps citizens get answers? How South Africa’s community developers bridge the gap

Lesedi Senamele Matlala, University of Johannesburg

A woman walks away from a green water tank with buckets and containers in a wheelbarrow

South Africans living through water cuts blame corruption and neglect, not just broken pipes – study

Anthony Kaziboni, University of Johannesburg

A closeup of a man in military fatigues holding a gun while standing on a road with an armoured care behind him

Algeria is sending troops to Niger for the first time in decades – what’s at stake

Lotfi Sour, Université Mustapha Stambouli de Mascara

South Sudan wants to hold elections in December: 3 major obstacles and some ways around them

Jan Pospisil

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Corruption in South Africa’s police force is rife: why protecting whistleblowers is vital

Azwihangwisi Judith Mphidi, University of South Africa

A hand holding a phone with a green icon occupying most of the space

What gets fact-checked? How politics shapes the answer in four African countries

Chikezie E. Uzuegbunam, Rhodes University; Chinedu Richard Ononiwu, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, and Masaki Magack, Howard University

Can Ethiopia ever be at peace? Four reasons conflict keeps flaring up

Alemayehu Fentaw Weldemariam, Indiana University

A group of men walking on a street wearing T-shirts with the Ethiopian flag colours

Thabo Mbeki’s legacy in South Africa: stronger government but a blurred line between state and party

Anthony Michael Butler, University of Cape Town

An Asian woman in a light blue blazer smiles gently as she sits in front of a crowd of people, many holding cameras.

Navi Pillay’s Nobel peace prize is a vote of confidence in a global legal order under fire

Frans Viljoen, University of Pretoria

Sudan’s death toll in 2025 could be as high as 100,000: how we did the count

Paola Vesco, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO); Amber Deniz, Uppsala University; David Randahl, Swedish Defence University; Johan Brosché, Uppsala University, and Magnus Öberg, Uppsala University

A view of a few empty homes and burnt out vehicle in a field

Protest later or push for better planning now? 7 actions South African voters can take before local elections

Hope Magidimisha-Chipungu, University of KwaZulu-Natal

Corrugated metal shacks and a littered open space in an informal settlement

Military coups promise change – 4 ways they can leave African countries worse off

John Mukum Mbaku, Weber State University

The legs of rows of soldiers in camouflage uniform and boots marching on a tarmac road

South Africa’s public service: new laws aim to put competent people in charge and hold them to account

Busani Ngcaweni, University of Johannesburg

Elderly women sit in a row on a city pavement

Ecowas Court and women’s rights in west Africa: what’s working – and what isn’t

Maame Efua Addadzi-Koom, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)

Nigeria’s school kidnapping threat is changing: 4 lessons from the 56-day Oyo attack

Saheed Babajide Owonikoko, Modibbo Adama University of Technology

Woman holding a poster that says "rescue our children / education is their right"

Ethiopia’s peace deal is unravelling – what went wrong with the Tigray agreement

Alemayehu Fentaw Weldemariam, Indiana University

A large green metal piece of equipment with a scope that's lying on arid ground

Johannesburg and Medellín: what South Africa can learn from Colombia about fixing a broken city

Ivor Chipkin, University of Pretoria

Puddle of water with floating pollution on a city street

A woman scrolling on a laptop while seated on the floor in a furnished room.

Online attacks on Kenyan journalists: what makes audiences join in, push back or stay silent

Kevin Mudavadi, Georgia State University; Bingbing Zhang, University of Iowa; Gregory Gondwe, University of Alabama; California State University, San Bernardino; Harvard University, and Shitemi Khamadi, Indiana University

Maps can be misleading – on purpose – and their story becomes history. The case of Ethiopia

Daniel Waktola, Austin Community College

A light yellow map of Africa with a blue sea and blue national border lines, Ethiopia highlighted in red.

South Africans and migrants: study tracks the barriers to being good neighbours

Mathias Alubafi Fubah, Human Sciences Research Council

Street scene with a poster saying No One Is Illegal

Morocco’s deadly wall across Western Sahara: why the 2,700km Berm was built and the damage it does

Joana Castro Pereira, Universidade do Porto and Simón Pardo de Donlebún Versaci, Universidade do Porto

A group of men and women holding up placards and flags on a busy street

Africa’s Red Sea states face growing risks as Houthi rebels expand their reach

Burak Şakir Şeker, Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University

A ship on the sea in the dark with a bright light in front of it.

Drones, disinformation and guns-for-hire are reshaping conflict in Africa: new book tracks the trends

Alessandro Arduino, King's College London

Man wearing military fatigues is draped with a white, blue and red flag while a crowd behind him holds their hands up; there is an orange, white and green flag off to the side

Ethiopia’s armed opposition unites against Abiy Ahmed: 5 reads on the country’s political struggles

Julius Maina, The Conversation and Kagure Gacheche, The Conversation

A boy playing a drum while standing in front of a row of men dressed in white robes

A decade on, Somalia’s federal pact benefits elites and al-Shabaab – but it fails the people

Nisar Majid, London School of Economics and Political Science

Have South Africans always been hostile to migrants? Historians map a chequered history

Zoe Groves, University of Leicester; Anusa Daimon; Henry Dee, and Julie Weise, University of Oregon

Crowd of people in a street, some holding placards

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In the news

Woman seating on rocky, dry ground in a shallow hole surrounded by yellow jerry cans, while another woman stands nearby

Climate change is worsening violent extremism in Kenya – what can be done

Dylan O'Driscoll, Coventry University; Fathima Azmiya Badurdeen, Technical University of Mombasa; Joel Busher, Coventry University; Sheila Ronoh, Coventry University, and Wilson Ndenyele, Technical University of Mombasa

Africa’s drone wars are growing – but they rarely deliver victory

Brendon J. Cannon, Khalifa University

A group of people running on muddy ground

Ethiopia and Eritrea are on edge again: what’s behind the growing risk of war

Yohannes Gedamu, Georgia Gwinnett College

A man holds miniature national flags of Eritrea (left) and Ethiopia.

Sudan’s military is accused of using chlorine bombs: here’s how they work and what the law says

Anneleen van der Meer, Leiden University

A man dressed in army fatigues and wearing a gas mask while standing in front of a red flag and a painting of people coming out of a plane

DRC’s cobalt exports contain unreported uranium – our study estimates the global nuclear risk

Ryan A. Manzuk, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Two people in a dug up and rocky area stuffing sacks

Peace + Security

Military spending in DRC and South Sudan rose fastest in the world: society ends up paying the price

Nan Tian, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute

Two armed soldiers on mobile battlefield tank

Joseph Kabila is on trial for treason in the DRC. What the case against the former president is all about

Jonathan Beloff, King's College London

A man speaking while seated in an armchair, with lush greenery behind him.

South Sudan should disarm civilians – the evidence shows this improves security

Mark Deng, The University of Queensland

Niger’s failed coup is a warning to the Sahel’s military rulers: those with power must keep their promises

Salah Ben Hammou, Rice University

Soldiers in camouflage uniform, carrying weapons, and crowds in a street

A man wearing a Covid mask casts his vote.

The challenges African election bodies face go beyond ‘democratic backsliding’ – analysis

Sonali Campion, University of East Anglia

AI can make African elections more efficient – but trust must be built and proper rules put in place

Shamira Ahmed, European University Institute and Mehari Taddele Maru, European University Institute

A person's finger is held against a scanner on a rough wooden table

Running for parliament in Malawi costs a fortune: economic crisis undermines democracy

Michael Wahman, The University of Texas at Austin and Nicholas Kerr, University of Florida

A woman looking at a list of names pasted on a multicoloured wall

Young Nigerian women want to go into politics – party rules and older men keep them out

Omomayowa Olawale Abati, University of Essex

Four women checking names displayed at a voting centre

Venâncio Mondlane is Mozambique’s political challenger: what he stands for

Luca Bussotti, Universidade Técnica de Moçambique (UDM)

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Migration

Landscape with hills, trees and homesteads

Young South Africans move for work and opportunity. What happens to their health when they do?

Carren Ginsburg, University of the Witwatersrand; Chantel Pheiffer, UMass Boston; Mark A. Collinson, University of the Witwatersrand, and Michael White, Brown University

Europe relies on Morocco to keep migrants out – Ceuta shows the political cost

Moha Ennaji, Université Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah

A group of men sitting and standing on rocks in a body of water

Millions of Africans are displaced without crossing a border – and their needs are often overlooked

David James Cantor, School of Advanced Study, University of London

People standing outside white tents marked UNHCR that have been erected on bare ground.

We asked Senegalese migrants why they leave home. Here’s what they told us

Pau Baizán, Universitat Pompeu Fabra

The South African apartheid movement’s close relationship with the American right – then and now

Daniel Conway, University of Westminster

US president Donald Trump shows South African president Cyril Ramaphosa some images on a flip chart

Politics – Views & Research – The Conversation

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