The latest wave of bullish commentary about the continent recycles familiar blind spots. A decade after "Africa Rising" faded, the real prerequisites for transformation remain stubbornly...
The continent is on track to house nearly four billion people by century's end. Whether that becomes the world's greatest economic opportunity- or its most destabilizing...
By Danilo Desiderio African governments can mobilize overnight to serve a foreign trade partner. Yet they stall for years when asked to integrate with each other....
By Gregory September Fifty-four countries. Over 1.4 billion people. A continent whose geological, biological, and civilizational history underlies the entire human story. And yet, when African...
By Danilo Desiderio The continent’s ambitious trade agreements look impressive on paper. Yet beneath the institutional architecture lies a troubling reality: economic unity remains more aspiration...
By Daki Nkanyane Every society eventually confronts an uncomfortable truth: institutions cannot outgrow the people who build them. Across Africa today, cranes dot urban skylines, fiber-optic...
By Dishant Shah The era of potential has ended. Africa’s execution phase has begun. More than US$200 billion in transformative infrastructure projects are fundamentally reconfiguring Africa’s...
By Endre Vestvik Extraordinary times demand extraordinary thinking. Over the past few weeks, the President of the United States has openly entertained the notion of pressuring...
By Kelly Mua Kingsly Global recession anxieties persist. European growth stagnates. Western markets have reached saturation. Yet amid this economic malaise, Africa is demonstrating what resilient...
By Mark-Anthony Johnson Ethiopia’s ambitious US$12.5 billion airport project at Bishoftu represents far more than an infrastructure upgrade – it signals a fundamental shift in Africa’s...
By Michele Moscaritoli For decades, Africa occupied a singular role in the global imagination: the perpetual recipient. Aid packages, charitable donations, development programs – always framed...
By Danilo Desiderio As preferential trade agreements multiply and global commerce expands, a troubling pattern has emerged: the environmental costs of liberalized trade remain largely invisible...
By Farhia Noor An African proverb warns: “When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.” The recent escalation of American policy toward Venezuela represents far...
By Ziad Hamoui Every year, somewhere between US$10 billion and US$24 billion worth of goods crosses African borders in what the United Nations Economic Commission for...
By Victory Azimih A troubling contradiction haunts African development: we discuss building the continent everywhere except where construction actually happens. African leaders, policymakers, and investors shuttle...
By Dishant Shah For over a century, Africa has been subjected to relentless scrutiny – by colonial offices, foreign ministries, extractive industries, intelligence services, development banks,...
By Ryan Elcock Canada’s recently released Senate report on its Africa Strategy reads like a medical diagnosis that stops just short of prescribing treatment. After a...
By Danilo Desiderio The African continent stands at a critical inflection point. While modest economic gains suggest forward momentum, the reality beneath the headline numbers tells...
By Dr. Princess C. Mutisya What the world called “policy tightening” this year was actually preparation. Africa was setting the stage for 2026 sovereignty. Most observers...
By JP Følsgaard Bak The mathematics of transformation are deceptively simple: 54 visionary leaders – one per African state – could fundamentally alter the trajectory of...
By Daki Nkanyane There are moments in history when a continent doesn’t “rise” – it remembers. Africa stands at precisely such a threshold today. For years,...
By Des H Rikhotso The narrative surrounding Africa has shifted dramatically in recent years, and for good reason. While other regions grapple with aging populations and...
By Des H Rikhotso While Western investors obsess over basis points in saturated markets, a more compelling story is unfolding across Africa. The continent is not...
By Juwon Akin-Olotu Walk into any international development conference in Europe or the United States, and you will encounter the same carefully curated imagery projected onto...
By Jean Claude Niyomugabo A few days ago, on a farm in Nebraska, I watched a revelation unfold. A farmer demonstrated his tractor – a sophisticated...
By NJ Ayuk In May 2021, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released its landmark report, Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector....
By Farhia Noor The older I get, the more certain I become of one inconvenient truth: the world doesn’t misunderstand Africa by accident. It misunderstands Africa...
By Wavinya Makai For decades, Africa’s development narrative has been drafted in foreign ministries and multilateral boardrooms. The plot hinges on foreign direct investment, concessional loans,...
By Farouk Mark Mukiibi We say it often: “Africa has talent.” But if that’s true – and it is – then why does African expertise so...
By Victory Azimih The world is reorganizing into powerful, consolidated blocs. Africa cannot afford to remain the outlier, negotiating as 54 fragmented voices. The cost of...
By Victory Azimih For much of the past half-century, analysts speculated about when Africa would “rise.” That question is now obsolete. The real issue is how...
By Princess C. Mutisya Not every day does a landlocked, fragile state stride into a desert capital and demand not just investment – but a new...
By Dishant Shah Electricity doesn’t just illuminate homes – it ignites opportunity. Nowhere is this truer than in Africa, where energy access remains the linchpin of...
By Dishant Shah In diplomatic corridors and boardrooms across the continent, a familiar question echoes: “Should Africa align with India or China?” The premise is flawed...
By David Coleman Every year, members of the African diaspora send nearly US$100 billion in remittances back home – more than all foreign direct investment combined....
By David Coleman Africa is being asked to sprint before it’s learned to crawl. While the continent grapples with foundational challenges – access to clean water,...
By Farhia Noor Africa is not poor. Africa is being systematically robbed – and one of the most insidious instruments of this extraction is foreign-led consultancy....
By Farhia Noor I am African. And I say this with unshakable conviction: the lion is not stirring. The lion is not awakening. The lion has...
By Dishant Shah For decades, the world’s understanding of Africa has been shaped not by Africans, but by distant cameras, foreign correspondents, and outdated tropes. The...
By Davida Ademuyiwa Africa is often called the continent of the future. But futures aren’t built on slogans – they are built on steel, silicon, and...
By Danilo Desiderio In the decades since the 1994 genocide, Rwanda has emerged as one of Africa’s most compelling development success stories. From the ashes of...
By Davida Ademuyiwa Africa is no longer on the periphery of global geopolitics. Over the past two decades, it has emerged as a pivotal arena for...
By David Coleman For decades, Africa has been framed as a continent in need of development – a place “behind” the rest of the world. But...
By Dishant Shah The Democratic Republic of Congo ( DR Congo) is one of the most paradoxical places on Earth. Beneath its soil lies an estimated...
By NJ Ayuk There is a troubling pattern that cannot be ignored: the more foreign aid African governments receive, the worse many of them perform. As...
By Jean Claude Niyomugabo Africa’s relative underdevelopment compared to other regions of the world is a complex issue rooted in a combination of historical, geographical, political,...
By Mary Alorh Across the world, mothers have long served as the cornerstone of society – nurturing families, building communities, and shaping futures. In Africa, this...
By Amma Boakye-Danquah A recent piece by Kirstie Kwarteng for the Atlantic Council has been lingering in my mind. In it, she challenges the idea that...
By Dishant Shah Africa is poised to chart a unique path to growth – one that diverges sharply from the trajectories of China or India –...
By Mary Alorh The ongoing restructuring at USAID, one of the largest sources of U.S. government aid, has the potential to impact numerous governments worldwide that...
By Jean Claude Niyomugabo Africa needs infrastructure. Africa needs development. But at what cost? If we depend on Europe to build our roads, railways, and cities,...
