Beyond textbooks: is West African education finally growing wings?
For generations, education across much of Africa has been criticised for producing students who can recite, memorise and pass examinations, but are often not sufficiently trained to build, repair, design or manufacture. The criticism is not new. Many have traced the problem partly to colonial education, which was largely designed to produce clerks, interpreters, teachers […]
Renewables Are Rising – So Why Is Big Oil Rushing Back to Africa?
From Mauritania and Senegal to Angola, Namibia and South Africa, global energy companies are searching for the next great offshore petroleum province. But the renewed rush raises a difficult question: will Africa’s new oil discoveries finance its development and energy transition—or repeat an old history of extraction without transformation? At a time when governments, investors […]
Ghana wants him back. America has given him residency
Ken Ofori-Atta’s reported US immigration victory has not ended Ghana’s attempt to extradite its former finance minister to face corruption charges A potentially significant legal and diplomatic contest is developing between Ghana and the United States over the future of Ghana’s former finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta. Ghanaian prosecutors want him returned to Accra to face […]
Xenophobia Threatens South Africa’s Business Empire in West Africa
As African migrants flee hostility in South Africa, major companies in telecommunications, banking, mining and entertainment face growing reputational and commercial danger across the continent. South African companies have spent decades building one of the most powerful corporate footprints in Africa. Their telecommunications networks connect millions of people. Their banks finance businesses and households. Their […]
The Vatican’s 574-Year Reckoning: From Blessing Slavery to Asking Pardon
In 1452, a papal document gave Portugal religious authority to conquer and enslave non-Christian peoples. In 2026, Pope Leo XIV asked pardon for the Holy See’s role in legitimising slavery. For Africa, the apology opens an important question: what should come after the words? More than five centuries separate two remarkable moments in the history […]
The New American Visa Wall: Distance, Not Denial?
A planned consolidation of United States visa services across Africa could force applicants to cross borders, spend more money and travel considerably farther merely to attend an interview. The United States is reportedly preparing to reduce sharply the number of its embassies and consulates in Africa authorised to process visa applications. Under the proposed arrangement, […]
Can Google’s Mosquito Experiment Help Africa Fight Malaria?
Google wants permission to release millions of specially treated male mosquitoes in parts of the United States. The insects are intended not to spread disease, but to reduce the populations of mosquitoes that do. Could the same scientific and engineering approach eventually strengthen Africa’s fight against malaria? At first, the proposal sounds like the beginning […]
Macron Speaks on Reparations as Africa Pushes Historical Justice Back onto the Global Table
France has opened a new conversation on reparations for slavery, but the harder question remains: will symbolic recognition lead to material justice? French President Emmanuel Macron has stepped into one of the most difficult historical debates linking Europe, Africa and the Caribbean: the question of reparations for slavery. In a recent speech marking the 25th […]
Can Nigeria Become Africa’s Supermarket?
– RwandAir Cargo Deal Opens New Export Routes A new Nigeria–RwandAir cargo partnership could lower export costs and give Nigerian businesses wider access to East and Southern African markets — but logistics remains the real test. Nigeria is trying to turn African trade from political slogan into practical movement of goods. The Federal Government’s new […]
Living Sustainably Here: African Voices Take the SDGs Beyond Policy Rooms
Launched at the 25th Nigeria International Book Fair in Lagos, a new multi-volume anthology argues that Africa’s sustainability future must be shaped not only by global targets and technical policy, but by books, culture, knowledge, memory and lived African experience. At the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts in Lagos, the building formerly […]