africa & democracy

From Angola to Somalia, Rwanda to Zimbabwe, conflict and poverty scar Africa. But Africans everywhere are investing huge energies in search of democratic change and social betterment. openDemocracy writers examine the new worlds of an old continent.
Tuesday 7th February

Nigeria: the challenge of “Boko Haram II”

Morten Bøås, 7 February 2012
The radical Islamist group Boko Haram poses an increasing threat to the Nigerian state in the country’s north. How has it become so powerful and effective? The ingredients of an answer lie in the complex history, power-relationships and social inequalities of this marginalised region, says Morten Bøås.
Wednesday 14th December

Chinese companies under scrutiny in Zimbabwe

Andrew Mambondiyani, 14 December 2011
Ten years into the Look East policy, Zimbabwe is showing itself to be a not-so-satisfied customer of Chinese investment.
Wednesday 7th December

The journalist as terrorist: an Ethiopian story

Abiye Teklemariam Megenta, 7 December 2011
The Ethiopian government led by prime minister Meles Zenawi uses charges of terrorism to silence and intimidate its domestic critics. The political technique is now being extended by accusing independent journalists of conspiracy. One of his targets, Abiye Teklemariam Megenta, responds.
Monday 5th December

The material stakes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo elections

Pete Jones, 5 December 2011
Private interest, not public voice, governs the immediate future of the DRC - the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Friday 2nd December

SOS from a Congolese peacebuilder: rescue the young democracy of DR Congo!

Flory Kazingufu, 2 December 2011
There are concrete steps the Congolese political establishment can take to avert post-election violence, if external pressure helps to engender the necessary political will.
Tuesday 22nd November

South Africa's political duel: Zuma vs Malema

Roger Southall, 22 November 2011
South Africa's president has outgunned his young, ambitious rival and cleared the road to re-election. But the struggle between them casts an unforgiving light on aspects of the country's governance, says Roger Southall.
Friday 4th November

Sudan’s hidden victims: an international test

Gerry Simpson, 4 November 2011
A neglected humanitarian disaster is unfolding in the Sudanese border region of Southern Kordofan. The tens of thousands bombed, displaced, blockaded and starved need the world’s attention, says Gerry Simpson.
Thursday 6th October

Somalia: livelihood and politics

Ioan M Lewis, 6 October 2011
Somalia's long civil war and political fragmentation define the country to the world. Yet the society also contains potent resources of allegiance and solidarity, says the doyen of Somali studies, Ioan M Lewis.
Friday 9th September

Mandela’s communism: why the details matter

Tom Lodge, 9 September 2011
The evidence of Nelson Mandela’s membership of the South African Communist Party in the early 1960s is clear. But what needs to be reassessed in light of it? A study of the precise chronology of Mandela’s activism and thinking at the time suggests an answer, says Tom Lodge, author of “Mandela: A Critical Life”.
Thursday 8th September

Côte d’Ivoire: getting it right

Rinaldo Depagne, 8 September 2011
A decade’s war and a election drowned by violence are a tough legacy. Côte d’Ivoire’s president must be generous to overcome it, says Rinaldo Depagne.

Egypt, the Nile and the revolution

Vicken Cheterian, 8 September 2011
The fate of Egypt across the centuries is indissolubly linked to the river which gives it life. Today, a range of problems - environmental, political, economic - threaten the provision and the quality of the Nile waters. They present another challenge for the young post-Mubarak order, says Vicken Cheterian 
Monday 5th September

Eritrea: the politics of food security

Selam Kidane, 5 September 2011
Eritrea’s people are sharing in the food hardships of the wider region. But their government’s authoritarian rule is intent on keeping their fate from wider view, says Selam Kidane.
Thursday 11th August

South Africa: rights, accountability and maternal mortality

David Mepham, 11 August 2011
A study of the healthcare environment of expectant mothers in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa reveal severe problems that both the national government and overseas donors should address, says David Mepham.
Monday 25th July

Mandela, communism, and South Africa

Stephen Ellis, 25 July 2011
The documentary evidence of Nelson Mandela’s membership of the South African Communist Party can contribute to a more truthful assessment of the country’s modern history, says the scholar who uncovered it, Stephen Ellis.
Wednesday 29th June

Africa’s development: the global bond

Chukwu-Emeka Chikezie, 29 June 2011
A great economic transformation across the world presents Africa with new opportunities in which its diaspora should play a key role, says Chukwu-Emeka Chikezie.
Tuesday 24th May

Africa: progress and risk

Stephen Ellis, 24 May 2011
Africa’s economic dynamism is echoed in a radical shift of perception about the continent’s prospects. But these realities in turn are creating tough new tests for all involved, says Stephen Ellis.
Tuesday 22nd March

Down a long and difficult road

Peter Stemp, 22 March 2011
As the newest country in the world, South Sudan faces huge challenges. But the perseverance of the people and their determination to construct a functioning state raise hopes for the country's future.
Friday 22nd October

South Africa’s media: the Zimbabwe precedent

Roger Southall, 22 October 2010
South Africa’s liberation from apartheid promised, as one of democracy’s essential supports, a climate of media freedom to ensure the accountability of those in power. But the country’s ruling ANC now proposes legislation that would endanger this freedom. The echoes of Zimbabwe are too close to ignore, says Roger Southall.
Tuesday 17th August

Kenya’s referendum: “in the name of God, no!”

Daniel Branch, 17 August 2010
The opposition of Kenya's Christian churches to constitutional reforms is in part rooted in a new and disturbing hostility to Islam. This attitude marks a significant retreat from the churches’ past role in Kenya’s democratisation, says Daniel Branch.
Friday 16th July

Eritrea and Isaias Afewerki: a cold logic

Selam Kidane, 16 July 2010
The achievement of Isaias Afewerki’s regime in Asmara is to have used confrontation with its neighbours to entrench its survival. It is a political lesson that the international community still needs to learn, says Selam Kidane.
Syndicate content