East Africa’s Great Experiment
Growth, institutions and the politics of a region at the center of Africa's future
Penkelemesi
African affairs from Dakar to Dar es Salaam — with memory, strategy, and style
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Latest posts
Idols Become Rivals: The Unraveling of Senegal’s Faye-Sonko Partnership
How a political rupture in Senegal exposed the difficulty of turning a movement for change into a durable African governing project.
The Nation That Forgot Its Continent
How South Africa's liberation became disconnected from the Africa that made it possible
Five things we learned about Africa's teams during the 2026 FIFA World Cup group stage
The world's biggest sporting competition is a grand stage for Africa's ambitions, contradictions, and global influence
Africa's many teams: The World Cup and football's pan-African geography
Why Africa never really leaves the World Cup even when its teams are eliminated
Why Arsenal’s 2026 English Premier League championship mattered in Africa
An exploration of a London-based football club's extraordinary popularity across Africa, from migration and media globalization to youth culture, politics and the contradictions of global football.
France's ‘pivot to East Africa’ is lipstick on a pig
The Franco-Africa summit in Nairobi promised a new era of partnership between Africa and France. What it revealed were the limits of rhetoric about agency, sovereignty and “Africa Forward.”
11 Days in April: How Pope Leo XIV began his papacy in Africa
Across four African nations, Leo XIV fused theology, politics, historical memory and pastoral witness into a vision for the global Church.
Bénin's 2026 presidential election was a rigged transition of power
Uneven growth and a narrowed political space is Talon's legacy as he departs from office
10 thought-terminating clichés in African governance discourse that need to die
Too many people talk about African politics without saying anything. That must change.
The lessons of the war in Iran for the Horn of Africa
War in the Persian Gulf and rising tensions in the Horn reveal the dangers of proxy politics, geopolitical rivalry, and reliance on foreign security umbrellas.