In On Africa IOA
'Honorable Malema, welcome to this House…It will be a tough place for you': The EFF and the threat to ANC hegemony in SA
6th May 2015 On 31 March 2015, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan made history when he telephoned his rival, Muhammadu Buhari, to concede defeat in the... →
Geothermal power in Kenya is heating up
17th April 2015 Kenya opened up an enormous geothermal power plant in February 2015 – by some measures it is the largest in the world.(2) Experts estimate that the... →
A glimpse into the emergent e-commerce in Nigeria
2nd April 2015 The introduction of online stores such as Amazon and eBay has transformed the way retail business is done, bringing consumers much closer to the... →
Africa’s post-2015 development: The role of mobile phones in higher education
31st March 2015 The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) is of the view that education is a central component of the... →
EU-West Africa Economic Partnership Agreement: Trick or treat?
30th March 2015 Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has entered a new era in its relationship with the European Union (EU), one that envisages an economic partnership model... →
It's a zero-sum-game: There’s more than just power at stake in Africa’s 2015 elections
26th March 2015 Over the last several decades, there have been many electoral successes and failures as African states strive towards democracy, putting different... →
If we pause to hear their voice: Soweto’s latest lootings and what they tell us about its socio-economic challenges
25th March 2015 When crowds in Soweto gathered in protest in 2015, the underlying intent has been to regain control over the socio-economic or political aspects of... →
LGBT Nigeria: One year after the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act
20th March 2015 In January 2014, Nigeria made headlines around the world. This was before Boko Haram became a household name or the #BringBackOurGirls campaign,... →
Beyond Mombasa: Rethinking counter-radicalisation in Kenya
24th February 2015 Sporadic attacks across Kenya left over 310 dead between January and November 2014. This violence peaked in November when the Somali insurgent... →
Danger in Tahrir Square: Mob sexual violence in Egypt
13th February 2015 Sexual harassment has long been a problem in Egypt, but mob assaults have dramatically intensified in both frequency and brutality in the four... →
Boko Haram and al-Shabaab: Comparable threats to African security
5th February 2015 Boko Haram and al-Shabaab are militant Islamist sects that are predominantly operational in Nigeria and Somalia, and are both engaged in protracted... →
A stage-managed congress fails to tackle succession and factionalism: Is Zanu-PF digging its own grave?
20th January 2015 Zimbabwe’s ruling party, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF), held its much anticipated sixth national elective congress... →
Japan in Africa: From donor to business partner and the push to counter Chinese influence
14th January 2015 Africa is becoming a global engine of growth and a hugely important region for natural resources, trade and human capital. This is becoming... →
Trade facilitation: The key to unlocking Africa’s trade potential
9th January 2015 Trade facilitation, defined as the simplification and harmonisation of international trade procedures with the objective of minimising obstacles to... →
Message in blood: Terror in Algeria
8th January 2015 Sunday, 21 September 2014: French tourist Hervé Gourdel is kidnapped by Jund-al-Khilafa, an Algerian Islamist militant group linked to the Islamic... →
BRICS and the New Development Bank: An alternative model of development for Africa?
7th January 2015 Africa occupies a very different position today than it did in the period immediately following the decade of independence, when the majority of... →
UNSCR 1325 and its effectiveness in Africa
6th January 2015 The United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325, which calls for the protection of women’s rights and participation in peace... →
Ottoman brethren: Turkey’s role in Somalia’s recent development
12th December 2014 Twenty years after a civil war ripped apart the Somali nation, leading to the collapse of Siad Barre’s government – the last official government of... →
How private military services saved Sierra Leone: The contracting out of military duties came from necessity but help ensure long-lasting security
3rd December 2014 Dismissing private military contractors as mercenaries can be simplistic and misleading, as their deployment in Sierra Leone’s Civil War displayed.... →
Mental health in Africa: Slow but steady progress?
28th November 2014 The notion of “public health” within Africa often invokes ideas of infectious diseases and almost always of exclusively physical health needs. In... →
Driving, draining, dividing? The impact of the Islamic State insurgency on African jihadist groups
25th November 2014 Born out of the former Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) affiliate group, incubated in the vacuum of the Syrian Civil War and sweeping into Iraq having... →
'Frack off': An analysis of shale gas extraction in the Karoo Basin
18th November 2014 The stage is set. Upon a backdrop most famed for its stunning scenery, the semi-arid Karoo region,(2) South Africa, is the “grand coliseum” in... →
Ebola in West Africa: The long term impact of the 2014 outbreak
12th November 2014 The 2014 outbreak of Ebola in West Africa is unprecedented in its scale, and carries with it significant security as well as economic and public... →
Neglected at home, abused abroad: Ethiopian domestic workers in the Gulf
10th November 2014 As of 2010, an estimated 52.6 million people (2) engage in domestic work worldwide, 83% of whom are women.(3) Largely confined to the informal... →
Phasing out camps: A breakthrough in refugee policy
5th November 2014 In 2013, the world experienced the highest levels of new refugees in decades when 2.5 million people became newly displaced due to conflict or... →
Anatomy of Lesotho’s ‘almost’ coup d’état: The predicaments that it poses to the SADC region peacekeeping and mediation initiatives
4th November 2014 On 31 August 2014, the Lesotho army attempted to stage a coup d’état. The Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) took over several police stations across the... →
Natural resource extraction in the DRC: China – saviour or plunderer?
28th October 2014 The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) languishes near the bottom of the United Nations’ (UN's) Human Development Index, fluctuating between last... →
Energy poverty and under-five mortality in Nigeria: Is there a link?
23rd October 2014 Energy poverty (2) is a prominent socio-economic concern in Nigeria and has been described by Horton as “a hugely neglected determinant of human... →
Politics and policy: Prospects for Zimbabwe’s economic recovery
22nd October 2014 Zimbabwe’s decade-long economic and political crisis from 1998 to 2009 will go down as one of the worst periods in the country’s history. However,... →
A long way from Baghdad: US counterterrorism on the African continent
21st October 2014 Twenty years since the withdrawal of American troops from Somalia following the ill-fated United Nations Operation in Somalia II (UNOSOM II), the... →
Doing business in SADC: Still a long way to go
14th October 2014 The Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, like the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), is currently enjoying an economic boom with... →
Human resilience: The role of indigenous knowledge in reducing the impact of climate change on vulnerable communities
10th October 2014 The effects of climate change on human life within Africa are largely unpredictable and variable.(2) But Sub-Saharan African nations are “the worst... →
Gender-based violence: Women employed as terror tools by Boko Haram
6th October 2014 In July 2014, northern Nigeria faced a spate of suicide bomber attacks. Although this tactic has been employed by Boko Haram since 2011, the new... →
Sierra Leone then and now: The case of private military companies
1st October 2014 The 11-year Sierra Leonean Civil War (1991 – 2002) claimed the lives of around 50,000 people (by conservative estimates, with many more injured and... →
Infrastructure investments in the East-West Africa corridor: China’s master plan faces challenges
30th September 2014 Beginning in the early 2000s, China has taken a strong initiative to become an integral partner in Africa’s development. Infrastructure investments... →
Simple technology for simple solutions: Part 2 – MakaPads
26th September 2014 The myths and misconceptions surrounding the taboo subject of menstruation affect the quality of education for many young girls in Africa, who... →
Same old, same old as ANC posts yet another landslide: Whither left-wing politics in South Africa
23rd September 2014 The left-wing, being the only viable gateway to power, has always been central to South African politics - during and since apartheid. The African... →
Eritrea and Ethiopia: East Africa’s intractable conflict?
22nd September 2014 Conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia has existed since the Eritrean War of Independence in 1961, and in 1998 the conflict culminated in the bloody... →
Neglecting sexuality in sexual and reproductive health: A case of sex workers in Madagascar
18th September 2014 Madagascar has been a hotspot for sex tourism in recent decades, with European men often flying in to its coastal areas. Reports of increasing... →
Combating Ebola: The use of mobile technology in overcoming health challenges in Africa
17th September 2014 The ubiquity of mobile phones in Africa has increased connectivity between people, information, markets and services. Mobile phones have straddled... →
A return to civil war? Militias, coalitions and escalating violence in Libya
16th September 2014 Since the ouster of Colonel Muammar Qaddafi at the end of the Libyan Civil War in 2011, Libya has been marred by violence related to the... →
