Politics

Illustration of Eko Atlantic City as a reclaimed peninsula extending into the Atlantic, with a cluster of high-rise buildings connected by broad roads and surrounded by open water.

Sovereign rot

From Eko Atlantic to the Niger Delta, elite enclaves have become the defining spatial expression of Nigeria’s political order.

A crowd of protesters gathers in a city street, with several people raising clenched fists. In the foreground, a person in a red cap blows a whistle while others chant, some wearing face masks and holding placards.

The ungovernable Gen-Z

The Kenyan government’s reaction to the present moment of necessary generational disobedience resembles the way colonial regimes used to respond to the question of the “detribalized native.”

A group of conference delegates gathered for a photo.

Nothing left

A much-anticipated “Conference of the Left” was supposed to unite South Africa’s progressive forces. Instead, it confirmed the harder truth: the left doesn’t need unity, it needs rebuilding.

Bus depot, University of the Witwatersrand.

Branches without roots

Across Africa, governments are elevating STEM education while sidelining the humanities. But science and technology are never neutral, and technical expertise alone cannot transform society.