This Week in Africa

February 20, 2026

Quote of the week

“Today, Pan-Africanism is not the intellectual, ideological and cultural force it once was. The relationships between Africans and diaspora kin are a mix of bursts of collaboration on music, fashion, and art, interspersed with social media battles about Black identity as a marker of belonging and authenticity; offshoots of rising nationalism and fears of migration driven by ever-evolving vampiric capitalism.” – Ayisha Osori

Insecurity in Nigeria

Jibrin Ibrahim argues that Nigeria is handing over sovereignty to the US. Alex Thurston provides his take. New attacks signal spreading violence across the region. Nonetheless, the River Festival has returned.

Political crisis in South Sudan

South Sudan faces a governance crisis, as fighting inches closer to the capital. Democracy and peace activist Peter Biar Ajak was convicted of conspiring to buy and export weapons for a coup in the country.

Escalating violence in the Horn

Learn more about the rising tension in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Tigray. Maya Misikir summarizes the geopolitics.

Struggle for rights and freedom

Framing rights in black geographies.

Learn more about Kizza Besigye, the man who has shaped opposition politics in Uganda. Africatalyst examines Africa’s love affair with the AK-47. The Continent explores Burundi’s silent decline. Sarah Elderkin examines power, pact, and betrayal in Kenyan politics. Nigeria will hold elections on February 20, 2027. Ramaphosa pledges to fight corruption before municipal elections. You can’t pick palm nuts without your hands getting oily.

This is very cool: Sudan Memory.

Africa’s place in the world

This report examines whether the African Union can withstand fractures to multilateralism. The AU needs to “find its teeth” in a new world where Trump is the elephant in the room. The law of the strongest returns to the UN. This project calls for a borderless Africa, which is on the agenda. This is what it could look like. Joseph Atta-Mensah makes the case for integration. Ayisha Osori calls for a new examination of the state of global blackness today, uncovering the tensions between solidarity and economic independence. Ramaphosa argues that Africa must avoid a new colonialism. One thing could help: Africa needs its own credit agency.

Africa’s rapid urbanization

Learn more about the floating cities of logs in the Congo Basin. The city is for all, not the rich alone. Titus Kaloki outlines a just approach to Nairobi’s proposed conservancy fee. What will happen to Nairobi’s waste economy after a new ruling?

Make sure to check out Nick Dorward and Kristian Hoelscher’s article on urbanization and the political demography of African cities. It is part of our special issue on Political Change in African Cities. This is how marginalized urban communities in Africa are driving innovation. Get all your Africa infrastructure updates from Global Corridor. I look forward to this new article on unsettling the spaces of global infrastructure along the northern corridor. This is a cool exhibit of mapping the Kisumu wetlands. This is a neat mapping tool for urban settlements. Here is some help for urban planners in the global south.

On the future of urban experimentation.

Research corner

This is an important symposium on African decolonial theory. Anneeth Kaur Hundle examines race, caste, and feminism after expulsion in Uganda. Antonia Witt introduces a special issue on militarization and hopes for African interventions.

Feyi Fawehinmi and Tobi Lawson review Joe Studwell’s How Africa Works. Check out Annika Björkdahl, Kristine Höglund, and Johanna Mannergren’s forthcoming Troubling Testimonies: Women’s Narratives of War, Genocide, and Sexual Violence. Check out Privileged Minorities: A History of Wealth Concentration in South Africa. Check out Casey McNeill’s Mistaking Order for Anarchy: Territory, Mobility, and Security in the Sahel. Marie-Eve Desrosiers and Nic Cheeseman’s The Rise of Authoritarian Middle-Powers and What it Means for World Politics is out.

Critical minerals

Investors bet on AI mining to win the minerals scramble. Mining corridors can be catalysts for US-Africa partnerships. Ken Opalo explains how African policymakers should prepare for the coming commodity boom. This is an important report (with cool graphics!) of Africa’s strategic minerals.

The week in development

What can African entrepreneurs learn from the American mindset? Cocoa’s boom and bust is rewriting long-held rules of the market. This is how Ethiopia’s ban on gasoline cars fueled an EV boom. Mahama has Ghana’s economy humming along, but challenges of corruption, youth unemployment, and illegal mining remain. Africa: The Big Deal provides its 2025 year in review. The next great rotation is to Africa. Ezra Karmel and Georgina Sinclair outline the aid dilemma of middle powers. This is how cheap Chinese phones catapulted Kenya into the global digital economy.

What happens when aid stops?

Africa and the environment

Climate justice or climate apartheid in South Africa? Mauritius publishes its climate and development report. Tanzania’s president Samia Suluhu Hassan argues that climate change is eroding African livelihoods. Learn more about secure energy infrastructure. Central Africa calls for greater coordination on early warnings.

Daily life

These rare photos from the Guinea-Bissau liberation struggle are now in Nordic Africa Institute’s online archive. Africa’s creative economy is on the rise. Millennials come of age in the era of disappointment. Fauziyatu Moro and Reginold Royston explain podcast listening in urban Ghana.

And RIP to Ghanaian Afrobeats and Highlife extraordinaire Ebo Taylor.

All the best,

Jeff and Phil