This Week in Africa
November 7, 2025
Quote of the week
“They would select people and execute them in front of us and then say – ‘bury your brother’ - and we would cover them with soil. I saw them kill 18 people with my own eyes and then people had to bury them with their bare hands.” – A resident of El Fasher
The future of Sudan
The siege of El Fasher has redrawn Sudan’s map. The siege was funded by gold. Satellite imagery shows mass burials in the city. The RSF killed 460 people at a hospital, and is allegedly kidnapping families trying to escape demanding ransom. More than 36,000 Sudanese have fled, while people are still being slaughtered in the “killing fields” surrounding the city. This is how the siege turned into a genocidal slaughter, 20 years after the first Darfur Genocide. Watch this video report for more. The Sudan War Monitor, Centre for Information Resilience, and the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab investigate the slaughter. The population is at risk of famine while thousands remain trapped in the city. The fall of the city could cement Sudan’s partition as the siege marks a bloody new chapter in the war.
Long accused of funding the RSF, the United Arab Emirates admits it got its Sudan policy wrong. This formed part of an aggressive UAE foreign policy after the Arab Spring. The question is now whether UAE will walk away from Hemedti, who gained power through the gold and camel trade. Eric Friedman, Suad Abdel aziz, and John Prendergast argue that more pressure needs to be put on the UAE to help end the bloodshed. Michelle Gavin discusses the situation. Nesrine Malik argues that it is impossible to feign ignorance about what is going on.
The RSF has agreed to a US-led ceasefire agreement. The RSF apparently agreed to enter the truce “in order to address the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of the war” and to make way for the “urgent delivery” of aid. The military has yet to accept the agreement. Meanwhile, in North Kordofan, a drone strike kills dozens of mourners at a funeral. Are ceasefires and power sharing arrangements mere fallacies? Will the international community stay engaged? Can they even make an impact?
Calls for military intervention in Nigeria
President Trump orders the Pentagon to prepare military intervention in Nigeria to protect Christians from Islamic militants. He did so after seeing a clip on Fox News. Nigeria strongly rejects the claims. Alex Thurston explains how a group of right-wing activists in the US have long claimed that a “Christian Genocide” was happening in the country. Elnathan John argues that the rhetoric and violence is part of a 200-year history of neglect. James Barnett explains the full backstory. And check out this analysis on the Sub-Saharan Security Review.
Political crisis in Tanzania
Tanzania’s president Samia Suluhu Hassan was sworn in with nearly 98% of the vote. The public was barred from the ceremony. But post-election violence has threatened Tanzania’s reputation as a peaceful country. The protests illustrated years of bottled-up anger finally being let out. Subsequent violence killed more than 100 people. The opposition accuse the security forces of dumping dead bodies post-election. The government finally lifted the curfew in Dar es Salaam as life returns to “normal.” Mo Ibrahim critiqued the “inappropriate and unacceptable elections.”
Constantine Manda discusses what political science research teaches us about fraudulent elections and protest. Michaela Collord explains what happens now after Hassan’s coronation. Dan Paget argues that Hassan’s grip in power has been shaken. Lesley Anne Warner argues that Gen Z uprisings underscore a crisis of legitimacy in African democracies. Tanzania’s streets are sending a message to the rest of the continent. Peter Lockwood examines the youth booms, ailing authoritarians, and “populist” politics that have hit Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda.
Fuel blockade in Mali
Jihadis advance on Bamako. The fuel blockade poses the gravest threat to Mali’s military rulers. Is the military regime running out of gas? These knowledgable scholars explain what is at stake. How far south will the Sahelian Jihadists go?
Struggle for rights and freedom
Ghana and Trump are bargaining with the lives of migrants, but Ghanaians are pushing back. Guinea’s coup leader enters presidential race. JNIM appears to make inroads in Nigeria. Italy’s return to the Horn needs to come with an apology. Yaw Asamoah examines the ledger of colonialism in Nigeria. Bola Tinubu will benefit from a weak opposition, but his party will not. On taxes and vampire states. A kidnapping in Niger tests Trump promise to bring all Americans home.
State capture is shaping the game of democracy. Democracy is literally under fire in Harare. Succession questions loom in Cote d’Ivoire after its latest election. Chad’s opposition parties refuse to re-enter politics until the rules of the game are fair. How can we save democracy?
Patrick Gathara on Raila Odinga and the politics of power.
Africa’s rapid urbanization
Mapping informal settlement networks. Check out this open-source interactive tool for analyzing urban risks and opportunities. On the urban youth crunch. Alison Groves outlines how to design African cities for climate resilience and social equality.
Prince Guma asks: Where is the African urbanist?
Research corner
Check out Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies. This article examines parliamentary speech-making in Zambia and Malawi. Industrial policy for the Global South is outlined here. Eric Kramon asks: Are democratic innovations legitimate to the broader Ghanaian public?
Nina Wilén’s book Securitizing the Sahel is out. This looks good: j. Siguru Wahutu’s In the Shadow of the Global North: Journalism in Postcolonial Africa. Make sure to check out Simukai Chigudu’s memoir Chasing Freedom: Coming of Age at the End of Empire. Nationalism and the Transformation of the State is out soon.
Submit to the Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research.
Mining and extraction
This is how Ghana’s gold rush threatens to fuel illicit trade. As gold prices soar, Uganda’s artisanal miners get edged out. This article provides perspectives on artisanal mining in Liberia. China has a massive iron ore mine in Guinea.
The week in development
There is water everywhere in South Sudan, but very little food to eat. Duncan Green discusses the fact that aid is increasingly going to countries where it doesn’t work. Pranab Bardhan talks to Leonard Wantchekon about poverty in Africa. This report assesses stability and livelihood challenges in the borderlands of Coastal West Africa.
Africa and the environment
Landslide death toll climbs in Uganda and Kenya. Uganda secures $31 million from Green Climate Fund for Africa’s first results-based climate project. African Development Bank-led training program builds national capacity for climate disaster response in Mozambique. The Republic of Congo commits to reducing climate risks and strengthening urban infrastructure and development. Invasive water hyacinths choke wildlife and livelihoods in southern Ghana. This article looks at the influence of climate change on the transmission of malaria.
Daily life
The life of Senegalese fisherfolk in photos. On Saint Augustine’s African origins. Harmonia Rosales remixes the African diasporic pantheon. The thrones of Meroë. The comeback of Africa’s oldest fight league. Kim Chakanetsa talks to author Pemi Aguda. Should Cape Town host the 2036 Olympics?
And Egypt’s Grand Museum is finally open.
All the best,
Jeff and Phil