This Week in Africa
July 18, 2025
Is it the end of the age of NGOs? Here is the week in Africa:
Quote of the week
“This is the fastest-growing tech cluster in the world. London is the tech capital of Europe, Lagos is the tech capital of Africa. I’ve brought more than two dozen British companies in sustainability and tech to Lagos, not as patrons but as partners, so both our great cities can flourish and thrive.” – London Mayor Sadiq Khan
Death of Buhari
Nigeria’s two-time president Muhammadu Buhari died this week at age 82. He served as both a dictator and a democrat. Kester Onor explains that he left behind improvements in infrastructure and agriculture developments, but was largely unable to confront security challenges in the north. Cheta Nwanze reviews his life of contradictions. Afolabi Adekaiyaoja outlines the tragedy of Buharism. And Chris Ogunmodede argues that Buhari’s best was never good enough for Nigeria.
Rwanda’s expanding influence
Learn more about what Rwanda and Uganda are doing in the DR Congo. Rwanda uses spies, drones, and propaganda to fuel M23 rebels. Paul Kagame is waging a hidden war to expand Rwanda’s regional and political influence. Read the new Human Rights Watch report here.
Governing Kenya
Kenya’s neighboring countries look to gain from Kenya’s troubles. Judy Mbugua explains why Kenya’s Gen Z are protesting. Is William Ruto the most disliked president in Kenya’s history?
African international relations
This is how to reframe UK-Africa relations. Judd Devermont argues that it’s time to rethink the model of diplomatic “envoys” to ensure longstanding success. Alex Thurston examines the implications of Marco Rubio’s State Department cuts. Saskia Brechenmacher outlines the new global struggle over gender, rights, and family values.
Struggle for rights and freedom
US bombs hit a migration facility in Yemen that housed Ethiopian migrants. A new investigation finds that three aid workers were intentionally killed in Ethiopia in 2021. Nic Cheeseman argues that Zambia faces a democratic crossroads as it enters a fresh constitutional crisis. Cara Rau examines the security situation in Africa. Marisa Lourenço explains how Mozambique’s post-election crisis is fueling instability at home and across southern Africa. 92-year-old Paul Biya will run for re-election. He is the continent’s second-longest serving head of state (Obiang has served longer). Stolen cattle links Ghana to Jihadist conflict in the Sahel. Why are Africans protesting less?
Africa’s rapid urbanization
I look forward to Davison Muchadenyika’s The Making of an African City: How Harare Grew over Centuries. Another must read: Filip De Boeck and Sammy Baloji’s Suturing the City: Living Together in Congo’s Urban Worlds. Penlope Yaguma examines the micropolitics of electricity access in Uganda’s informal settlements. Taibat Lawanson recounts the history of forced evictions in Lagos, and features the new film “Displaced: A City’s Scar.” The Africa Urban Lab is bridging global expertise and local realities to shape the urban future of Zanzibar and beyond. Learn more about the foundations of Africa’s ancient kingdoms.
Political Change in African Cities
Our special issue on the transformation of state-society relations in urban Africa is coming together. Make sure to check out Jérémie Langlois and Marwa Shalaby’s article on legislative responsiveness, urban growth, and popular mobilization in Algeria. We also have articles on urban growth and electoral violence, informal labor and class politics in Dar es Salaam, citizenship and political connections in Accra and Lagos, and urban-rural inequalities and popular protest.
Research corner
Omowumi Olufunmbi Elemo-Kaka examines why Lagos elites chose taxes over transfers. By analyzing the politics of silence in photographs, Richard Vokes (re)sounds memories from Idi Amin’s Uganda. This article explores marriage and crisis during Botswana pandemic times. Check out this scoping review of the lived experience during COVID-19 of informal settlement dwellers in the global south. A new study shows the positive impacts of Ghana’s National Service Scheme (summary post here). This is a field methodology to advance social equity and transformative adaptation to climate change in smallholder communities. Keren Weitzberg examines biometric technologies, contested sovereignty, and border practices within humanitarian spaces.
Check out Wendell H. Marsh’s Textual Life: Islam, Africa, and the Fate of the Humanities. Ogechukwu E. Williams’ Birth Politics: Colonial Power, Medical Pluralism, and Maternity in Nigeria looks awesome. In this excellent essay, Kenneth Okoth reviews Achille Mbembe’s Brutalism.
If not liberation, then what?
Extractive minerals
This case study of a Ghana Lithium project provides insights into how critical minerals can help people on the ground. Jabulani Shaba explores how benefits from Zimbabwe’s lithium can flow to local communities. This is how African states are adapting to newly assertive African states. Marjorie Namara Rugunda examines the hidden violence of peace deals in Africa. This investigation goes deep inside a mine that fuels mobile phones. And this is why Gulf states are targeting African mines.
The week in development
The US-Africa Business Summit could launch a new era of US-Africa relations. This is what’s at stake as local banks back Rwanda’s new airport. This is why Africa’s emerging markets need their own stablecoins. South Africans can take a few more tons of Brazilian coffee. Health workers in Uganda work hard to ensure PEPFAR’s legacy. Dangote files permit to build a seaport in new initiative to expand business empire. This is a helpful report on venture capital on the continent.
Why policymakers need economic historians.
Africa and the environment
A summer climate reading list. Farmers restore the “Cradle of Mankind” in Kenya’s Rift Valley. Air quality and early warning systems can help African cities. South Africa’s ESKOM seeks clean energy. Dust storms affect 330 million people across the globe. Check out these nature-based solutions for climate resilience.
Daily life
Negritude is omnipresent in African writing. The story of artist Baba Tjeko. Banning wigs in Senegal. Chimamanda Adichie is a Lagos superstar. Sadiq Khan visits Lagos!
All the best,
Jeff and Phil