It makes sense that a continent home to 54 countries and 1.2 billion people would also house a mass of contradictory developments. Africa features several of the world’s fastest-growing economies and a burgeoning middle class. But much of the continent remains mired in debt, ravaged by conflict, disease or terrorism, and plagued by elites clinging to power.
Even as economies expand, people are driven to migrate—either within Africa or across continental borders—because of humanitarian catastrophes or because opportunities are not coming fast enough for everyone. Yet, many remain behind and look to disrupt the status quo. Civilian-led reform movements toppled regimes in Algeria and Sudan last year.
From a geopolitical perspective, European nations and the United States are looking to shore up bilateral trade across the continent. These moves are driven both by an interest in spurring individual economies to help stem migration flows, but also to counter China’s growing presence in Africa. On the back of its Belt and Road Initiative, China has been leveraging infrastructure financing deals for access to resources and increasing influence.
Some African leaders say these activities smack of neocolonialism, as they seek to promote greater continental autonomy. They have taken steps to bolster internal trade opportunities and ease freedom of movement. They are positioning the African Union to play a more prominent role in resolving continental disputes, but also to contribute to fields like disease surveillance. And they are increasingly outspoken in criticizing international institutions that appear to punish Africa, to the benefit of others.
WPR covers Africa in detail, including a weekly Africa Watch newsletter highlighting the latest developments on the continent. And WPR will continue to offer insights into some of the key questions surrounding Africa’s future: Is a new Arab Spring sweeping across North Africa? As China’s footprint on the continent grows, how will leaders in Africa and other parts of the world respond? And will the economic boom that has swept up countries including Ethiopia, Rwanda and Ghana spread beyond their borders?
On Aug. 21, Samantha Kureya, a young Zimbabwean comedian whose viral online skits poke fun at the government, was taken from her home in Harare by three unidentified men wielding machine guns. She said they drove her to a remote location she did not recognize, where they beat her, forced her to strip and made her drink sewage water, before abandoning her. “You are too young to mock the government,” they repeatedly told her. Kureya’s experience highlights a fault line in Zimbabwean politics that is becoming more pronounced with every passing year: age. Although 62 percent of Zimbabweans are under 25, the country’s leaders are all past or approaching retirement age. This age gap and the intergenerational tensions it spawns have exacerbated political divisions across the country.
Governance and Politics
One of the through lines on the continent has been the persistence of presidents for life and the havoc they wreak on their respective countries. Even as long-standing regimes in Algeria and Sudan finally topple, leaders in countries from Rwanda to Cameroon are shoring up their power. Meanwhile, corruption remains a scourge across Africa.
Why a proposed new constitution in Guinea has protesters marching—and dying—in the streets, in Will Conde’s Power Grab Trigger a Constitutional Crisis in Guinea?
What’s driving tensions between Mauritania’s former president and his hand-picked successor, in A Presidential Rift Sours Mauritania’s Political Transition
What a disappointing election victory says about the future of Namibia’s long-dominant ruling party, in Can Namibia’s Long-Ruling Party Reverse Its Path of Decline?
Why South Africa’s largest opposition party is having trouble reconciling its internal tensions, in Can South Africa’s Main Opposition Party Overcome Its Internal Divisions?
The U.S.-China Competition for Influence
International observers warn that China, in its upfront financing of major infrastructural projects, is overburdening African countries with debts they will struggle to repay. And with U.S.-China relations becoming increasingly acrimonious, Africa has become a new arena for their strategic rivalry. Meanwhile, other countries are looking to expand their influence in Africa as well, notably Russia.
Why the U.S. should think twice about severing its military ties with countries in Africa, in America’s Downsized Relationship With Africa Is About to Go Totally Adrift
How tech has become a new focus of U.S.-China competition in Africa, in Tech Giants Are Engaged in a New Scramble for Africa
Why U.S. engagement with Africa needs a reboot, in How to Fix America’s Absentee Diplomacy in Africa
How the debate over China’s investment in Africa is playing out on the ground, in ‘China Must Be Stopped’: Zambia Debates the Threat of ‘Debt-Trap’ Diplomacy
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